divine angst

I LOVE THIS HOLIDAY!

As a child, I went to St. Patrick’s Elementary School. Because St. Patrick’s Day pretty much always falls during Lent, almost every child in the school would have given up candy and wouldn’t have been able to have any on St. Patrick’s Day.

Except that the pastor of the church, Msgr. Higgins (no, I am not lying, that was in fact his name), would always declare that, because we went to St. Patrick’s School, St. Patrick’s Day was our feast day, and therefore a “day off” of Lent. He basically gave us all a Lenten dispensation.

And he would dress in the green vestments of Ordinary Time, borrow miter and crook from someone, and come around dressed as St. Patrick himself. He’d hand out candy and tell us about the great saint himself. And then the school would always have a big supper and a parade.

Many moons ago, I told Mr. Angst about St. Patrick’s Day not being part of Lent. He’s Irish, or at least part, so St. Paddy is his patron saint, too, sort of. So now he takes the holiday off of Lent. Since he usually gives up beer, St. Patrick’s Day is usually bigtime happy fun for him.

So enjoy St. Patrick’s Day! Read some St. Patrick’s Day jokes over at Scott’s place. And grab you some of the luck of the Irish!