Wednesday 18 March 2009

A prayer to Saint Patrick

I don't believe in God, and I know you will not hear me as you have been dead for some time now, but I always had a special liking for you, among all the Catholic saints. As a borderline atheist, a prayer to a dead man is pretty pointless, but it would be only fair to give an homage to the Saint who gave the name to one of my favourite celebrations/holy days of the year. I love your day as I always loved your people. I love Ireland, don't ask me why, I just do. It's one of those irrational connections one gets sometimes. I have been in Ireland once, I visited Dublin, and I loved every moment of it. There is that Irish charm you know, it makes you want to come back. You got caught by it too, as you allegedly got back there after being enslaved by the locals. I did not celebrate your day as much as I should have, as I got very busy today. It should be a national holiday, but there you go. I was working. I still managed to drink two Guinness in a local pub, which did not get me drunk but will leave with me a bit of melancholia for tomorrow. Tomorrow, my wife and I will travel to France, where you were rumoured to be from, and in Celtic Bretagne, so we shall not be so far away, culturally, from Ireland. I did not celebrate Saint-Patrick's Day as much as I should have, but I still made a point to commemorate it. So if you are indeed up there and not not just dead (as you probably are), keep the hangover to the melancholia level and keep our journey safe (should I ask this to Saint Christopher instead?). In any case, you are the patron saint of a great, admirable nation.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A lovely prayer Guillaume, and from a near atheist, very touching...a near atheist? :-)

Guillaume said...

Well, I was half-drunk then. I am not sure if there is such thing as a near atheist. You either are you you are not. I am an atheist, whatever I wrote then.