The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-15
APOSTLE OF IRELAND
WILL BE HONORED
TUESDAY
Private Entertainments by
Various Churches and Clubs
Will Mark Anniversary of
st. Patrick in st. Paul
This Year-History of Pa
tron Saint.

No civil demonstration will mark the
observance of ST. Patrick's day. this
year in st. Paul. Not for several years
have the sons of Erin paraded the
streets. with stove pipe hats and "the
| bit O. green" proudly exhibited. A
quieter and just as effective manner
has taken the place OF the procession
by entertainments of patriotic nature,
| the proceeds of which go to the parish
schools. In all the churches Of the
city masses will be said in honor of
the patron saint Of the Green Isle, and
his life and works will be recalled.
In the village of Bannaven, between
Dumbarton and Glasgow, Scotland, to-
ward the close of the Roman period of
rule in Britain, lived a deacon, CAL
purnius, with son, Sucath, or Victor,
afterward known as Patrick, or Kill
Patrick, which means Church-Pa
This child was in future years to be the
apostle of Ireland. He was very care
fully trained by his father for the
church, but at the age Of sixteen years
he fell into the hands Of band of ma
rauding pirates from the north seas,
| who constantly made fierce inroads
upon the Scottish and Irish coasts.
They carried him away to North Ire
land and sold him as slave to a chief
for a small sum, and he was put to
work herding sheep.
Six years he remained in captivity,
when he contrived to escape one night
in miraculous manner by fleeing over
the supposedly tmpaSsabble boys.
From the seacoast he managed to find
passage to France, where he became
a monk at Tours, and it Is also known
that he labored in the famous monas-
terry at Lerins. Ten years after his
escape from bondage he became filled
with desire to return to Ireland and
preach the gospel to the benighted but
good-natured pagans he remembered
with aching heart.
Exactly q decade after his escape
from Ireland, or in the year 430, he
returned to the island to impart the
faith he had learned in Saul
AT this point in his career many au-
thortttes differ very widely, some as
Serting that before he left France for
Ireland he make a pilgrimage to Rome
and received from Pope SiXtus III. the
Irish mission In the stead of the Ro-
man missionary Palladius, and who
had recently died there. But the most
recent researches have tended rather
to establish the fact that between
Rome and the early Irish church
founded by Patrick there was no con-
nection for many years.
Was an Ideal Missionary.
1t appears that he was an ideal mis-
sionary.. Skilled in the knowledge of
he was able to successfully cope with.
| those fierce old Druid priests with
whom the Romans had to contend in
vain. From these priests and the lords
! he knew would come his greatest OPP
position, and, knowing their greatest
| WiSh-Which was to strengthen the
| clan or community syStem-he devoted
himself to studying how he could best
combine the merits Of this system with
the desires Of his heart and religion.
He found the solution of the difficulty
in advocating StrOngholdS to be built
at stated intervals across the country,
| and the result was one Of the finest
| chains Of monasteries in Europe, and
| erected at the expense of the pagans
whom he afterwards converted in al.
! most incredible numbers. Such was
his magnetic personality, so eloquent
| and convincing was he In argument,
| that the result was the founding of
865 churches and the personal baptism
! Of 10000 persons. Thus did he, in ap-
pearing to acquiesce in the demands OF
| his opponents, further his own ends.
| The lords he found to be more ap-
| proachable than the priests. These he
| won over with winning words Their
songs changed from the coarse and ri
| BALD to more refined in tone; and, in
| stead of the names of pagan gods en-
| tering largely into them the beloved
name Of Patrick was on the tongue of
every singer. The very air Of politics
was changed to meet the alterations
| Of the time, and the pagan manners
| and literature died out to give place to
| Christian culture, institutions and en-
| terprises. Much of the poetry of that
period has been ascribed to Patrick,
| though 1t is not certa1n.y known
whether or no he was a rhymer.
After he had been about twenty
years in the missionary work, he found
nh 10 TEavN f. IL
see at Armagh, and two of his disci-
| pies were ordained as bishops.
In 400 he died, at the age Of ninety,
| at place called Saul, near Down
patrick, where his relics were preserved
up till the time of the English Refor-
nation, and to this day the spot Is
venerated by all Irishmen.
One Of the most widely circulated
! legends about the venerated man
| credits him with having banished the
snakes from the soil Of Erin; but the
| greatest Of his works was that of ban
ishing forever the mists of ignorance
| and the terrors of druidical TYRANNY.
and the introduction of that lasting
love of lyrical poetry with which In
| later struggles against foreign oppres-
sion those Of the land of the harp and
shamrock have comforted themselves.
1.-THE Shannon Boys"
On the evening Of the 18th the pupils
81 st. lMarys high school will present
drama. in st. Mary's hall, corner Ninth
and Locust streets. The cast will be as
| follows:
Sir Richard Forbs. of Green Lawn
Col Dickson, Commander {, Of H. R. Dfo"n
| II. 18th Regiment. -. Michael O'Maley
Ralph Forbs, son of Sir Richard,
Phil Swift, sergeant. James W. Rogers
John Reddy, a corporal William Keenan,
Jim Nolan. a private Nicholas Byrne
| Daniel Moore. tenant -. Joseph Barron
Gerald o'Beirne. Shannon Boys
Tom Reardon, Shannon Boys
Kelly a footman. " James w. Rogers
Lady FOrbs. wife of Sir Richard
Helen Dickson, the coloners daugh- y
Mrs. Moore, wife of Daniel. =. Mary DOVE Sis
Mollie Moore, her daughter. May Horrfgan
Ofhcers. Soldiers. Guests and Shannon
| Boys.
At st. Johns Hall.
st. Johns Dramatic club will put the
shamrock and Rose" on the boards at
| st. Johns hall Tuesday evening with a
| children's matinee this afternoon The
different characters will be represented
| as follows:
Barney o'Brady, an Irish bouchal-
Squire Fitzgerald. Roses father the Horrisah
John Desmond. an outlawed pa .AiDs'A
Shaun Carey a spy ....... s. A. Ran
Capt. Beck. of the kings yeoman IN: i''s'-i
Lieut. Douglas, Of the kings IS y go ''a'er
Thornton, private OF the i kings s$'lesner
Rose fitzgerald, the Rose Of vic Wick 5r0Wh