|
Richard David Yannopoulos-Ruquist,
You wrote:
> I believe in St. Patrick's Day.
> Should I stop drumming in St. Patrick Day parades?
In an article on St. Patrick's Day (www.hylit.com/info/StPatrick/index.html)
I copied:
] St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland. The
] feast day of St. Patrick, March 17, is a day to
] celebrate being Irish, or to be Irish for a day!
] St. Patrick is celebrated for bringing
] Christianity to Ireland. He was born about 373
] A.D., in either Scotland or Roman England. His
] real name was probably Maewyn Succat. After
] becoming a priest he took the name of Patrick,
] or Patricus. He was kidnapped at the age of 16
] by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland He
] was a slave in Ireland for 6 years, when God
] started to speak to him in dreams and visions.
] He escaped (after voices in one of his visions
] told him where he could find a getaway ship)
] and went to France, where he became a priest
] and later a bishop. But then St. Patrick had a
] dream, and he dreamed that the Irish were
] calling him back to Ireland to tell them about
] God. When he was about 60 years old, St.
] Patrick travelled to Ireland to spread the
] Christian gospel. He used the shamrock (a three-
] leafed plant) as a metaphor to explain the
] concept of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy
] Spirit). Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove
] all the snakes out of Ireland -- that they all
] went into the sea and drowned. We do have some
] writings of St. Patrick, but legend and fact
] are intertwined!
Based on this I could accept the existence of the person called St. Patrick. Most of the story is believable. He has a few dreams. He thinks they are revelations from God. He tries to obey the dreams. He had success. This doesn't mean God really did reveal things to him.
On the other hand, you don't believe the part about the snakes do you?
If you enjoy drumming in St. Patrick's Day celebrations, enjoy, but I suggest you be skeptical about him being a "Saint" with visions from God. |
