Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Here is a little history about St. Patrick and how this all got started.

St. Patrick is believed to have driven the snakes from Ireland. (Although scientists are now certain that there never were snakes on the island; some scholars have argued that the snakes were symbolic of Druids.) Once a pagan himself, St. Patrick is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. It is known that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents, either toward the end of the fourth century or the beginning of the fifth. Although his father was a Christian deacon, there is no evidence that Patrick was particularly religious. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family’s estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years as a slave in captivity. During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a devout Christian. After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped. According to his writing, God’s voice spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland.

Soon after his return to Britain, Patrick began religious training, a course of study that lasted more than fifteen years. After his ordination as a priest, he was sent to Ireland with a dual mission: to minister to the few Christians already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish. Once there, he superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish, and used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity.

The modern secular holiday is based on the original Christian saint's feast day also thought to be the date of the saint's death. In 1737, Irish immigrants to the United States began observing the holiday publicly in Boston and held the first St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City in 1766. Now parades are held all over the world to celebrate the day.

Today, we use it as an excuse to drink green beer or Guinness or an Irish Whiskey, and eat foods like bangers and mash or shepherd’s pie. Now a day, you don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patty’s day, you just need to have a joyous spirit and a designated driver!

Here is one of my favorite Irish Toasts!

My friends are the best friends

Loyal, willing and able.

Now let’s get to drinking!

All glasses off the table!

Here is a shot of the Chicago River taken today.

Cheers to all my Irish Friends!