Saint Patrick the Exploited?

March 15, 2017 10:17 pm Published by 2 Comments

 

Hello friends,

Well, Saint Patrick’s Day is just around the corner. What are you planning to do to celebrate? If you’re like many Americans you’re planning to wear green. You might even go all out and wear a shamrock. I think that’s a harmless way to celebrate, so go ahead if you like, but I’d encourage you to stop there.

In case you aren’t aware of this, Saint Patrick’s Day is one of the biggest drinking days of the year in America. Depending on which survey you consult, Saint Patrick’s Day is almost always in the top five, and is sometimes listed as the biggest drinking day of all. In other words, far too many people are about to drink far too much alcohol for their own good. And let me be clear, having a glass of wine or a beer from time to time isn’t the problem. In fact there is no doubt that Jesus himself drank wine. It’s the excessive drinking, the over-indulgence, that I’m going after here. Alcohol, after all, is literally a poison.

So why do we do this? Why has this holiday, designed to celebrate the life of a Godly man, become synonymous with heavy drinking? Well, the short answer is that the Catholic Church has allowed a suspension of Lenten vows on this day, and since many people choose to give up alcohol for Lent, they take this opportunity to imbibe, often far too much. But that’s only the origin, of course. Businesses which stand to make money from this holiday, originally brewers and distillers but now costume manufacturers and greeting card makers as well, have long encouraged people to buy their products on this day. Year after year, beginning mostly in the early 20th century and through today, these companies have refined their message. The result, like with other American holidays, is an increasingly deep tradition of excessive alcohol consumption.

The problem is, Saint Patrick is not associated with alcohol in any way. He was a man who dedicated his life to serving and saving the Irish people who were still firmly pagan. Patrick had heard the word of God and knew the message of Jesus, and he was desperate to share that message with all of Ireland. In fact, I personally consider him the greatest example of a Christian missionary that we have. And so I find myself astounded that this man who embodied love and self-sacrifice is honored by selfish behavior and over-indulgence.

Because of Patrick, Ireland became a Christian land. Churches were built to honor God, and monasteries were constructed to house knowledge, to copy books, and to preserve the light of education. It couldn’t have come at a better time. As Thomas Cahill explains in his book How the Irish Saved Civilization – which I highly recommend – just as the Western Roman Empire fell into chaos – and took all of Europe with it – the Emerald Isle remained peaceful. The violent tribes who had torn down the Empire never reached Ireland, and so all the knowledge lovingly stored away in those Irish monasteries and churches was never destroyed. Saint Patrick, then, should be revered more with book-readings and church services than with drunken bar-crawls and rivers dyed green.

I’m still going strong, but that won’t last forever, and so I have to wonder. How will my story be told when I leave this earth? Don’t any of you dare to go and get drunk to celebrate my memory! And if you do, remember that you’ll be feeling plenty green the next morning.

 

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This post was written by Grace Fabian

2 Comments

  • Mary Klase says:

    Grace…What a well written article about missionary Patrick and the sad twisting of the a life so well lived. Basically, I guess that holiday has nothing to do with the man. Rather his named is dropped to allowed for drunkenness. It is sad. I hope that some will see the truth this year and turn to Jesus the One who is all truth and gives true freedom!
    Thank you for sharing truth, Grace!

  • marilyn anderson says:

    Grace – Thank you for this reminder. It just happened that I was in charge of the program this month for our local Newcomers Club in Nanaimo. Our theme was St. Patrick’s Day. Even though this is a secular club, I was determined to include a “Tribute to St.Patrick” as part of the program. I really researched his life – found out he was born in England – taken by Irish raiders to serve as a slave in Ireland when a teenager. Later escaped back to England, studied theology under St.Germaine,etc. etc. Some facts are sketchy – it was the 5th Century!

    Anyway, after giving a brief history – we sang “Be Thou My Vision” – and I pointed out some of the terms “high King of heaven” (there were many “kinglets” in Ireland at that time), “high tower” and “riches I heed not” (St.Patrick would never accept gifts from the local chieftains and kings.)

    We then went on to celebrate with a fiddle player and keyboard player from our church, and sang happy Irish themed songs – and had a happy celebration! (No beer – just green bottles of Schweppes ginger ale and lime flavored water, etc.) We had a great time.

    But yes, thanks to St.Patrick – we owe a lot of our Christian heritage to such as him. Thank you, Lord!

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