Until 1970, you couldn’t get a drink in Ireland for the life of you on St. Patrick’s Day. All the pubs were closed by law. It was a religious holiday, a solemnity, and holy day of obligation, which meant mandatory Mass attendance. Things have changed drastically, and the faith and the practice have withered.

When reading the account of St. Patrick’s life from the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1911, I realize there is hope for the Old Sod yet. St. Patrick extracted a promise from God that although the faith in Ireland would dim for a while, it would shine bright once again and never go out.

It all happened after St. Patrick undertook his famous Lenten fast on Croagh Patrick, where pilgrims are still climbing in his memory and visiting the place where he stayed. Like Christ and Moses, Patrick fasted on his Holy Hill a metaphorical forty days and forty nights. Also like Moses, St. Patrick bargained with God.