My family has always celebrated St. Patrick's Day. My maternal grandfather's family came from the south of Ireland. My mother always makes soda bread and an Irish dinner for St. Patrick's Day. When we were kids she would put shamrock napkins in our lunch bags and give us green milk to drink at dinner. It was always a fun day in our house. I have carried on the tradition of celebrating St. Patrick's Day with our kids. I have been trying to think of ways to honor who St. Patrick was instead of just talking about leprechauns (which the girls' school does plenty of).
If you do not know who St. Patrick was, here is a little overview. St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland. He lived in the fourth century. Born to wealthy British parents, he was taken captive by Irish raiders. He spent six years in captivity in Ireland. During this time, he worked herding sheep and spent most of his time alone. During this time he turned to God for comfort. When he returned home he studied to become a priest and later returned to Ireland to spread the Gospel. There are many legends surrounding his work in Ireland. It is told, that St. Patrick used the three leafed clover to teach about the trinity. The leaves are unique, but all part of the same plant. St. Patrick died on March 17th 460. There are many great children's books for St. Patrick's Day available. For very young children, The Story of Saint Patrick's Day by Patricia A. Pingry, is a nice one.
I love the visual of the clover/shamrock in teaching about the trinity. The trinity is hard to understand. I don't think I'll really understand it until I reach heaven, but it is an important concept to try to teach our children. I thought St. Patrick's Day would be a great opportunity.
I made each person in our family 3 small heart shaped cookies and one stick shaped cookie. I frosted them all green. After dinner a few nights ago, I read the above book about St. Patrick. I but the platter of cookies on the table and had each person take a "stick".
We each then took one heart representing God. This first heart was placed to the top left of our stick. We talked about God the creator and our heavenly father.
Then we took a second heart and put it at the top of the stick. This one represented Jesus. We talked about Jesus, the son, our savior.
We took a third heart and placed it to on the right side of the stick. Our shamrocks were complete. We talked about God sending the Holy Spirit. We talked about the Holy Spirit living in each of us. Last we talked about the trinity.
Then we ate! Happy St. Patrick's Day!
