St. Patrick's Revisited

"Hibernia's champion saint all hail, this day your, glory sounds;
The offspring of your ardent zeal, this day your praise shall sound.
Great and glorious St. Patrick, pray for thy dear country.
Great and glorious St. Patrick, hearken to the prayers of your children."

We sang this with such gusto as we celebrated his day as children at St. Patrick's School in Troy. The Saint's likeness was and still is portrayed in stained glass above the altar of the church, and a larger than life sized statue graced the hall way at the entrance to the school auditorium.

Why did we really celebrate? St. Patrick was a hero for the many children of Ireland, and the millions who had come to America. We held him in high esteem as the greatest person ever from our heritage, a personal symbol of power, faith, and resurrection for a poor and down- trodden people.

Proudly, we embraced him and we celebrated his legendary accomplishments, and hoped for continued miracles in our day. I don't think we have been disappointed, but he (we) still has a lot of work to do.

And this is the first year that the songs will not be sung in St. Patrick's. The church was closed last June. It still was the place of worship for many, old and young. But the needs of the large suburban areas overcame the exigencies of the Catholic Church's presence in the inner city, and the parish was closed along with the others in the city. We are left with memories, a heritage, and the songs will be sung in places far and wide because of the universal presence of our favorite St. Patrick.