It is common in
many public places in the United States, such as shopping malls, restaurants,
etc., to find that on March 17 of every year, people dressed in green or
adorning their homes with green clovers, which seems strange to some people,
since many of them do not know the origin of this tradition. But just as in
many countries around the world that dedicate a day of the year to honor a
“saint”, the people of Ireland dedicates March 17 to celebrate their Patron
Saint, a celebration that was adopted by the United States. Just as the Patron
Saint of Mexico is "The Virgin of Guadalupe", the Patron Saint of
Ireland is “Saint Patrick.” Inclusive, in the same manner that processions are
held in honor of "saints and virgins", like wise a parade is held on
this day in honor of “Saint Patrick”.
We will go back in
the history to know a little of the life of Saint Patrick, who was born in
Britain around the year 380, of a rich Roman family. At the age of 16 he was
captured by pirates and sold as a slave in Ireland where he remained for six
years, until he was able to escape and returned to his home, with the idea of
returning one day to Ireland to share the catholic faith, this is why he was in
the monastery of Lerins, on an island to the southeast of France; and this way
he initiated the work of sharing his doctrine to almost all the Irish. It is
said that it founded 300 congregations and baptized 120,000 persons.
The encyclopedias
say that many stories of Saint Patrick are based only on legends. One of them
tells that he charmed the snakes of Ireland taking them to the sea where they
drowned. It is also said that he planted throughout Ireland clover to
illustrate the idea of the trinity. Hence it is from this that a lot of people
use the clover as a good luck charm and also dress in green on March 17. The
Irish put a cloverleaf on their lapel on this day; and even more, the national
emblem of Ireland is a clover, that the people say is the result of that
legend, although the "Dictionary of Symbols" of Jack Tresidder,
declares that it can be the result of the respect the heathen Celtic had for
the vigorous growth of the plant. Every year that passes, we can see that
this celebration is spreading more. The newspapers announce celebrations that are
held in bars, where they even have green beer.
Some cities here in
the United States have cathedrals which bear the name of Saint Patrick. In the
Bay of Westport, in Ireland, on a plateau, the peak of Croagh Patrick rises,
also with a statue as well as a chapel in his honor, since they believe that it
is here where he began his ministry. Up to this place that is approximately
3,500 feet high, a pilgrimage is held every year, the last Sunday in July, in
which many people scale the mountain barefoot, thinking that by such a
sacrifice they will obtain greater indulgences on behalf of their intermediary,
in this case, Saint Patrick.
Patrick isn't really a Saint having never been officially
canonized by the Church of Rome. And Patrick couldn't have driven the snakes
out of Ireland because, like Hawaii, there were never any snakes there to begin
with. He wasn't even the first evangelist to Ireland. Patrick isn't even Irish.
He was from Scotland.
The conclusion to
which we come as for the celebration of this type of traditions, is that to do
so is supporting give honor and glory to the "saints", instead of
giving it to God; and thus, the people separate increasingly from the source of
all blessing, which is Christ, without knowing that there is not a single Bible
that exist that gives credit to the manifestation of a Saint after his death;
on the contrary, the Bible teaches us that any person, after
they are dead, has no communication with this world (Ecclesiastes 9:5;
Job 14:21); it also teaches us that anyone who consults with the dead
is an abomination to God (Deuteronomy 18:11-12).
No comments:
Post a Comment