St. Patrick's Day – 17^th of March 

Another special day in the United States is the St. Patrick's Day. On this day the Irish celebrate their national saint St. Patrick. During the potato disease in the years 1845 to 1851 their ancestors came to the United States and today the Irish with around 19 million are one of the largest population group. They represent approximately 8% of the total population of the United States.

The holiday goes back to St. Patrick who died on 17^th of March in 461 like history tells. He was born in Scotland according to historical estimates in the year 382. At that time his name was still Maewyn. He spent his childhood in Wales. There he was at the age of 16 abducted by wandering Irishman and was sold to Ireland.

At that time he was a heathen and in order to find solace he turned to Christianity. He saw an angel appearance at that time and the angel told him to flee. Maewyn successfully escaped and he sought shelter in the monastery of Auxerre. According to legend he spent 12 years behind convent walls and was finally ordained. Since the consecration he wore his new name Patrick.

He decided that his life's mission as the priest Patrick was to convert heathen to the Christian faith like he had been proselytized once. With this goal he served his church for more than 30 years and moved proselytizing through Ireland. On his way he founded schools and monasteries which further contributed his thoughts. 

When Patrick died in March 461 in County Down in Ireland he had brought the Christian faith to the whole Island of Ireland.

His death is celebrated in his home country usually in a quiet and tranquil manner while the American Irish happily celebrate this day with parades and parties. The first parade was held in 1843 with only 800 participants.

At this first parade there were only steered green national flags but over time more and more items for this day are turned into green. Today there are for St. Patrick's Day everywhere green T-shirts, pants, hats, scarves and even green colored food.

At supermarkets they sell green cake and the beer is also dyed with food color. Because of the green beer that day is also called the Green Beer Day. This beer is only poured in the days before St. Patrick's Day.

On the whole world known is the green coloring of the Chicago River which today lasts only a few hours on St. Patrick's Day. The green coloring of the river goes back to the year 1962. That year, Mr. Stephan Bailey threw a hundredweight food color into the Chicago River with the result that the river flowed green through the city for one week. This event was at first not accepted by the city leaders but over the time this coloring of the river has become an integral part of the St. Patrick's Day Celebration.

 

 

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