Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day reportedly began as a family day for Catholics in Ireland. They used to start the day with church services in the morning to honor their patron saint and usually a parade in the afternoon.In case you don’t know the story, St. Patrick was reportedly born in Roman Britain in 387 to a wealthy family. When Patrick was 16 years old, he was captured, taken to Ireland and sold into slavery. As a young man, Patrick wasn't very religious. However, while enslaved by the Irish Druids for six years, Patrick took to praying, learning the Celtic language and educating himself about Druidism.St. Patrick is known for having had visions and while praying, Patrick often received messages from angels. Those angels advised Patrick to flee from his master. Patrick listened to the angels and left. He traveled over 200 miles to a ship that returned him home to his family. After he was reunited with his family, he had another vision, this one told him to return to Ireland.Patrick heard those voices numerous times begging him to go back and teach the Druids about Christianity. Patrick then told his parents that he wanted to devote his life to teaching the word of God to his former captors. Patrick entered the seminary and eventually made his way back to Ireland. He spent 30 years in his mission and was extremely successful.St. Patrick was said to have used a shamrock to teach the meaning of the Trinity (Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit). Patrick also founded many churches throughout Ireland and watched over them until his death on March 17th, 493.