Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick's Day is observed on 17 March, which is said to be the date of his death. It is celebrated inside and outside Ireland as a religious and cultural holiday. In the dioceses of Ireland, it is both asolemnity and a holy day of obligation; it is also a celebration of Ireland itself.

St. Patrick’s Day honors the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, who lived from about 387 AD to 461 AD.

Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius; Irish: Pádraig [ˈpˠaːd̪ˠɾˠəɟ], Old Irish: Cothraige) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary andbishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, along with saints Brigit of Kildare and Columba. He is also venerated in the Anglican Communion, the Old Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church as equal-to-apostles and the Enlightener of Ireland.

He was born in Roman Britain. According to the Confessio of Patrick, when he was about 16, he was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Great Britain, and taken as a slave to Ireland, looking after animals, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. He had a vision:

"I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: ‘The Voice of the Irish.’ As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea-and they cried out, as with one voice: ‘We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us."

After becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland in 433. His time in Ireland has led to many legends. He was able to convert thousands to Christianity and began to build churches around the country.
In later life, he served as a bishop, but little is known about the places where he worked. By the seventh century, he had already come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

The shamrock is associated with St. Patrick’s Day because he used it to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
After living and preaching in Ireland for 40 years, he died in 461.

Source: Wikipédia, web photos

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