Happy St. Patrick's Day!

People from all over celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17. St.Patrick was a slave who escaped, became a bishop, and baptized thousands of people in the faith. He was persecuted for not accepting bribes from the king, probably offered to have him betray the people like many American officials and persons in the clergy do now. Wikipedia reports: "When St. Patrick was about 16, he was captured from his home and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland as an ordained bishop. St. Patrick's position as a foreigner in Ireland was not an easy one. His refusal to accept gifts from kings placed him outside the normal ties of kinship, fosterage and affinity. Legally he was without protection, and he says that he was on one occasion beaten, robbed of all he had, and put in chains, perhaps awaiting execution." Read more about St. Patrick at this Wikipedia link 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick