| A Little Trivia Too!!
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland
and he is commemorated on March 17
each year. His name wasn't always Patrick,
He was born as Maewyn Succat, the son
of a Roman official in Whales. At the age
of 16 Maewyn was kidnapped and sold into
slavery in Ireland. He spent six years as a
slave in Ireland before he escaped by boat.
He traveled to Gaul in France where he
studied in a monastery for 12 years. He
became a bishop and adopted the Christian
name Patricius, in English: Patrick.
Patrick had had a lot of visions about
Ireland and so he decided to go back to
convert the Irish pagans to Christianity.
Other missionaries had tried to do the
same before but they did not succeed.
Patrick, however, knew the Irish. During his
slavery he had learned many things about
the Irish life and their gods. So, Patrick
didn't for example introduce the cross as
we know it from our churches. He included
the sun because he knew that it was an
important symbol for the Irish. The so
called Celtic Cross therefore is a cross with
a circle in the upper part symbolizing the
sun. The holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)
was explained by Patrick with the help of
a shamrock. The shamrock is a plant that
grows everywhere in Ireland. It consists
of three equally sized leaves and Patrick
used the shamrock to show how the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit could exist as
separate elements of the same entity.
Patrick is also known for ridding Ireland of
all its snakes. And there are still no snakes
to be found on that island. Patrick died in
the year 461. People weren't actually sure
whether he died on March 8 or 9. Rather
than argue about the day on which he
actually died, the witty Irish just added the
two dates together and so St. Patrick's day
is celebrated on March 17.
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Hook 'Em Horns!!!!
Last edited by Abear; 03-16-2004 at 04:02 PM.
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