Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A wealthy sixteen year-old boy lives apathetically. Suddenly, a fierce kidnapping brings upheaval into his life, and he is alone among enemies. Eventually brought to a foreign land, he has no one to turn to but the one who is always present—God. Are you intrigued yet? I was when I first heard the story of St. Patrick. He was born in Britain near the end of the fourth century, and the Irish kidnapped him from his privileged home. Finally escaping after six years of slavery, he demonstrated one of the most unparalleled acts of forgiveness by a man in history: he went back to his captors in obedience to a vision from God in order to bring them the Gospel.

There were a small number of Christians on the island, but most of the Irish were pagan. He died on March 17, around 460, and that day became a Catholic feast day to honor St. Patrick. Now, Americans and people all over the world remember this amazing man each year.
Here is an adorable video about St. Patrick. The little girl’s story was recorded in the 1960s in an inner-city school in Dublin, Ireland, and an animation company rescued the recordings from the trash and made this one into this short video. I certainly wish that I had known as much about Patrick when I was this girl’s age, but be aware that she did mess up on a couple of facts, namely that he was British and not French.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here are a few interesting facts:

• On St. Patrick’s Day in 1776, George Washington’s army used the password “St. Patrick,” and on that day the British forces finally evacuated Boston.


• St. Patrick’s blue was the original Irish color associated with Patrick, but because of the legend of him explaining the Trinity through the shamrock and because Ireland is known as the “Emerald Isle,” the color metamorphasized into green.


• Corned beef and cabbage is actually the cheap meal that Irish Americans made do with when they were too poor to buy the true Irish boiled bacon.


• Every year Chicago dyes the Chicago river green for St. Patrick’s Day! It started in 1962 as a way to trace sewage leaks, and then someone realized the draw for tourists (or something like that!).


• Irish is the second most reported heritage in the US, after German.

So wear your Irish green today and eat corned beef and cabbage, but remember and honor this Christian man who became stronger through tragedy, who forgave the unforgiveable, and who is remembered and honored over 1500 years after his death, not because of genius or talent, but because his light still shines in Ireland.

Photo of Chicago River from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_River_St_Patricks_Day_08.jpg

Quote from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/saint_patrick.html