We seemed to have forgotten the legacy and impact St. Patrick had in spreading Christianity around Ireland.
We seemed to have forgotten or perhaps do not know the meaning of the shamrock. Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
During my study abroad experience in Ireland on the eve of St. Patrick's Day I participated in a "monastic" chapel. Hymns were sung, monastic chants were echoed throughout the room, and then a moment of silence and quiet reflection pursued. As I heard St. Patrick's confessions, I realized how faithful St. Patrick was to God. Before this experience, I had never really thought much about the life of St. Patrick, but the spiritual regeneration he introduced to Ireland changed the rest of history.
Some people go to mass, others take their children to parades and many others drink on St. Patrick's Day. After returning from a full day in Dublin, one of the members in my group commented "we smell like sin." Walking the streets in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day, it is nearly impossible to escape the midst of alcohol and smoke that heavily lingers in the air.
For a day celebrating the bringing of Christianity to Ireland, Dublin turns into a place of attention-seeking -a self-destructive mass of people. Beer bottles crash against the walls. Feet stick to the layer of alcoholic filth on the ground. Sirens scream in the background.
A picture of a fun day filled with green clothing turns hopeless as time wears on into the night. I've seen the contrast in St. Patrick's Day. Christianity in Ireland is celebrated with some beautiful traditions and some ugly realities. Yet as the imposter of St. Patrick danced around the parade, I could not help but be thankful for the truth that St. Patrick brought to Ireland and the impact those truths have had in Ireland and the rest of the world ever since.
