'Missionary spirit': Savannah St. Patrick's Day Mass calls on faith at core of celebrations
In a city with no shortage of shamrocks scattered about its streets, Most Rev. Stephen D. Parkes called on that Irish symbol Monday morning before the start of the 201st annual Savannah St. Patrick's Day Parade.
St. Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, used the shamrock to explain the Christian Holy Trinity―God as three in one―said Parkes, Bishop of Savannah, during the Mass in honor of St. Patrick.
"St. Patrick had that incredible wisdom and creativity to say this is how we, in our very limited human comprehension, can understand what God is like and how God works," Parkes said in his homily, with a relic of the bone of St. Patrick in an ornate tabletop display nearby.
Parade tracker: Live Updates: St. Patrick's Day 2025 in Savannah. Parade scheduled for 10:15. Follow along
The parade-day mass each year is an hour of prayer, silence and reflection on the faith that grounds these celebrations.
As holiday revelers pitched tents in nearby Lafayette Square and lawn chairs with parade-goers lined Abercorn Street, hundreds donned in green joined Grand Marshal Jay Burke and aides inside the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist before the parade's start. Nearly no pew was empty.
Such a ritual in this city, which served as prosperity for Irish immigrants from County Wexford and refuge for Irish immigrants fleeing potato famine in the mid-1800s, may not be without St. Patrick himself.
St. Patrick is credited with the spread of the Christian faith throughout Ireland. Monday's gospel reading was from Matthew Chapter 28, which recounts Jesus' commissioning his followers to "make disciples of all nations."
"It was an incredible missionary spirit that St. Patrick brought back to the Irish people," Parkes said, "and helped to build churches, help to convert people, and certainly allow the faith to be able to grow."
Now, Christian rituals are sprinkled throughout Savannah's St. Patrick's season.
Part of the season each year involves a Celtic Cross ceremony, where the grand marshal lays a wreath at Savannah's Celtic Cross Monument in Emmett Park. Such a cross, identified by the circle around its center, stands above the steps in the cathedral where Savannahians worshiped Monday.
Many sources attribute the origins of the cross to St. Patrick, who incorporated Irish culture into his spread of the Christian faith.
"He also superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish," says an article by the History Channel.
Last year: Savannah St. Patrick's fervor begins with a rush, settles into a steady stream of floats
Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist first hosted parade-day mass in 1941 after a different church, named for St. Patrick, closed, according to reporting by the Savannah Morning News. Fifteen years later the parade passed in front of the cathedral and city clergy for the first time, a tradition that still stands.
That ritual marks the spiritual send off for parade grand marshal, where this year Parkes gave a blessing to Burke on the cathedral's steps.
From there, the grand marshal and a steady stream of floats following made their way through downtown Savannah for the city's 201st St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Evan Lasseter is the city of Savannah and Chatham County government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah's St. Patrick's Parade Mass calls on mission of patron saint
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