east village idiot

When you flipped your calendar to March this weekend, were you bummed to discover that March 17th is a Monday this year?

“Damn,” you thought. “That’s not very conducive to drinking in large quantities to celebrate the fact that I am [100%, 50%, 25%, 1.5625%, 0%] Irish.”

Well, you’re in luck, my friend. St. Patrick’s Day isn’t on March 17th this year!

Contrary to what your calendar may say, the Catholic Church decided last summer to move St. Patrick’s Day to March 15th to avoid conflicting with Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday, March 16th:

Under the Church’s rules, the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, the saint’s feast day does not rank as high as the Monday before Easter and has to be moved.

After much deliberation, Rome gave Irish authorities the green light to shift the official religious celebrations two days back to March 15th, which falls on a Saturday.

The result: St. Patrick’s Day will be on a Saturday for the second year in a row. Enjoy this rescheduling, because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event. St. Patrick’s Day won’t conflict with Holy Week again until 2160.

Thanks to planning that begins years in advance, there are two St. Patrick’s Days in New York City this year, since the parade is still scheduled for Monday, March 17th. And there are three, if you count Hoboken, New Jersey’s annual sh*tshow on March 1st.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle (getting wasted on green beer is the other half).

This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Drunken Antics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.