Top of the morning to ya!
Yes, I’m wearing green today like hundreds of thousands of people around the world. I’m not a beer drinker, but I know thousands of gallons are being consumed as I write this post. Parades are going on all over the world.
But who really was St. Patrick? There are many legends regarding the man known to thousands as, The Apostle of Ireland.
The following is from the site, Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, that tells us a bit more about him.
Saint Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. St Patrick is credited with bringing christianity to Ireland. Most of what is known about him comes from his two works; the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Epistola, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish christians. Saint Patrick 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.”
Many folk ask the question ‘Why is the Shamrock the National Flower of Ireland ?’ The reason is that St. Patrick used it to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagans. Saint Patrick is believed to have been born in the late fourth century, and is often confused with Palladius, a bishop who was sent by Pope Celestine in 431 to be the first bishop to the Irish believers in Christ.
As a Christian, I love how this godly man, with a heart for souls, shared his faith by using something common to the countryside and to the people.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
