St Patrick, patron of Ireland, is celebrated each year on March 17th. It is uncertain whether this day is the date of his birth or his death, and some have claimed it is both. The place of his birth is as much a mystery, though stories have abounded in legends.
This is one of many stories of St. Patrick: According to the best authorities, this Patrick was born about A.d. 386 in the village of Nemphthur, just outside of Glastonbury, England. One legend states that in his sixteenth year he was carried away by pirates and taken to the north of Ireland, where he was sold as a slave.
Opinions differ as to the exact time when Bishop Patrick began his ministrations in Ireland, but in his immediate success there is obvious testimony offered by the old legends. He eventually became a noted Christian evangelist to the heathen in Ireland and rose to the rank of bishop.
St Patrick knew how to adapt the superstitions and the pagan rites which he found existing to the teachings of the Church, and one of his first doings was to light a Paschal fire on the Hill of Slano in opposition to a Druidical fire on the Hill of Tara, and the light from Slane eclipsed the light on Tara forever. He is known for the founding of 365 churches in Ireland, each with a school by its side, and contributed to the civilization of the people.
One of the most popular legends regarding St. Patrick is the one which gives him credit for driving all the snakes and other vermin out of Ireland. This story has held its place better than any other story or truth for that matter, and over the years this tale has grown stronger through embellishment by storytellers and miracle-seekers alike.
The story of St. Patrick is immortalized in song as well as story. This is an portion of an old popular Irish song:
There’s not a mile in Ireland’s isle where the dirty vermin musters;
Where’er he put his dear forefoot he murdered them in clusters.
The toads went hop, the frogs went flop, slap dash into the water,
And the beasts committed suicide to save themselves from slaughter.
Nine hundred thousand vipers blue he charmed with sweet discourses,
And dined on them at Killaloo in soups and second courses.
When blindworms crawling on the grass disgusted all the nation,
He gave them a rise and opened their eyes to a sense of the situation.
The Wicklow Hills are very high, and so’s the Hill of Houth, sir;
But there’s a hill much higher still—ay, higher than them both, sir;
‘Twas on the top of this high hill St. Patrick preached the sarmint
That drove the trogs into the bogs and bothered all the varmint.
In the story let’s make note that St. Patrick was alway accompanied by a drum to announce his presence and attract his people. At events the drum was beaten so intensely that it burst. The people were sadly disappointed by this accident, especially in seeing a big black snake slithering down the hill. It is said that an angel appeared, patching the drum so the sermon could continue, and the reptiles all magically vanished.
St. Patricks age at death was just as much a tale as the story of his life, with estimates ranging from age eighty-eight and one hundred and twenty years. He died in Saul, not far from Downpatrick where he was buried. When exactly the date of March 17th became St. Patrick’s day no one knows, but it has become a popular holday in Ireland as well as many other parts of the world. The day is a renewal of patriotism for the Irish People.
Shamrocks are worn in the celebration of St Patrick’s day, for St. Patrick used the three leaves on one stem as a symbol of the doctrine of the Trinity, signifying its great mystery or intuitive meaning.
In days of old the local inn was used as the universal gathering place, and a “Patrick’s pot” of beer or whiskey and a small portion of oat bread and fish were contributed by the host. In areas where there was no inn the gathering would take place at the largest home, with a table of great size made from unhinged doors laid out over poles. Each who gathered would be provided their own oat bread and fish, and at the conclusion of the evening and their “Patrick Pot” they would quietly depart.
Happy St. Patricks day from IntuitiveMeaning.com!
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