Do you
know the St. Patrick’s Day?
The St. Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious
celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the
foremost patron saint of Ireland.
Then who
is Saint Patrick?
Most of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the
Declaration, which was written by himself. True, he was not born Irish. But he
has become most important part of the Irish heritage that through his service
across Ireland of the 5th century. Patrick was the son of a
Roman-British army officer.
He was growing up as naturally as other kids in
British. According to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped along
with many others by Irish pirates and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. He
spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during that time changes
came to him. He found the God. As a legend, he was dictated by God to escape
with a getaway ship.
There
are celebration and tradition.
On St. Patrick’s Day, it is customary to wear green
clothing, green hat or green ribbon. According to legend, Saint Patrick used
the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans. Shamrock
color is green and also there is a green color in Ireland flag. That’s why
green color is chosen symbol of St. Patrick’s day.
<Parade Route>
St.
Patrick’s Day parade was 15th on Sunday. It began at 12:00 noon from St. George and east to Yonge Street, then
south to Queen and finished at Nathan Philips Square.
We
gathered at Yonge&Bloor Station and went to Dollarama to buy something
green. Some of us bought hats, headbands, and ribbons. Then, we were ready to
watch the parade! On the street, there were many people wearing green like us.
The
first line of the parade was policemen riding motorcycles. After them
a group of people wearing Irish traditional clothing (tartan check skirts) and
playing Irish traditional musical instruments passed in front of us. After them another group showed up. Various kinds
of groups were walking one after another. We really enjoyed watching
them and taking pictures.
Furthermore,
St. Patrick’s Day, they can drink green beer and eat corned
beef with cabbage, soda bread, and Shepherd’s pie. They are Irish traditional
foods. We were looking forward to drinking green beer, but unfortunately, we
couldn’t find any place to drink it at the time. So we’ll try next time. Anyway
we had a great time with our friends.
Have fun and enjoy! :D
Have fun and enjoy! :D
