中英雙語介紹愛爾蘭傳統的文化

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick") is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387?461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion (especially the Church of Ireland), the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official feast day in the early seventeenth century, and has gradually become a celebration of Irish culture in general.每年的3月17日是聖帕特里克節，一個文化宗教節日。這個節日是為了紀念愛爾蘭的守護神聖·帕特里克（公元前387-461年）和基督教傳入愛爾蘭。這個節日受到天主教徒、聖公會、東正教和路德教會的重視，並於17世紀成為官方確定的盛大節日，現如今已成為愛爾蘭傳統文化的一部分。

The day is generally characterised by the attendance of church services, wearing of green attire and the lifting of Lenten restrictions on eating, and drinking alcohol, which is often proscribed during the rest of the season.這一天的活動主要有教堂禮拜儀式、身穿綠色衣服和食物齋戒，同時還要喝酒，而一般其他時候是禁止飲酒的。

Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador and in Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora, especially in places such as Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand, among others. Today, St. Patrick's Day is probably the most widely celebrated saint's day in the world.聖帕特里克節是愛爾蘭共和國、北愛爾蘭、紐芬蘭、拉布拉多和蒙特塞拉特地區的國定假日，同時在英國、加拿大、美國、阿根廷、澳大利亞和新西蘭等地被廣泛慶祝。現在，聖帕特里克節已成為世界上影響範圍最廣的聖徒節日。

Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.聖帕特里克於4世紀出生在一個羅馬不列顛家庭，他的`父親是一位助祭，而祖父是教堂的牧師。16歲時他被愛爾蘭襲擊者綁架，並被擄去愛爾蘭當奴隸，他被擄去的地方可能是愛爾蘭西部海岸的某地，可能是梅奧，但具體位置不詳。據他自述，有一天晚上，他在夢中被上帝告知快逃離囚禁地去海岸，那裏有艘船正在等着他，於是他便划着船逃離了愛爾蘭。回去後他迅速加入高盧歐塞爾的一個教堂學習成為一位牧師。

In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish church.432年，他宣稱聽到主呼喚他返回愛爾蘭，作為主教，他號召信仰多神教的愛爾蘭人信奉基督教。愛爾蘭民間傳説聖帕特里克曾以一片三葉草向崇尚自由的愛爾蘭人講解三位一體。做了近30年的福音傳道活動後，聖·帕特里克於461年3月17日去世，並在唐帕特里克火葬。雖然也有一些從羅馬向愛爾蘭傳教的成功故事，但帕特里克依然在愛爾蘭基督教文化中享有極高聲譽，受到人們的普遍尊敬。他去世的這一天也逐漸成為一個傳統節日。