Andelu’s Rants from Shenzhen

St Patrick’s Day hasn’t generally been a holiday that I remember celebrating. Growing up I remember wearing something green to school but that is the extent of my observance. This year though we went out with a group of friends to our local Irish pub and had a fun evening. Although no green beer was had we did enjoy a few pints of Guinness.

I was stumped by one of our Chinese friends asking me what was the meaning of St Patrick’s Day. My answer that it was in honor of St Patrick, of course, brought the question was who was St Patrick. Other then an Irishman I couldn’t come up with anything. So that question wouldn’t stump me again and in preparation for the trivia tournament now taking place at our local expat member’s club I am sharing the following knowledge.

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick’s Day. However, not much of it is actually substantiated. But what I have been able to find out is that Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born about AD 385 and considered himself a pagan until he was 16. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God. After he escaped from slavery six years later he went and studied in a monastery. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.

Patrick was appointed as second bishop to Ireland and was quite successful at winning converts. He died on March 17 in AD 461 and that day has been commemorated as St. Patrick’s Day ever since.

Some of the lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day. That explains the shamrock on our cheeks — and I never knew!!

Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick’s Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.
Not sure knowing all that history makes drinking green beer any more fun but don’t you feel a little smarter now?? And happy to know that spring is just around the corner!