The morning (and afternoon) after St Paddy's Day

ROAD TRIP!

Yes, after eschewing most of the common nonsense associated with yesterday's so-called holiday, we're gonna take a hike up to the Buzzards Bay Tavern for some of their onion rings, handcut fries, and beer. If the winds settle down and the temps rise, we might even pop the top off the Jeep! (No, there are no cabbage farts on this day.)

Lots to talk about today at the bar.

For one thing, yesterday I received an e-mail supposedly from UN envoy who has arrived in Nigeria to settle the dispute over my pending $10.3M ATM card! Talk about the luck of the Amish! I'm about to promote "Lifestyles of the Rich & Amish"!

The other thing we need to discuss, though, is the proper celebration of some of the lesser-known saints. After all, why should Patrick get all the fuss?

Here are ten you might have overlooked:

10. St Gertrude of Nivelles, Patron Saint of the Fear of Mice (suriphobia)

Saint Gertrude was the younger daughter of Blessed Pepin I of Landen and Blessed Ida of Nivelles; she was the sister of Saint Begga. She became devoted to religious life from an early age, and turned down a noble marriage to pursue the religious life. On the death of Pepin in 639, and on the advice of Saint Amand of Maastricht, Ida built a double monastery at Nivelles where both she and her daughter retired. Gertrude became abbess about age 20. She was known for her hospitality to pilgrims and aid to Irish missionary monks. She gave land to Saint Foillan, on which he built the monastery of Fosses. Helped Saint Ultan in his evangelization. In 656, Gertrude resigned her office in favor of her niece, Saint Wilfetrudis, and spent the rest of her days studying Scripture and doing penance.
9. St Scholastica, Patron Saint of Convulsive Children
St. Scholastica, sister of St. Benedict, consecrated her life to God from her earliest youth. After her brother went to Monte Cassino, where he established his famous monastery, she took up her abode in the neighborhood at Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about five miles from that of St. Benedict, who, it appears, also directed his sister and her nuns. She died about the year 543, and St. Benedict followed her soon after. Her feast day is February 10th.

8. St Hubert of Liege, Patron Saint of Mad Dogs

Saint Hubert was the grandson of Charibert, King of Toulouse and the eldest son of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine. Hubert was passionately devoted to hunting. While hunting a stag on a Good Friday morning, he received a vision of a crucifix between its antlers. When his wife died soon after this incident, Hubert renounced all his worldy positions, titles and wealth, handed his patrimony, and the care of his son, to his brother, and studied for the priesthood. He was highly revered in the Middle Ages, there were several military orders named in his honor. His association with the hunt led to his patronage of furriers and trappers, and against rabies and bad behavior in dogs, primarily hunting dogs.

7. St Monica. Patron Saint of Alcoholics

Saint Monica was the mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo, whose writings about her are the primary source of our information. A Christian from birth, she was given in marriage to a bad-tempered, pagan named Patricius. She prayed constantly for the conversion of her husband (who converted on his death bed), and of her son (who converted after a wild life). She was the spiritual student of Saint Ambrose of Milan and was, herself, a reformed alcoholic – hence her patronage of alcoholics.

6. St Dominic Savio, Patron Saint of Juvenile Delinquents

St Dominic Savio was one of ten children of a blacksmith and seamstress. He was a protege of Saint John Bosco and an altar boy at age 5. At 12 he entered the Oratory School preparatory to becoming a priest. He was well-liked and pius, but his health forced him to give up his dream of the priesthood. He died at age 15 – his dying words: “What beautiful things I see!"

5. St Isidore of Seville, Patron Saint of the Internet

St Isidore was the Archbishop of Seville ca. 601, succeeding his brother to the position. He was a teacher, founder, and reformer. He was a prolific writer whose works include a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a history of Goths, and a history of the world beginning with creation. He completed the Mozarabic liturgy which is still in use in Toledo, Spain and presided at the Second Council of Seville, and the Fourth Council of Toledo. He also introduced the works of Aristotle to Spain. He was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1722, and became the leading candidate for patron of computer users and the Internet in 1999.

4. St Brendan the Navigator. Patron Saint of Whales

St Brenadan was the brother of Saint Briga. He was educated by Saint Ita of Killeedy and Saint Erc of Kerry and was a friend of Saint Columba and Saint Brendan of Birr, Saint Brigid, and Saint Enda of Arran. He was ordained in 512 and built monastic cells at Ardfert, Shankeel, Aleth, Plouaret, Inchquin Island, and Annaghdown. The legend which lead to his patronage of whales is as follows: Brendan and his brothers figure in Brendan’s Voyage, a tale of monks travelling the high seas of the Atlantic, evangelizing to the islands, possibly reaching the Americas in the 6th century. At one point they stop on a small island, celebrate Easter Mass, light a fire – and then learn the island is an enormous whale!

3. St Rene Goupil, Patron Saint of Anesthesiologists

St Rene Goupil studied medicine, and in 1639 offered to work as a medic for the Jesuit missionaries in America. Missionary to the Hurons, working as a donné, a layman who worked without pay. He worked in a hospital in Quebec, Canada in 1640 and was assistant to Saint Isaac Jogues on his missionary travels. He was Captured and tortured by Iroquois, enemies of the Huron, for making the sign of the cross over a child’s head. While they were in captivity, Father Isaac received Rene into the Jesuits as a religious brother. He is the first North American martyr and his death by tomahawk in the head led to his patronage of people who work with or receive anasthesia.

2. St Polycarp, Patron Saint against Dysentery

Saint Polycarp was an associate of, converted by, and disciple of Saint John the Apostle. He was also a friend of Saint Ignatius of Antioch. He fought against Gnosticism and became the Bishop of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey). He was a revered Christian leader during the first half of the second century. The Asia Minor churches recognized Polycarp’s leadership and chose him to be representative to Pope Anicetus on the question of the date of the Easter celebration. Only one of the many letters written by Polycarp has survived, the one he wrote to the Church of Philippi, Macedonia. At 86, Polycarp was to be burned alive in a stadium in Smyrna; the flames did not harm him and he was finally killed by a dagger, and his body burned. The “Acts” of Polycarp’s martyrdom are the earliest preserved reliable account of a Christian martyr’s death.

1. St Fiacre. Patron Saint of Sexually Transmitted Disease

Saint Fiacre was raised in an Irish monastery, which in the 7th century were great repositories of learning, including the use of healing herbs, a skill studied by Fiacre. His knowledge and holiness caused followers to flock to him, which destroyed the holy isolation he sought. Fleeing to France, he established a hermitage in a cave near a spring, and was given land for his hermitage by Saint Faro of Meaux, who was bishop at the time. Saint Fiacre is also the patron saint of gardeners and taxi drivers.

It's not easy drinking green . . . beer.

Happy Evacuation Day in Southie!

Package stores in South Boston today will close at 4p (EDT) and bahs will close at 7:30p (EDT).

So what does this all mean? It means the spirit of Southie is sort of soiled by those who swarm there and think they're behaving like proud Irishman. But if you were born down on A Street and raised up on B Street, you'd know that all the other days of the year the packies and bahs don't shut down at those times. Let the amateurs swill down a Guinness or two at Amrhein's (home of the "oldest hand carved bar in America and . . . the first Draft Beer pump in Boston) while they savor "the quality cuisine." At home, though, you can chow down the corned beef and cabbage, along with a few pints of Murphy's Stout. And no one (else) will puke on your shoes!
And one more thing. Neither stout, nor ale, nor lager, nor pilsner is green. Green beer is about as natural as "light" beer. Ugh! Call me when the unicorns have left the building.

On March 17, 1901, the Mayor of Boston declared a new city holiday. It was the 125^th anniversary of the day in 1776 that General Washington forced the British to end their occupation of Boston.

To commemorate the first Evacuation Day, 100,000 special medals were presented to the city's children. Municipal workers had a paid day off and schools were closed. The fact that March 17^th also happened to be St. Patrick's Day was not lost on anyone, and in Boston the two holidays have been observed together ever since.

Of course, St. Patrick's Day predated 1776. Long considered the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick came to Boston with the earliest Irish immigrants. There is no hard documentation, but according to tradition, the first formal St. Patrick's Day celebration in the New World was held in Boston in 1737.

In one version of the story, a group of wealthy Protestant gentlemen and merchants who had recently emigrated from Northern Ireland gathered for a festive dinner on March 17^th. In another, a meeting of the recently formed Charitable Irish Society happened to be held in a local tavern on that date; the meeting spilled over into the street and an impromptu procession constituted America's first St. Patrick's Day parade.

The custom of parades on St. Patrick's Day was well established in Boston by the time the British Army occupied the city in the 1760s. Irish soldiers in the British army celebrated St. Patrick's Day with marching, feasting, and dancing. On March 17, 1775, 70 Redcoats, most likely from Irish battalions, paraded through the streets of Boston in regimental form.

Within a year, things had changed. After the Battle of Lexington and Concord, British troops had retreated to Boston where the Continental Army held them besieged for 11 months. Finally General Knox arrived with 55 captured cannon from Fort Ticonderoga. By mid-March, Washington's troops had positioned the cannon on Dorchester Heights overlooking the city. The British would occupy Boston for only a few more days.

Generals Howe and Washington reached an agreement. If the British would not burn the town, the Americans would allow the Redcoats and their fleet safe passage out of the harbor. On March 17, 1776, with Continental soldiers watching from Dorchester Heights, the British Army and 1,100 Loyalist civilians boarded ships and sailed for Nova Scotia.

Washington was well aware that the liberation of Boston occurred on St. Patrick's Day. A number of the men on his command staff were of Irish descent. The General Orders he issued that day specified that anyone wishing to pass through Continental lines would give the password "Boston," to which the reply would be "St. Patrick." It is said that as the British troops departed, an American band played "St. Patrick's Day in the Morning."

Forcing the hated British Army out of Boston was Washington's first victory and a much-needed boost for American morale. As the 100^th anniversary neared, an effort was made to recognize the significance of the event. But it was not until 1901 that Evacuation Day became a legal holiday in Boston. The next year, on March 17^th, the city dedicated the Dorchester Heights monument. Located in predominantly Irish South Boston, Dorchester Heights has been the scene of St. Patrick's Day celebrations ever since.