St. Patrick’s Day is only 10 days away, but there’s still time to prepare to celebrate all things Irish. Many legends surround St. Patrick; one being that he drove all the snakes from Ireland. Historians have found that snakes were never native to Ireland, so some think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans by St. Patrick.
He is also attributed with introducing the Celtic cross. Some of the Irish pagans worshiped the sun, so legend has it that Patrick combined the Christian cross with the circular pattern of the sun as a way to associate light and life with the Christian cross in the minds of his converts. It has also been suggested that by superimposing the symbol of the cross over the symbol of the sun, St. Patrick illustrated the supremacy of Christ over the pagans’ sun god.
Surprise your Irish friends with a framed print of the popular Irish blessing:
May the road rise up to meet you,
the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.