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 Saint George: 1700th Anniversary of Martyrdom Scott 1238 (2003) April 23 is the feast day of Saint George, a feast day shared with Saint Adalbert of Prague. His feast is celebrated as "Saint George's Day" in many locales around the world, including England. Little is known about George's life with certainty--much of his life and deeds are shrouded in mystery and legend. It is believed that he was born in 3rd century in Cappadocia (in present day Turkey) into a Greek Christian family. It is thought that he served as a Roman soldier and military officer. In the early 4th century, the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered all officers to sacrifice to the Roman gods. George refused, and he was martyred, with his date of death is believed to be April 23, 303 AD at Nicomedia in Bithynia, across the Sea of Marmara, southwest of Constantinople. Beyond that, early sources provide conflicting information.  Statue of Saint George by Donello (circa 1415) Bargello National Museum, Florence, Italy From Wikimedia Commons, used the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license Saint George is the patron of soldiers and was cited by Saint Bede, the Venerable, the father of English history and one of the Doctors of the Church. Various Crusader legends also talk about the exploits of Saint George. In Shakespeare’s play Henry V, he is invoked by Harry Bolingbroke (Henry V) at the battle of Agincourt (1415): Perhaps the best-known legend of Saint George is the story of his saving a princess from a dragon, a scene featured on the Vatican City stamp shown above. Issued in 2003, the painting is by Paris Bordone, a 16th-century Mannerist artist, and is now located in the Vatican galleries. Legend has it that villagers of a town were plagued by a dragon whose breath was fatal. They used a sheep to lure the local dragon away from their spring. If no sheep were available, the villagers drew lots to select a young girl to face the dragon. St. George, a soldier protected by the Cross, pierced the dragon with his lance and then immobilized the dragon with the princess’s girdle (a symbol of virginity). George then led the dragon into the village, where it was slain in front of the 15,000 villagers who all thereupon converted to Christianity. The location where the dragon was slain is said to be Ashkelon in modern-day Israel. During World War II, Winston Churchill used the name “Ascalon” as the name for his ‘flying conference aircraft’ (an Arvo York, a company that also manufactured the Lancaster heavy bomber aircraft). Churchill, therefore, associated his mission with that of the patron saint of England in the struggle against Nazi Germany. In addition to being the patron saint of soldiers, Saint George is the patron of many groups and countries, including England and Portugal. He is also the patron saint of scouting. REFERENCES: |
