Who was Saint Patrick? Historically, we don't know if he was a Christian, or just some man following some ritualistic religion that was one of the many roads to hell. Most people who call themselves a "Christian" are not born again, and thus not saved, or heaven bound. Satan, the slick semantics serpent, has succeeded in changing what the word "Christian" means, to many people. Thankfully, the Lord God gave us all the desire to seek, and if we follow that desire, and truly seek Him, we can open the Holy King James Bible and learn about the Truth for ourselves. Praise God for that.
Was this Saint Patrick a Christian? I don't know. Further, which Saint Patrick is the day supposedly celebrating?
"Most available details of his life are from subsequent hagiographies, and these are now not accepted without detailed criticism. The Annals of Ulster state that he arrived in Ireland in 432, ministered in Ulster around 443, and died in 457 or 461. The text, however, distinguishes between "Old Patrick" and "Patrick, archapostle of the Scots," who died in 492. The actual dates of Patrick's life cannot be fixed with certainty but, on a widespread interpretation, he was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the 5th century." -Source - Wikipedia - Saint Patrick.
We have stories about this Mr. Patrick, such as driving the snakes from Ireland, and his parable teachings, using a shamrock in an object lesson, etc. We don't know how authentic such stories are, or how many of them are just made up.
What really matters, however, is WHY have a Saint Patrick's Day? I do not know if Mr. Patrick was really a saint, or not, since it's not up to the Roman Catholic church, or any other church to decide who is a saint, and who isn't. The Bible is crystal clear that a saint is a born again Christian. I am saint Candy. If you are saved, then you are saint so and so, and so on. Saint is a name given to me in the Holy Word of God. I was not canonized so from an apostate church. In fact, the Bible uses the word saint for Christians, way more often then it uses the word Christian for Christians.
According to the Word of God, I am also sister Candy. I am not a nun, nor did any church ordain me a sister. I am simply sister Candy to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am not sister Candy to anyone outside of the faith, however I still would remain saint Candy, either way. Saint denotes salvation, and is the main term in the Bible for Christians. Sister and brother are for Christians/saints, in their relationship to one another.
Again, was Mr. Patrick a saint? I don't know. I don't know if he was saved, or even if such a man really existed. For all I know, he could simply be a conglomeration of several men, through the centuries, all globbed into one man.
Why have a Saint Patrick's Day? What about our missionary Christians of today, who are laboring on the foreign field? A missionary friend of mine recently returned from a foreign country where hundreds got saved through his ministry. Since the beginning of his ministry, thousands have come to saving faith in Christ. Why doesn't that saint get a day?
Saint Patrick is called a "saint," because the Roman Catholic church says he is. This tells me he likely wasn't saved, but hopefully I'm wrong. Roman Catholicism is not Christian - I learned this by reading the Bible. Her sister churches also see Mr. Patrick as a patron saint. Sainting people in this fashion is against Scripture.
Should Christians celebrate Saint Patrick's Day? No. It's not a Christian holiday. It is a Roman Catholic one, which is also partaken of her sister churches the protestants, such as Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglican Communion, Lutheran, and more.
I don't know about you, dear reader, but I am not a Roman Catholic, so why would I celebrate their holidays? Further, I am not a protestant. The Protestant Movement started from people who realized that Roman Catholicism was not in alignment with the Bible, so they broke from that church, and started their own churches. Unfortunately, all protestant churches still have many vestiges of Roman Catholicism in them, to varying degrees. They never made a complete or clean break.
I am a born again Christian, after the line of Acts chapter two and beyond, of the Scriptural Christian Church established after Jesus' resurrection, before there was a such thing as a Roman Catholic church. How about you?
In closing, celebrating holidays of other religions is akin to following after their traditions and their gods. Certainly, you could say that you worship the One, true God, but if so, why follow holidays (which means holy days) of apostate religions? Read the Bible - it's repeated over and over again, about how our Lord is a God of love, but He is also a jealous God. He wants our hearts perfect for Him.
