As some of you may remember, I was born in Ireland.
On the 17th of March the Irish people celebrate St. Patrick´s Day. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland.
A symbol of Ireland is the Leprechaun. This is a type of Irish fairy who looks like an old man and is very badly behaved. He likes to play tricks on people. The legends say that they hide a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. If they are caught by a person, the leprechaun can give the person 3 wishes.
Another symbol of Ireland is the shamrock. This a
St. Patrick used it to explain the holy trinity to the people of Ireland when
he brought Christianity to the country.Saint Patrick's Day has come to be associated with everything Irish: anything green and gold, shamrocks and luck. Most importantly, to those who celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick's Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide.
Do you know what a patron saint is? Can you tell me about the special saints to your region or town or country? Or maybe you have a saint that is special to your family. Some people in England wear a bracelet with a symbol of their saint to keep them safe.
5 comments:
Ángel and José Ramón:
We think that it´s a good day in which you
remember the day in which a patron saint (in this case we are talking about St Patrick) died. We remember that day because this saint we are talking about made a wonderful contribution to the christianity. A- I think that Irish legends are so interesting, but I already knew them.
JR- I think that these legends are very interesting too, but I didn't know them. I specially like the Leprechaun's legend, because I like very much fairy tales.
The patron saint days in our country are celebrated very happily.
For example, the Olivares' patron virgin is La Virgen de Las Nieves. Her day is the 5th August and in Olivares, this day the town fair starts. We do a procession of the virgin around the town hall nearest streets and then the town major inaugurates the fair.
The patron virgin of Spain is La Virgen del Pilar. This day is free laboral day in all the country. It's celebrated the 12th October, and it's a very important day for all Spanish people, and specially for those who work in the army or in the civil guard. They do a really formal parade and the Spanish king, queen and princes greet most important people in the army and they also say sorry for the families whose sons, husbands or so, died in the wars.
A patron saint is someone who has done something special for the place he or she is patron of.
The patrons of Olivares are The Virgin of Las Nieves and Saint Sebastian. The patrons of Spain are The Virgin of el Pilar and Saint Santiago.
In my family we don't have a special saint.
I haven't never known about St Patrick's day.
In Olivares the patrons are La Virgen De Las Nieves(Her day is the 5th August and this day starts the town fair) and San Sebastian.
The Patron virgin of Spain is La Virgen Del Pilar.
I don't like so much the Saints but it's a good day for remember the people who have done something really good.
In my family we don't have a special saint.
The patron saint days in Spain are very happy and each town celebrate them in a special way.
The Spain's patron saint is Santiago El Mayor and the patron virgin is La Virgen Del Pilar. San Santiago's day (held the 25th July) is not very celebrated in our country, but the Virgen Del Pilar's day (celebrated on October 12th) we have a very amazing party. This day we have no classes and people don't go to work because it's a free laboral day. The 12th October, we also celebrate the Spain and the Spanishness' Day, so it's held in the Latin American countries too. This day, in Madrid, there are some celebrations to commemorate it, such as, military parades, The King D. Juan Carlos' lectures and so on.
Olivares has a patron saint and a patron virgin too. They are San Sebastián and La Virgen De Las Nieves. San Sebastián is also the patron saint of children, so in his day, the 20th of January, there are different activities for children in Olivares, specifically in the Plaza De España (Spain's Square). La Virgen De Las Nieves' day is held on August 5th and this day the Festivities starts in my town. During this celebration we go to the Olivares' Fair, we do a procession of the Virgen Del Rosario around the main streets of my village and we pass a lot of very good moments next to our friends. (Actually the virgin that go around Olivares should be the Virgen De Las Nieves, but it's too heavy and the Olivareños decided lots of years ago to take out the Virgen Del Rosario, keeping on the tradition).
I have alredy heard to speak about Saint Patick's day and his story and I like very much this type of celebrations because they also have a bit of History, and I love it. :)
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