Welcome! Follow my little bear's example and make yourself comfortable.

Who was St. Patrick?

St. Patrick is a patron saint of Ireland. One of the most famous and widely known. He was born in Britain near the end of the fourth century. His parents were wealthy and his father was a Christian deacon. When Patrick was sixteen, he was taken prisoner by Irish raiders. He spent six years as a captive before he escaped to Britain. He was a shepherd and being alone and afraid, he turned to religion for comfort.

He left Ireland after a voice, which he believed was God's, told him in a dream to leave. After returning to Britain, he had another dream in which an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He began religious training that lasted more than fifteen years. After he was ordained as a priest, he was sent to Ireland to minister to Christians already living in Ireland, and to convert the Irish who practiced a pagan religion.

He was already familiar with the language and traditions, and so incorporated their rituals into his lessons on Christianity. One example is that he superimposed a sun onto the Christian cross. The sun was a powerful Irish symbol. This created what we now call a Celtic cross.

The Holiday

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day. It is also the anniversary of his death. This day has been observed by the Irish as a religious holiday. Irish families would attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Even though it was during Lent, the prohibitions against meat were waived and the people would feast, drink, and dance.

A traditional symbol of St. Patrick's Day is the shamrock. It is said that Patrick used the three-leafed clover to explain the Trinity. It was a visual aid used to explain how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as three separate beings of the same entity. Followers wear the shamrock on his feast day.