On May 5, 10:13=A0pm, ++ <fri...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> St. George the Great Martyr, Patron of England
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> [Celebrated this year by the Orthodox on 6th May]
>
> Died c. 303. Many legends have gathered around the name of Saint George,
> and there are differing accounts of his origin.
> There is evidence that George was, indeed, a martyr who suffered at
> Diospolis (Lydda, Ludd) in Palestine before the time of Constantine,
> probably under Diocletian. He was born of Christian parents in
> Cappadocia, where his father was a martyr. Later he himself took refuge
> in Palestine, where he became a Roman soldier and displayed courage. He
> is said to have been raised to the rank of military tribune of the
> imperial guards. On his mother's death he inherited a fortune and
> attached himself to the court of the Emperor Diocletian in the hope of
> finding advancement.
>
> Once when the emperor was present, heathen priests were consulting the
> entrails of animals to foretell the future. Those Christians among the
> guards made the Sign of the Cross on their foreheads. The emperor was
> extremely angry and ordered them flogged and dismissed. He then sent out
> an edict ordering the Christian clergy to make sacrifice to the pagan
> gods.
>
> On the outbreak of persecution, George declared himself a Christian and
> distributed his money to the poor. When the decree which preceded the
> persecution was published against the churches in Nicomedia, "a certain
> man," Eusebius tells us in his History, "of no mean origin, but highly
> esteemed for his tem****al dignities, stimulated by a divine zeal, and
> excited by an ardent faith, took it as it was openly placed and posted
> up for public inspection, and tore it to shreds as a most profane and
> wicked act." This man who showed such courage is believed to have been
> Saint George, and such a bold and defiant action well suits what we know
> of his character.
>
> As a result, he was subjected to nameless tortures over a period of
> seven years. He was tied to a revolving wheel of blades and swords,
> thrown into a pit of quicklime, made to run in red-hot shoes, scourged
> with thongs of hide, beaten with sledge-hammers, and cast over a
> precipice; his limbs were broken and exposed to flame, and he suffered
> many other torments.
>
> One of the most familiar elements of his life concerns his fight with
> the dragon. It is said that George was riding through the province of
> Lybia (Libya?), and came upon a city named Sylene. Near the city was a
> marsh in which a dragon lived. The
> people had attempted to kill it but were poisoned by the creature's
> foetid breath.
>
> To placate the dragon, they offered it two sheep each day, but when they
> began to exhaust their supply of sheep, they were forced to substitute a
> human each day instead, using a lottery to determine who would be
> sacrificed. At the time of George's arrival, the lot had just fallen to
> the king's daughter. No one volunteered to take her place, so she was
> dressed in bridal finery and sent to meet the dragon.
>
> Riding in upon this scene, George attacked the dragon and speared it
> with his lance. He then fastened the princess's girdle around its neck,
> and the girl led the dragon into the city. The people were frightened
> and started to run away, but George told them not to be afraid--that if
> the whole city would believe in Jesus Christ and be baptized, he would
> slay the dragon.
>
> The king and the people agreed, and more than 15,000 were baptized.
> George killed the dragon, and it was carried away on four ox carts. He
> accepted no reward for this service, but he asked the king to build
> churches, honour priests, and to maintain compassion for the poor.
>
> The above account is from a much later date than George himself. Words,
> however, attributed to him are characteristic of his faith and courage,
> and may well have been upon his lips as he faced his actual torture,
> such as: "Christ, my Captain, my Lord, I have no strength but what You
> give me. Help me this day, and the glory shall be Yours for ever and
> ever."
>
> He preached the Gospel and baptized many into the Christian faith.
> Orthodox call him "the great martyr." His name and influence also spread
> far into the West under the influence of the Crusaders; however,
> devotion to him there predates the Crusades. Since the 5th century many
> churches could be found in the West bearing his name. It was in England,
> however, that his fame became most popular.
>
> It is uncertain why he is the patron saint of England, though his cultus
> travelled to the British Isles before the Norman Conquest (1066).
>
> In the Western Church the legends that grew up around his name were not
> so readily accepted, and Pope Gelasius in the fifth century puts Sr.
> George among those saints, "whose names are justly revered among men,
> but whose actions are known only to God". However, in the middle ages,
> the story of St. George and the Dragon was popular reading and was
> included in the Golden Legend, one of the first books to be printed by
> Caxton, in his own translation.
>
> It was the Crusades that really made St. George popular in the West,
> although he figures in early Irish and Anglo Saxon calendars. At
> Canterbury, there is an ancient church dedicated to St George, and it is
> tempting to think that the dedication could be due to St. Theodore the
> Greek, who came to Canterbury as Archbishop in 669 from Asia Minor, the
> homeland of St. George. When, however, the Christian armies from Western
> Europe arrived in the Holy Land, they found themselves, for the first
> time, in the part of the world where St. George was regarded as a major
> saint.
>
> "Saint George's arms" became the basis of the uniforms of British
> soldiers and sailors, and George's red cross appears on the Union Jack
> (British flag) (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Gill, Sheppard, White).
>
> In art, George is ****trayed as a youth in armour, often mounted, killing
> or having killed a dragon. His ****eld and lance pennant are a red cross
> on a white field (White). Generally, there is a princess near him. In
> some ****trayals, (1) the princess leads the dragon; (2) Saint Margaret
> is the princess; (3) George is in armour standing on the dragon (not to
> be confused
> with the Archangel Michael, who is always winged); (4) George is in the
> robes of the Order of the Garter; (5) with Saint Demetrius in icons; or
> (6) as George is martyred in a brazen bull, dragged by horses, beheaded
> with a sword (Roeder).
>
> Icon of Saint
Georgehttp://www.orthodoxengland.btinternet.co.uk/george.htm=
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