If you know one thing about St. Patrick, it鈥檚 probably that he was Irish, right?
Wrong. After that, you鈥檙e probably left struggling to explain how shamrocks and green beer relate to the guy.
Father James Hughes, priest at St. Patrick鈥檚 Catholic Church at Main Street and 12th Avenue, is ambivalent about the way his parish鈥檚 patron saint has been absorbed into the popular culture. He likes beer, the priest assures me, just not green beer.
鈥淚've got a bit of a split feeling, I've got to say, about that. One half of me might say, it's a bit of a mockery to the real essence of the celebration,鈥� he says of the wearing of the green and associated popular rituals we see on St. Patrick鈥檚 Day. At the same time, he admits, if these traditions die out, so might the very name of St. Patrick.
Let鈥檚 get the facts: Patrick was not born in Ireland. He was born in Roman-controlled Britain, probably in the year 387. When he was a young teenager, he was captured by Irish pirates and taken to the Emerald Isle as a slave to tend sheep. Ireland, being at the edge of the known European universe, had been untouched by Christianity, which a few years earlier under the Emperor Constantine had become the dominant (and later official) religion in the Roman Empire. Druids and other pagans remained dominant in Ireland.
During his slavery, Patrick later wrote, he gained strength from his belief in the Christian God and it is this belief that he credited with his escape. As a young adult, some records say he was 20, Patrick had a dream in which God told him he could find freedom by going to the coast. There, he met sailors who carried him back home to England.
Once home, he had another vision. It was an image he equated with Ireland calling him back to bring the gospel of Jesus. He became a priest, travelled back to the land of his former captivity and began spreading the word. He used the three-leafed shamrock to describe the holy trinity to potential converts and is 鈥渞emembered鈥� for ridding Ireland of snakes. Of course, reporting on events 1,600 years ago is a challenge and scientists contend that Ireland never had any snakes. The story may be an interpretation of the staff of Moses turning into a serpent, or some other allegory. In fact, there is even a 鈥渢wo Patricks鈥� theory that suggests the characteristics attributed to Patrick are actually a mashup of two different evangelists. So much of what we think we know is speculative.
Even so, St. Patrick is emblematic of the Irish turning to Christianity. And Christianity, Catholicism specifically, has been so inherent to Ireland that the two concepts 鈥� the country and its patron saint 鈥� have become synonymous with shamrock green and that other Irish specialty, beer. And, in a possibly inevitable and uniquely North American abomination, green beer.
Any country with a Catholic population has a patron saint. Some have a couple. So why did Ireland鈥檚 patron saint evolve into such a cultural phenom in North America 鈥� even as most people lost sight of who he really was?
When the potato famine of the 1840s nearly destroyed Irish civilization, refugees thronged to the Americas. They brought with them many things, including their religiosity, their fervent connections to the old country and St. Patrick. While other immigrant communities brought their patron saints, too, the sheer number of Irish migrants gave Patrick a leg up over the rest. In addition, immigrants from other heavily Catholic places like Italy were more likely to venerate their village patron than a national saint. Plus, a saint鈥檚 day that evolved to include beer was destined to catch on with outsiders, allowing everyone to enjoy being Irish for a day in a way that, say, self-flagellation could never match.
Hughes鈥� church is meeting the masses in the middle, handing out shamrock cookies on Main Street to mark St. Patrick鈥檚 Day.
鈥淎ttached is a little prayer or write-up on St. Patrick himself because my contention was that people would know about the celebration of St. Patrick but they wouldn't know who St. Patrick is,鈥� he says. And since Patrick was someone who spread the word of Jesus, that image resonates in one of Canada鈥檚 most multicultural neighbourhoods.
鈥淲e still have work to do in terms of bringing the gospel of Jesus to others,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t's important for a faith community to be in conversation with the world, without a sense of imposing the faith on anyone.鈥�
St. Patrick met pagans and introduced them to Jesus. 鈥淗e was very much a person who brought that gospel message I think lovingly鈥� so he was able to meet with many people that way.
鈥淭o be a presence here on Main Street is, I think, following in the spirit of St. Patrick,鈥� he says.
@Pat604Johnson
