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• He was actually a soldier who refused to punish people for their religion.
• Legend says St. George fought a dragon to save a princess.
• The 23rd April is St. George’s Day.
• So what good deed will you do to celebrate England's Patron Saint?
Courage against all odds
Devotion to duty
Standing against evil and oppression of people’s rights
What does St. George stand for?
He helps those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis.
He's also patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and knights, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers.
He is patron saint not only of England but also of Aragon and Catalonia (areas of Spain), Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Barcelona, Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice.
In recent years he has been adopted as patron saint of Scouts.
Who else is he a saint for?
He then dragged the dying monster into the city and killed the dragon in front of the people. St. George was greeted as their hero.
St. George rode up on his white charger and fought the monster; until it was defeated.
Near the town of Silene in Libya, a dragon lived, which terrified the population. To keep it happy the people fed it animals, then gave human sacrifices and then, desperately, a young princess was chosen, the king's daughter named Cleolinda.
The King offered him a bag of gold as a reward for saving his daughter. He refused it and asked that it be given to the poor.
The Legend
George tore up the Emperor's order against Christians. This angered the Emperor, and George was imprisoned and tortured – but he refused todeny his faith.
The Roman Emperor of the day began to kill Christians at the very beginning of the 4th century. In about 303 AD George is said to have objected to this persecution and resigned his military post in protest.
George was born in Turkey, in the 3rd century; his parents were Palestinian Christians. George became a soldier in the Roman army and rose to a high rank.
He was dragged through the streets of Lydda in Palestine and beheaded.
His true story
King Richard the Lionheart first used the cross of St. George for his soldiers in the Crusades.
Henry V made St. George the patron saint of England after the Battle of Agincourt against the French in 1415.
Why is St. George our saint?
Shakespeare – Henry VOnce more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;Or close the wall up with our English dead.In peace there's nothing so becomes a manAs modest stillness and humility:But when the blast of war blows in our ears,Then imitate the action of the tiger;Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; … Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,Hold hard the breath and bend up every spiritTo his full height. On, on, you noblest English …I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:Follow your spirit, and upon this chargeCry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
Happy St. George’s Day!
