A Glorious and Holy Saint Patrick's Day

How do we bring holiness to a day that seems to have lost its religious significance? After participating in many Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in an Irish band, author Alex Basile has some ideas.

This year marks my 25th anniversary with The Irish Mist, a band that still plays in the New York area. I have seen many Saint Patrick celebrations come and go during this time.

I have played many ballrooms and dive bars as people have attempted to honor Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.  The revelers are usually bedecked in green hats, "Kiss me, I'm Irish" pins and shamrock necklaces. The beers flows and many participants sail away into oblivion as the day fades.

I have mixed feeling about this day as I beam with pride about my heritage, but dread the distorted traditions that have developed around this day. Perhaps this year, we can fit Saint Patrick's Day a bit more appropriately into the Lenten season.

This feast day was solely a solemn feast in Ireland until recently. Christians commemorated the saint by attending Mass and spending special time with family and friends.

It is a day that recalls why we follow Christ. It marks the transformation of a pagan people who shifted from worshiping the sun god to becoming disciples of the Son of God.

For Irish Americans, we must pay homage to our ancestors who left family behind to discover a better way to live. These immigrants risked all to abandon absolute poverty and discover the possibility of making an honest living.  Many tears were shed as they boarded boats and made their way to an unknown world.

On Saint Patrick's Day, I fondly remember my own grandparents that left Cork and Kerry in Ireland to give future generations a new life.     

Create your traditions around faith and family this Saint Patrick's Day.

May the prayer of Saint Patrick be in your heart:

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

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