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Its the 17th of March and the French calender on my table says that its St Patrick's Day !!!
I asked a dear friend ... what this day signified (I thought he would be the best person to know as his school bore the name of this particular saintly gentleman and he had been blissfully enjoying a day off from the time he had stepped in to its portals ...)
But all I knew was that it was his death anniversary today that gave people soooo sooo much joy that they went almost went nuts !!!!
So the curiosity bug in me got goin'... and here I am ... at 2 AM in the morning fishing out St Patrick with sleepy eyes ... to get to know why ... WHY !!! .... people celebrate on the day he died !!!
Well ... for introductions ... St Patrick seems to be quite a celebrity in the Christian world ... I must say (he has more fan-following than any other saint who went happy-go-lucky) .... and for official credentials he happily flaunts the badge of "The PATRON saint of Ireland".
Calling him a celebrity has reasons ...
Have you seen( / heard of ) a saint with such a ... ahem .... mysterious life to go by ?
Though this too has a reason .... He is the patron if Ireland !!! The Irish culture is centered around and steeped in a rich tradition of legends and myths and they have quite a long record of spinning exciting long tales to remember their history which is handed down to generations by the word-of-mouth. This has always been a center-hold of the Irish way of life... The stories say that he banished snakes from the Irish soil !!
Now about some ground covered by this dude ...
Born to a rich Anglo-Roman family (hola ! do I see correctly... it says ... near the end of the 4th century !!! ) who were deacons by profession ... he had been literally born with a silver spoon in his mouth ... which he by a turn of fate seems to have dropped somewhere... when he was kidnapped by some robbers who raided their property and stole him back to Ireland where he slaved for six years as a herds-boy till he had visions and escaped only to return to Ireland after formal education in religion as a missionary with a difference. Familiar to the Irish language and culture he beautifully weaved the "pagan" (Nature-worshiping) Irish traditional rituals into his lessons of Christianity.
He is credited with incorporating the Irish way of celebrating Easter with bonfires (Irish used to honor their nature Gods this way ... ). He is the one who introduced the designer Celtic cross (with the powerful Irish symbol of the Sun) for easing the veneration of the symbol by the newly-inducted Irish.
He used the shamrock (a 3-leafed plant to explain the HOLY TRINITY). Innovative huh !!!
The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for thousands of years now (they have been at it since approx the 1600s ... St Patrick died on March 17, around 460 A.D.). On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent (the 40 days of tedious fasting ... which overlaps with our very own Navratri .... and follows the Mardi Gras ... psssss .. psssssss ... the last festivity is actually a Christian holiday and popular cultural phenomenon, Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to pagan spring and fertility rites. Also known as Carnival, it is celebrated in many countries around the world--mainly those with large Roman Catholic populations--on the day before the religious season of Lent begins),
Irish families traditionally be good Christians and attend church in the morning and then celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat are waived and people dance, drink (beer !! well ... now you know there was such a rush @ O'Callaghan's !!! ), feast and make merry — on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
The lucky charm :
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig (the Gaelic way of expressing a wish that you have all the blessings of St Patrick's Day and the "luck of the Irish" to go with it !!! )
Some funny stories about this charm comes from the legend of the Leprechauns or 'Little People' finding or catching one of whom (who would then give you gold) was a lucky event that could only take place in Ireland! (The Irish are descendants of Celtic and Vikings who were fighters and invaders. Their natural skills ensured survival which gave them the nomenclature of 'lucky' people ..... a classic case of making your own luck if you are to have it ! ha ha ha !!!
Disclaimer : But then "The Luck of the Irish" may all be legend.
Now for the dress code ...
It is believed that dear Patrick loved Blue ... he he ...(O boy !! so do I !!! ) but somehow ... SOMEHOW !!! it got to be replaced by GREEN (of all colors !!! gosh !!!) as the official color-code for the day ....
Green for the eye-color of envy (who saw it anyway ??? )
but somehow Green = spring and fertility ... so go green with Patrick ...
Its not really so bad you know ...
(So that's why your uniform had green .. my friend ... your school had Patrick's name !! Get the clue !)
Also the flaunting the shamrock or shamrock-inspired designs are ubiquitous feature of St Patrick's Day .
Failing to follow the dress code might invite some friendly pinches !!! beware !!!
So, for the dear Irish and Irish at Heart, in big cities and small towns celebrate with parades, "wearing of the green," music and songs, Irish food and drink, and colorful games...... my friends just did so by visiting a pub ... though he missed going to Shannon's (their fav Irish pub)
I have captured the spirit of the day ... and am I am dozing off now .... humming...
Well, I took a stroll on the old long walk
Of a day -I-ay-I-ay
I met a little girl and we stopped to talk
Of a fine soft day -I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue
And I knew right then I'd be takin' a whirl
'Round the Salthill Prom with a Galway girl
We were halfway there when the rain came down
Of a day -I-ay-I-ay
And she asked me up to her flat downtown
Of a fine soft day -I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue
So I took her hand and I gave her a twirl
And I lost my heart to a Galway girl
When I woke up I was all alone
With a broken heart and a ticket home
And I ask you now, tell me what would you do
If her hair was black and her eyes were blue
I've traveled around I've been all over this world
Boys I ain't never seen nothin' like a Galway girl ....
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