Some calendars made in the U. S. A. include this notice on Sunday, March 14: “Daylight Saving Time Starts.” Most people living in this country will turn their clocks ahead one hour and keep them like that until November 7, when the notice, “Daylight Saving Time Ends,” appears. In this way, we will take advantage of an extra hour of daylight during that time. As I thought about the time to begin and end “daylight saving time,” I realized that such decisions may be considered arbitrary. And as I considered all the people preparing their income tax documents to meet the deadline for filing federal income tax returns on April 15, I realized that that date also was an arbitrary decision. Although I am unsure of a possible relationship, some companies and organizations now recognize April to March as their “fiscal year” even as educational institutions in the U. S. A. recognize the “school year” as beginning in September. In Japan, the “school year” begins in April, which in my thinking is more natural or logical because that is the time when nature is also beginning, and it seems more logical to begin a new school year in spring rather than in fall. Even the decision about when to begin a new year using our present calendars seems to have been arbitrary. The earliest Roman calendar consisted of ten lunar months, beginning with March. Later, two new months, January and February, were added to the end of the year. March continued to be the first month of the year until 153 B.C., when those two months were transferred to the first of the year and the Roman state decreed that the new year would begin with January. Even now, the first syllables of the English names of the last four months (September, October, November, December) are related to the Latin words for 7, 8, 9 and 10. (1289)
In the small calendar/notebook in which my daily schedule is written and which I try to remember to take with me wherever I go, there are 27 holidays listed, 4 of which include the names of men whose lives and activities made changes in world history. The one whose life and ministry are celebrated on March 17th is related to the color green, the country of Ireland and a three-leafed plant called a shamrock. The Englishman, who was probably born in the year 385 and was enslaved as a youth by pagan Irish marauders, later, as the result of a life-changing experience, developed a fervent faith and became a very effective missionary throughout the island of Ireland, is now known as St. Patrick. After approximately 30 years of very successful missionary activity, he was recognized as the Father and Founder of the Church in Ireland. Ireland is known as the “emerald isle” because of the brilliant green grass resulting from heavy rains. Along with the green color, the shamrock is also considered symbolic of St. Patrick because he had referred to it as a symbol of the Trinity. All men and women who have been designated “saints” in the Roman Catholic Church are given a feast day in which they are to be remembered. Since St. Patrick died on March 17, 461, March 17 is designated as his feast day. As has been noted previously in these messages, the Greek word translated “saint” in the New Testament connotes all the disciples of Christ (Romans 1:7; I Corinthians 1:2; II Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2) and not simply those chosen by church officials to be revered as such. (1290)