2008 Woodie Awards
The Saint Behind The Holiday
St. Patrick's Day is more than just a day of green beer and shenanigans.
LaGina Phillips
Issue date: 3/16/05 Section: Valley Life
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St. Patrick's Day isn't just a drinking holiday. The holy man's story is one of inspiration to 34 million U.S. citizens claiming Irish ancestry, especially the practicing Catholics among them ... although St. Patrick himself was born neither Catholic nor in Ireland.
One of Christianity's most widely known figures, St. Patrick was born in Wales AD 385, where he grew up a pagan. Sold into slavery at 16, he converted to Christianity. Escaping six years later, he set off on a mission to convert others. After his death, March 17 AD 461, the Irish dedicated the day to him.
Much folklore surrounds the saint's history as a result of hundreds of years of storytelling - for instance, that he drove all the snakes from Ireland, when snakes were, in fact, never native to the country. The Irish have passed stories of his courage and generosity down through the generations, with a wee bit o' blarney.
While St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland for more than a thousand years, the custom is relatively new to America. The holiday was first publicly celebrated in predominately Irish Boston in 1737, with the first parade taking place in New York in 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military took to the streets.
The sixth Annual Los Angeles City St. Patrick's Day Parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Pershing Square and finishes at Main Street and the 101 freeway. The festivities in the square bounded by Fifth, Sixth, Hill and Olive streets will include live music and visits by mayoral runoff candidates Antonio Villaraigosa and James Hahn.
While thousands are expected to participate in the parade, some will be celebrating by losing their hair - literally. Each year hundreds of participants, mostly police and fire officials, shave their heads to raise funds for cancer research, courtesy of the St. Baldrick's Foundation
For more information on the festivities, call (888) 527-2757. For more information on the St. Baldrick's event, call 888-899-BALD, or visit www.stbaldricks.org. It will be held from 8 a.m. to noon at the LAPD Police Academy at 1880 N. Academy Rd
One of Christianity's most widely known figures, St. Patrick was born in Wales AD 385, where he grew up a pagan. Sold into slavery at 16, he converted to Christianity. Escaping six years later, he set off on a mission to convert others. After his death, March 17 AD 461, the Irish dedicated the day to him.
Much folklore surrounds the saint's history as a result of hundreds of years of storytelling - for instance, that he drove all the snakes from Ireland, when snakes were, in fact, never native to the country. The Irish have passed stories of his courage and generosity down through the generations, with a wee bit o' blarney.
While St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland for more than a thousand years, the custom is relatively new to America. The holiday was first publicly celebrated in predominately Irish Boston in 1737, with the first parade taking place in New York in 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military took to the streets.
The sixth Annual Los Angeles City St. Patrick's Day Parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Pershing Square and finishes at Main Street and the 101 freeway. The festivities in the square bounded by Fifth, Sixth, Hill and Olive streets will include live music and visits by mayoral runoff candidates Antonio Villaraigosa and James Hahn.
While thousands are expected to participate in the parade, some will be celebrating by losing their hair - literally. Each year hundreds of participants, mostly police and fire officials, shave their heads to raise funds for cancer research, courtesy of the St. Baldrick's Foundation
For more information on the festivities, call (888) 527-2757. For more information on the St. Baldrick's event, call 888-899-BALD, or visit www.stbaldricks.org. It will be held from 8 a.m. to noon at the LAPD Police Academy at 1880 N. Academy Rd
