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Saint George
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In Christian hagiography Saint George (ca. 275-281 – April 23, 303) was a soldier in the Guard of Emperor Diocletian in the Roman Empire, venerated as a martyr.
Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Catholic Churches. He is immortalised in the tale of George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April.
St. George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Amersfoort, Beirut, Bteghrine, Cáceres, Ferrara, Freiburg, Genoa, Ljubljana, Lod and Moscow, as well as a wide range of professions, organisations and disease sufferers.
EtymologyThe name George comes from Greek Georgios "husbandman, farmer," from ge "earth" + ergon "work".
Life and legend
Saint George is not commemorated in any early vita or acta that would have some merit as reflecting history and cannot be accounted a historical individual.
Discussion
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Timeline
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275 Born
280 Born
303 Died
494 Gelasius canonizes Saint George.
1427 Celebration of ''Sant Jordi'' (Saint George) begins in Catalonia (he would later become its patron saint).
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Encyclopedia
In Christian hagiography Saint George (ca. 275-281 – April 23, 303) was a soldier in the Guard of Emperor Diocletian in the Roman Empire, venerated as a martyr.
Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Catholic Churches. He is immortalised in the tale of George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April.
St. George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Amersfoort, Beirut, Bteghrine, Cáceres, Ferrara, Freiburg, Genoa, Ljubljana, Lod and Moscow, as well as a wide range of professions, organisations and disease sufferers.
EtymologyThe name George comes from Greek Georgios "husbandman, farmer," from ge "earth" + ergon "work".
Life and legend
Saint George is not commemorated in any early vita or acta that would have some merit as reflecting history and cannot be accounted a historical individual. Chief among the late sources is the Golden Legend, which remains the most familiar version in English owing to William Caxton's 15th century translation.
The traditional legend offers a historicised narration of George's encounter with his dragon: see "St. George and the Dragon" below. The modern legend that follows is synthesized from early and late hagiographical sources, omitting the more fantastical episodes, to narrate a purely human military career in closer harmony with modern expectations of reality.
The modern legend
George was born to a Christian family during the late third century, some sources name his birthplace as Coventry, England, others put it in Cappadocia where his father, a Roman soldier, was from. British Library archival material supports that he was born somewhere in the Levant region, possibly in Ramleh and was of Arab-Christian aristocratic parentage. His mother was Jewish from Lydda, Iudaea (now Lod, Israel). She returned to her native city as a widow along with her young son, where she provided him with an education.
The youth followed his father's example by joining the army soon after coming of age. He proved to be a good soldier and consequently rose through the military ranks of the time. By his late twenties he had gained the title of tribunus and then comes, at which time George was stationed in Nicomedia as a member of the personal guard attached to Roman Emperor Diocletian.
In 303 Diocletian issued an edict authorizing the systematic persecution of Christians across the Empire. The emperor Galerius was supposedly responsible for this decision and would continue the persecution during his own reign. George was ordered to participate in the persecution but instead confessed to being a Christian himself and criticized the imperial decision. An enraged Diocletian ordered his torture and execution.
After various tortures, including laceration on a wheel of swords, in which he was miraculously resuscitated three times, George was executed by decapitation before Nicomedia's city wall, on April 23, 303. A witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra and Athanasius, a pagan priest, to become Christians as well, and so they joined George in martyrdom. His body was returned to Lydda for burial, where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr.
Veneration as a martyr
A church built in Lydda during the reign of Constantine I (reigned 306–337), was consecrated to "a man of the highest distinction", according to the church history of Eusebius of Caesarea; the name of the patron was not disclosed, but later he was asserted to have been George. The church was destroyed in 1010 but was later rebuilt and dedicated to Saint George by the Crusaders. In 1191 and during the conflict known as the Third Crusade, the church was again destroyed by the forces of Saladin, Sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty (reigned 1171–1193). A new church was erected in 1872 and is still standing.
During the fourth century the veneration of George spread from Palestine through Lebanon to the rest of the Eastern Roman Empire -though the martyr is not mentioned in the Syriac Breviarium- and Georgia. In Georgia the feast day on November 23 is credited to St Nino of Cappadocia, who in Georgian hagiography is a relative of St George, credited with bringing Christianity to the Georgians in the fourth century. By the fifth century the cult of Saint George had reached the Western Roman Empire as well: in 494, George was canonised as a saint by Pope Gelasius I, among those "whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to [God]."
In England the earliest dedication to George, who was mentioned among the martyrs by Bede, is a church at Fordington, Dorset, that is mentioned in the will of Alfred the Great. "Saint George and his feast day began to gain more widespread fame among all Europeans, however, from the time of the Crusades." An apparition of George heartened the Franks at the siege of Antioch, 1098, and made a similar appearance the following year at Jerusalem. Chivalric military Order of St. George were established in Aragon (1201), Genoa, Hungary, and by Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Edward III put his Order of the Garter under the banner of St. George. In England the Synod of Oxford, 1222 declared St. George's Day a feast day in the kingdom of England. The chronicler Froissart observed the English invoking St. George as a battle cry on several occasions during the Hundred Years' War. In his rise as a national saint George was aided by the very fact that the saint had no legendary connection with England, and no specifically localised shrine, as of Thomas Becket at Canterbury: "Consequently, numerous shrines were established during the late fifteenth century," Muriel C. McClendon has written, "and his did not become closely identified with a particular occupation or with the cure of a specific malady."
The establishment of George as a popular saint and protective giant in the West that had captured the medieval imagination was codified by the official elevation of his feast to a festum duplex at a church council in 1415, on the date that had become associated with his martyrdom, 23 April. There was wide latitude from community to community in celebration of the day across late medieval and early modern England, and no uniform "national" celebration elsewhere, a token of the popular and vernacular nature of George's cultus and its local horizons, supported by a local guild or confraternity under George's protection, or the dedication of a local church. When the Reformation in England severely curtailed the saints' days in the calendar, St. George's Day was among the holidays that continued to be observed.
SourcesAccording to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the earliest text preserving fragments of George's narrative is in an Acta Sanctorum identified by Hippolyte Delehaye of the scholarly Bollandists to be a palimpsest of the fifth century. The compiler of this Acta, according to Delehaye "confused the martyr with his namesake, the celebrated George of Cappadocia, the Arian intruder into the see of Alexandria and enemy of St. Athanasius". A critical edition of a Syriac Acta of Saint George, accompanied by an annoted English translation was published by E.W. Brooks (1863-1955) in 1925. The hagiography was originally written in Greek.
In Sweden, the princess rescued by Saint George is held to represent the kingdom of Sweden, while the dragon represents an invading army. Several sculptures of Saint George battling the dragon can be found in Stockholm, the earliest inside Storkyrkan ("The Great Church") in the Old Town.
The façade of architect Antoni Gaudi's famous Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain depicts this allegory.
IconographySt. George is most commonly depicted in early icons, mosaics and frescos wearing armour contemporary with the depiction, executed in gilding and silver colour, intended to identify him as a Roman soldier. After the Fall of Constantinople and the association of St George with the crusades, he is more often portrayed mounted upon a white horse.
At the same time St George began to be associated with St. Demetrius, another early soldier saint. When the two saints are portrayed together mounted upon horses, they may be likened to earthly manifestations of the archangels Michael and Gabriel. St George is always depicted in Eastern traditions upon a white horse and St. Demetrius on a red horse St George can also be identified in the act of spearing a dragon, unlike St Demetrius, who is sometimes shown spearing a human figure, understood to represent Maximian.
Later depictions and occurrences
During the early second millennium, George came to be seen as the model of chivalry, and during this time was depicted in works of literature, such as the medieval romances.
Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, compiled the Legenda Sanctorum, (Readings of the Saints) also known as Legenda Aurea (the Golden Legend) for its worth among readers. Its 177 chapters (182 in other editions) contain the story of Saint George.
Modern Russians interpret the icon not as a killing but as a struggle, against ourselves and the evil among us. The dragon never dies but the saint persists with his horse (will and support of the people) and his spear (technical means). This is a useful symbol for modern technocrats, especially in fields such as public health.
Colours
The "Colours of Saint George", or St George's Cross) are a white flag with a red cross, frequently borne by entities over which he is patron (e.g. England, Georgia, Liguria, Catalonia etc).
The origin of the St George's Cross came from the earlier plain white tunics worn by the early crusaders.
The same colour scheme was used by Viktor Vasnetsov for the facade of the Tretyakov Gallery, in which some of the most famous St. George icons are exhibited and which displays St. George as the coat of arms of Moscow over its entrance.
Patronage and remembrancePrior to the revision of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI, the feast of “St George, Martyr” was celebrated as a Semi-Double feast (see General Roman Calendar as in 1954), and later as a Commemoration (see General Roman Calendar of 1962). Since 1969, his feast was downgraded to an optional memorial; the solemnity of his commemoration depending largely upon local observance. However, Traditionalist Roman Catholics continue to commemorate the feast day of "Saint George, Martyr", on April 23, either as a Semi-Double feast or Commemoration.
St George is very much honored by the Eastern Orthodox Church, wherein he is referred to as a "Great Martyr", and in Oriental Orthodoxy overall. His major feast day is on April 23 (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, April 23 currently falls on May 6 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). The Russian Orthodox Church also celebrates two additional feasts in honour of St. George: one on November 3 (November 16) commemorating the consecration of a cathedral dedicated to him in Lydda during the reign Constantine the Great (305-337). When the church was consecrated, the relics of the St. George were transferred there. The other feast on November 26 (December 9) for a church dedicated to him in Kiev, ca. 1054.
CountriesBelgiumIn Mons (Belgium), Saint Georges is honoured each year at the Trinity Sunday. In the heart of the city, a reconstitution (known as the “Combat dit Lumeçon”) of the fight between Saint Georges and the dragon is played by 46 actors. According to the tradition, the inhabitants of Mons try to get a piece of the dragon during the fight. This will bring luck for one year to the ones succeeding in this challenge. This event is part of the annual Ducasse and is attended by thousands of people.
BrazilIn the religious traditions of the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé and Umbanda, Ogum (as this Yoruba divinity is known in the Portuguese language) is often identified with Saint George in many regions of the country, being widely celebrated by both religions' followers. Popular devotion to Saint George is very strong in Rio de Janeiro, where the saint vies in popularity with the city's official patron Saint Sebastian, both saints' feast days being local holidays.
Saint George is also the patron saint of the football club Corinthians, of São Paulo. The club stadium is also known as Parque São Jorge (Saint George's Park, in portuguese).
Bulgaria
St. George is praised by the Bulgarians as "liberator of captives, and defender of the poor, physician of the sick". For centuries he has been considered by the Bulgarians as their protector. Possibly the most celebrated name day in the country, St George's Day (??????????, Gergyovden) is a public holiday that takes place on 6 May every year. A common ritual is to prepare and eat a whole lamb. St. George is the patron saint of farmers and shepherds.
St. George's Day is also the Day of the Bulgarian Army (made official with a decree of Knyaz Alexander of Bulgaria on 9 January 1880) and parades are organised in the capital Sofia to present the best of the army's equipment and manpower.
England
Traces of the cult of St George predate the Norman Conquest, in ninth-century liturgy used at Durham Cathedral, in a tenth-century Anglo-Saxon martyrology, and in dedications to Saint George at Fordingham, Dorset, at Thetford, Southwark and Doncaster. He received further impetus when the crusaders returned from the Holy Land in the 12th century. King Edward III of England (reigned 1327 – 1377) was known for promoting the codes of knighthood and in 1348 founded the Order of the Garter. During his reign, George came to be recognised as the patron saint of the English monarchy; prior to this, Saint Edmund had been considered the patron saint of England, although his veneration had waned since the time of the Norman conquest, and his cult was partly eclipsed by that of Edward the Confessor. Edward dedicated the chapel at Windsor Castle to the soldier saint who represented the knightly values of chivalry which he so much admired, and the Garter ceremony takes place there every year. In the 16th Century, William Shakespeare firmly placed St George within the national conscience in his play Henry V in which the English troops are rallied with the cry “God for Harry, England and St George,” and Edmund Spenser included St. George (Redcross Knight) as a central figure in his epic poem The Faerie Queen.
In 1963, in the Roman Catholic Church, St George was demoted to a third class minor saint and removed him from the Universal Calendar, with the proviso that he could be honoured in local calendars. Pope John Paul II, in 2000, restored St George to the Calendar, and he appears in Missals as the English Patron Saint.
With the revival of Scottish and Welsh nationalism, there has been renewed interest within England in Saint George, whose memory had been in abeyance for many years. This is most evident in the St George's flags which now have replaced Union Flags in stadiums where English sports teams compete. Nevertheless, St George’s Day is now celebrated each year in the City of London with a tax payer funded day of celebration run by the Greater London Authority and the London Mayor. However, the City of Salisbury does hold an annual St George’s Day pageant, the origins of which are believed to go back to the thirteenth century.
Georgia
Saint George is a patron saint of Georgia. According to Georgian author Enriko Gabisashvili, Saint George is most venerated in the nation of Georgia. An 18th century Georgian geographer and historian Vakhushti Bagrationi wrote that there are 365 Orthodox churches in Georgia named after Saint George according to the number of days in one year. There are indeed many churches in Georgia named after the Saint and Alaverdi Monastery is one of the largest.
The Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates St. George's day twice a year, on May 6 (O.C. April 23) and November 23. The feast day in November was instituted by St Nino of Cappadocia, who was credited with bringing Christianity to the land of Georgia in the fourth century. She was from Cappadocia, like Saint George, and was his relative. This feast day is unique to Georgia and it is the day of St George's martyrdom.
There are also many folk traditions in Georgia that vary from Georgian Orthodox Church rules, because they portray the Saint differently than the Church does and show the veneration of Saint George in common people of Georgia. Different regions of Georgia have different traditions and in most folk tales Saint George is venerated very highly, almost as much as Jesus Christ himself. In the province of Kakheti province, there is an icon of St George known as "White George". This image of White George is also seen on the current Coat of Arms of Georgia. The region of Pshavi have icons of known as the Cuppola St. George and Lashari St. George. The Khevsureti region has "Kakhmati", "Gudani", and "Sanebi" icons dedicated to the Saint. The Pshavs and Khevsurs, during the Middle Ages used to refer to Saint George almost as much as praying to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Another notable icon is known as the "Lomisi Saint George" which can be found in the Mtiuleti and Khevi provinces of Georgia.
An example of folk tale about St. George:
Once the Lord Jesus Christ, the prophet Elias and Saint George were going through Georgia. When they became tired and hungry they stopped to dine. They saw a Georgian shepherd man and decided to ask him to feed them. First, Elias went up to the shepherd and asked him for a sheep. After the shepherd asked his identity Elias said that, he was the one who sent him rain to get him a good profit from farming. The shepherd became angry at him and told him that he was the one who also sent thunderstorms, which destroyed the farms of poor widows.
After Elias, Jesus Christ himself went up to the shepherd and asked him for a sheep and told him that he was God, the creator of everything. The shepherd became angry at Jesus and told him that he is the one who takes the souls away of young men and grants long lives to many dishonest people.
After Elias and Christ's unsuccessful attempts, St George went up to the shepherd, asked him for a sheep and told him that he is Saint George who the shepherd calls upon every time when he has troubles and St. George protect him from all the evil and saves him from troubles. After hearing St George, the shepherd fell down on his knees and adored him and gave him everything. This folk tale shows the veneration of St George in the Middle Ages provinces of Georgia and similar tales are told in the northern mountainous parts of the country.
Some interesting tales come from Georgian sources, some of which are also attested to by Persian ones, that the Georgian Army during many battles were led by a knight on the white horse who came down from the Heaven. Catholicos Besarion of Georgia also testified this fact.
GreeceIn Greece, as St George is a Greek Roman he is the patron saint of the Hellenic Army. His image adorns all regimental battle flags (Colours), and military parades are held in his honour on 23 April every year in most army garrison towns and cities.
IndiaThere are numerous churches dedicated to Saint George in India (especially in Kerala) practising Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism. There are also countless shrines to St. George in Kerala, India.
Puthiyathura, one of the famous pilgrim centers of Saint George, is in India. Here they celebrate his feast on the first Saturday and Sunday during the month of May. A huge number of people from Kerala and Tamilnadu visit this church on this special occassion. And everyday a lot of people visit and pray for their wishes. There is also a belief in Kerala, contrary to the teaching of the church, that Saint George is the brother of the Indian deity Kali.
Note from Prof. G. Menachery: With regard to St. George Sahada, the following may be interesting. I hope I have not already shared this info.!
George is the most popular or common christian baptismal name in Kerala. George includes, of course, Varghese, Verghese, Geevarghese, Varu, Varuthunny, Varappan, Varachan, Kunjuvareed, Kunjivaru, ….
It is funny that just because the Vatican took a somewhat negative view on St. George’s history - although George is an Eastern Saint of high repute down the centuries- some Churches and persons are reluctant to give this most reputed and renowned name to their adherents or children!!!
Pl. remember that there are so many Georges in Kerala not because it is the name of the Patron Saint of England. The other popular names in Kerala before the west arrived here were Kuriakose or Cyriac or Kurien, Kuriakku, Kuriappan, Kuriachan and perhaps Thomas - Thoma, Thomman, Thommy.
It might appear strange but is true that while the English patron saint’s name is the most popular in Kerala, in England itself the most popular and most common baptismal or Christian name is that of the father of Kerala Christianity viz. Thomas. Of course we have all heard about the Thomas Cromwells, Thomas Beckets, Thomas Carlyles, the Thomas Mores…. All because King Alfred the Great of England, by the way the only English king designated “THE GREAT” was able to win his war only after he promised to St. Thomas that if he won the war he would send offerings to Peter in Rome and to Thomas in India. and this is well documented in the Anglosaxon Chronicles. After he won the war he probably encouraged devotion to this most helpful saint - Thomas, and today it is the most popular name in England.
Even the phrase Every TOM, Dick, and Harry begins with the name of Thomas.
The popularity of “THOMAS” in England was verifified by Prof. George Menachery in 1975 from the British Census Reports of Various years in the British Museum Library - now the British Library.
St. George is the patron saint of many old churches in Kerala. Here are some that readily come to mind: St.George’s Forane Church, Edappally ( AD 503 ); St. George’s Church, Karingachira ( 722 AD); St.George Forane Church, Aruvithura ( 1st centaury ); St. George Church, Kadamattam (1st centaury ); St. George’s Church (Valiyapalli), Kottayam ( 1550); St. George Church, Edathua ( 1810 ); St. George’s Church, Angamally; St. George’s Church, Kumbalangi; St.George Church, Puthuppally; St.George Church, Muthalakodam; St. George’s Cathedral, Thozhiyur; St. George’s Church, Chandanapally...
St. George became so popular in Kerala perhaps because Kerala was infested with snakes and many including many early Brahmin settlers fled the land for fear of snakes. The existence of ever so many Sarpa Kavus and Snake temples in Kerala speaks volumes for the early fear of snakes in Kerala.
ItalyIn Italy, Saint George is one of the Patron Saints of Genoa, as well as the patron saint of Ferrara and Reggio Calabria. The historical bank that was the backbone of the Republic of Genoa, "Repubblica Marinara di Genova", was dedicated to St George, "Banco di San Giorgio". The power of the Repubblica passing from commerce to banking, Genoa lent money to all the European countries and sovereigns, so the power of the "Repubblica" was identified with its patron saint.
Throughout the province of Ferrara the cult of Saint George is remarkable for a medieval belief that the dragon Saint George defeated inhabited the Po. Actually the dragon has to be considered as a metaphor for the fear of Po river frequent floods that threatened to completely destroy Ferrara and the small hamlets next to it. The former cathedral and the newer 12th century basilique cathedral of the city are both dedicated to the legendary Saint.
LebanonSaint George is the patron saint of Beirut, Lebanon. Many bays around Lebanon are named after Saint George, particularly the Saint George Bay in Beirut.
The Saint George Bay in Beirut is believed to be the place where the dragon lived and where it was slain. In Lebanon, Saint George is believed to have cleaned off his spear at a massive rocky cave running into the hillside and overlooking the beautiful Jounieh Bay. Others argue it is at the Bay of Tabarja. The waters of both caves are believed to have miraculous powers for healing ailing children.
An ancient gilded icon of St. George at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Beirut has been a major attraction for believers: Greek Orthodox, Copts, Catholics, Maronites and some Muslims, for many centuries. Many churches are named in honor of the saint in Lebanon:
- The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George, Centre Ville, Beirut, Lebanon
- The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George, Souk El Gharb, Lebanon
- The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George, Tripoli, Lebanon
- The Greek Catholic Church of Saint Georges of Bmakine, Souk El Gharb, Lebanon
- The Maronite Catholic Cathedral of Saint George, Centre Ville, Beirut, Lebanon
- The Maronite Catholic Cathedral of Saint George, Ehden, Lebanon
- Holy Monastery of Saint George, Deir El Harf, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Ain Bourdai, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Baabdat, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Barsaa, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Beit Mery, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Bteghrine, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Edde, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Faitroun, Keserwan District, Mount Lebanon, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Kfeir, Mount Hermon, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Khonchara, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Nahr Barada, Lebanon
- Saint Georges of Qaitouli, Lebanon
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