Are you wearing green today?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I did a little digging to find out just who St. Patrick is and why he’s important enough to have a holiday in his name. Here is what I found:

Who is St. Patrick?

Patrick lived during the 5th century and is given credit for bringing Christianity to Ireland. He was born in Ireland and lived there until he was kidnapped at age sixteen by pirates and sold into slavery. During his six years of captivity, he learned to find strength in his faith. (Although, he worked as a shepherd, so his captivity doesn’t sound too rough). Patrick finally escaped and lived in France, where he became a priest and then a bishop.

Oddly, he waited until he was 60 years old to move back to Ireland and spread the gospel of Christianity. While teaching about the Trinity, he used the shamrock as a metaphor to illustrate the concept.

St. Patrick is also legendary for driving snakes out of Ireland. While it is true, according to all accounts I could find, that there are no snakes in Ireland, critics believe that there probably never were any there in the first place because the island separated from the rest of the continent during the ice age before snakes existed. He is most likely credited with this because serpent symbols were common and worshiped by many supposedly pagan religions. Driving out the snakes may be symbolic for the end of these practices.

St. Patrick died a hero in Ireland on March 17th around 460 A.D. He described himself as a most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped idols and unclean things had become the people of God."

What is St. Patrick’s Day?

Prior to the 20th century, St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated only as a religious holiday. It became a public holiday in 1903 by the Black Holiday Act, introduced to Parliament by Irish Prime Minister James O’Mara. In Ireland, the holiday is still a religious observance. Businesses, besides restaurants and pubs, close down. People attend mass where it is a time of spiritual renewal and offer prayers for missionaries around the world. Then, they celebrate!

The first accounts of American celebration date back to 1737. Now St. Patrick’s day is a day to wear green and celebrate everything Irish. For San Diego St. Patrick’s day events, visit the San Diego Weekly Reader.

Meanwhile we, the Bolt team, will continue helping small businesses expand their pots of gold through credible exposure, both on- and off-line.

By: Anne Carr, anne@boltpr.com