What's the Poop?

 What's the poop on St. Patrick?  I dug into it and found there was a lot of it.  Because the Celts used storytelling as a way to preserve history, so are there stories about St. Patrick and why so much revelry on this day.  Today being Sunday might mean any number of things on this St. Patrick's Day.  The partying might be somewhat subdued today.  But there is a culture around this day that makes it what it is.

First of all, St. Patrick was never canonized by the Catholic Church as a Saint.  He wasn't the first missionary to Ireland.  He never drove smakes out out of Ireland.

He did one thing and did it well.  He became beloved by the Celts, because he incorporated many of their celebrations of nature into his teachings of Christianity.  He incorporated the image of the sun, which the early Celts worshipped, for example, into the symbolism of the Christian cross, giving us the Celtic cross as we know it today.  

He actually was from Britain, where his father's farm was overtaken by barbarians.  His father was a deacon in the church, but most say his father was given tax credits from the church and that's why he was a deacon, so a religious upbringing has been questiioned.  It wasnt religion that was the reason for his wealthy upbringing and early influence.

 St. Patrick then was taken as a prisoner to Ireland and spent time there in captivity.  He had a dream in which an angel told him to be a missionary to the Celts.  He studied 15 years in Britain in order to be ordained and then lived among the Celts.  He was welcomed by them and they accepted him as one of their own.  He died on this date  in 461.

Okay, so why all the partying, green beer, Leprechauns, Shamrocks, and weating green?  They're all a part of Irish tradition.  It is said that to honor Easter for the Celts,  St. Patrick built bon fires and made Easter a part of Celtic tradition.  It was a Celtic tradition to bury the dead with a bon fire.

In the 17th century the church lifted Lenten restrictions for this one day to allow for a feast in his honor.  This day is celebrated by Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox and Lutherans.  So, drinking is allowed on this day, along with parades and religious festivities.

It's folklore to include the wearing of green, Shamrocks, and Leprichans included in the Irish traditions.  It is a day to celebrate Chistianity in Ireland.  But we know what has happened since.  It is now a kind of Mardi Gras for anyone who wants to be Irish on this day.  

So, there you have it.  And it won't matter much that today is Sunday.  It's a day of exclusion from Lent.  It's a feast day on the Catholic calendar.  And that is why St. Patrick's Day is what it is.  So, as they say in Ireland, "Party on!"

As for me, I'm celebrating with my Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipe today.  This pipe was made in Ireland.  Now, all I need is some green tobacco to go with it, but since this isn't practical, I'm smoking some Captain Black Cherry tobacco, having begun this day with a bowl of Morley's Best English tobacco and a cup of hot black coffee.  Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave