Blessings of the Irish to you, readers!
It’s St. Patrick’s day – don’t forget to wear some green
Don’t forget to wear your green today, readers. It’s St. Patrick’s Day!
Why green? We found a report from the Christian Science Monitor which notes that the tradition stems from the early 1700s, when American revelers thought that wearing the color “made one invisible to leprechauns, fairy creatures who would pinch anyone they could see (anyone not wearing green).”
The holiday actually honors the patron saint of Ireland, who is believed to have died on March 17 around 460 A.D. Patrick was a devout Christian who became a missionary in Ireland. History.com notes that he incorporated Irish traditions and rituals when attempting to convert the Irish, who at that point celebrated a more nature-based, pagan religion.
As the legend goes, St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach the Holy Trinity to the Irish, showing “how three things, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit could be separate entities, yet one in the same,” Catholic Online reports.
According to History.com, the St. Patrick’s Day observance began as a religious feast day, and has since morphed into the celebrations we know of today.
It’s not unusual to hear a few Irish blessings on St. Patrick’s Day, so we scoured the Internet to bring readers a few to start your day:
• May the leprechauns dance over your bed and bring you sweet dreams.
• May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.
• May your troubles be less and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door.
• Let your heart be glad for the harvest done and may your winter be warm the whole season long.
• May luck be your friend in whatever you do and may trouble be always a stranger to you.
• May peace and plenty be the first to lift the latch to your door, and happiness be your guest today and evermore.
• May you live as long as you want but never want as long as you live.
• May the hinges of our friendship never grow rusty, may the Irish hills caress you, may her lakes and rivers bless you, may the luck of the Irish enfold you, and may the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
• May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you’re going and the insight to know when you’re going too far.
And to you, our readers: May your blessings outnumber the Shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Yuma!
Editor’s Note: This editorial originally appeared in the Yuma Sun in 2021. Looking for Thumbs Up? It will appear on the opinion page in the Saturday edition of the Yuma Sun.
Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.