St. Patrick

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“May there always be work for your hands to do.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine on your windowpane.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.”
-Old Irish Friendship Wish

There has been a real lack of Gun's Quotes with totally random, completely useless facts. On the occasion of St. Patrick's Day, however, there will be redemption:

1. On average, 22 gallons of beer are consumed per capita annually in the US.

2. The Missouri University of Science and Technology (MUST) is celebrating their 100th anniversary of their St. Pat's Celebration this year. They have always called their celebration, "The Best Ever."

3. A fraternity brother of mine helped start that celebration when he was going to school there in 1907. (St. Pat's was canceled in 1945 due to WWII, that's why this year is the 100th anniversary)

4. That same fraternity brother convinced the school to cancel school for St. Pat's by getting the entire student body to go on strike for the holiday in 1907. The University has recognized St. Pat's as a holiday ever since.

5. St. Patrick's Day this year was actually on March 15th. This is because Easter is so early this year that the Catholic Church moved the date back to avoid having St. Patrick's feast day during the Monday of Holy Week. (Most calendar-making companies didn't get the memo, though...)

6. St. Munchin is another famous Irish Saint. There is only one St. Munchin's church in the entire United States. It is located in Cameron, MO.

7. During St. Patrick's Day, St. Munchin's church puts on a single Irish Stew dinner for the whole community of Cameron. It is by far their largest fundraiser.

8. There are 33.7 million people living in the US that are of Irish decent.

9. Most live in Massachusetts.

10. St. Patrick was actually born in Britian. He moved to Ireland and brought with him the Christian Faith. He is credited with the conversion of the country, which is partially why he was canonized.

11. St. Patrick is often credited with driving snakes out of the country of Ireland. (You often see statues of him standing on top of, and crushing, a snake.) This is actually an urban legend! There are no snakes native to Ireland at all. (Snakes were probably a metaphor for the pagan religions of the country, which gradually disappeared while St. Patrick was planting the seeds of Christianity)

12. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Engineers.

13. There is no #5 in this list of facts.

14. You just scrolled up to check and see if #5 was there and it was. Just kidding.

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Now you have something to talk about with your friends tomorrow while you are sitting around the bar and drinking green beer.

I hope everyone has a safe, happy St. Patrick's Day!

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!