St Patrick’s Day is a Saint’s day. There is nothing wrong with celebrating saint’s days, though there is nothing particularly right either. As our Apostle says: “One man esteems one day as better than another while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (Romans 14:5).
Legendary stories make it hard to know the truth about early saints. We do not know anything about some saints, like St Valentine, and what we know about other famous ones, like St Nicholas, is contradictory and confusing. Even for some Biblical saints there is very little information, like St Matthias or St Bartholomew.
There are a number of difficulties regarding our interaction with saints. One is rightly identifying a saint through some canonisation process. When all Christians are saints why do we pick on some particular ones to declare as true saints? If it requires some ongoing influence in the world – such as answers to prayer and working miracles - there is the danger of incipient polytheism in the celebrations of saints, for they are turned into a heavenly court of patrons to whom we can pray and look for divine protection. Another problem is praying to the dead prior to canonization of the saint. For if he or she turns out not to be a saint, to whom were we praying? It seems to be a form of idolatry to call on the name of somebody who is not the Lord – especially if it turns out that they were not even one of his people!
However, the problems of saints and saint’s days should not stand in the way of remembering with gratitude, those whom God has used in the past to spread the gospel and contribute to the welfare of the world. We are to remember our leaders and in particular ‘the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7). Read more
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What can Baptists learn from St. Patrick?
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