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History
of St. Patrick's Day
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Love Saint Patrick's
Day? Me Too!
You'll
find here some fun games and activities to do with the kids
as well as a history of St. Paddy's Day and meals you may want
to serve.
Let's
start off with a history of St. Patrick's Day:
St.
Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, who ironically wasn't
even Irish. Patrick was the son of a wealthy British family
and lived during the later part of the 4th century A.D. When
he was sixteen years old, a group of Irish raiders kidnapped
him and took him to Ireland. He was forced into slave labor
for six years and he worked as a shepherd during this time.
While
Patrick was in the fields, he began to seek God and became a
Christian. He spent many lonely hours and grew in his faith.
Some believe it was during this time that he began to dream
about spreading Christianity throughout Ireland. In one of his
dreams, Patrick heard a voice he believed to be God that told
him he needed to leave Ireland. He managed to escape to England.
While
in England, he had another dream in which he saw an angel who
told him it was time to return to Ireland, but this time as
a missionary, instead of a prisoner. He didn't leave right away,
however. He took time to study for fifteen years, spending some
of that time in France, became a priest and then left for Ireland.
He began to spread Christianity as well as encourage the Christians
who were already living there.
Over
the centuries, Patrick's reputation and legend grew. The story
of Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland is one of many exaggerated
tales. Since Ireland never had any snakes, many historians believe
that it is symbolic of Patrick driving out the old pagan traditions
as he brought Christianity to the people.
The
Irish celebrate the anniversary of his death, March 17th, and
have been joined by people around the world. Originally, people
would go to church that morning and have a feast of traditional
Irish food and drink in the afternoon. Since it falls during
Lent, the church would allow an exception to the fasting tradition
of not eating meat during Lent.
Today,
St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with parades and parties and
the "wearin' of the green". The first St. Patrick's
Day parade was actually held in the United States in 1762 in
New York City. There were Irish soldiers in the British army
and they decided to celebrate their heritage with the parade.
They played Irish music and bonded with their fellow Irishmen.
Its
popularity is world wide, with celebrations being held in many
other countries around the world including Japan, Russia, Canada
and Australia. In Ireland, it is still considered a religious
feast day, in honor of their patron saint, Patrick, and all
he did for their country.
Watch
the video below to get a glimpse of what Ireland looks like
today. It's beautiful!
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