Video: The Real Story of St. Patrick’s Day

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — It is time to bust out your green wear, and look for a pot of gold. St. Patrick’s day will be celebrated by the Irish and the Irish at heart tomorrow march 17th. But there are lots of things you may not know about this holiday.

This may be hard to believe,  but St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish!

Grant Kelly explains, “He was kidnapped and was a slave at the age of 16.”

In the next year, Patrick escaped to his native land of Scotland but returned to Ireland as a missionary.

It is believed he died on March 17th, and this date has become a day of reverence for many Catholics.

Hold up… St Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday? You mean its not a day for just drinking green beer?

“As Catholics we look to the Saints as role models. So we look at these Saints not as living beings from a long time ago in the 5th century but as someone we can look to now”, says Jinny Clarke.

During his time in Ireland, he is most noted for driving the venomous snakes off of the island. Many see this as the casting away the demons, and filling the land with the faith.

With very few followers at first, St. Patrick developed a symbolic way to explain the holy trinity.

“As Christians we are triune people. We believe in 3 persons and one god. How to explain that concept to people in these days was most difficulty, so he used a shamrock. 3 petals one blade, one piece of grass to show these were 3 persons in one god but one entity, father, son, holy spirit,” explains Paul Ackerman.

So what about the corned beef and cabbage?

Ireland is also known, for beef. Corned beef being one of the cheapest meats of the time, it was a feast all could have. Cabbage, a spring vegetable, and also inexpensive.

And the leprechaun?

They are known for having a secret pot of gold! But good luck trying the catch the clever little guys. Rounding out at about two feet, they are known to put up a good fight.

Another tradition we are all familiar with is the St. Patrick’s Day parades. The first parade took place in 1762 in new york city, and has continued every year since.

If you are looking for an even bigger way to celebrate? Head on over to Chicago, they dye their river green!