Autor: CCBEU BLUMENAU | Publicado: 2015-03-17T05:29:00-07:00


St.
Patrick's Day History and Traditions

This holiday
is celebrated every year on March 17th, honoring the Irish patron saint, St.
Patrick. The celebrations are largely Irish culture themed and typically
consist of wearing green, parades, and drinking. Some churches may hold
religious services and many schools and offices close in Suffolk County, the
area containing Boston and its suburbs.

People all
over the world celebrate St. Patrick's Day, especially places with large
Irish-American communities. Feasting on the day features traditional Irish food,
including corned beef, corned cabbage, coffee, soda bread, potatoes, and
shepherd's pie. Many celebrations also hold an Irish breakfast of sausage,
black and white pudding, fried eggs, and fried tomatoes. Common traditions include:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<!--[endif]-->Parades - This event is
most often associated with the holiday. Cities that hold large parades include
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Savannah, and other cities
worldwide.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<!--[endif]-->Drinking - Since many
Catholics are Irish-American, some may be required to fast from drinking during
Lent. However, they are allowed to break this fast during the St. Patrick's Day
celebrations. This is one cause for the day's association with drinking
heavily.

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<!--[endif]-->Dying water or beer green -
Chicago dies its river green for the festivities, and many bars serve
green-dyed beer. The White House fountain is also dyed
green.

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<!--[endif]-->Other incorporations of
green - In Seattle, the parade routes are painted in green. Observers are
supposed to wear green or else risk being pinched. Parade floats and decorations will
feature the color green.

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<!--[endif]-->Religious services - Those
who celebrate the holiday in a religious context may also hold a feast. Outside
of this context, overindulgence tends to revolve around drinking.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<!--[endif]-->Pea planting - In the
Northeast, many celebrate by planting peas. This is largely due to the color
and time of year (prime pea-planting conditions.

Saint Patrick
- The Missionary and Bishop of Ireland

St. Patrick,
or the "Apostle of Ireland," actually started out in the pagan
religion. While not much is known about his early life, as many of his life's
details were lost to folklore, letters from St. Patrick reveal that he was
captured in Wales, Scotland, or another close area outside of Ireland and taken
to Ireland as a slave. Years later, he escaped and returned to his family, who
were Romans living in Britain, going back to Ireland for mission work after
finding a place as a cleric and then Bishop within the Christian faith. He was
born around 460, and by the 600s, he was already known as the Patron Saint of
Ireland.

There are
many legends associated with St. Patrick. The symbol of the shamrock used for
St. Patrick's Day comes from the story of St. Patrick using the shamrock to
illustrate the Holy Trinity. The three-leafed plant coincided with the Pagan
religion's sanctity of the number three and is the root of the green color
theme.

Another
popular belief is that St. Patrick banished the snakes from Ireland. The story
says that while St. Patrick was fasting, snakes attacked him, so he chased all
snakes into the ocean. However, there have never been snakes in Ireland during
the post-glacial period. The absence of snakes and symbolism involved with
snakes is believed to explain the story, although it could have been referring
to type of worm rather than snakes. One legend has St. Patrick sticking a
walking stick into the ground while evangelizing, which turned into a tree.

The History
of St. Patrick's Day and why it's celebrated.

St. Patrick's
Day was first celebrated in America in 1737, organized by the Charitable Irish
Society of Boston, including a feast and religious service. This first
celebration of the holiday in the colonies was largely to honor and celebrate
the Irish culture that so many colonists had been separated from.

Early
celebrations continued this modest tradition. In New York, the first
celebration took place as a small gathering at the home of an Irish protestant.
St. Patrick's Day parades started in New York in 1762 by a group of Irish
soldiers in the British military who marched down Broadway. This began the
tradition of a military theme in the parade, as they often feature marching
military unites. The holiday eventually evolved from the modest religious
dinner into the raucous holiday we know today.