Friday, March 16, 2012

Fun Facts Friday - St. Patrick's Day

March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day when green is the colour to wear and the clover means luck, but do you know where this tradition all began?

There actually was a man named Patrick who was born in Britain in the year 390 A.D. to a very rich family. When Patrick was 16 he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland where he worked as a slave. Patrick finally escaped from these horrible people when he was 22. However, he had a dream and heard a voice telling him to go back to Ireland and work as a priest. Patrick listened and spent his life working in a Irish monastery. After his death on March 17th 461, mythology slowly grew around Patrick and centuries later he was ordained the patron saint of Ireland.

Clover Clover Everywhere

St. Patrick used a ordinary clover or shamrock as a teaching tool to demonstrate the Holy Trinity – one leaf for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit – so it’s no surprise today that this would be of great significance on St. Patrick’s Day. However, the considered lucky four-leaf clover was (and still is) a very rare find. In fact, there’s only one four-leaf clover found in every ten thousand, so you’ll definitely need some luck finding that one!

Here’s a fun fact. According to the Guinness World Book of Records the highest number of leaves found on a single clover is 14! How Lucky would that one be?

Green River Tradition

For over forty years the lucky folks of Chicago have watched as their beloved river turns a brilliant shade of green on St. Patrick’s Day. Is it the magic of one very special leprechaun that creates this wonder? Click the link below to watch the magic happen before your very eyes. Chicago’s Green River

Now that you know more about this special holiday, why not have some fun of your own? Click on the links for two printable colour sheets. Shamrock colour page and leprechaun St. Patty’s Colour

1 comments:

Mackenzie said...

Thanks for sharing these fun facts with my readers and myself! Thank you for also taking the time to link up today at Saturday Show & Tell on Cheerios and Lattes. Hope to see you back again next week! :)

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