As we did last year, we want to celebrate St. Patrick's Day but we don't want to forget our worries about the environment. So, as green is the colour of St. Patrick's, we GO GREEN.
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Saint
Patrick's Day is celebrated each year on March 17th. In
Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day is both a holy day and a national holiday.
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland as he was the one who brought
Christianity to the Irish.
According
to legend, Saint Patrick used a shamrock to explain about God. The
shamrock, which looks like clover, has three leaves on each stem. Saint
Patrick told the people that the shamrock was like the idea of the Trinity,
that in the one God there are three divine beings: the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit. The shamrock was sacred to the Druids, so Saint Patrick's
use of it in explaining the trinity was very wise.
Although
it began in Ireland, Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in countries around the
world. People with Irish heritage remind themselves of the beautiful green
countryside of Ireland by wearing green and taking part in the festivities.
Saint
Patrick's Day is usually celebrated with a parade. The one in Dublin,
Ireland is known to some as the Irish Mardi Gras. But the one in New York
City is actually one of the biggest. It lasts for hours. Two Irish
wolfhounds, the mascots of the New York National Guard infantry regiment the
Fighting 69th, always lead the parade. More than one hundred
bands and a hundred thousand marchers follow the wolfhounds in the parade.
Saint Patrick and the Snakes:
Another tale about Patrick is that he
drove the snakes from Ireland. Different versions of the story, tell of
him standing upon a hill, using a wooden staff to drive the serpents into the
sea, banishing them forever from Ireland.
One version says that an old serpent
resisted banishment, but that Patrick outwitted him. Patrick made a box
and invited the snake to enter. The snake insisted it was too small and
the two argued. Finally to prove his point, the snake entered the box to
show how tight the fit was. Patrick slammed the lid closed and threw the
box into the sea.
Although it's true that Ireland has no
snakes, this likely had more to do with the fact that Ireland is an island and
being separated from the rest of the continent the snakes couldn't get
there. The stories of Saint Patrick and the snakes are likely a metaphor
for his bringing Christianity to Ireland and driving out the pagan religions
(serpents were a common symbol in many of these religions).
SEE MY 4TH ESO STUDENTS' WIKI FROM LAST YEAR . Click here
SEE MY 4TH ESO STUDENTS' WIKI FROM LAST YEAR . Click here
