St. Patrick's Day is March 17th... Well, sort of.This year, according to the Vatican, it will officially be March 15th. Why?
Well it's a convoluted tale, but in a nutshell, the problem is Easter and the accompanying rigamarole. Easter doesn't have a specific date, but rather, is based on timing of the full moon. Seriously.
This year, Easter is a very early March 23rd, unless you observe the eastern orthodox reckoning, then it's not until April 27th. The Vatican's "rule" is that Easter is the first Sunday after the full moon that falls on or after the vernal equinox. This is different but no less complicated than the Hebrew calculation of Passover, and is based in part on it. The Christian celebration of Easter is said to be the day that the "Jesus" character from the Bible, came back to life after being killed. This event was supposed to be three days after the Passover Seder in the year C.E.33, so you'd expect these two celebrations to be linked on modern-day observances also, but these two groups use different "calculations" for deciding when their celebrations are. Next year, Easter will fall just after the beginning of Passover, as in the story.
Anyway, so because Easter is early this year, March 17th falls on "Holy Monday" which is part of the afore mentioned rigamarole. Vatican rules say this is supposed to push St. Patrick's day forward, past easter, as the Eastern Orthodox observe, but this year the Vatican "approved" the 15th to allow it to "more closely coincide with secular celebrations".
St. Patrick's Day is about being Irish (even though you may not be), Corned Beef & Cabbage, and Guinness. So while the Vatican tries to determine special dates for celebrations based on the full moon, the rest of us realize there is nothing mysterious about the timing. We'll stick with dates on modern calendars, thank you very much. The 17th is still the national holiday in Ireland, and parades and celebrations are usually on the nearest weekend anyway. Festivities will likely begin Tonight.
The picture is of a steel beam at St. James Gate
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2 comments:
St. Patrick's Day is NOT about being Irish. I'm Irish. I'm also Catholic. Are you aware that most of Ireland thinks America is insane in our celebration of their Patron Saint?
I accept the fact that you are apparently not a Christian. That's your right. But whether you like it or not, St. Patrick existed, he has been canonized, and the Church celebrates his "feast" according to a liturgical standard. Thus the Church has the authority to move the date of the feast for a pominent Saint.
It wasn't a problem for Ireland to move their patron's day in favor of God's suffering and death.
However, as the feast day has been warped for a secular agenda of massive drinking, well, if that's your bit, I guess you're welcome to it. Just don't blame St. Patrick for your drinking problem.
Disagree with the Church all you like; it's nothing to me. But if you are a fan of logic, you will see that the idea of this being an "Irish" holiday is bogus. Research it yourself...and stay away from Yahoo! answers and Wikipedia. Try for authentic sources. You might be amazed. (to be clear...I don't know that you would have referred to the former sources, just making a cautionary statement for anyone interested in scholarly research.)
I think you misread. Ireland did NOT move St. Patrick's Day.
Any group can change their observance of anything, of course. But their "authority" only extends within their group. In spite of Joe's desires, The Holy See has no "authority" or governance over anything but that small state, the properties that it owns in other countries (subject to local law), and whatever authority it's members allow it over themselves.
To the non-religious, the observance of St Patrick's Day, has little to do with the belief that the essence of a person went on to exist in the supernatural, or some decree of this belief. Nor has it anything to do with the historic origins for the holiday.
St. Patrick's day is part of our culture, which has many influences, including the myriad flavors of Christianity.
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