March 17 is Saint Patrick’s Day. People celebrate the day in different ways, ranging from wearing something green to keep from getting pinched to marching in a Saint Patrick’s Day parade and having day-long parties.The word Saint is often written as St. So if you see Saint Patrick written as St. Patrick, that’s okay.No matter how a person chooses to celebrate, there is something all people have in common: no one really knows much about Saint Patrick. That’s because there is not much documented information about his life. There are plenty of beliefs about him, but not much actual knowledge.Many scholars believe that Patrick lived in the fifth century. What does that mean? It means he lived sometime in the 400s. If he lived in the 400s, why is that called the fifth century?The easy answer, without a lot of detail, is that the name of a century is always one more than it seems like it should be. The 400s are the fifth century, the 500s are the sixth century, and so on. The current year is 2023, which means we are in the 21st century.Some scholars believe that Patrick died on March 17 in the year 461. So March 17 is called Saint Patrick’s Day.There are just two documents, both written by Patrick, that give us details about his life. One is a letter he wrote. The other is an autobiography. Lets start with the letter.The Latin name of the letter is Epistola, which means letter. In English translations, Patrick’s letter has a number of different names, such as Letter to Coroticus, Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus, and Letter Excommunicating Coroticus.Today, scholars don’t know exactly who Coroticus was, but it seems that he and his soldiers had attacked some of Patrick’s Christian converts, kidnapped them, and carried them off to be slaves. In his letter, Patrick says this about himself: “I declare that I, Patrick—an unlearned sinner indeed—have been established a bishop of Ireland.”A bishop was a person of authority in the early Christian church. So Patrick is writing the letter as a bishop. He tells Coroticus and his soldiers that what they did was very wrong—so wrong that they will be kicked out of the church and will not go to heaven.So, this letter tells us two things about Patrick: he was a bishop in Ireland and he did missionary work there, converting people to Christianity.Patrick’s other document, his autobiography, is called, in Latin, Confessio. In English, it is called either Confession or Declaration. It is interesting for the things it tells us and for the things it does not. First, the things it tells.As a teenager living in Britain, Patrick wasn’t very religious.When he was sixteen, he was captured by Irish pirates, carried off to Ireland, and made a slave. His job was to take care of sheep. In those hard circumstances, his interest in God and in religion grew and became strong.He began to pray every day. Not a little, but a lot. He writes: “Faith grew, and my spirit was moved, so that in one day I would pray up to one hundred times, and at night perhaps the same. I even remained in the woods and on the mountain, and I would rise to pray before dawn in snow and ice and rain.”After he had been a slave for six years, he heard a voice telling him that soon he would return to his native home. The tale of his escape, his voyage to Britain, and of traveling through some very barren land is brief, but exciting.He goes on to write how a few years later, while living at home in Britain with his parents, he had a vision that the people in Ireland needed him. He returned there as a missionary and had much success in converting people to Christianity.He wrote: “How has this happened in Ireland? Never before did they know of God except to serve idols and unclean things. But now, they have become the people of the Lord, and are called children of God.”Here are two beliefs about Patrick that neither his Epistola nor hisConfessio mention: using a shamrock to teach about God and banishing snakes from Ireland.According to legend, Patrick taught people in Ireland about God by using a shamrock, which is a type of three-leaf clover. Supposedly, he compared the three leaves on a sprig of shamrock to the Christian trinity—that is, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.As a result of this legend, the shamrock became a symbol of Ireland and is often seen on St. Patrick’s Day.Another legend is that there are no snakes in Ireland because St. Patrick ordered them to leave. He does not mention this in his writings. Also, fossil records show that there have never been snakes in Ireland, so there would not have been any for Patrick to banish.Today in Ireland, as well as in Canada, the United States, and other countries, March 17 is a fun day of celebration. It not only honors St. Patrick, but showcases Ireland and Irish culture. There are parades and festivals. Irish traditional music is played. People eat Irish food, wear green clothes, and pin on shamrocks. Many Christians attend a special church service that day.
Fun FactsShamrocks have three leaves. Some illustrations show them with four leaves, but a four-leaf clover is not considered a shamrock.On Saint Patrick’s Day, some U.S. cities dye nearby rivers and canals green. The most notable of these are Chicago, Illinois and San Antonio, Texas.Savannah, Georgia tried to dye its river green, but the fast-moving water carried the dye away. So they dye nine fountains throughout the city, instead.
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