A sainted one is holy. Holiness is a state of being that honors and serves God, (or Gods there are Hindu saints too!) In the Judeo-Christian tradition holiness separates the sacred from the profane. Observation of the laws is an individual responsibility, necessary for the order of the nation and the world.
Ireland's beloved St. Patrick is remembered today for driving out the snakes. Believers know that the tale does not have to be literally true to be honored because the story has its own powerful allegorical truth.
There are modern day saints. In the public life of the US there are two secular saints worthy of honor today.
Patrick Leahy and Patrick Fitzgerald deserve a place at the front of the parade for helping to drive the snakes out of the American body politic.
Catholic saints are honoured for their piety and for their moral example. Since saints live on a higher moral plane many believe their devotion to the example of a saint helps one to become closer to God. Otherwise the gap between humanity and deity may be to wide to bridge.
Calvin 's ideal society was on based upon holiness. A society that is holy will have social justice. Wiki: Holiness
A holy life, in his outlook, was pietistic and simple, a life that shunned extravagance, excess, and vanity. On a personal level, Calvin believed that suffering would be a manifestation of taking on the Cross of Christ, but suffering was also part of the process of holiness. He expected that all Christians would suffer in this life, not as punishment, but rather as participation in union with Christ, who suffered for them. And yet, socially, Calvin argued that a holy society would end up as a gentle, kindly society (except to criminals), where the poor would be protected from the abuses of the wealthy, the lawyers, and others who normally preyed upon them.
There are many here who have no religion. Others here consider St. Paddy's day an opportunity for drunken revelry and a civil disorder. If holiness doesn't appeal to you at least consider that Patrick is much loved by the Irish for he arose from slavery to accomplish great things. And that suffering, indenture, slavery, religious persecution and shame are part of Irish history.
When times are rough you need a little inspiration. Not many of us are saints.
As a boy growing up in Canada's Ottawa Valley (primarily French on one side of the River, primarily Irish on the other) I learned this song from the radio:
Off to Dublin in the Green
1967 The Dubliners
I am a merry ploughboy
and I plough the fields all day
till a sudden thought came to me head
that I should roam away
for I'm sick and tired of slavery
since the day that I was born
and I'm off to join the IRA
and I'm off tomorrow morn
Chorus
And we're all off to Dublin in the green
where the helmets glisten in the sun
where the bayonets flash and the rifles crash
to the rattle of a Thompson gun
I'll leave aside me pick and spade
I'll leave aside me plough
I'll leave aside me horse and yoke
I no longer need them now
I'll leave aside me Mary
she's the girl that I adore
and I wonder if she'll think of me
when she hears the rifles roar
Chorus
And when the war is over
and dear old Ireland is free
I'll take her to the church to wed
and a rebel's wife she'll be
well some men fight for silver
and some men fight for gold
but the IRA are fighting
for the land that the Saxons stole
And I'm grateful that the troubles are almost over. And I'm sorry I loved that song.
The way of Patricks Leahy and Fitzgerald is the better way.
Slainte!