St. Patrick’s Day: origins and why it is celebrated on March 17th

Everything is fine March 17millions of people around the world come together to celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day. It is one of the most popular holidays around the world, with huge celebrations filled with dancing, music and beer.

However, the origin of this date, which dates back to XVIII centuryit is not as well known as the parades and little is known about who Saint Patrick was, one of the most influential Christian leaders in Ireland.

How did St. Patrick’s Day come about?

Saint Patrick was born in Kilpatricka place near Dumbarton, in Scotlandin the year 387. Son of a Roman marriage, he was kidnapped during his adolescence and taken to Ireland, where he was forced to work as a slave. During his time in slavery, he discovered his faith in Christ and he began to preach it when he escaped by boat to an island, six years later.

Everything he experienced during his imprisonment and how he began his religious journey was written in an autobiographical book entitled “confessionYears later, this work was translated from Latin under the name “The Confessions of St. Patrick”.

Despite freeing himself from his captors, St. Patrick he decided to return to Ireland to evangelize the population, which at that time was linked to the beliefs of the druidismthe religion of the ancients Celtic and Breton peoples. Although he was persecuted and arrested by his opponents, it is believed that it was his work that brought about the conversion of this nation to Catholicism.

He March 17, 493 death is commemorated of Saint Patrick, who even became Bishop of Ireland and several miracles are recognized, such as having freed an entire island from a plague of snakes.

How the clover was born and its celebrations

One of the typical symbols of the holiday is the clover. The origin of this custom is believed to be in the fact that St. Patrick used the clover explain the concept of to pagans in a simple way Holy Trinity of the Christian dogma, according to which three people (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, represented by the leaves of the clover), coexist in the same God (represented by the stem).

On March 17, 1601 The first parade was held in commemoration of St. Patrick in the city of Saint AugustineFlorida, United States, which at the time was a Spanish colony led by the Irish vicar Ricardo Artur.

From then on this celebration began to expand in many countries, in a day of dances, beer -the typical Irish drink- and music. The nations that celebrate this date most are the United States, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Argentina.