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St Patrick's Day - Der irische Nationalfeiertag
St. Patrick’s Day Party
Auch nächstes Jahr wieder! Genauer Termin folgt.
The Story of Saint Patrick
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig
(Wishing you Peace and Happiness on St. Patrick’s Day.)
St. Patrick is a national symbol for the Irish people and he is their most important saint. He was born at the end of the 4th century somewhere in Britain, but we don’t really know where exactly. It could be that St. Patrick was born in Wales.
One day, when Patrick was about sixteen, a group of pirates carried him away from his parents’ house and they took him to Ireland. For seven years he had to look after sheep on the lonely hills of Ulster. (Ulster is today’s Northern Ireland.) It was a hard life but Patrick soon came to love Ireland and the Irish people. But one night he heard voices in a dream and this dream told him about a ship that was waiting for him. So he left the sheep behind, went to the coast and finally came back to Britain. From there he travelled to France where he studied to become a priest.
Then, years later, he had another strange dream. This time voices were saying: “Come back, please come back and walk with us again!” At once he knew that it was the voice of the Irish people. He had to go back to Ireland and tell the Irish how to become Christians. So in France he studied hard because he wanted to become a good priest. And some time later, in the winter of 432, he finally came back to Ireland.
From that time on Ireland changed. First Patrick travelled to Ulster where he had been as a boy. After that he travelled all over Ireland and taught the people about God and Christianity. This wasn’t always easy. One chieftain (= boss of a village), for example, found it hard to understand how there could be three persons Father, Son and the Holy Spirit - in one God. When he asked St. Patrick this question, St. Patrick took a shamrock and showed the chieftain its three leaves in one leaf.
Soon St. Patrick became a hero for the Irish. Towns, bridges, churches and many boys and men have been called after him. There are many songs and a lot of stories about St. Patrick. Not all of them are true. One story says that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland, but there never were any in the first place. The story tells us that St. Patrick tossed all snakes in the Irish Sea. That is why this sea is often very rough because the snakes are still angry.
On March 17th every year Irish people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. On that day they wear the shamrock to remember their great saint. Or they wear green clothes, paint their faces green or have green hair. Even the beer is green on St. Patrick’s Day!
In the USA and particularly in cities with large Irish minorities e.g. in New York, Boston or Chicago this day is very special. Their Irish ancestors left their home country and went to the USA in the past. But they took their traditions with them. And so St. Patrick’s Day is a great event in the States, too. And in New York the Hudson River is also green on 17th March!
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