St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in Russia. Why all of a sudden and what kind of holiday in general?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

On St. Patrick's Day, fun festivals and parades are held, people dress in green, decorate themselves with images of a shamrock and consume liters of green beer. But not everyone knows who Saint Patrick is, and even more so why they began to celebrate his day in Russia.

Who is Saint Patrick?

He is a Christian missionary and bishop of Romano-British descent who popularized Christianity in Ireland in the 5th century.

His name was, according to various versions, Mayvin Sukkat or Magon, and Patrick or Patricius (Patricius - "noble man, patrician") was the nickname given to him by the Irish pirates, who captured him and sold him into slavery.

Saint Patrick is now associated with Irish culture. He became a national symbol along with the shamrock, on which, according to legend, he explained to the Irish the principle of the trinity of God.

Why is St. Patrick's Day celebrated around the world?

St. Patrick's Day began to be celebrated in Ireland in the 17th century in honor of the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick. Later, this holiday entered America along with Irish immigrants, who continued to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and wear green to emphasize their love for their homeland.

In the 1990s, the Irish government launched a campaign to promote the country's culture to the world through St. Patrick's Day. In 1996, a festival was held to coincide with this holiday, and later such festivals spread throughout the world.

Now St. Patrick's Day is celebrated with festivals and parades in different countries: Canada, Malaysia, Great Britain, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

How did St. Patrick's Day get into Russia?

In the summer of 1991, the Irish Trade House on Arbat was opened in Moscow, and a year later, on St. Patrick's Day, it was decided to hold a parade led by the Irish who participated in this project. Opposite the "Irish House" they made a tribune and staged a parade according to all the rules - as it has already been held all over the world.

Since then, parades with national Irish music and dances have been held in Moscow. Processions and festivals of Celtic culture can also be seen in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaluga, Yekaterinburg and other cities of Russia.

Irish music and dance, shamrocks, leprechauns and a lot of green.

How is Saint Patrick related to the color green?

As Saint Patrick became associated with Ireland, the holiday turned green, which can be considered the national color of this country.

For the first time the green flag was used by Irish rebels during the uprising in 1641, then the green color became the hallmark of the members of the Society of the United Irish, who fought against English rule in 1790.

Now during St. Patrick's Day, people dress in green clothes and even drink green beer.

Why does everyone drink beer on St. Patrick's Day?

Initially, Lent was canceled on this day so that Catholics could take a break from it and eat a national dish - cabbage with bacon. Pubs, on the other hand, closed on this day, so drinking beer and whiskey is not a traditional tradition.

The heady overtones of this day owe it to a massive Budweiser ad campaign in the 1980s that claimed drinking beer and celebrating St. Patrick's Day were one and the same thing.

This tradition has little to do with Christian St. Patrick's Day, and especially with the Orthodox Day of Commemoration of this saint, which is first celebrated on March 30, 2017.

ROC recognized Saint Patrick?

Yes, and more recently. At a meeting of the Holy Synod on March 9, 2017, it was decided to add 15 saints venerated in the West to the Orthodox calendar.

They were chosen according to several criteria: so that the saint should be venerated even before the division of the church into Catholic and Orthodox (the great schism), so that his name would not be mentioned in the works on the struggle against the Eastern Church, and so that Orthodox parishioners in the Western European dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church should venerate him.

Saint Patrick, the enlightener of Ireland, or simply Saint Patrick, came up with all the parameters, and he was also included in this list, and March 30 was established as his day of remembrance.

Why did they decide to recognize Western saints at all?

There are several versions of why the ROC unexpectedly decided to recognize the Western saints:

• For the sake of rapprochement between two Christian churches - Orthodox and Catholic - and, possibly, forging political relations with the West. In February 2016, the first meeting of Patriarch Kirill and the Pope took place at the Havana airport to sign a joint declaration. The recognition of Catholic saints can be considered a continuation of the work of convergence.
• Due to the increase in Orthodox immigrants in Western countries. Since they live in an established cultural environment with reverence for their saints, the dioceses of the Orthodox Church must somehow adapt to this environment and express their attitude towards the revered saints.

And how will the recognition of St. Patrick affect this holiday in Russia?

Most likely not. It was decided to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Russia on March 30 (March 17 according to the Julian calendar), and at this time the believers continue fasting. Therefore, it is forbidden to drink alcohol, eat unlawful food and rejoice on this day.

Another thing is people who celebrate St. Patrick's Day as a fun holiday dedicated to Celtic culture, go to parades and dress in green. In this case, it has nothing to do with religion and the recognition of St. Patrick by the church. Therefore, there are no restrictions on green beer, whiskey, leprechaun costumes and unbridled fun.