A New Perspective on March 17th

Things I didn't know about Saint Patrick, the person behind St. Patrick's Day, until today...

• He was a pagan until he was 16 years old
• He became a Christian during his enslavement to the Irish marauders who kidnapped him from his family's wealthy estate on the British mainland
• He escaped after 6 years and was so convicted of the need to spread the Gospel that he went to study at the monastery for 12 years
• In saving many souls for Christ, he was despised by the Celtic Druids who were pagans... he was captured and imprisoned by them on numerous occasions, but miraculously escaped each time
• Saint Patrick originated the symbol of the shamrock as he used it to teach the concept of the Trinity: three leaves connected by one stem (and isn't it cool that each leaf is in the shape of a heart?)
• He died on March 17 AD 461, which is why we celebrate his life on this day
• Although he is celebrated as a Saint, Patrick and the early Celtic Church of Ireland rejected any foreign control of the church, recognizing only Jesus Christ as head of the Church. Roman Catholicism was not embraced until many years later

• • • • •

From "The Confession," written by Saint Patrick as he neared the end of his life:

"And there the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and then turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my low estate, and took pity on my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him, and before I was able to distinguish between good and evil, and guarded me, and comforted me as would a father his son. Hence I cannot be silent - and indeed, I ought not to be - about the many blessings and the great grace which the Lord has deigned to bestow upon me in the land of my captivity... for this we can give to God in return after having been chastened by Him, to exalt and praise His wonders before every nation that is anywhere under the heaven."

What a departure from what Saint Patrick's day has become to our generation! It isn't simply a holiday to wear green and pinch each other. It isn't a holiday to go out and drink green beer. It isn't a holiday to spend money on stuffed leprechauns and green carnations. It's an opportunity to be reminded of Saint Patrick's dedication to saving souls to Christ, and to be inspired to do the same in our own communities!

I hope this inspires all of you as much as it did me. Such an amazing new perspective on a holiday I didn't know much about!

I wish I could claim all of these findings as my own. The credit goes to a blog I follow called "Ni Hao Y'all!"