Today in our history class, our Lecturer Madam said, "Today I will tell you about Great Saint Patrick, or Saint Patty’s, which is celebrated in many countries throughout the world, and this day is declared as a national holiday." Do you know that this month is celebrated with great enthusiasm in the memory of St. Patrick in Ireland, the Republic, Canadian Province, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland, Labrador, and the British Territory, even in the United States of America?
Today I would like to tell you why it is celebrated. What will be done at this festival?
St. Patrick's Day is an inter-continental celebration of Irish culture. This festival is full of different foods and traditions. At this festival, millions of people wear green clothes, donate green items, tell stories of leprosy patients, perform shamrocks, and quip with friends.
A student asked Madam why they wear only green.
Madam said that, according to some descriptions, earlier they used to wear blue instead of green, but after the 17th century, they started wearing green because the tricolour flag of Ireland also has a green colour and is used by many Irish revolutionary groups. Flags of the Green is also the colour of spring. And this green colour makes the whole atmosphere green.
It is also necessary to tell you that to celebrate this ceremony, the Chicago River has been painted green continuously for the last 40 years in the American city of Chicago, and on the day of the ceremony, a long procession is taken out, wearing green clothes, etc.
On this St. Patrick's Day, millions of people will eat an authentic meal of corned beef and cabbage together. Only half of this meal is Irish as the cabbage and potato diet is predominantly served in Ireland and is traditionally served with bacon. The Irish living in America could not afford bacon, so corned beef was used in place of bacon.
You know, their mythical leprechaun looks like a little old man, and he wears a hat and leather apron dressed like a police officer. According to Irish folk texts, leprosy patients were very clever, they used to repair the shoes of the fairies. In return, they used to get the wages of gold coins from the fairies. These coins were kept in a big pot by these poor men, and these utensils were called "gold utensils."
There is also a legend that one can catch a leprosy patient and ask him where he has hidden his gold utensils, but he will not tell because that pot is hidden at the end of the rainbow and no one can find the end of this rainbow. That's why to get the pot of gold, you have to catch the little Leprechaun.
St. Patrick chose the three-leafed grass as a symbol of the Holy Trinity because both of its leaves were made from just one stalk.
These three leaves are represented as hope, faith, and love. If someone by mistake does not wear green clothes in the ceremony, then to attract his other companions, he tells them to pinch me, pinch me. I am Irish too. Another legend is that kissing a stone brings good luck, so the tradition of kissing all Irish means that not everyone can go to Ireland to kiss a stone.
Another myth is that the great saint Patricks drove all the snakes out of Ireland. It is true that there is not a single snake in Ireland because this country is surrounded by the icy sea from all sides. Those snakes cannot get there. Actually, it is said because the snake is considered a symbol of evil and Saint Patrick threw out the evil people from Ireland. Hundreds of years after his death, these simple things were spread by the monks there.
So my dear children, by doing all these, the birth ceremony of the great Saint Patrick is celebrated with great enthusiasm in different places and countries.
Madam, a student inquired. What is the true meaning behind St. Patrick's Day?
In response, Madam told him that it's a religious holiday known as the Patron Saint of Ireland and the Apostle of Ireland. Patrick was instrumental in bringing the Roman Catholic beliefs to Ireland, and in subsequent years, Saint Patrick's Day became a day to commemorate Catholicism in Ireland.
What is the Leprechaun, Madam?
The leprechaun is a small Irish fairy who dresses like a shoemaker. Leprechauns are unfriendly little men who live alone in the forest, spending time making shoes and guarding their gold treasures. If you catch a leprechaun, he'll be forced to tell you where he hides his pots of gold.
Picture1 https://pixabay.com/illustrations/green-gold-shape-holiday-2033324/
picture2 https://pixabay.com/vectors/green-hat-leprechaun-lucky-irish-296648/