St. Patrick and “Snacks”

I don’t know much about St. Patrick, and I really should. Not only is he the patron saint of the archdiocese–he is the namesake of our cathedral.

The time-period in which he lived, around the 5th century, is a time in history in which I majored in, and am partially obsessed with. The problem is, my area of expertise was more along the lines of Europe. But, today, in honor of St. Patrick, I tried to do a little research and exploring. But first, I tried asking a few friends and family members if they knew any interesting tidbits.

One of my brothers immediately responded, “He chased all the snacks out of Ireland.”

You read that correctly. His phone’s autocorrect changed the sentence. I’m sure he meant to type, “He chased all the snakes out of Ireland:” referring to the popular legend surrounding the saint. I let out an uproarious laugh at my desk at work. I couldn’t help it.

I imagined St. Patrick, a missionary in a strange land, fending for his life as he tried to spread the faith to a people who didn’t understand (hence the use of the shamrock to explain the Trinity). In almost all images of him, he is portrayed with a shamrock and a walking stick.

The image of St. Patrick with the shamrock and the walking stick made me think of my own life. Do I try to explain to others (or even to myself, really, about my faith?) and do I go out and try to walk in the footsteps of Jesus? Am I living the life Jesus called me to live? Those are tough questions to answer. And honestly, I don’t have an answer for myself right now, but it is so worth it to think about.