L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r R e a d e r s , M a r c h b r i n g s shamrocks and my a n n u a l " S t . Patrick was Italian" col- umn: A "St. Patrick was Italian" r e m a r k , t o s s e d i n t o y o u r March conversations, can make boring talk into boiling talk if you have some conver- sational fodder, to buttress your claim. The first St. Patrick's Day in the US was held in Boston in 1734. By stretching things a little bit, you can correctly state that "St. Patrick was Italian." P a t r i c k ' s p a r e n t s were Romans. The Romans ruled England at that time. Calpurnius, Patrick's father, was a high Roman diplomat l i v i n g i n E n g l a n d , b u t a Roman citizen. The upper classes, both the natives and those descended from the Roman settlers, as Patrick's f a m i l y w a s , v a l u e d t h e Roman educational system and made sure their children were taught Latin and an appreciation of Roman law and literature. P a t r i c k w a s b o r n i n England around the year 385 AD. Roman cities in England h a d s h o p s a n d b e a u t i f u l houses, so Patrick lived the g o o d l i f e f o r a w h i l e , a s Britain became romanized and roads and towns with typical Roman facilities of public baths, temples, basili- cas, forums and grand city gates developed. Across the sea in Ireland (Eire), things were not so good. Tribal kings were con- stantly feuding, and in the year 400 AD a tribal king (Niall) attacked England. He took thousands of prisoners, including Patrick, for slaves. Soon, the rich little Roman kid was forced to herd pigs and sheep, just a poor little s l a v e b o y f a r f r o m home. Patrick was taken to Northern Ireland and sold to another tribal king named Meliucc. Meliucc and his family were kind on Patrick, and their children were good c o m p a n y . S t i l l , P a t r i c k ( M a e w y n ) w a s a l o n e i n a strange land, only 15 years old. At 21 years old, after six years as a slave, he ran away. Walking many miles to the sea, he found a ship that took h i m b a c k t o E n g l a n d . B y now, the Romans had been chased out. Patrick sailed across the channel and wan- dered through Europe, and then on to Rome, and found that by the year 410 AD, the center of all Roman power had been conquered as well. His past was really dead, so h e d e c i d e d t o g o b a c k t o England to think, pray and live very quietly there. While in prayer, he felt certain that God was calling him back to Ireland, to bring all those tribes together and make Ireland a Christian land. But first, Patrick went to France and studied religion there for ten years. Because he was able to speak Celtic, in the year 432 AD, Pope Celestine made Patrick a Bishop and named him Patricius. Now, Bishop Patricius sailed for Ireland. The Irish people were not interested in Christianity and tried to stone him to death. The Bishop and his men fled and found shelter for the n i g h t i n a b a r n n e a r t h e shore. The barn belonged to a tribal king named Dichu. He thought the Bishop and his men were robbers and want- ed to kill them. Patrick held out his hand and smiled, and a golden aura shone on his face. Dichu put down his weapon, his fierce dog stopped growl- ing (according to legend), and D i c h u b e c a m e t h e f i r s t Christian in Ireland and the barn, the first church. P a t r i c k t r a v e l e d a l l o v e r I r e l a n d . P a t r i c k showed people a shamrock, like a three-leafed clover. He explained the idea of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. (If no shamrocks are handy, use the water, ice and steam idea). Today, the shamrock is Ireland's nation- al flower, and as more and more tribal kings and their people became Christians, they came together to wor- Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. ship and be united as a coun- try. By the time he died in 461, Patrick had converted v i r t u a l l y a l l o f I r e l a n d t o Christianity. Bishop Patricius drummed the snaked out of I r e l a n d a n d i n t o t h e s e a (according to legend), and built hundreds of churches. *** Saint Joseph Feast is on March 19th. St. Joseph (first century), the husband and foster father of Jesus Christ, was a descendant of King D a v i d , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e genealogy presented by the Gospel. Betrothed to Mary, he decided to divorce her qui- etly when he found she was with child, but an angel of the Lord told him to take her as his wife, since the child to be born was the "Holy One of God." J o s e p h a s s i s t e d t o t h e birth of Jesus and became his support and guide through his childhood. In a dream he was told by an angel to flee f r o m B e t h l e h e m w i t h t h e infant and his mother, lest H e r o d k i l l t h e c h i l d . H e accompanied them to the temple where Jesus was pre- sented to God. With Mary, he sought the boy Jesus when he was lost on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In his work as a carpenter he shared the many hours of his trade with his son. ITALIAN TELEVISION KSCI CANALE 18. Presentano: Maria Cristina Heller e Franco Brescia Teleitalia in onda tutte le Domeniche alle ore 13 o 1:00pm Siamo collegati con i satelliti DISHNET e DIRECTV, SPECTRUM E TUTTI I CAVI DEL SUD CALIFORNIA Per Informazioni e Pubblicita` telefonate a (818) 260-9318 Cell: (818) 288-2518

• Cover