Irish eyes were smiling inside an overflowing St. Patrick Church in Baltimore City March 17.
Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden celebrated a 10 a.m. Mass on the feast day of the church’s namesake. Little boys wearing shirts with clovers on them were held by their mothers as middle-aged men donned green color suit coats.
All around the Archdiocese of Baltimore, students in Catholic schools celebrated “the real meaning” of St. Patrick’s Day.
At the Mass, men dressed in traditional Irish garb played bagpipes and drums, and an Irish choir sang soaring harmonies.
“Few people have been as resilient as the Irish,” Bishop Madden told the hundreds of people.
Pride in ancestry met joyful praise throughout the day. Bishop Madden encouraged those at the Mass to follow the lead of St. Patrick, one of the patron saints of Ireland.
Saying that “many rejected what he had to say,” Bishop Madden encouraged Catholics to be engaged in the faith and to work toward helping others.
“Pray that we always do well and do our best,” Bishop Madden said in his closing remarks. “Yes, we can be like St. Patrick.”