St. Patrick´s Day.
Is celebrated on March 17, the saint´s religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifty century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick´s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibition againts the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cobbage.
Who was St. Patrick?
The patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity´s most widely known figures. But for all his celebrety, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally asociated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.
The first St. Patrick´s Day Parade.
Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later scaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringingChristianity to its people. In the centuries following Patrick´s death (belived to have beenon March 17, 461), the mythology surrounding his life became ever ore ingrained in the Irish culture:_
Perhaps the most well known legend is that he explained the holy trinity (father, son and holy spirit) using the three levels of a native Irish clover, the shamrock.
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