St. Patricks Day Decorating
Ok . . we are not Irish but I love the whole story behind St. Patrick and how he helped bring Christianity to Ireland, so in honor of St. Patrick I have a few items I set out each year.
The Real St. Patrick
'Tis the season for parades, green beer, shamrocks, and articles talking about why St. Patrick's day isn't all about parades, green beer, and shamrocks.
First, a few misconceptions about Patrick:
Patrick isn't really a Saint with a capital S, having never been officially canonized by Rome. And Patrick couldn't have driven the snakes out of Ireland because there were never any snakes there to begin with. He wasn't even the first evangelist to Ireland (Palladius had been sent in 431, about five years before Patrick went). Patrick isn't even Irish. He's from what's now Dumbarton, Scotland (just northwest of Glasgow).
Patrick was 16 years old in about the year 405, when he was captured in a raid and became a slave in what was still radically pagan Ireland. Far from home, he clung to the religion he had ignored as a teenager. Even though his grandfather had been a priest, and his father a town councilor, Patrick "knew not the true God." But forced to tend his master's sheep in Ireland, he spent his six years of bondage mainly in prayer. He escaped at the suggestion of a dream and returned home.
Patrick was in his mid-40s when he returned to Ireland. Palladius had not been very successful in his mission, and the returning former slave replaced him. Intimately familiar with the Irish clan system (his former master, Milchu, had been a chieftain), Patrick's strategy was to convert chiefs first, who would then convert their clans through their influence. Reportedly, Milchu was one of his earliest converts.
Though he was not solely responsible for converting the island, Patrick was quite successful. He made missionary journeys all over Ireland, and it soon became known as one of Europe's Christian centers. This, of course, was very important to fifth-century Christians, for whom Ireland was one of the "ends of the earth."
8 comments:
You are truly amazing, Emily. I love your holiday decorating. Where are the bathroom and hallway embellishments??? I think we need to beef up your St. Patty supplies. Do you also do Easter? If so, do you go with bunnies and lambs or try to stay more "Christian" and resurrection?
You're such an inspiration in this area.
Compared to other holiday's, St Patricks decorations are my fewest. I started buying a few things about 5 years ago to set out when I found out exactly what St Patrick did to bring Christianity to Ireland.
I go full out for Easter. I do decorate with bunnies but I base it on a book that I read to the kids each Easter called The First Easter Bunny. It tells the story of a bunny that was there when Jesus died on the cross and when he arose from the grave. We also use eggs to bring in the "new life" theme. I will share more that we do as we get closer to Easter. Everything we do points toward the rising of the Lord :-) Just like Christmas though where we allow Santa to be part of the season . . . we do go and see the Easter Bunny . . . just for fun. The kids know the true reason for Easter :-)
Great decorations. I love to see how you decorate so much for all the holidays, you're a real inspiration!
Thanks Jodi - I enjoy it!
Emily, I am just amazed at your decorating skills! I have hung out my St. Patrick Day flag but that is it on the decorations. St Patrick's Day was a much bigger deal in RI where a large part of the population was Irish. I town even had a St. Patrick's Day parade. I'll put out spring decorations soon but until then our house looks kind of bare.
Michele, I really don't have the much for St. Patrick's day. I just have a small box of things I set out! I have a lot more Easter/Spring stuff that will be coming out the end of March!
Nice decorations as always! I'll just be happy to have my house clean in time for Easter dinner (LOL). This is the first time in about 5 years that dh and I don't have to play all of the Easter services so we'll probably be having dinner here.
Tomorrow I am taking all the St. Patty stuff down. I think I will wait a few weeks before I bring out the Easter stuff. How many days until Easter????
Post a Comment