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The holiday in honor of the heavenly patron of Ireland has long spread to other countries. Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated March 17 in Dublin and New York, in Tokyo and Seoul, in Buenos Aires and Sydney, as well as in Moscow. In many cities around the world, processions with songs and dances are held, in which thousands of people participate. Who is Saint Patrick anyway, why everyone dresses in green in his honor and what does the shamrock have to do with it – here is our complete guide to the holiday.
Who is Saint Patrick: the history of the holiday
Saint Patrick lived at the end of the XNUMXth – the middle of the XNUMXth century AD. Of course, very little information about him has been preserved. There is, however, one source that can be considered relatively reliable – “Confession”, written by Patrick himself. But even she does not fully shed light on the biography of the saint.
It is known that he was born in Britain, in that part of it that was under the rule of the Romans. His name was then Mavin Sukkat. He came to Ireland at the age of 16 as a slave – the young man was kidnapped by pirates. In slavery, the future saint converted to Christianity. He prayed all the time in captivity, the Lord heard these prayers and suggested to the new convert how to escape from captivity. Mavin escaped and returned to his homeland. However, a few years later he again goes to Ireland, now voluntarily and in the rank of bishop with the name Patrick. And he goes because he had a vision that prescribed to convert the Irish to Christianity. Missionary Patrick came to the “natives” to their liking. So much so that monotheism in Ireland was accepted without serious opposition.
It is believed that Patrick also gave the island writing, and at the same time expelled all the snakes from there – and there really are no snakes on Irish soil, this is a scientific fact. March 17 is the day of the death of the saint, who remained among the pagans converted by him until the end of his days. The place where he rests is not exactly known, most often they mention the city of Downpatrick (whose name is translated as “Patrick’s burial”) on the British piece of the island. There is a legend that two untamed bulls chose the place for the grave. They were harnessed to a wagon with the body of the saint, and they buried him where the animals had stopped.
The Irish began to celebrate the day of their patron a thousand years ago. At first it was just a folk holiday, but the date was added to the liturgical calendar at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. And after another three centuries, St. Patrick’s Day became an official holiday in Ireland. By the way, the missionary bishop is the heavenly patron not only of Ireland, but also of Nigeria – because Christian preachers in this African country came in most cases from the Emerald Isle.
This saint is also venerated in Orthodoxy under the name of Patricius; in 2017, the Orthodox Church included him in the calendar. True, the date of memory is different – according to the Julian calendar, that is, March 30th.
Holiday traditions
Today, St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in Ireland, Northern Ireland, on the island of Montserrat (part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago), as well as in one of the provinces of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador. And migrants brought him worldwide popularity. The Irish, who went to the United States for a better life, in homesickness, held a large-scale parade on March 17 with songs and dances. It happened either in New York, or, according to another version, in Boston back in the 1931th century. Since then, it has gone: in some cities, festivals in honor of the saint are stretched out for as many as several days, and they acquire the most scope in the places of residence of a large Irish diaspora. But actually in Ireland, the first big festive procession took place only in XNUMX.
The main Christian tradition of veneration of the saint is the ascent of pilgrims to Mount Croagh Patric in the west of Ireland. According to legend, it was here that the saint prayed and fasted for 40 days, and the demons tried to interfere with him in every possible way. By the power of prayer, the saint managed to drive demons into a cave right there on the mountain – and they say that evil spirits are imprisoned there to this day.
Those for whom the path of pilgrims is too difficult or inaccessible celebrate the holiday in a folk way. One of the fun traditions is to drink the so-called “Patrick’s Cup” – whiskey or ale with shamrock in a glass. The action itself is called “drain the shamrock”. On Patrick’s Day, the church even allows the flock to drink alcohol, regardless of the fact that the date falls on a fast. At the same time, and you will be very surprised now, for most of the 17th century in Ireland there was even a law that ordered all pubs to be closed on March 70 – the locals were walking very zealously. But in the XNUMXs, this requirement was canceled by the authorities, apparently realizing the complete futility of the ban.
On processions in honor of the saint, everyone tries to dress in green, the symbolic color of the holiday. There is even a custom to pinch a little those who ignored the color dress code. Decorations in the form of a clover leaf are attached to clothes, but not a four-leaf, but a shamrock. According to legend, with the help of this particular plant, Patrick explained to the pagans the Christian dogma about the Holy Trinity. On March 17, sweets covered with emerald glaze are baked in the shape of a trefoil, and traditional dishes are also prepared: cabbage with bacon and corned beef.
Another symbol of the holiday is the leprechaun, a creature from Celtic myths, which in Ireland was respected much like our brownie. Leprechauns are considered treasure keepers. There is even a legend that if you catch a magical man on St. Patrick’s Day, he must show where the wealth is hidden, or, well, fulfill three wishes. They began to associate with the holiday in honor of the holy leprechauns not so long ago, and this was a purely marketing ploy. It’s just that the advertising company needed a cute fairy-tale character to have someone to depict on postcards and souvenirs.
Unusual facts about the holiday
In honor of the holiday on March 17, many buildings around the world are illuminated in green. The Sydney Opera House, the Empire State Building, the London Eye Ferris wheel, the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, as well as Moscow buildings on Tverskaya and Strastnoy Boulevard shone in an emerald hue. “Green” even natural objects – for example, Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. And in Chicago, there is a tradition to tint the city river on Patrick’s Day. True, it began in a very prosaic way and had no connection with the holiday. For the first time, green vegetable dye was added to water to track illegal dumping.
new blue
But initially the color of St. Patrick was not green at all. On the images of the saint that have survived to this day, he appears in blue robes. According to one version, emerald became the main color as a political provocation – Irish soldiers during the 1798 uprising dressed in the uniform of this particular shade. There is also a more romantic version – the grass in Ireland remains green all year round, so this color was suitable for the symbol of the country like no other.
Holiday at the top
Even the Queen of Great Britain puts on green clothes on St. Patrick’s Day, and representatives of the royal family go to congratulate the Irish guards and give them shamrocks. The holiday has other fans among world leaders – some of them tie green ties on this day.
One hundred meters to the pub
The world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade takes place in the village of Dripsey, County Cork. It lies between two local pubs and is approximately 90 meters long.
Beer with washing powder
For the holiday, almost all bars offer visitors green beer. And it was first brewed at the beginning of the last century by Dr. Thomas Curtin. True, there are rumors that he managed to get a bewitching emerald shade thanks to a drop of Wash Blue washing powder, but we will assume that these are all slanders. Here’s a traditional Irish toast for you: “If you’re lucky to be Irish… You’re already very lucky!”