By Channing Pick–The month of March brings the holiday of St. Patrick’s Day along with it. Which means everyone pretends to be “Irish” for a day by wearing the color green and throwing parties for the sake of having a party.
With the passing of time the story behind the day is forgotten and the day is celebrated by drinking until you can’t see straight.
But, what is the story of the man behind the day of binge drinking?
Well, while most believe that the man St. Patrick was Irish, that’s not the truth. Historians are not confident as to where he was born, but they believe that St. Pat. was born somewhere in Scotland around the year of 387 AD. His parents were considered Roman citizens which, in turn, made St. Patrick a Roman citizen as well.
And to top it all off, Patrick isn’t even his full name. St. Patrick’s parents gave their child the name of Patricius, which means “noble of the patrician class,” The Patrician class was a group that ruled Rome for several years.
Where does Ireland come into play?
It’s every parent’s nightmare to come home to find their child missing, and this was the case for St. Patrick. While his parents were out one afternoon a group of slave raiders captured Patricius and took him to Ireland to be sold as a slave. During his years of slavery he watched over flocks of sheep.
St. Patrick believed he deserved his punishment as a slave because he had broken a law, so he did not attempt to escape. During his six years of slavery he became closer to God and said that God told him twice to leave slavery. Which, he eventually did.
After escaping slavery, St. Patrick came back to Ireland to do work for the church as the Bishop of the Church. He had overcome fear of laws and the fear of others in order to proclaim the word of God to the world.
The passing of time may morph the history and make it irrelevant in our minds, but everyone can learn a lesson from St. Patricius. It’s courage, forgetting the fear and sticking up for what you believe in even when it seems like the world is against you.
Happy St. Patricius Day!
Information from: http://www.commdiginews.com/history-and-holidays/saint-patrick-the-man-behind-the-myth-12346/
Leave a Reply