Whenever March comes around, you know it is time to break out the green clothes for St. Patrick’s Day. Whether it be going to the parade in Philadelphia (or elsewhere), hanging out at a local pub or just eating Irish potatoes all day, St. Patty’s is a big celebration of Irish heritage each year.
But how well do we really know the history of St. Patty’s? Has it just become another commercialized holiday to buy clover-themed accessories and drink?
I know that, as a Catholic school student since kindergarten, I personally heard the history behind the holiday every year of grade school. Yet, I still could not say with 100 percent confidence that I retained any of it.
Instead, St. Patty’s Day has become all about leprechauns and drinking until you drop. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not remember green beer or Irish potatoes in the original celebration of St. Patrick’s death.
St. Patty’s Day was created in order to honor the beloved patron saint of Ireland. Yet, it has turned into a day when all Irish stereotypes tend to be let loose. Fake orange beards and bad drinking habits fill the streets around any nearby bar and no religious aspect of the holiday can be found for miles.
You can always find someone fighting to keep the “Christ in ‘Christmas,” yet nobody seems very upset that St. Patty’s Day is no longer about St. Patrick-or maybe they are all just too drunk to remember that it was even about him in the first place.
On Christmas, elves create presents to be left under a tree placed in everyone’s homes. Easter has a giant bunny and colored eggs. Even Halloween, which was originally a celebration of lost ones, has become the one day a year in which it is acceptable to take candy from complete strangers.
However, when people celebrate these holidays, they tend to still keep in mind the religious aspect if they are religious as well. What I fear is that even some of the more religious people just look at St. Patty’s Day as a day to drink and party.
It is fine to celebrate in any and every way for different holidays, but we need to at least keep in mind the reason we are celebrating. St. Patty’s Day should have the same type of religious undertones that Christmas or Easter has, amidst all of the partying.
