Saints, Shamrocks & Shenanigans

Seeing Green

Sadly, when people mention “Saint Patrick’s Day,” the first image that comes to mind is probably a massive frat party with a bunch of degenerates shotgunning beers.

Similar to Saint Valentine, Saint Patrick has seen his feast day slowly transform into a day completely foreign to the ideals he embodies.

Saint Patrick, known as the Apostle of Ireland, was a fifth century Catholic bishop and missionary who, interestingly enough, is not even from Ireland.

He was born in Britain toward the end of Roman rule in the region and grew up in a Christian household. However, he later explains he did not take his faith seriously as a youth and admits that he “did not know the true God” at the time.

When he was 16 years old, tragedy struck—he was captured by Irish pirates and taken back as a slave, where he lived as a herder of animals.

After six years of desolation, he received a vision from God in which he was told that if he wanted to escape his captivity, he should travel to the coast. Sure enough, there he found sailors that were on their way to Britain.

After this miraculous moment, Patrick knew that it was only right that he should devote his entire life to the Lord and spreading the gospel.

Thus, he began studying to become a priest, was ordained by Saint Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and later became a bishop.

After becoming a bishop, Saint Patrick received another vision. In the dream, he saw a man named Victoricus bringing him letters with one of them titled “The Voice of the Irish.”

As he began to read the letter, he heard the Irish people calling out to him, “we appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us once more.”

This deeply moved Patrick and he understood the mission: return to the land where he had been enslaved, not as a captive as before, but as a free man spreading the word of God, mirroring Galatians 4:7.

He arrived in Ireland around the year 433 AD and immediately faced near fatal confrontations.

At the time, Ireland was a pagan country made up of more than 100 small, family-based clans governed by local chiefs. These clans united with other clans to form several larger kingdoms whose religion was a mix between polytheism and animism, or the idea that both animate and inanimate objects have a soul, agency, and free will.

Therefore, Christianity and this hybrid religion obviously didn’t mix very well, as there was immediate contention between Saint Patrick and the druids (their version of priests), who engaged in demonic spells, incantations, curses, and dark magic.

Over time, however, Saint Patrick slowly began to win over the druids and chieftains after numerous miracles and signs.

Additionally, he was particularly successful at explaining the Trinity to the Irish by using a shamrock, whose three leaves are united in one plant—similar to how the three persons of the Trinity are united and exist as one God.

Obviously, while not a sufficient theological explanation, the familiar symbol and its simple yet profound nature allowed the comparison to stick in the Irish people’s minds and helped them grasp the concept.

Patrick remained in Ireland for 30 to 40 years, during which he not only spread the Gospel but also built numerous churches across the country. He eventually passed away in Gaul, where the first Irish church was built.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: how does any of this have to do with millions of people getting blackout drunk every 17th of March?

In the 19th and 20th centuries, millions of Irish immigrants flooded into the United States, with a large proportion of them fleeing The Great Famine (1845-1852).

These new Americans used Saint Patrick’s Day as a general celebration of their heritage and culture rather than the religious observance it was back home.

Over time, it became a public event with parades, music, and festivities, especially in cities with large Irish populations like Boston, New York, and Chicago. Additionally, due to Irish immigrants quickly being associated with heavy drinking, the day, by the transitive property, also became linked to heavy alcohol consumption.

Commercialization played a role as well, as bars and beer companies heavily promoted drinking on Saint Patrick’s Day as a marketing tactic.

Meanwhile back in Ireland, there was no connection between Saint Patrick’s Day and drinking, as pubs were notoriously closed on the day every year.

However, in the 1970s, increased tourism led to the government embracing the commercialized and booze-filled version of the day, and the rest is history.

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Thanks for reading and until next time.

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