St. Patricks Day

St. Patrick was a Christian missionary and he is also the patron saint of Ireland. He was actually born in Britain though. Then, when he was 16-years-old he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for 6 years before escaping and returning to his family.

Later in his life, St. Patrick entered the church just like his father and grandfather had done. Eventually he returned to Ireland as a missionary where he become the patron saint of Ireland by the 8th century. Of course, there are numerous legends that surround the life of St. Patrick. One such legend is the Shamrock Pious legend. It actually credits St. Patrick with banishing snakes from 1 of Ireland's islands, even though according to science, post-glacial Ireland never actually had snakes.

There is also another legend that credits St. Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing them a 3 leaf clover, which he used to highlight the Christian belief of '3 divine persons in the 1 God.' Nobody is quite sure whether or not these legends are actually true. However, the fact that there are actually so many different legends about St. Patrick shows just how important his ministry was to Ireland.

Thus, St. Patrick also became a very important part of Ireland as well. Therefore, it really is no wonder why he became a saint and is remembered throughout the world today. In fact, St. Patrick now has his very own day dedicated to him: March 17th. St. Patrick's Day is widely believed to have been the day on which St. Patrick actually died. Therefore, it is believed that this date was chosen as his feast day in the universal church because of the influence that he had upon numerous people throughout his lifetime.

It is also interesting to note that for most of Christianity's first thousand years, canonizations were only done on the diocesan or regional level. However, relatively soon after St. Patrick's death the local church affirmed that he could be liturgically celebrated as a saint, or as a very holy person.

This is why, even though St. Patrick has never been formally canonized by a Pope, the church still declares him a saint in Heaven, thus placing him on the “List of Saints.” Therefore, he is still widely venerated in Ireland, as well as in many other places around the world today. St. Patrick is also venerated in the Orthodox Church, especially among those Orthodox Christians who speak English and live in either the United Kingdom, Ireland or in North America.

In fact, many of these Orthodox churches actually have icons dedicated to him. Furthermore, there are also many places in literature in which St. Patrick is honored. One such place is in the ballad by Robert Southey that is entitled, “Saint Patrick's Purgatory.” So, as you can see, St. Patrick is not only important in Ireland itself, but also throughout much of the world today as well.