In America we celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a great fervor even more so than they celebrate in Ireland. Our celebration considered larger and louder amongst the Irish American citizens. The celebration takes place on March 17 or the first Saturday there after. The wearing of the green has become so popular in America that just about everyone joins in the fun with ribbons, hats, shirts, and just about anything wearable. Green is the National colors of Ireland and it represents the coming of spring.
The celebration begins with a parade honoring St. Patrick and normally the streets painted with green stripes. The Irish are famous for their green beer and foods of all sorts. The local bars usually color their beer green now no matter the brand but the food made in the Irish tradition. Out door parks open to live entertainment provided by the Irish along with art works and of course delicious foods. The celebration held all over America with just about all Americans joining in for the fun of the celebration. Even though just about everyone celebrates this holiday, it is not a national holiday. St. Patrick's Day a holiday celebrated in America today by the whole nation without the sanction of being a national holiday.
Just like other holidays in America today that come from ethnic Americans St. Patrick's Day began in ancient times. The holiday based on a story told about a young boy named Patrick who lived in the British Isles captured and taken to Ireland. Patrick a very religious boy herded sheep there and prayed that someday he could return to his home in Britain. Legend has it that he heard a voice while sleeping that told him to escape from the farm where he worked and find a ship that waited for him about two hundred miles away for him to take him home. Once Patrick had returned home, he felt the call given by God to return to Ireland and convert the Celtic people to the Christian religion.
The legend of the shamrock began when local tribesmen who claimed that they could not understand the Trinity approached Patrick. Patrick selected a clover that had three leaves and told them here is a plant with three separate leaves but together makes the clover. The Celtic people understood this explanation and from that time, forward the shamrock has become a revered symbol of Ireland. Patrick had become a saint by that time and many stories had evolved about his ability to drive snakes out of Ireland.
The Leprechaun a tiny elf connected to St. Patrick's Day has its own legend. The word leprechaun derived from a mixture of "luchorpan" or "small person" and a word meaning "one-shoemaker." The small elf is a symbol used for St. Patrick's Day celebration depicting a smiling, merry little elf. The legend has it that he is grumpy, untrustworthy, and very tricky. He guards over his pot of gold, which humans try to find to no avail. The Irish concerning their mythical Leprechaun have spun many fun stories.
The Irish have a very special blessing that they say to a friend as they leave some say that St. Patrick himself gave it to them while others claim they do not know who made this blessing. I would like to close with this blessing to all my Irish-American friends.
May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, May the sunshine warm upon your face, and the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again,
May God Hold You in The Palm of his Hand. An Old Irish Blessing
