WELCOME

Yours Truly Is Hosting

All u do is go to everyones

name on the list &

leave them a Irish poem or

any poem u can find

for St.Paddys day,a

St.Paddys day greeting card,

a siggy or anything u

like but it has to be GREEN.

Start signing up now.

It will be from

March 16th-17th

depending on the list size.

Please sign up in this blog

only if u would like to

particapate in this event.

Terrie

VOTE FOR ME

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron

 saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His

given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get

 the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the

 required scholarship.

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered

himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by

a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During

 his captivity, he became closer to God.

He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul

where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain,

 bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During

 his training he became aware that his calling was to

convert the pagans to Christianity.

His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native

 pagans to Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed

 St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to

 Scotland. Patrick, having adopted that Christian name

 earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.

Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this

 fact upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several

times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout

 Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country.

He also set up schools and churches which would aid him

in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that

time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March

 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St.

Patrick's Day ever since.

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much

 of it is actually substantiated.

Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised

people from the dead. He also is said to have given a

sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from

Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland,

and some people think this is a metaphor for the

conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic

 holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a

secular holiday.

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this

stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how

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.

The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737.

That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly

celebrated in this country, in Boston.

Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing

of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick's

Day might have become so popular is that it takes place

just a few days before the first day of spring. One might

 say it has become the first green of spring.