March 17th. A day full of green glee, pots of gold, and your best attempt at catching the all-intriguing red-haired, Irish cap and buckled shoe-wearing leprechaun. Well, that’s if you are eight years old and your parents haven’t told you that leprechauns don’t exist. That “leprechaun trap” on the back of the Lucky Charms’ box? Yeah, I hate to break it to you but the hours of hard work and effort you put into your deceptive design will all be for nothing.
So, what is St.Patrck’s day if it doesn’t mean dressing up in the most hideous green outfit you can find and eating gold chocolate coins?
St. Patrick’s Day is actually a feast day in the Catholic Church, even though that fact is generally passed over by the mainstream public. Ironically, Saint Patrick doesn’t even originate from Ireland, he was born in Britain around 400 CE. Patrick was then brought as a slave to Ireland, where he did the majority of his influential work. Although Saint Patrick fled to France in order to escape slavery, he later came back to Ireland in 432 CE and converted to Christianity. Up until the point of his death, Saint Patrick lived out his Christian faith through extraordinary measures, building monasteries, churches, and schools all over Ireland. As a result of this, Saint Patrick is widely credited with introducing Christianity to Ireland and has since become the Patron Saint of Ireland and its people.
Despite the fairytales of pots of gold at the ends of rainbows and mischievous elf-like people, everything you’ve heard about St. Patrick’s Day might not entirely be false.
There is a legend that has been long associated with Saint Patrick that States that he used a shamrock, one with only three petals, not a four-leaf clover, in order to explain the Holy Trinity. This explains why the color green and shamrocks have become the appropriate decorum and wardrobe for St.Patrick’s Day. With all that being said, how St.Patrick’s Day became a celebration of fabled luck and fictional creatures remains a mystery. But, however you choose to acknowledge the day, whether it be with a pot of golden chocolate, a bowl of Lucky Charms, or the more traditional Christian mass, remember that St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just a day of fun and partying, it’s about a man who dedicated his life to his faith and helped numerous Irish people because of it.
Works Cited:
The editors of Britannica. “St. Patrick’s Day.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 16 Feb. 2024, www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Patricks-Day.
“The Origins of St. Patrick’s Day.” Georgia Public Broadcasting, www.gpb.org/education/origins-of-st-patricks-day. Accessed 13 Mar. 2024.