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St. Georges Day |
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St. GEORGE - PATRON SAINT OF ENGLAND
Every nation has its own ‘Patron Saint’ who in times of great peril is called upon to help save the country from its enemies. St. David is the patron St. of Wales, St. Andrew of Scotland and St. Patrick of Ireland - St. George being the patron St. of England. But who was St. George, and what did he do to become England’s Patron Saint.? Very little is known about St. George’s life, but it is thought he was a high ranking officer in the Roman army who was killed in around AD 303. It seems that the Emperor Diocletian had St.. George tortured to make him deny his faith in Christ. However despite some of the most terrible torture even for that time, St. George showed incredible courage and faith and was finally beheaded near Lydda in Palestine. His head was later taken to Rome where it was interred in the church dedicated to him.
Stories of his strength and courage soon spread throughout Europe. The best-known story about St. George is his fight with a dragon, and in paintings he is almost always shown on his white horse slaying the dragon. The legend goes that the pagan town of Silene in Libya was being terrorized by a dragon which poisoned anyone who came near with its breath. The dragon was appeased by feeding it two sheep a day. When they ran out of sheep the local people drew lots to see who would become its next meal. Eventually their beautiful young princess drew the short straw and was to be sacrificed. She dressed as a bride to go to her death. Along came St. George on a white charger and pierced the dragon's side with his lance. The princess then led the tamed dragon back to town. St. George told the people that if they would convert to Christianity and be baptized they'd be saved from the monster. They agreed: George killed the dragon and 15,000 men were baptized. George was offered riches, but asked for his reward to be given to the poor. He then asked the King to ensure that the people worship God diligently, honour all priests, maintain the churches, and show mercy to the poor. Unfortunately the many legends connected with St. George’s name are fictitious, and this has been used to deny that St. George ever existed. However, the dragon is in fact a twelfth century addition to the story and is symbolic: The dragon represents Satan; the Princess represents the Christian Church; and the white horse represents God's grace carrying St. George to heroism. St. George is still venerated in a large number of places, by followers of particular occupations and sufferers from certain diseases. George is the patron Saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to St. Mark). He is patron of soldiers, cavalry and chivalry; of farmers and field workers, Boy Scouts and butchers; of horses, riders and saddlers; and of sufferers from leprosy, plague and syphilis. He is particularly the patron Saint of archers, which gives special point to these famous lines from Shakespeare's Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1, l. 31: 'I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, In the last few years there have been several attempts by the press and the pub trade to conduct a crusade for St. George's Day to be declared as a national holiday. Several other countries have a bank holiday on their Saints Day so why not England? The problem seems to be that the 23rd April is too near to the Easter and May Day holidays. The pub trade have a vested interest in promoting St. George’s day as, if fully celebrated, there is a potential income of 14 million pounds to be made. Our own White Horse will be celebrating the day and invite you to join them and down a pint or two to St. George! In researching this article I have found several different versions of the story about the dragon and conflicting opinion as to whether St. George actually visited England. There does seem to be a consistent view that he converted to Christianity and was tortured and killed for his beliefs. See the following websites for more information:- http://www.unionjacksupplies.co.uk/unionjack_history.htm Alan Morris |
