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KF5JRV > TODAY 17.03.19 14:39l 50 Lines 2745 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 32892_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 17
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190317/1238Z 32892@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
On this day in 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and
apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.
Much of what is known about Patrick’s legendary life comes from the
Confessio, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Great Britain,
probably in Scotland, to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman
citizenship, Patrick was captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish
marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland,
turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the
counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found
passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his
family.
According to the Confessio, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in
which an individual named Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled “The
Voice of the Irish.ö As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of
Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them
once more. After studying for the priesthood, Patrick was ordained a
bishop. He arrived in Ireland in 433 and began preaching the Gospel,
converting many thousands of Irish and building churches around the
country. After 40 years of living in poverty, teaching, traveling and
working tirelessly, Patrick died on March 17, 461 in Saul, where he had
built his first church.
Since that time, countless legends have grown up around Patrick. Made
the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of
people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover–the famous
shamrock–to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed
trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those
reptiles out of Ireland. For thousands of years, the Irish have observed
the day of Saint Patrick’s death as a religious holiday, attending
church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the
afternoon. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade, though, took place not in
Ireland, but the United States, when Irish soldiers serving in the
English military marched through New York City in 1762. As the years
went on, the parades became a show of unity and strength for persecuted
Irish-American immigrants, and then a popular celebration of
Irish-American heritage. The party went global in 1995, when the Irish
government began a large-scale campaign to market St. Patrick’s Day as a
way of driving tourism and showcasing Ireland’s many charms to the rest
of the world. Today, March 17 is a day of international celebration, as
millions of people around the globe put on their best green clothing to
drink beer, watch parades and toast the luck of the Irish.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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