St. Patrick: Beyond Shamrocks & Myth with Pastor Dawn Volpe

About the Message: I loved St. Patrick’s Day as a child, singing, ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling’, the parades, green everywhere, classrooms decorated in shamrocks, stories of leprechauns and snake banishment. As Tomie de Paula recalled in his children’s book, Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland, His Irish grandpa said to him, “That’s Saint Patrick, He’s Irish, just like us.” I immediately forgot that I was half-Italian. Every year after that, I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with gusto, decorating my room with shamrocks. My brother took Patrick for his confirmation name. My Italian father celebrated too, claiming Patrick was from Italy. ” In today’s message, I will share with you the true magic of St. Patrick, beyond the myth, a person of resilience, transforming trauma into healing.

About the Speaker: Pastor Dawn was born and raised in Staten Island, New York. She graduated college in the 1970’s, when career options for women were limited. She embarked on a traditional female career in Elementary Education. After a few years, she became restless and wondered where life would take her. That holy restlessness took her to Seminary and pastoral work at a time when women were a rarity in the pulpit. Her adventures in ministry began in the Bronx, New York, continued in the Washington DC suburb of New Carrollton, Maryland, and now, for the last 11 years, in the paradise known as Ephraim.