St. Pat's Day Plans?

rickismom said:

Really? I had no idea Ha! He's getting more cabbage then, no excuses!

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Well, it's said he was from Wales, which was under Roman rule at the time. So that makes him Roman.
No?

oh boo hoo......

I'm goin to Chicago this weekend to get my drunk on

Beer, and nekid college girl boobies, lets party!!

Calicolady said:

Well, it's said he was from Wales, which was under Roman rule at the time. So that makes him Roman.
No?

Click to expand...

yep, he was. he lived in the early 5th century, when england and scotland were the northernmost reaches of the roman empire.

it is said that his parents were romans living in either southern scotland or wales (a lot of o'l st. pat's life is guesstimation), and when he was a teenager was kidnapped and sold as a slave. he was brought to ireland where he ended up tending sheep in the slemish mountains. it was here he learned the druid culture and irish language.

after several years, he escaped his captors, travelling back to europe where he became involved in the christian church, eventually becoming a bishop in france. upon meeting the pope, he was charged with bringing christianity back to the barbaric people of ireland, and given the name patrick, or patercius, which means "father of his people".

so, he went back and did just that. it is said that he was successful in his work because he didn't push christianity as the only way to god, and that he was "holier than thou." but rather, he said that he was a sinner no different then those that he preached to, maybe worse. and that his ideas were just from another tribe, one of equals to the locals. this got the irish listening, then it was just a matter of time.

in western ireland, on a mountain just north of where my paternal grandmother is from, he hiked to the top and built a chapel, fasting for forty days. at the end of his fast, the legend says that st. pat cast a silver bell down the mountain, driving snakes out of ireland. (in fact, he was so thorough that he even got rid of all of the fossils, too! )

actually, the snake was the symbol of pagaism, so by driving them out of ireland, it described the destruction of paganism.

here's a picture of the mountain "croagh patrick" from my grandmother's town, where my dad spent his summers as a kid:




i've been there, and it's beautiful. the hike up croagh patrick isn't easy, either. it's all loose stone and gravel. you have to watch out for hikers above you, sending missiles down on your head.

and that cloud never seems to leave, or stop raining.

Oh, it's beautiful, bt. Thanks for the tail.
So today he'd be called Patrizio, or patricini (little pat)? LOL!