St. Patrick's Day

              Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick") is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland.

Things You Didn't Know
1.No doubt you'll be seeing the color green everywhere today in honor of the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. Here's a look at five things you didn't know about St. Patrick's Day

2.St. Patrick Was Not Irish -His birth name was actually Maewyn Succat -- it wasn't until he was in the Church that it was changed to Patricius, or Patrick. St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, was born in Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, which is in Scotland. As a teenager, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and enslaved as a shepherd for several years. He attributed his ability to persevere to his faith in God.

3.Did St. Patrick Drive All the Snakes Out of Ireland?
Despite the popular lore, St. Patrick did not drive the snakes out of Ireland because the island did not have any to begin with. Icy water surrounds the Emerald Isle, which prevented snakes from migrating over.

4.Green may be the national color of Ireland, but the color most associated with St. Patrick is blue. The Order of St. Patrick was established in 1783 as the senior order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Ireland. The color associated with the honor needed to differentiate it from the Order of the Garter (dark blue) and the Order of the Thistle (green). So they went with blue.

5.The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in the U.S. The Irish have been celebrating the feast of St. Patrick since the ninth century, but the first recorded parade anywhere was in Boston in 1737. The parade was not Catholic in nature, though, because the majority of Irish immigrants to the colonies were Protestant. Ireland did not have a parade of its own until 1931, in Dublin. Even today, 18 out of the 20 largest St. Patrick's Day parades are in the states -- New York's is the largest.

6.St. Patrick used a three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to pagan Irish, forever linking the shamrock with him and the Irish in the popular imagination. He would tie shamrocks to his robes, which is why the color green is worn.

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers

Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours

Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul - Philadelphia

               Francis Patrick Kenrick initiated the building of this magnificent Church in 1846. It was continued through the tenure of Saint John Neumann and completed in 1864 by Bishop (later Archbishop) Wood. The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is modeled after the Lombard Church of Saint Charles (San Carlo al Corso) in Rome. It is an excellent example of Roman-Corinthian architecture. 

      With its majestic facade, vaulted dome, ornate main altar, eight impressive side chapels, and main sanctuary the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is one of the largest brownstone and architecturally-eminent structures in the City of Philadelphia. The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is ranked among the outstandingly beautiful and architecturally perfect structures in Philadelphia and in the United States.

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday , sometimes known as Easter Eve or Black Saturday, is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week in which Christians prepare for Easter. It commemorates the day that Jesus Christ's body laid in the tomb.

Good Friday

Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday. It is celebrated traditionally as the day on which Jesus was crucified.This is an important event in Christianity, as it represents the sacrifices and suffering in Jesus' life. The crucifixion was the culmination of a number of events in Holy Week, including: the triumphal return of Jesus to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday; the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus; and the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday.

Good Friday is a day of mourning and quiet prayer for many Christians. The candles are often extinguished and statues, paintings and crosses may be draped in black, purple or gray cloth.

Good Friday is not an official holiday in United States.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, and is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.

Holy Wednesday

           Holy Wednesday is the Wednesday of the Holy Week, the week before Easter. It is followed by Maundy Thursday.It is sometimes known as "Spy Wednesday",as a reference to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, indicating that it is the day that Judas Iscariot first conspired with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus for thirty silver coins :(.

Holy Lent

            

Lent is the forty days special season prior to Easter Sunday. Sundays are not counted because it is the Lord's Day and should be celebrated and therefore no fasting. Lent is a period of fasting or doing without certain foods, praying and repentance. This is to serve as a reminder of the forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness.