The Benson signal., 1918-03-16

- ed the life of st. Patrick, whose
festival all loyal Irish celebrate,
n with a more picturesque variety
of incidents than has been the fate of
any other saint. Whether they are
true or not is a matter of little impor-
tance if the stories are good. They
have to be good, for the Irish are the
authors.
One Of the most famous Of the myths
connected with st. Patrick, perhaps
the most famous after the traditional
expulsion of snakes from Ireland, is
the story of how the saint became con-
nected with the shamrock. When st.
Patrick first began to talk to the hea-
Hhen Irish of the Trinity they did not
believe him till he picked shamrock
and illustrated the doctrine by three
leaves growing on one stem. This con-
crete analogy appealed to the druids
and most Of them became Christians.
These druids were st. Patrick's
worst enemies, and he was forced by
their hostility to act in manner some
what inappropriate for saint. He
cursed their lands for them, so that
they became waste and drear bOgs; he
cursed their rivers, so that no fish
could live in them; he cursed their
kettles, so that they would not boil,
and finally he cursed the earth, so
that it opened and swallowed them up.
His Most Famous Act.
The saints most famous achieve
ment was the Kidding Ireland of
snakes. The method he employed was
novel at least. He simply called all the
SerpentS together to the top of noun
tain and compelled them to swallow
each other until there was none left,
but, as the Englishman said, that
4,seems improbable.
A more authentic account is that he
drove the snakes out by beating a
drum, and that, in his entl -siasm, he
knocked a hole in it, which an angel
at once came and mended. One huge
snake he is said to have chained in
Lough Dilveen, and even to this day,
every Monday morning, the snake calls
out in good Irish:
"It's long Monday, Patrickw
st. Patrick seems to have taken a
great delight in performing miracles.
Once when he was in England he saw
a leper who wanted to make voyage
in a certain ship, but the captain would
not let him. st. Patrick took stone
altar which had been cOnSecrated by
the pope and threw it into the water.
He then made the leper sit on the
altar, which floated and kept up with
the ship for the whole voyage.
Put Cross Over Right Grave.
. He had q habit of setting cross
at the grave of Christian whenever
he could. In his travels one day he
came upon two newly made graves at
the head of one of which was a cross.
st. Patrick stopped and asked the man
in this grave what his religion was,
The man replied he was a pagan.
"Why, then, is this cross placed at
your head?" st. Patrick asked.
The man replied that his companion
had become a Christian and that a
mistake had been made in placing the
cross. st. Patrick then corrected the
error and went his way.
But even st. Patrick made mistakes.
He was once tempted to eat meat when
it was not proper to do so. He got
some pork, but hid it for time and
before he found an opportunity to eat
it he met q man with pair of eyes in
the back of his head in addition to the
usual ones in front. st. Patrick asked
the meaning of this and the man re-
piled that with the eyes in his face he
saw such things as other men saw,