As the year goes on, different holidays come and go.  St. Patrick’s Day is approaching and people of all backgrounds are ready to celebrate.

St. Patrick’s Day originally started out as a religious holiday from the fifth century that celebrated the life of Saint Patrick.  He was born in Britain but was kidnapped when he was sixteen years old and taken to Ireland where he worked as a shepherd slave.  St. Patrick escaped but soon returned back to Ireland where he is known for bringing Christianity to its people.  Legends say that St. Patrick taught the people of Ireland about the Holy Trinity using the three leaves of a shamrock, the native Irish clover.

People all around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  They gather around at huge parades and Irish festivals where the Irish culture is celebrated with traditional music using bagpipes and drums but also concerts and dancing.  People perform outdoor theatre productions while others enjoys traditional Irish foods.

On St. Patrick’s Day,  green is the color one would usually think of.  This color, however, isn’t the original color used to represent Saint Patrick.  There is a specific shade of blue known as ‘Saint Patrick Blue’ that was used to represent him.  But as years past, people connected Saint Patrick to the color green because of the the Emerald Isle but mostly because of the shamrock that Saint Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity.

    Many people of different backgrounds celebrate this holiday in different ways.  Some people like to gather together and spend the holiday with friends and family while others simply just wear green.