A Historic Look at St. Patrick's Day

The Irish love to drink beer and weave a good tale. So it should come as no surprise that St. Patrick's Day has evolved into a celebration that's more about the beer than the actual acts of faith of the saint it celebrates. (Image from History.com)

Some articles about the history of the day give a clear-eyed accounting of the efforts of St. Patrick to convert the heathen Irish into Christians, as well as how he, like most saints, suffered and
was forgotten until later revived in stories that became more legend than fact. A story in National Geographic this month draws from the book, St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography, by Philip Freeman, a classic professor at Luther College in Iowa.

Still, I can't fault the Irish for creating a colorful saint to celebrate. He did do a good job of spreading the faith. More than 150,000 souls were said to have been directly saved by him.

Irish Americans are the ones responsible for elevating the day from a sober religious holiday in which pubs were closed in Ireland to a cultural pride day in that celebrates all things Irish. So I'll toast to that, Irish-German-Italian American that I am (among other things), as I say a prayer of thanks and serve up the corned beef tonight.