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Show ? IH L v tit 5 - -r i - i r & j i Si i f -a v i s x 1 " t Jj- -"Was- T i ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL AT DUBLIN. MANY LEGENDS OF ST. PATRICK Picturesque Variety of Incidents Crowded Into Life of the Great Apostle. EXPOSITION OF THE TRINITY Something That the Druids Could Understand Un-derstand His Ridding Ireland of Snakes Is of Course More or Less Mythical. POPULAR tradition has surrounded surround-ed the life of St. Patrick, whose festival all loyal Irish celebrate, with a more picturesque variety of incidents than has been the fate of any other saint. Whether they are true or not is a matter of little importance impor-tance if the stories are good. They have to be good, for the Irish are the authors. One of the most famous of the myths connected with St. Patrick, perhaps the most famous after the traditional expulsion of snakes from Ireland, is the story of how the saint became connected con-nected with the shamrock. When St. PatEiek first began to talk to the heathen hea-then Irish of the Trinity they did not believe him till he picked a shamrock and Illustrated the doctrine by three leaves growing on one stem. This concrete con-crete analogy appealed to the druids and most of them became Christians. These druids were St. Patrick's worst enemies, and he was forced by their hostility to act in a manner somewhat some-what inappropriate for a saint. He cursed their lands for them, so that they became waste and drear bogs; he cursed their rivers, so that no fish could live in them; he cursed their kettles, so that they would not boll, and finally he cursed the earth, so that it opened and swallowed them np. His Most Famous Act. The saint's most famous achievement achieve-ment was the ridding Ireland of snakes. The method he employed was novel at least. He simply called all the serpents together to the top of a mountain moun-tain and compelled thera to swallow each other until there was none left, but, as the Englishman said, that seems Improbable. . A more authentic account is that he drove the snakes out by beating a drum, and that, in his enthusiasm, he knocked a hole in It, which an angel at once came and mended. One huge snake he is said to have chained in Lough Dilvcen, and even to this day, every Monday morning, the snake calls out In good Irish : "It's a long Monday, Patrick !" St. Patrick seems to have taken a great delight in performing miracles, i Once when he was In England he saw a leper who wanted to make a voyage in a certain ship, but the captain would not let him. St. Patrick took a stone altar which had been consecrated by the pope and threw It into the water. He then made the leper sit on the altar, which floated and kept up with the ship for the whole voyage. Put Cross Over Right Grave. lie had a habit of setting a cross at tho grave of a Christian whenever he could. In his travels one day he came upon two newly made graves at the head of one of which was a cross. St. Tatrlck stopped and asked the man in this grave what his religion was, The man replied he was a pagan. "Why, then, is this cross placed at your head?" St. Patrick asked. The man replied that his companion had become a Christian and that a mistake had boon made in placing the cross. St. Tatrlck then corrected the error and went his way. But even St. Patrick made mistakes. He was once tempted to eat meat when It was not proper to do so. He got some pork, but hid It for a time and before he found an opportunity to eat It he met a man with a pair of eyes in the back of his head In addition to the usual ones in front St. Patrick asked the meaning of this and the man replied re-plied that with the eyes in his face he saw such things as other men saw, but with those in the back of his head he saw secret things and he now saw a monk hiding some fresh meat that he might eat it secretly. St. Patrick was at once stricken with remorse and prayed for forgiveness. An angel then appeared and commanded him to put the pork into water. This he did, and It was immediately changed Into fishes. His Memory Worshiped. Such tales as these are told of by the Irish themselves with no hint of disrespect. They are merely the evidences evi-dences of the all-pervading humor of this light-hearted people and should be taken In the same spirit by others. In spite of them the Irish worship the memory of St. Patrick above all other saints. It should not be Imagined, however, that the--traditions concerning the patron pa-tron saint of Ireland are all humorous. Some of thera embody that sense of the beautiful which is also an Irish characteristic. char-acteristic. One of the most attractive of these tales Is that of St. Patrick and the king's daughters. In the year 433 he celebrated Easter by converting many thousands of the inhabitants. After the termination of the services he went to Tara to try to convert the king. But the king would Interior of St. Patrick's. have none of the new religion, and St. Patrick's life was in danger. Iff despair de-spair he was departing from the town when he passed a fountain near which were two fair maidens. The maidens Hull of wonder at St. Patrick's white garment!), asked him who ho was. Brought King Into Fold. St. Patrick told them he was a bishop bish-op of God and expounded the principles prin-ciples of Christianity. They were delighted de-lighted with his discourse and became converted at once. Then they asked St. Patrick to return to Tara, where their father was king. St. Tatrlck, much surprised to hear that the two maidens were daughters of the king he had just visited, accompanied accom-panied them back to the castle. Here the king was pers?Jed by the princesses prin-cesses to accept the new religion. The next dny 12,000 of the people followed the example of their king and princesses. |