St. Patrick’s Day 2024 Spiritual Meaning: Why Celebrate This Irish Holiday?

Behind the four-leaf clovers, leprechauns, charms and all things green, St. Patrick's Day has a deeper spiritual meaning.

For Christians, the annual holiday is a commemoration of when St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland. Irish Christians observe St. Patrick's Day every March 17 to thank the saint for helping the gospel reach them.

St. Patrick was born in the late fourth century. During his teenage years, he was robbed and transported from Britain to Ireland. For six years, he was isolated as a shepherd.

However, a revelation from God prompted him to muster his courage, break free from captivity and return to his homeland. But before that, he found himself staying at a Gaul monastery to study the Christian teachings.

After enriching his Christian convictions, God gave him a vision to return to the land that had kept him in captivity. Acting on it, he went back and imparted the teachings of Christ to the Irish population.

It is believed that the saint died on March 17, 460 A.D. Thus, the holiday is celebrated on this day each year.

In Ireland, the celebration of St. Patrick's Day progressed and evolved over time. Traditionally, Irish Christians started their day by attending church before feasting and dancing in the afternoon. The holiday was also kept modest and grounded in religion.

Today, the Irish population still attends mass, but the celebration in Dublin is now more focused on festivities and activities, including parades, covering landmarks with green lighting, wearing green clothing and shamrocks, drinking and eating traditional Irish dishes.

The celebration is almost the same in the United States but with more festivities and parades hosted across the country. In America, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated to give Irish and Irish Americans the opportunity to "celebrate their heritage."

Aside from wearing the colors of the Irish flag (green, white and orange), Americans decorate their outfits and homes with shamrocks, pots of gold, rainbows and leprechauns.

This year, several cities and towns in the U.S. are going big for St. Patrick's Day, per AFAR Magazine. In addition to the massive parade in the streets of Manhattan, Americans can visit many Irish pubs and businesses for their themed events.

In Montauk, New York, a Friends of Erin St. Patrick's Day Parade will take place a week after the Manhattan event, which is expected to draw in a crowd of 40,000 people.

Meanwhile, in Nebraska, home to the world's largest shamrock, different events will run until Sunday, including a magician show, fun run and parade.

Wilmington and Dublin in California, New London in Wisconsin, Savannah in Georgia and Jackson in Mississippi, among many others, also have prepared their lineup of festivities.