On March 17, revelers will drink green beer (and eat corned beef) in celebration of the man who, according to David Plotz, "didn't rid the land of snakes, didn't compare the Trinity to the shamrock, and wasn't even Irish." In a 2000 piece reproduced below, Plotz stripped the myth away from St. Patrick, evaluating the many different popular incarnations that have arisen in the years since his birth.
Statue of St. Patrick
Today we raise a glass of warm green beer to a fine fellow, the Irishman who didn't rid the land of snakes, didn't compare the Trinity to the shamrock, and wasn't even Irish. St. Patrick, who died 1,507, 1,539, or 1,540 years ago today—depending on which unreliable source you want to believe—has been adorned with centuries of Irish blarney. Innumerable folk tales recount how he faced down kings, negotiated with God, tricked and slaughtered Ireland's reptiles.
The facts about St. Patrick are few. Most derive from the two documents he probably wrote, the autobiographical Confession and the indignant Letter to a slave-taking marauder named Coroticus. Patrick was born in Britain, probably in Wales, around 385 A.D. His father was a Roman official. When Patrick was 16, seafaring raiders captured him, carried him to Ireland, and sold him into slavery. The Christian Patrick spent six lonely years herding sheep and, according to him, praying 100 times a day. In a dream, God told him to escape. He returned home, where he had another vision in which the Irish people begged him to return and minister to them: "We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more," he recalls in the Confession. He studied for the priesthood in France, then made his way back to Ireland.
- Re: St. Patrick Revealed (David Plotz)---芝加哥的St. Patrick dayposted on 03/18/2007
据说,芝加哥St. Patrick day是世界级的。我最喜欢的是被染绿的芝加哥河。 - Re: St. Patrick Revealed (David Plotz)---芝加哥的St. Patrick dayposted on 03/18/2007
Nice shots, July.
In Washington, the Day of Green was overshadowed by the anti-war rally at the Pentagon. Today also marks the 4th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. - Re: 芝加哥的街头雕塑posted on 03/18/2007
- Re: 芝加哥的街头雕塑posted on 03/19/2007
纽约也游了的。五大道一片绿,街边积雪污秽。
很高兴听到DC的反战游行。绿色--和平! - Re: 芝加哥的街头雕塑posted on 03/19/2007
河水如何变成绿色的,JULY?
难道不流动么? - Re: St. Patrick Revealed (David Plotz)---芝加哥的St. Patrick dayposted on 03/20/2007
绿河照片很有意思!很难想象这个节会象情人节、圣诞节一样很快在中国流行起来:因为中国人很忌讳戴绿帽子。
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