St. Patrick, Enlightener of Ireland

Saint Patrick, the Enlightener of Ireland was born around 385, son of Calpurnius, a Roman decurion (an official responsible for collecting taxes). He lived in the village of Bannavem Taberniae, which may have been located at the mouth of the Severn River in Wales. The district was raided by pirates
when Patrick was 16, and he was one of those taken captive. He was brought to Ireland and sold as a slave, and was put to work as a herder of swine on a mountain identified with Slemish in Co. Antrim. During his period of slavery, Patrick acquired a proficiency in the Irish language, which was very useful to him in his later mission.
He prayed during his solitude on the mountain, and lived this way for six years. He had two visions. The first told him he would return to his home. The second told him his ship was ready. Setting off on foot, Patrick walked 200 miles to the coast. There he succeeded

in boarding a ship, and returned to his parents in Britaina.
Some time later, he went to Gaul and studied for the priesthood at Auxerre under St. Germanus (July 31). Eventually, he was consecrated as a bishop, and was entrusted with the mission to Ireland, succeeding St. Palladius, (July 7) who did not achieve much success in Ireland. After about a year he went to Scotland, where he died in 432.
Patrick had a dream in which an angel came to him bearing many letters. Selecting one inscribed “The Voice of the Irish,” he heard the Irish entreating him to come back to them.
Although St Patrick achieved remarkable results in spreading the Gospel, he was not the first or only missionary in Ireland. He arrived around 432 (this date is disputed), about a year after St. Palladius began his mission to Ireland. There were also other missionaries who were active on the southeast coast, but it was St. Patrick who had the greatest influence and success in preaching the Gospel of Christ. Therefore, he is known as “The Enlightener of Ireland.”
His autobiographical Confession tells of the many trials and disappointments he endured. Patrick had once confided to a friend that he was troubled by a certain sin he had committed before he was 15 years old. The friend assured him of God’s mercy, and even supported Patrick’s nomination as bishop. Later, he turned against him and revealed what Patrick had told him in an attempt to prevent his consecration. Many years later, Patrick still grieved for his dear friend who had publicly shamed him.
St. Patrick founded many churches and monasteries across Ireland, but the conversion of the Irish people was no easy task. There was much hostility, and he was assaulted several times. He faced danger, and insults, and he was reproached for being a foreigner and a former slave. There was also a very real possibility that the pagans would try to kill him. Despite many obstacles, he remained faithful to his calling, and he baptized many people into Christ.
The saint’s Epistle to Coroticus is also an authentic work. In it he denounces the attack of Coroticus’ men on one of his congregations. The Breastplate (Lorica) is also attributed to St Patrick. In his writings, we can see St Patrick’s awareness that he had been called by God, as well as his determination and modesty in undertaking his missionary work. He refers to himself as “a sinner,” “the most ignorant and of least account,” and as someone who was “despised by many.” He ascribes his success to God, rather than to his own talents: “I owe it to God’s grace that through me so many people should be born again to Him.”
By the time he established his episcopal See in Armargh in 444, St. Patrick had other bishops to assist him, many native priests and deacons, and he encouraged the growth of monasticism.
St. Patrick is often depicted holding a shamrock, or with snakes fleeing from him. He used the
shamrock to illustrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Its three leaves growing out of a single stem helped him to explain the concept of one God in three Persons. Many people now regard the story of St. Patrick driving all the snakes out of Ireland as having no historical basis.
St. Patrick died on March 17, 461 (some say 492).

Books on the life of St. Patrick: 

"The Life of St. Patrick: Enlightener of the Irish" by Zachary Lynch

"Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland" by Tomie DePaola

 

"The Story of Saint Patrick's Day" (Board book) by Patricia A. Pingry

Since St. Patrick's Day is famous for both religious and secular reasons, many of the crafts that honor the saint are combined with non-religious themes (pot of gold, rainbows, leprechauns, ect.) I'm solely sticking to religious based crafts in this blog...

paper plate shamrock

Trinity shamrock threading craft fir young kids

Bell pepper shamrock stamp

 

Shamrock sun catcher on a painted paper plate!

Coloring page

Last, if St. Patrick's Day is not during Lent (rare), make a feast of Irish food: Corned Beef Cabbage, boiled cabbage and bacon, boiled potatoes, colcannon, lamb stew, black pudding, cottage pie, Irish soda bread, and Guinness or cider.

A short Veggie Tales video on Saint Patrick

Troparion — Tone 3
Holy Bishop Patrick, / Faithful shepherd of Christ’s royal flock, / You filled Ireland with the radiance of the Gospel: / The mighty strength of the Trinity! / Now that you stand before the Savior, / Pray that He may preserve us in faith and love!

St.Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome

Our father among the saints St. Gregory I, also known as Gregory the Great, was the Pope of Rome from September 3, 590, until his death on March 12, 604. He is noted for his writings.
St. Gregory's family had large land holdings in Italy, which St. Gregory sold to help the poor following his father's death. After turning his home into a monastery named for St. Andrew, Pope Pelagius II appointed him as an ambassador to Constantinople; however, Gregory disliked the worldly atmosphere of the court and never learned Greek.
After his consecration as Bishop of Rome on September 3, 590, he negotiated a peace with the Lombards, who besieged Rome, and he dispatched St. Augustine of Canterbury to evangelize Britain.
He is known in the East as Gregory the Dialogist for his four-volume Dialogues, in which he wrote of the lives and miracles of the saints of Italy and of the afterlife. It is the primary source of the lives Moralia on Job, a commentary on the Book of Job; his Homilies on Ezekiel; the Pastoral Rule, which served as the prime manual for priests in the West for many years; and a great number of other sermons.
of St. Benedict of Nursia and his sister Scholastica.
He added the commemoration of the Apostle Andrew to the embolism on the Lord's Prayer in the ancient Roman Mass; as a result, the Roman Mass is often called the Mass of St. Gregory, especially among a number of Orthodox. He was a patron of ancient Western chant, often called "Gregorian chant" for his patronage.
The Orthodox church commemorates St. Gregory on 12 March, which is during Great Lent, the only time when the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which names Saint Gregory as its author, is used.

He is also the patron saint of students, teachers, scholars, and musicians/singers

On a lighter note, there is a story about St. Gregory and his craving for cherries. Although it is mostly in Catholic texts and sources, he IS a major per-schism saint so I included it here :)

On April 25 on year (St. Mark's feast day)  the Holy Father Pope Gregory the Great, frugal by nature, was suddenly overwhelmed by an incomprehensible desire for...cherries. History recounts that servants and gardeners were at a loss. The spring weather was still fresh and raw, and the cherry trees, which grew in numbers along the hills of Trastevere, from the Janiculum to the Colle del Gelsomino, were only just in blossom.
Fortunately, one gardener who was wandering in gardens in despair, was visited by St. Mark in a cloud of fire! The saint asked him why he was in such a state. As soon as he heard the answer, he uttered a special blessing on a tree, and in a flash it was covered in fragrant, succulent red cherries. As the story handed down through the centuries in Roman dialect recounts, the Pope "se ne fece subito una bella panzata" ("wasted no time in wolfing down a bellyful"). Since then, on St. Mark's feast day, the Pope usually enjoys a nice bowlful of cherries, out of not so much greed as devotion to the saint. Like him, you should enjoy cherries on his feast day!

St. Gerasimos of the Jordan

St. Gerasimos lived in the 5th century and was the abbot of a community of 70 monks who all lived in the desert east of Jericho, near the Jordan River. Their life was strict, they slept on reed mats, had cells without doors and observed silence. Their diet consisted mainly of water, dates, and bread. It is said, that St. Gerasimos in ongoing repentance for having been influenced by the teachings of a heretic in his youth, lived on even less than the norm.
One day while he was walking along the Jordan, Gerasimos came upon a lion roaring in agony because of a large splinter imbedded in one paw. Overcome by compassion for the beast, Gerasimos removed the splinter and cleaned the wound, bounding it up, expecting the lion to return to its cave. Instead the creature meekly followed him back to his monastery and became his devoted pet. The whole community was amazed at the animal's conversion to a peaceful nature, life and devotion to the abbot; living on bread and vegetables.
The lion was given the special task of guarding the communities donkey, which grazed along the Jordan. One day, it happened that, while the lion was napping, the donkey strayed and was stolen by a
passing trader. After searching, without success, the lion returned to the monastery, it head hanging low. The brothers concluded that the lion had been overcome and had eaten the donkey and as punishment, gave the lion the job of the donkey; to carry water each from the river to the monastery in a saddle pack with four earthen jars.
Months later, it happened that the trader was passing through the Jordan with the stolen donkey and three camels. The lion recognized the donkey and roared so loudly that the trader ran away. Taking its rope in his jaws, the lion led the donkey back to the monastery with the camels following behind. The monks realised that they had misjudged the lion; this is how the lion earned his name "Jordanes" from the Elder Gerasimos.
For a further five years, the lion "Jordanes" was part of the monastic community. When the elder fell asleep in the Lord and was buried, Jordanes lay down on the grave, roaring in his grief and beating its head against the ground. Finally Jordanes rolled over and died on the last resting place of Gerasimos.
The icon of St. Gerasimos focuses on an event of physical contact between the monk and the lion.
The abbot Gerasimos and this story are real as many texts refer to him and soon after his death he was recognised as a saint. The monastery he founded lasted for centuries and is today a place of spiritual pilgrimage in the desert.

 Saint Gerasimos cave

Book about St. Gerasimos and the Lion:

Troparion - Tone 1

O dweller of the desert and angel in the body,

You appeared to us a wonderworker.

O God-bearing Father Gerasimus

By fasting, vigil and prayer, you received heavenly gifts;

Healing the sick and the souls of those drawn to you by faith:

Glory to Him who gave you strength!

Glory to Him who gave you a crown!

Glory to Him who through you gives healing to all! 

 

St. David of Wales

 

Known in Welsh as Dewi Sant, was a 6th century bishop and monastic founder in Wales and is its patron saint. He is also known as the Dewi Ddyfrwr (David the Water Drinker) due to his drinking only water and the founding of many holy wells associated with his life. His feast day in the Church is March 1.  

David was a descendant of the royal house of Cunedda. Rhigyfarch wrote that David was the son of Sanctus Rex Ceredigionis, where Sanctus has been interpreted as a proper name and its owner honoured by Welsh Christians as Saint Sant. The Latin phrase itself translates as "a holy king of Ceredigion." The king of Ceredigion in the 510s was Gwyddno Garanhir, according to regional tradition. His title Garanhir ("crane legs"), certainly indicated spiritual accomplishment to the Druids who bestowed it. Little is known of his mother, Non (honoured by Welsh Christians as Saint Non), though she is said to have been the daughter of a local chieftain - some versions of the meeting of Sant (or Gwyddno) and Non state that Sant forced himself upon Non.

David was born on a stormy night at or near Capel Non (Non's chapel) within a short walk of the
present day city of Saint David's. The ruins of the medieval chapel are visible near the site, and a nearby well is still a site of pilgrimage. He was baptized by the Irish monk St. Elvis, and educated at the monastery of Hen Fynyw. After ordination, David was taught by the elderly monk Paulinus, whose blindness the young David healed by making the sign of the cross over the monk's eyelids.
He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monasteries in Britain and Brittany (on the west coast of modern France), in a period when neighboring tribal regions (that were to be united as England 300 years later) were still mostly pagan. He rose to a bishopric, and presided over two synods, as well as going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem where he was anointed as a bishop by the patriarch.
St. David's Cathedral now stands on the site of the monastery he founded in southwest Pembrokeshire; in early medieval Britain this part of Wales was located near several important Celtic sea routes, and was not nearly as remote as it might seem today. A shrine to Saint David, containing his bones, the bones of his spiritual father Saint Justinian of Ramsey Island, and possibly those of Saint Caradoc, is located within the cathedral.
The Monastic Rule of David prescribed that monks had to pull the plow themselves without draught animals; to drink only water; to eat only bread with salt and herbs; and to spend the evenings in prayer, reading, and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: to say "my book" was an offence. He taught his followers to fast, especially refraining from eating meat or imbibing alcohol. His symbol, also the symbol of Wales, is the leek.
His last words, according to the Buchedd Dewi, were: "Be steadfast, brothers, and do the little things."

St. David is the patron saint of Wales AND vegetarians!

Every year parades are held in Wales to commemorate Saint David's Day. The largest of these is held in Cardiff and is formally attended by either the British Monarch or the Prince of Wales. Parades are a mixture of folklore to mark Saint David's Day.

 
Cawl (a traditional vegetarian winter Welsh broth) is traditionally prepared and consumed on Saint David's Day. Try and includes leeks if you can!

Many people also pin a daffodil (or a leek!) to their clothes as symbols of Wales.

 

And don't forget to fly your St. David flag (a yellow cross on a black field) to honor the blessed saint!

Looking for more ways to celebrate St. David? Below are a few crafts and ideas to share with your child in honor of his feast day:

Daffodil windmill craft

 Make a paper leek!

For younger children here is a coloring page of St. David

Or color the St. David Flag

St. Modomnoc the Beekeeper of Ossory

 

An Irish bishop and a disciple of St. David of Wales. Sometimes called Domnoc or Dominic, he was a member of the royal Irish family of O'Neil and ended his years as a hermit at Tibraghny in Kilkenny in Ireland. When St. Modomnoc returned to Ireland after studying with St. David, swarms of bees left Wales to follow him, thus supposedly being introduced to Ireland. 

One of the best known stories regarding Saint Modomnoc concerns his work as a beekeeper. Bees were kept both for their honey and the production of mead. Modomnoc was given charge of the bees in a sheltered corner of the monastery garden where he planted the kinds of flowers best loved by the bees. He talked to the bees as he worked among them and they buzzed around his head in clouds as if they were responding. He would walk among the hives in the evening and talk to them, and the bees, for their part, would crowd out to meet him. He was never stung. When the time came for him to return to Ireland, three times the bees followed in great swarm and settled on the mast. St. David perceiving this occurrence to be a good omen allowed Modomnoc to bring the bees to Ireland. When he landed, he set up a church at a place called Bremore, near Balbriggan, in County Dublin, and here he established the bees in a garden just like the one they had in Wales.

Modomnoc's talking to his bees is in keeping with an Irish folklore custom of ‘Telling the Bees’ which ensures that the bees not feel any offense due to exclusion from family affairs and so will remain with the hive. It was believed that if one didn’t tell the bees of a wedding, a birth, or a death they would take offense and leave.
After his return home he served God at Tiprat Fachna, in the western part of the kingdom of Ossory. Molaga founded churches at Tulach Min (Knockaneeun/ and at Teampall Molaga, near Kildorrery. "His last and perhaps greatest foundation was situated in Timoleague or Teach Molaga." an abbey still standing (though without a roof) on the County Cork Coast.

Since he is the patron saint of bees, give thanks for the nature's bounty and the life-giving nature of the bees!

"The Saint and his Bees" by Dessi Jackson

You can also do a lot of crafts with bee themes:

These are cute paper plate painted bees:

A good idea to do with Honeycomb cereal and fingerpainted bees!

St. Christos the Gardener

 

Saint Christos the Gardener was born in Albania. He traveled to Constantinople, where he exercised the profession of gardening. When he was brought before the Turkish judge he said “I am a Christian and cannot change my faith even if I must suffer a thousand evils." The judge then ordered Christos to be beaten vigorously with sticks. Following this he was sent to prison and then endured more tortures. He finally gave his soul to the Lord in 1748. 

St. Brigid the Abbess of Kildare in Ireland

Saint Brigid (also called Brigit, Bridget), "the Mary of the Gael," was born around 450 in Faughart (Fochart, Fothairt), about two miles from Dundalk in County Louth in Ulster.

According to tradition, her father was a pagan named Dubthach, and her mother was Brocessa (Broiseach), one of his slaves. Whether she was raised a Christian or converted in 468, as some accounts say, is unknown, but she was inspired by the preaching of Saint Patrick from an early age.

Even as a child, she was known for her compassion for the poor. She would give away food, clothing, and even her father's possessions to the poor. One day he took Brigid to the king's court, leaving her outside to wait for him. He asked the king to buy his daughter from him, since her excessive generosity made her too expensive for him to keep. The king asked to see the girl, so Dubthach led him outside. They were just in time to see her give away her father's sword to a beggar. This sword had been presented to Dubthach by the king, who said, "I cannot buy a girl who holds us so cheap."

St Brigid received monastic tonsure at the hands of St Mael of Ardagh (February 6). Some miles from Dublin she was granted by the King of Leinster possession of a plain called the

Curragh, where she built herself a cell under a large oak tree, thence called Kill-dara, or Cell of the oak. Seven other girls soon placed themselves under her direction establishing the monastery of Kill-dara, which gave its name to the later cathedral city of Kildare. The community grew rapidly thanks to the renown of the holy Abbess, and became a double monastery, with the Abbess ranking above the Abbot, and branched out into several others all over Ireland. This was the beginning of women's cenobitic monasticism in Ireland.

The miracles performed by St Brigid are too numerous to relate here, but perhaps one story will suffice. One evening the holy abbess was sitting with the blind nun Dara. From sunset to sunrise they spoke of the joys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and of the love of Christ, losing all track of time. St Brigid was struck by the beauty of the earth and sky in the morning light. Realizing that Sister Dara was unable to appreciate this beauty, she became very sad. Then she prayed and made the Sign of the Cross over Dara's eyes. All at once, the blind nun's eyes were opened and she saw the sun in the east, and the trees and flowers sparkling with dew. She looked for a while, then turned to St Brigid and said, "Close my eyes again, dear Mother, for when the world is visible to the eyes, then God is seen less clearly by the soul." St Brigid prayed again, and Dara became blind once more.

St. Brigid fell asleep in the Lord in the year 523 on February 1, after receiving Holy Communion from St Ninnidh of Inismacsaint (January 18). She was buried at Kildare, but her relics were transferred to Downpatrick during the Viking invasions. It is believed that she was buried in the same grave with St Patrick (March 17) and St Columba of Iona (June 9).


There is a small area in Killdare dedicated to St. Brigid called the St. Brigid's Well you can visit and pray in peace:

Late in the 13th century, St. Brigid's head was brought to Portugal by three Irish knights on their way to fight in the Holy Land. They left this holy relic in the parish church of Lumiar (Igreja São João Baptista), about three miles from Lisbon. 

Portions of the skull relic were brought back to Ireland in 1929 and placed in the new Church of St. Brigid in Dublin. But the rest of the relics of St. Brigid in Ireland were destroyed in the 16th century by Lord Grey during the reign of Henry VIII.

 The holy relics of St. Brigid in Ireland

A few good books on the life of St. Brigid are:

"The Life of Saint Brigid: Abbess of Kildare" by Jane Meyer

"Christina’s True Heroes" by Maria C. Khoury - read the chapter on St. Brigid

 "Brigid's Cloak" by Bryce Milligan 

 "Saints and Friendly Beasts: Saint Brigid and the Cows" by Eva K. Betz

The tradition of making St Brigid's crosses from rushes and hanging them in the home is still followed in Ireland, where devotion to her is still strong. Here is the story behind her cross:
During one of her travels, St. Brigid went to visit a dying pagan chieftain. As she sat near his bed, she picked up some rushes on the floor and began weaving a Cross. He asked her about what she was doing and, in explaining, she told him about Christ and the meaning of the Cross. He came to faith and was baptized.

One non-craft tradition on St. Brigid's feast day is to make Irish oak cakes. 

Saint Brigid was known to travel the countryside, blessing households as she went ... accompanied by a white cow with red ears. You should make her feel welcome, just in case she passes by - placing bread and fresh butter on the outside windowsill, together with corn for the cow. Also remember to lay out some rushes for her. These are to kneel on while blessing the household.
(many of these crafts are also Catholic in nature since many of the saints on this blog are pre-schism):

 

Have kids that love doing crafts? Try making this St. Brigid Cross with pipe cleaners!

 Or if you have younger children, you can color a picture of St. Brigid:

When coloring a picture of St. Brigid's cross, write down the following prayer under the picture:

"We implore Thee, by the memory of Thy Cross's hallowed and most bitter anguish, make us fear Thee, make us love Thee, O Christ. Amen."
--Prayer of Saint Brigid.