<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"> Courtesy of <i>History</i> at:<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saint-patrick-dies?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2021-0317-03172021&om_rid=5b2de1b62cf02ee03360af7fdb18f191bd4d6e9c5ea1abaf4247b3b6d1a52533&~campaign=hist-tdih-2021-0317">https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saint-patrick-dies?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2021-0317-03172021&om_rid=5b2de1b62cf02ee03360af7fdb18f191bd4d6e9c5ea1abaf4247b3b6d1a52533&~campaign=hist-tdih-2021-0317</a></div><div><br></div><h1 class="m-detail-header--title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 43.2px; margin: 0px; font-family: open-sans, sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; padding-bottom: 30px; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: rgb(24, 24, 24); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleTallBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none;">—————————————————</span></h1><h1 class="m-detail-header--title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 43.2px; margin: 0px; font-family: open-sans, sans-serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.1em; padding-bottom: 30px; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: rgb(24, 24, 24); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Saint Patrick dies</h1></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">March 17, 461 AD</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><br></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 22.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">On March 17, 461 A.D., <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/who-was-saint-patrick"><span style="color: rgb(232, 12, 48);">Saint Patrick</span></a>, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 22.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">Much of what is known about Patrick’s legendary life comes from the <i>Confessio</i>, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Great Britain, probably in Scotland, to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman citizenship, Patrick was captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland, turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his family.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 22.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">According to the <i>Confessio</i>, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in which an individual named Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled “The Voice of the Irish.” As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them once more. After studying for the priesthood, Patrick was ordained a bishop. He arrived in Ireland in 433 and began preaching the Gospel, converting many thousands of Irish and building churches around the country. After 40 years of living in poverty, teaching, traveling and working tirelessly, Patrick died on March 17, 461 in Saul, where he had built his first church.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 22.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">Since that time, <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/st-patricks-day-symbols-and-traditions"><span style="color: rgb(232, 12, 48);">countless legends</span></a> have grown up around Patrick. Made the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover–the famous shamrock–to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. For centuries, the Irish have observed the day of Saint Patrick’s death as a religious holiday, attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The first St. Patrick’s Day parade, though, took place not in Ireland, but the United States. Records </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/03/17/the-incredible-story-of-americas-first-st-patricks-day-celebration/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(232, 12, 48); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">show</span></a><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was </span><a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-st-patricks-day-parade"><span style="color: rgb(232, 12, 48); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">held on March 17, 1601</span></a><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> in a Spanish colony under the direction of the colony's Irish vicar, Ricardo Artur. More than a century later, homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in Boston in 1737 and in </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/new-york-city"><span style="color: rgb(232, 12, 48); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">New York City</span></a><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> on March 1762. As the years went on, the parades became a show of unity and strength for </span><a href="https://www.history.com/news/when-america-despised-the-irish-the-19th-centurys-refugee-crisis"><span style="color: rgb(232, 12, 48); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">persecuted Irish-American immigrants</span></a><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">, and then a popular celebration of Irish-American heritage. The party went global in 1995, when the Irish government began a large-scale campaign to market St. Patrick’s Day as a way of driving tourism and showcasing Ireland’s many charms to the rest of the world. These days, March 17 is a day of </span><a href="https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day-parades-around-the-world"><span style="color: rgb(232, 12, 48); letter-spacing: 0.6pt;">international celebration</span></a><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); letter-spacing: 0.6pt; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">, as millions of people around the globe put on their best green clothing to drink beer, watch parades and toast the luck of the Irish.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br></div>—————————————————<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/">http://www.moscowcares.com/</a></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. 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