This youth study offers an excellent opportunity to explore the history and myth behind St Patrick's Day, and to help today's youth make connections between the celebration of the holiday and a meaningful observance of the holy day.
Although this session is primarily for fun, it encourages the study group to look beyond the superficial observances of this day (the shamrocks, leprechauns, and "wearin' of the green") to reflect on the kind of Christian witness Saint Patrick must have been to have contributed so significantly to the spread of Christianity.
Relevant social issues are addressed as well, such as the discrimination against the hundreds of thousands of Irish Catholic immigrants who flooded America's shores in the mid-nineteenth century following the Great Potato Famine.
This youth study includes group activities that touch on the most common St. Patrick's Day customs such as wearing green, eating corned beef and cabbage, and holding parades. And, of course, participants will learn some answers to the burning question "What's with all those shamrocks!?"