Celebrating St. Patrick

St. Patrick's Day is more than green beer and leprechauns; it's about honoring the man who brought his Christian faith to the people of Ireland

March 15, 2006

By YOVANNA BIEBERICH

March 17 is the day when everyone turns Irish, wears green and slams down a few pints of Guinness before following a leprechaun to his pot of gold. But has St. Patrick's Day lost some of its meaning amidst the green beer and corned beef?

Legend speaks of St. Patrick as a holy man who banished all the snakes from Ireland, but history tells us that this patron saint was on a heartfelt mission to convert and minister to his people.

"St. Patrick's story is a very interesting story," said Irish-born Tim Crowley, who now lives in Petaluma. "It's about his original vision of the Christian church. Much of his vision of the Christian church and his philosophy was much more open and joyful; more akin to the original Irish approach to life than the restricting Catholicism that came in later times. St. Patrick's Day celebrates the bringing of Christianity to Ireland."

According to Wikipedia.com, St. Patrick was believed to have been born near the end of the fourth century, but wasn't particularly religious until he was taken captive by a group of Irish raiders. While working as a shepherd, he turned to religion and became a devout Christian.

After six years as a prisoner, St. Patrick escaped and fled to Britain. Determined to return to Ireland someday as a missionary, he spent the next 15 years in religious training and became an ordained priest.

St. Patrick made his way back to Ireland and began his unique ministry, which incorporated tradition rather than banning native Irish beliefs. He is credited for creating the Celtic cross -- the image of the sun, a powerful Irish symbol, on a Christian cross.

In honor of this man of faith, the anniversary of St. Patrick's death -- March 17 around 460 A.D. -- has been celebrated as a religious holiday ever since.

"My earliest memory of St. Patrick's Day is being in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin," said John Crowley, Tim's brother. "It's a big public celebration, kind of like the Fourth of July is here -- only it always seems to rain. It's a big thing, only I never saw green beer until I came here. That seems to be a purely American invention."

Having grown up in Dublin, the Crowleys have enjoyed their share of St. Patrick's Day festivities.

"I think we did go to mass," said John. "Then we'd go into town to watch the parade."

"We did the cabbage and corned beef -- that's awful stuff," said Tim. "Then we go out in the afternoon and look for four-leaf clovers. We found some, but the location is a secret. I can't give away where that is."

While the Crowleys have fond memories of the holiday, Tim added that the holiday's meaning seems to have gotten lost over the years. The day meant to honor a saint has been overshadowed by commercialism.

"The thing that bothers me most about St. Patrick's Day is the drinking alcohol thing," said Tim. "That's the classic American thing. It's a big drinking day. I don't know where that came from. It's turned into this binge drinking, commercial thing. That bothers me."

Irish lass Maureen Friedrichsen-Reed, however, has kept the holiday as a gathering time for family and friends as well as a celebration of her birthday.

"I was born almost one minute to midnight on March 16," said Reed. "The mid-wife said to my mom 'another moment and she'd have been born a Patricia.'"

Though born in England, Reed's grandfather was from Ireland, but left during the potato famine. "There's a castle in Ireland that's part of the family," she added.

Reed's family celebrated St. Patrick's Day "a little" while she was growing up, but missed out on the corned beef due to the strict diet her father was on. "We had boiled potatoes and cabbage, but the beef was out," she said. "Mom would find a dessert and put those green sprinkles on. Strangely enough, I learned how to cook corned beef from a French lady. Most people don't know that St. Patrick was stolen away and went to France, so they celebrate St. Patrick's Day there too."

Admittedly not a fan of corned-beef, Reed loved the particular recipe shared with her and has been holding a corned beef and cabbage feast every year since then at her Petaluma home.

"It's up to 100 people now," said Reed of her St. Patrick's Day celebration. "It's a wonderful time for family gathering. It's become a tradition."