Saint Georges Day – 23rd April
Saint George is the Patron Saint of England, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Germany, Portugal and Greece. April 23rd is traditionally his day and is celebrated on this day, although in 2011 St Georges Day falls on Easter’s Holy Saturday.
Ironically for someone so famous and revered, not much is known about St. George. There are almost no certifiable facts about the man behind the legend so much of his life story as we know it today may or may not be true.
It is thought that he was born in an area which is now part of Turkey, in about the 3rd century where he was brought up a Christian. After his father died his mother brought him to her birthplace in Palestine.
He became a member of the Roman army and rose through the ranks until he was ordered to slay Christians by the Emperor Diocletian. He refused and resigned his post in protest. This led to his imprisonment, torture and eventual execution in Palestine.
How much of this is fact and how much fiction is difficult to tell but it is obvious why he was adopted as a Patron Saint by Christian countries. In England the first St. Georges Day was in 1222 after Crusaders returned from the Holy Land with tales of his mystical appearances leading them into battle.
However, there are some people who believe that the entire story is made up and that he didn’t actually exist. Others believe that the Christian Church took a Pagan story and twisted it for their own means.
The image of St. George that we usually see today as a knight slaying a Dragon is from a later time, around the 15th Century.
He achieved fame in this form after a book called The Golden Legend was published, describing his rescue of a Princess and the slaying of a Dragon after the King and his subjects had converted to Christianity.
Photo: colros
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