Saint George:

Feast day : 23 April

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint George. He is believed to have died for his faith during the persecutions of Christians under the Emperor Diocletian in the year 303. When the emperor Diocletian issued an edict of persecution against Christians, St. George is believed to have torn the document apart and professed his faith in Christ boldly before the emperor. For his courageous proclamation he was tortured and eventually beheaded. St George is considered the patron of knights, soldiers, scouts, fencers and archers, among others; he is also invoked against the plague and leprosy, and against venomous snakes. The relics of the saint are found in different places of the world; in Rome the church of San Giorgio al Velabro has housed his skull from the time of Pope Zachariah.

Early life:

Not much is known about his early life. George, whose name in Greek means “farmer,” was born to a Christian family in Cappadocia around the year 280. After moving to Palestine, he joined the army of Diocletian and served till his death in the year 303. One of the most popular traditions about St. George is the story of the dragon and the girl saved by him. According to legend, in the city of Selem in Libya, there was a large pond where a terrible dragon lived. In order to please the dragon so that it would not harm the people in the city, they offered it two sheep as a daily offering. Soon it wasn’t enough to please the dragon. The people began offering a sheep and a child drawn by lot. One day it was the turn of the King’s daughter. There was no one willing to take her place and she was led to the pond. It is believed that Saint George passed by the pond and pierced the dragon with a spear, thereby saving the child and all the people in the city from the evil dragon. This soon came to be a symbol of faith triumphing over evil. The king was so grateful for saving his daughter’s life that he offered him valuable gifts as a reward. But St. George refused it and instead gave them away to the poor.

Martyrdom:

When the emperor Diocletian issued an edict of persecution against Christians, St. George is believed to have torn the document apart and professed his faith in Christ before the emperor. He was tortured and eventually beheaded for his brave proclamation of his faith. Shortly after his death, a basilica was erected over the place of his burial in Lydda (modern-day Lod, in Israel). His relics are still visible today.

Devotion to St.George:

The crusaders contributed a great deal to transforming the figure of St. George the martyr into a holy warrior, seeing in the killing of the dragon a symbol for the defeat of Islam; Richard I of England (“the Lionheart”) invoked him as the protector of all soldiers. With the Normans the cult of St. George became firmly rooted in England where, in 1348, King Edward III established the Order of the Knights of St. George. Throughout the Middle Ages his figure inspired a great deal of epic literature.
St George is considered the patron of knights, soldiers, scouts, fencers and archers, among others; he is also invoked against the plague and leprosy, and against venomous snakes. In the absence of certain information about his life, in 1969 the Church changed the liturgical feast of St George to an optional memorial on the universal calendar. However, this change did not affect devotion to the saint. The relics of the saint are found in different places of the world; in Rome the church of San Giorgio al Velabro has housed his skull from the time of Pope Zachariah.