“It’s St Patrick’s Day turn now,” said Scorch. The Mysticals were writing down the festivals and days celebrated across the world in March. They came across March 17 – a holiday celebrated as St Patrick’s Day.
At that moment Verum’s crystal ball projected all about this day – its origin, why it is dedicated to the patron saint of Ireland, and how did it become an important day. The Mysticals enjoyed reading about it.
They got to know that in the late 300 AD – a very, very long time ago – a baby boy was born in Britain to a loving Christian family. He was named Maewyn Succat. The child grew up in a well-to-do family that had reputed social status. Succat was educated in the Roman tradition.
All was going well until he turned 16 years old. As a teenager, Succat did not even imagine he would be kidnapped. The Irish marauders took the young boy and he was later pushed into slavery in Ireland. Slavery was a yesteryear practice of people owning other people. The owned people were called slaves and would work for the owners. Succat was a slave to an Irish chieftain and worked as a shepherd on Emerald Isle for six long years.
When Succat was 22-year-old, he decided to escape slavery. He returned to his native England. Soon after, he was bombarded with many dreams and could not understand what they meant. As a result of these dreams, Succat decided to study in France. He went on to become a Catholic Deacon (the one who helps run the church and teaches people about Christianity).
Going by his bitter experience of slavery, Succat was convinced he had to return to his land and free people from slavery and other oppressions. At that time, Pope Celestine was the one in authority. He permitted Succat to go to Ireland and renamed him Patritius (Patrick) – which means the ‘father of his people’.
He returned to Ireland about 432 AD and established many schools and churches before he died on March 17, 461 AD. There is not much known or written about his visit to Ireland as Saint Patrick. However, some accounts mention that he did go through certain hardships, so much so that he was bound in chains.
Nevertheless, Saint Patrick became a legendary figure in Ireland. The Irish people began celebrating the day with feasts and offering religious services.
As and when the Irish people moved to new places, they took the celebration of St Patrick’s Day along with them. The first-ever St. Patrick’s Day parade was recorded in America. In fact, ancient Spanish documents also state the first recorded parade in honor of St. Patrick was in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1601.
There are feasts and prayers offered in churches and many people, Irish and non-Irish, wear green or a shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day. Corned beef and cabbage are the Day’s traditional foods.
Fun fact: People, food, clothes, and drinks – are all in green on this day! Well, the color green is widely associated with St Patrick’s Day. There are a few reasons behind this tradition. One is that folklores state that it represents the green-colored three-leafed clover or Shamrock, that St Patrick often used as a symbol of Trinity. In Christianity, Trinity refers to three different persons called God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. However, there are no written records for this reason.
The other reason lies in the ancient practice of wearing green garments during the Spring Equinox to celebrate the rebirth of the Earth. The Spring Equinox marks the beginning of spring, wherein the days are longer and nights are shorter. This equinox usually falls around March 21 in Northern Hemisphere and around September 23 in Southern Hemisphere.