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Show W Saint persoungo whoso natal day In eclobrnted with Bttch enthusiasm by our Irish citizens was unquestionably the brightest luminary that adorned the Emerald Islo, for by his almost herculean hercu-lean labors ho rescued that land from paganism. Sotno uncertainty exists ns to tho date nnd placo of Patrick's birth. Tho most rollablo hlstorlnns, however, concur In tho belief that he was born about tho year 39G In tlu British-Roman province ot Vnlcntla, at a placo near tho Clyde, not far from tho modern Dumbarton, called from him Kllpatrlck. About tho year 432 he began his missionary work of converting tho pagans of Ireland to Christianity. It Is said that during his stay In the island he founded, 3G5 churches, baptized bap-tized with his own hands mora than 1,200 persons and ordained n grout number of priests. s He died about tho l ) year 4C9 at a LA place called Saul, f v near Downpatrlck, ( viv nnd his relics J were preserved nt LJSs that placo till the WFImi tlmo of the Kcfor- v"Jre mat Ion. QtilJI' It Is but natural that tho land i":lffWfe which produced a frfefV1? A Mjfi Flngal and an Os- ?U,A VQ slan should 'aVUkXI kl nbound In legends Tj( g v of tho great mis- f rWi. Blonary who taught tjf tho Christian re- yxJttt llglon to tho Irish ly . pagans stories, y MfflV some of which are Kyi surrounded w'.th gfin'ff ' an atmospl'tiro of I ' t81 iti?1 II beauty, others that nro wild and ridiculous. ridic-ulous. His explanation of tho Trinity to his .hearers, whoso slmplo minus could not conceive of tho existence of three In one, was timely and satisfactory. satisfac-tory. Plucking a stem of tho shamrock sham-rock from the earth at his feet, ho pointed out to his congregation tho threo leaves growing from tho ono stalk, by that slmplo illustration bringing bring-ing tho members of his flock to a realization of n Trluno God. Slnco then that trefoil plant has been sacred, sa-cred, and together with tho harp has been tho emblem of tho Emerald Isle. As long ns tho shamrock continues to spring from tho soil of Erin tho truo Celt will observe the yearly recurring re-curring holiday that Is supposed to mark tho anniversary of the birth of Ireland's patron saint. It is true that many well-Informed Irishmen will tell us that tho 17th of March Is not celebrated cele-brated as tho birthday of Patrick, be-causo be-causo It Is by no means cortuln that It Is tho correct dnto; but that tho day Ib merely sot apart as a tlmo upon which to honor tho old saint's memory. mem-ory. But, bo that as It may, the majority ma-jority of people, and perhaps a majority major-ity of tho Irish, consider It tho birthday birth-day anniversary of Ireland's great evangelist. What tho Fourth of July Is to tho truo-born Araorlcan St. Patrick's Pat-rick's day Is to both tho native Irishman Irish-man nnd tho Irish-American. It Is 'truo that tho latter Is loyal to his v adopted country, ( nnd has many - tl"lcs proved his f ) patriotism, but yppa I when tho 17th of 1 March nppears tho hP'A cMwm of Hlbern-Ian Hlbern-Ian blood Is ready r m V JW8 t0 cc,c,,rnt0 a day WW f ''' this Is exclusively III I M ' ,lls owna day A ' commemorating, Vitrw nn ovent that oc- turlcs ng0 yot i''mnvSefifrjffi& wlcl1 remains un-iieml un-iieml k dlmmcd by thc ,1 I lwPWA ' It must bo con . faLNStW fossod that the 'yZAW' celebration ot St t iMjfMsxmmr- IfttrIck'8 day ,a 1 flltlrilll not upon tho whole I IW m -Jl Invested with any marked degreo of sanctity by Its participantsthat par-ticipantsthat is apparent at leaBt to Amorlcan eyes. Ot course, upon that occasion appropriate ceremonies are conducted In tho churches with becoming becom-ing revorence, but to Irishmen as n wholo tho anlyorsnry of tho old saint's nativity Is looked forward to ns a day for participating in all tho pomp and pageantry of tho street parado, In which tho green flag with tho harp and shamrock shnrcs tho honors of tho day with tho Star and Stripes of tho Milesian's adopted country. Looked at from a meteorological point of vlow tho festival of tho canonized canon-ized Patrick's birth enjoys a distinction distinc-tion that Is by no means mythical. Thoso who have long mado n study of tho woathor and Us vagarlos can tes-tlfy tes-tlfy that tho 17th of March as It appears, ap-pears, each year 1b, as n rulo, characterized charac-terized by storms of either rain or snow, or gales ot wind. Tho few exceptions ex-ceptions to this phonomonoh only provo tho rulo. The boisterous deportment of tho olomonts on that day, howovor, arc easily accounted for by tho fact that tho Vernal equinox Is then near at hand, when elomontal and ntmos phorlo disturbances aro liable to occur. |
