What and when is St George’s Day?
St George’s Day is England’s National Day and is celebrated on the 23rd April.
Who was St George?
It is believed that Saint George was born sometime during the late third century between AD 275 and AD 285 into a Christian family in Lod Syria Palaestina and he died in Nicomedia. His father - Gerontius was a Roman army official from Cappadocia (Eastern Turkey) and his mother - Polychronia was from Palestine. Both his parents were Christians and from noble families of Anici so as a child St George was raised with Christian beliefs. They decided to call him Georgius (Latin) or Georgios (Greek) which means "worker of the land". At the age of 14 - George lost his father and a few years later George's mother - Polychronia, died. George decided to go to Nicomedia - the imperial city of the time and present himself to Emperor Diocletian to apply for a career as a soldier. Diocletian welcomed him with open arms as he had known his father - Gerontius who had been one of his finest soldiers. By his late 20s George was promoted to the rank of Tribunus and stationed as an imperial guard of the Emperor at Nicomedia.
In the year AD 302 Diocletian issued a proclamation that every Christian soldier in the army should be arrested and every other soldier should offer a sacrifice to the Roman Gods of the time. George objected to this and with the courage of his faith he approached the Emperor and ruler. Diocletian was genuinely upset as he did not want to lose his best Tribune and son of his best official - Gerontius. George rejected the Emperor's edict and in front of his fellow soldiers and Tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian and declared his worship of Jesus Christ. Diocletian attempted to convert George – offering him gifts of land / money and slaves if he made a sacrifice to the Roman Gods. The Emperor made many offers but George accepted nothing.
Understanding the futility of his efforts Diocletian was left with no choice but to have him executed for his refusal to comply. Before the execution George gave his wealth to the poor and prepared himself. After various torture sessions - including laceration on a wheel of swords in which he had to be resuscitated three times George was executed by beheading before Nicomedia's city wall on April 23 AD 303.
A witness of George’s suffering convinced Empress Alexandra and Athanasius - a pagan priest to also become Christians and therefore they joined George in martyrdom. His body was returned to Lydda in Palestine for burial where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr.
St George – Patron Saint
St George is not only the patron saint of England – he is also patron saint of many other countries and cities which include:
Countries:
· Bosnia & Herzegovina
· Bulgaria
· Canada
· Catalonia
· Croatia
· Cyprus
· Greece
· Georgia
· Republic of Macedonia
· Romania
· Serbia
Cities:
· Beirut – Lebanon
· Genova – Italy
· Ljubljana – Slovenia
· Moscow - Russia
· Qormi & Victoria – Malta
He is also celebrated in the old “Crown of Aragon” in Spain which includes: Aragon / Catalonia / Valencia and Majorca.
How Do We Celebrate St George’s Day?
The tradition of celebrating St George’s Day waned towards the end of the 18th Century after the union of England and Scotland. However the link with St George continues today in various ways. Salisbury holds an annual St George’s Day pageant – it is believed the origins of this pageant go back to the 13th Century.
In more recent years there has been resurgence in popularity for St George’s Day and in 2006 BBC Radio 3 had a full programme St George’s Day events and also the Conservative MP for Romford even put the argument forward in the House of Commons to make St George’s Day a public holiday.
In 2009 Boris Johnson the Mayor of London spearheaded a campaign to encourage the celebration of St George’s Day.
Today we celebrate St George’s Day in various ways such as: Morris dancing / Punch & Judy shows / fly the St George’s flag (pubs in particular) / some people even choose to wear a red rose in their lapel (this is a very old custom) / traditional English foods and drink (for example: afternoon tea) may be eaten.
Another custom is for the hymn: “Jerusalem” to be sung throughout cathedrals / churches and chapels on St George’s Day or the closest Sunday to St George’s Day
The Legend of St George and the Dragon
The legend (story) of St George and the Dragon goes as follows:
St George had been travelling over land and sea for many months until he finally arrived in Libya. When he arrived in Libya he came across a poor hermit who told St George that the land and its people were in great distress as a dragon had been ravaging the country for many months.
The poor hermit told St George that the dragon had demanded the sacrifice of beautiful young maidens and now the only young maiden alive was the daughter of the King. The poor hermit told St George that unless the people of the land found a brave knight to slay the dragon the King’s daughter would be sacrificed the following day. The King of Egypt had agreed to give his daughter in marriage to the knight who overcame the dragon.
When St George heard this tale he was determined to attempt to save the Princess so that night he rested at the hermit’s home and when dawn came he set out to the valley where the dragon lived. Upon nearing the valley St George saw a procession of women that was being led by a beautiful maiden who was dressed in pure Arabian silk. The beautiful maiden was the King’s daughter – Princess Sabra and the women in the procession were her attendants. St George overtook the ladies and comforted them with brave words and persuaded all the ladies to go back to the palace – he then went into the valley.
The dragon saw St George immediately he entered the valley and rushed from its cave roaring at him. The dragon’s head was huge and its tail was more than fifty feet long. St George was not afraid (or at least did not show any fear) and struck the dragon with his spear hoping to wound it but because the dragons scales were so hard the spear broke in two and St George fell from his horse. He was fortunate in that there was an enchanted orange tree that he rolled under and because poison could not get through the dragon was not able to hurt him. This allowed St George time to recover his strength until he was able to fight again.
He fought the dragon with his sword however the dragon poured poison on him splitting his armour in two – St George again retreated to the orange tree to regain his strength and once he was fully recovered he faced the dragon again. This time he rushed at the dragon and pierced it under the wing (where there were no scales) and the dragon fell dead at his feet.
Enjoy your St George's day - whatever you're doing :D
Written by: Andria Owen
Written by: Andria Owen
