Are you Irish?

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today, everybody is Irish! A holiday that originated to honor patron saints is now a day for festivities for one and all!

It is believed that St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland earlier than the 1600's. This day is name after the Catholic St. Patrick who at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest. In 432, it is said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to save the Irish. He was successful and focused on converting royalty, aristocracy and the poor. After nearly thirty years of teaching and spreading God's Word he died. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

Wearing the color green is a tradition on St. Patrick's day but, originally the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Over the years it has changed to the color green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. It is said that St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish. Wearing and displaying the shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ever-present feature of the day. Then in the 1798 rebellion in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick.

So as I said, it doesn't matter what your nationality is. Enjoy the Day! If you see a rainbow...make sure to find the end of it...there might be a Pot of Gold at the bottom!

Good Luck!