Remembering St Paddy

Just thought I'd say a little about St Patrick's Day. I'd come to learn a lot more about it last year when I was asked to teach an ESL class using St Patrick's Day as the theme.

St Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th. It commemorates the anniversary of St Patrick's death in the fifth century. Patrick was originally a Scots who was captured and carried off to Ireland by raiders when the British empire was near collapse. He later escaped only to return in obedience to God's call to proclaim the gospel to the Irish people. See here for the details.

Today, most people celebrate SPD with much pride, vigour and passion (read: beer and partying). To many, St Patrick himself has been reduced to a leprechaun or just another name, not unlike St Valentine. The revelry and celebration that have become synonymous with SPD have their roots among the Irish diaspora in the U.S. Symbols that have become closely linked to SPD are the shamrock, the leprechaun, gold and anything green! Interestingly, references have been made to St Patrick using the shamrock in his teaching about the Trinity.

Boston is probably one of the most Irish of cities outside of Ireland. Braving the cold, we stood with half a million (or more) people along the streets of South Boston to join in the much talked about parade and were not disappointed.

But I couldn't help wondering - how many of the half million people have even heard of St Patrick?