What is St. Paddy's Day All About?
There are many things St. Patrick's Day Celebrates, but traditionally it is to notate the death of the great patron St. Patrick, who is known for converting thousands of people into Christians.
Originally St. Patrick's Day was not really celebrated in Ireland except to commemorate the great Saint. It was not a Holiday either, until the early American I migrants in announcing their heritage with a parade to commemorate the Luck of the Irish. Many Irish were condemned and treated as a second citizen in early America as well as many businesses would even advertise,"Irish Need Not Apply for Jobs".
The three leaf clover was said to once be a symbol of the pagans and St. Patrick used it and converted it into a Christian symbol in order to convert people to Christianity of which he changed the meaning into the trilogy symbol, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This worked as a tool to mend fences between the non-believers and the believers of Christianity. Many stories have passed about St. Patrick such as he was known for running the snakes or rats or druids out of Ireland, but one thing is for sure he was a great man of humanity and of Christ.
Because Catholicism was the predominant religion in Ireland and a band on many things including Alcohol, of which, this day became a tradition to lift the ban on alcohol and a day to celebrate Irish heritage and drink and eat and be merry. Eventually the tradition of drinking on this day and celebrating the Emerald Isle, translated into celebrating with the color Kelley Green because of the lush green country side of Ireland.
Today we use this Holiday for any reason to wear green, drink green alcohol, pass on the luck of the Irish with green money and wish good fortune; overall anything Irish just a day to celebrate. Jovial sayings and symbols passed around just to make another's day bright green with happiness!
Top of the Morn'n to Ya,
Article by: Pamala A. Hook
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