sexta-feira, 18 de março de 2011

March 17th - St. Patrick's Day

Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.[citation needed]

In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.


So, answering your question:
Why do people wear green this day?
Green is the color of the shamrock, got it?


The next question is: Why is he considered the 'beer saint'?

Who wants to try to answer this one?

2 comentários:

  1. By the way, sorry it has taken me so long to post.

    ResponderExcluir
  2. Wow, It is great to learn all that! I had never celebrated St Patricks Day in Brazil, and last month I realized it is a HUGE thing here in the US! At the retirement living where I work as an Activity Director all the seniors wore green (they did not want to be pinched!). It was one week after Carnival and believe it or not they barely knew what Carnival (or Mardi Gras) was, but they were all excited about drinking green beer and wearing green on March 17th! Hope everything is great at TFLA! Miss you all! Marilyn

    ResponderExcluir