St. Patrick’s Day is the feast day of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, a day that began as a religious holiday in Ireland and ended up becoming a day of celebration of the Irish culture and heritage celebrated on March 17 all over the world.
(Source: AJC)
Who is St. Patrick?
St. Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland who is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. Despite the widely-known misconception, St. Patrick was born in Britain and not Ireland. He was a nobleman born around 400 A.D. However, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and was enslaved when he was merely a 16-year old (St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography). This experience helped him rediscover his faith, since he was an atheist in his early life, despite the fact that he was born into a religious family. After 17 years of enslavement, he escaped back home, but shortly returned to Ireland as a missionary completely conscious of the fact that he’ll have to live in constant danger of martyrdom.
He only has two short works which are, the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Letter to the Soldier of Coroticus, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians.
Why does everyone wears green on St. Patrick’s Day?
- Green is one of the three colors in Ireland’s flag.
- Ireland is known for its green countryside that is nicknamed “Emerald Isle”.
- Most importantly, green is the color of shamrock.
The Shamrock
Legend has it, St. Patrick used to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity to the pagans in Ireland with the shamrock. The national flower of Ireland is characterized by its three-leaved shape. Nowadays, people wear shamrocks in addition to the green attire on St. Patrick’s Day.
Pinch me, I’m Irish
Don’t be surprised if you get pinched by strangers in the streets on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s an entirely American tradition that started in the 1700’s to pinch people who are not wearing green on that day to remind them of leprechauns. It was widely believed that leprechauns, the fairy creatures, would sneak up on people and pinch, unless they’re wearing green, since green could not be perceived by these creatures.
Guinness Beer
According to Guinness, about 3 million pints of Guinness are drank in the United States, on St. Patrick's Day since the Irish stout is the drink of choice on this day.
As part of our 12-day fully-escorted pilgrimage to Ireland and Switzerland, upon arrival to Dublin, the historical city that dates back to 988 A.D., our coach will take the pilgrims on a panoramic city sightseeing tour of the highlights of Dublin’s fair City including St. Patrick’s Cathedrals and Guinness’ Brewery.
St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin12 Days Ireland and Switzerland Fully Escorted Pilgrimage's Sample available here: Sample
The Chicago River
The Chicago River is dyed green on this day, a tradition that has been going on for about the past 40 years. Although the neon-green dye raised many concerns among environmentally-friendly people, Tom Rowan, who has been part of them team that dyes the river for decades declared that the dye is “1,000 percent harmless” to the river.
Join one of our 2018/2019 upcoming pilgrimages and be one of the most blessed people who get to walk on the footsteps of Jesus Christ and be sure to stop in Taybeh along the pilgrimage route to try the Taybeh Beer!
