Three Sundays in March!

Top of the weekend my friends! Beginning this Sunday we kick off the “Trinity of Sundays”. The last time this spiritual trifecta occurred was about 40 years ago in March of 1940!

How rare are these “Three Sundays” in March? The next time it happens "back to back" will be 300 years from now. That will be in 2391 for those of you who are counting at home. Add 500 more years for it’s 3rd occurrence. Sometime around 2475 according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Did you know that Saint Patrick's Day dates back to the 17th century? That’s when it was made an official Christian feast day?

Here’s why that’s important. Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Roman-British Christian missionary and Bishop in Ireland. It is believed that he was born in Britain in the fourth century, to a wealthy family in England.

At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. Where he spent six years working as a shepherd. During this time he came to the faith. According to tradition, Patrick would escape, go back to his British homeland where he? became a priest.

Later as an adult he would return to Ireland and converted the Irish to Christianity. Patrick's efforts were eventually turned into an allegory in which he drove “snakes", (the Druids) heathen practices, out of Ireland. Patrick used to the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

He died on March 17, 461. Sometime in the 18th century, people in Ireland began wearing shamrocks on their clothing to commemorate St. Patrick’s Day. Which over time evolved into today’s tradition of wearing green and enjoying large parties to celebrate his life. When the Irish migrated to Boston in 1737 that’s when the real party began!

The second of this Three Sunday celebration is Palm Sunday.? Where our hero “Immanuel” was welcomed with a strong waving offering of Palm branches. Yet just a week later this celebration would become a very unbearable situation to watch. Despite the injustice the impossible emerges against all odds, Resurrection Sunday. Which declaration shines on these “Three Sundays in March”!

Tradition says the state of Florida is named after Easter. It was discovered by Ponce de Leon. Who allegedly called it the land of flowers “La Pascua de las Flores or Pascua Florida”. The definition means feast of flowers in honor of Easter Sunday

While I’m on the subject,? “Easter” has a interesting origin too? It actually comes from the Christian Paschal festival. The old English term “estre” is the vernal equinox festival in honor of the Germanic goddess the dawn Easter. By the way, the tradition of the rabbit comes from this celebration too. I’ll let you find out why.

It’s been awhile since we had “Three Sundays in March” like this “Trinity of Sundays”. Donut ever forget it!