The "Happy St. Patrick's Day" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Spring will arrive soon and that can mean only one thing around LDub's house...going to little league baseball games to watch my grandson play.  Every year since our grandson has turned 8 years old, he has played spring baseball and my wife has spent time searching every field we walk across for four-leaf clovers.  

The four-leaf clover.  Have you ever found one!

To some they are known as shamrocks and will allegedly bring good luck to those who bear them.  Carol can find a four-leaf clover with her eyes closed and most every time we walk across a field to a ballgame, she will spot that special clover.  She generally takes them home, sandwiches them between layers of wax paper and tapes the thing shut, waiting for our grandson's next game.  At times, Caden will put the clover in his pocket and have a fantastic game.  Other times he may drop a pop-up.  So, does the four-leaf clover really work? Now, I tell you all of this since today is St. Patrick's Day and the shamrock is thought to be the teaching tool that he used on many occasions.  St. Patrick's Day is always celebrated on March 17, since St. Patrick died on that date sometime around 460 or 461 AD.  Not sure how they know the exact day when the exact year is in question.  But, anyway, St. Patrick wasn't Irish and St. Patrick wasn't really his name.  His birth name was Maewyn Succat.  At the age of 16 he was kidnapped from his home in Roman Britain and taken to Ireland to become a slave who worked as a shepherd.  Six years later, after a dream from God, he escaped on a ship to France in 408 AD.  He spent the next 15 or so years in a monastery, preparing for his missionary work that God had called him to do in a dream.  

Stained glass window of St. Patrick.
Notice the Shamrock in his hand.

It was when he became a deacon in the Catholic Church that he took the name of St. Patrick.  Later God led him to return to Ireland with a group of monks to preach the gospel.  There were very few Catholics in Ireland at the time, but Patrick spread Christianity throughout the land.  By the time of his death, he had founded 300 churches with approximately 120,000 converts.  Now for the four-leaf clover, or Shamrock as it is known; St. Patrick used it as a symbol of good luck in the Irish culture.  The leaves of the four-leaf clover represent "hope", "faith", "love" and God then added the fourth leaf for "luck".  Today many say the four leaves are for fame, wealth, love and health.  A few other St. Patrick's Day facts are: (1) Blue was the color originally associated with St. Patrick instead of green; (2) St. Patrick's Day is the traditional day for planting peas; (3) and cabbage seeds should be planted today to make them grow well...and it works even better if you plant them wearing your nightclothes.  And, I didn't make that up!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.   PS - Amah has already been looking for four-leaf clovers for you this year Caden.  Just in case!