Saint Patrick’s Day, the patron saint of Ireland, is celebrated annually in different countries of the world on March 17.
Saint Patrick is one of the most famous and revered Catholic saints, the patron saint of Ireland, Iceland and Nigeria, where Christianity was brought by Irish missionaries. More than two thousand churches around the world have been consecrated in honor of this saint, the main of which is St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, built in 1192.
Maevin Succat – the future Saint Patrick – was born at the end of the IV century in Britain in a family of Roman citizens. At the age of 16, he was sold into slavery to Irish pirates, but the young man escaped from captivity, spent some time in the monasteries of Gaul (modern France) and returned to his homeland. He later completed his education in Gaul, was ordained a deacon under the name of Patrick, and later elevated to the rank of bishop.
Pope Celestine II blessed Patrick for the Christianization of Ireland, and in the 430s the future saint began his mission.
It is believed that the peculiarity of the establishment of Christianity in Ireland was that, through the efforts of Patrick, it was adopted almost bloodlessly. Although Patrick was not the first Irish bishop, he is called the apostle of this country, which began to send missionaries to European countries.
Saint Patrick died on March 17, 463 (according to other sources – 461) and was canonized before the division of the Christian Church into Western and Eastern.
