St. Patrick's celebration tonight
Posted by Stephen Rhodes
Join in the fun tonight with a celebration of St. Patrick. Cocktails at 6 p.m, dinner at 6:30 p.m.. The story of St. Patrick is fascinating. Read Graeme McRanor's account in today's Globe and Mail.
Graeme McRanor writes:
"We know much from his autobiographical writing; that he was born probably at Kilpatrick in central Scotland toward the end of the fourth century. In his early teens, he was abducted into slavery by Irish marauders. He was also imprisoned for six years, for what we do not know.
He wrote that God spoke to him in a dream and urged him to flee to the coast, where he was picked up by fishermen and, on being given his liberty, was subsequently ordained a priest. On becoming a bishop, an angel told him to return to Ireland as a missionary. At the time, Ireland was largely populated by Druids and pagans.
Familiar with the language and local customs, his unite-and-convert strategy was simple. First, it's said he made an impression by befriending a local chieftain who suddenly regained use of a long-immobilized arm and was soon two-handing tankards of porter. He incorporated pagan ritual: the locals honoured their gods with fire, so he used bonfires to celebrate Easter. He superimposed the sun, a powerful symbol, on to the Christian cross, an adaptation acceptable to the Irish and the prototype for the Celtic cross.
Ah, but what about those snakes? Did he not banish them from all of Ireland simply by flourishing his staff? Unlikely. Irish culture, though, is thick with oral legend and myth. Perhaps what he cast from Ireland was pagan idolatry. Within two centuries of his arrival, Ireland's conversion was complete and the story is this: death and the passage of time notwithstanding, St. Patrick personally baptized each one.
March 17 marks the anniversary of his death and the religious feast day. The Catholic Church makes no big deal of it but the Irish have been celebrating it as a religious holiday for centuries, no-meat Lenten prohibitions being suspended for a day of frolic, drink and traditional fare of potato, bacon and cabbage. The inaugural St. Patrick's Day parade in New York in 1762, however, was an improvised affair. It began when, suitably fortified, Irish soldiers serving in the English military reconnected with their Irish roots and exiled countrymen, re-igniting Irish patriotism among American immigrants.
The potato famine of the mid-1800s, combined with the opportunistic land-clearing schemes of absentee aristocracy, drove shiploads of impoverished Irish to America. There, as in their homeland, they encountered bigotry and disdain from the ascendant Protestant majority. They were caricatured as shillelagh-wielding drunks and louts.
But in numbers lies strength and the Irish were quick to organize. The "green machine" became politically relevant and the annual marches symbolized Hibernian strength and unity. Today, millions of people, eager for a glimpse of the procession, bleed green through the streets of New York. Marching, walking, watching or imbibing, much of the rest of the world also hails the day.
The Irish claim that wisdom comes eventually and the best place to wait is in a bar. So I hail our shamrock-sporting bartender and order a round of Guinness, secure in the knowledge that the Irish do cradle the world on St. Patrick's Day. The shenanigans embrace goodwill and the best of patriotism, heritage and storied tradition. It is a party of brother and sisterhood, mirth and tolerance, an occasion when all eyes are Irish and smiling."
Graeme H. McRanor lives in Vancouver.
"We know much from his autobiographical writing; that he was born probably at Kilpatrick in central Scotland toward the end of the fourth century. In his early teens, he was abducted into slavery by Irish marauders. He was also imprisoned for six years, for what we do not know.
He wrote that God spoke to him in a dream and urged him to flee to the coast, where he was picked up by fishermen and, on being given his liberty, was subsequently ordained a priest. On becoming a bishop, an angel told him to return to Ireland as a missionary. At the time, Ireland was largely populated by Druids and pagans.
Familiar with the language and local customs, his unite-and-convert strategy was simple. First, it's said he made an impression by befriending a local chieftain who suddenly regained use of a long-immobilized arm and was soon two-handing tankards of porter. He incorporated pagan ritual: the locals honoured their gods with fire, so he used bonfires to celebrate Easter. He superimposed the sun, a powerful symbol, on to the Christian cross, an adaptation acceptable to the Irish and the prototype for the Celtic cross.
Ah, but what about those snakes? Did he not banish them from all of Ireland simply by flourishing his staff? Unlikely. Irish culture, though, is thick with oral legend and myth. Perhaps what he cast from Ireland was pagan idolatry. Within two centuries of his arrival, Ireland's conversion was complete and the story is this: death and the passage of time notwithstanding, St. Patrick personally baptized each one.
March 17 marks the anniversary of his death and the religious feast day. The Catholic Church makes no big deal of it but the Irish have been celebrating it as a religious holiday for centuries, no-meat Lenten prohibitions being suspended for a day of frolic, drink and traditional fare of potato, bacon and cabbage. The inaugural St. Patrick's Day parade in New York in 1762, however, was an improvised affair. It began when, suitably fortified, Irish soldiers serving in the English military reconnected with their Irish roots and exiled countrymen, re-igniting Irish patriotism among American immigrants.
The potato famine of the mid-1800s, combined with the opportunistic land-clearing schemes of absentee aristocracy, drove shiploads of impoverished Irish to America. There, as in their homeland, they encountered bigotry and disdain from the ascendant Protestant majority. They were caricatured as shillelagh-wielding drunks and louts.
But in numbers lies strength and the Irish were quick to organize. The "green machine" became politically relevant and the annual marches symbolized Hibernian strength and unity. Today, millions of people, eager for a glimpse of the procession, bleed green through the streets of New York. Marching, walking, watching or imbibing, much of the rest of the world also hails the day.
The Irish claim that wisdom comes eventually and the best place to wait is in a bar. So I hail our shamrock-sporting bartender and order a round of Guinness, secure in the knowledge that the Irish do cradle the world on St. Patrick's Day. The shenanigans embrace goodwill and the best of patriotism, heritage and storied tradition. It is a party of brother and sisterhood, mirth and tolerance, an occasion when all eyes are Irish and smiling."
Graeme H. McRanor lives in Vancouver.