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Saint George | The Legends
| Meaning of the Symbols | The Cult of
St. George
Who
was Saint George?
 The
life of Saint George is shrouded in legend, so much so that it is quite difficult
to untangle fact from fiction. Much of the problem lies in the Acta Sancti
Georgii (Acts of Saint George) written at a very early date and outlawed by
Pope Gelasius in 496 AD. Meanwhile the Greeks also had a set of Acts which
were more accurate and quoted by Saint Andrew of Crete.
From them and the writings of Metaphrastes, we can piece together that he
was born in Cappadocia of noble, Christian parents and on the death of his
father, accompanied his mother to Palestine, her country of origin, where
she had land and George was to run the estate. He was martyred at Lydda in
Palestine (Nicomedia). He held an important post in the Roman army - the rank
of tribune, or perhaps colonel in modern terms - during the reign of the Emperor
Dioclesian (245-313 AD). Dioclesian was a great persecutor of Christians (from
about 302) and when the persecutions began George put aside his office and
complained personally to the Emperor of the harshness of his decrees and the
dreadful purges of Christians. For his trouble, though, he was thrown into
prison and tortured. He would not recant his faith however and the following
day he was dragged through the streets and beheaded. It is uncertain whether
he also tore down the Emperor's decrees as they were posted in Nicomedia.
So he was one of the first to perish. The Emperor's wife, Alexandria was so
impressed at the Saint's courage that she became a Christian and so too was
put to death for her trouble.
The
Legends
The legends surrounding Saint George are very varied. One of them concerns
the famous dragon, with which he is invariably portrayed. According to legend,
a pagan town in Libya was being terrorized by a dragon. The locals kept throwing
sheep to it to placate it, and when it still remained unsatisfied, they started
sacrificing some of the citizenry. Finally the local princess was to be thrown
also to the beast, but Good Saint George came along, slaughtered the dragon
and rescued the fair princess. At this the townsfolk converted to Christianity.
The origin of the legend, which is very well known, came originally from
the way in which the Greek Church honored George. They venerated him as a
soldier saint and told many stories of his bravery and protection in battle.
The western Christians, joining with the Byzantine ChriSaintians in the Crusades,
elaborated and misinterpreted the Greek traditions and devised their own version.
The Saintory we know today of Saint George and the dragon dates from the troubadours
of the 14th century.
The reason for his being adopted as the Saint of Battles was partly because
he was a soldier, but also because he is said to have appeared to the Christian
army before the Battle of Antioch. It is also said that he appeared to our
English King Richard I (the Lionheart) during his Crusade against the Saracens,
which served as a great encouragement to the troops.
The Meaning of the Symbols
The symbols explained are that the Dragon represented Satan and the Princess
represented the Christian Church. Saint George rescued the pagans from evil
by vanquishing it and saved the Church from being devoured by the insatiable
forces of darkness.
The Cult of Saint George
The cult of Saint George goes back a long way - certainly to the 4th century.
The Syrian Church held him in great esteem. The church of Saint George In
Velabro - (The Veil of Gold) - Rome, dating from about that time was built.
Saint Clothilde, in Gaul dedicated a church to him; in Venice, he is the second
patron after Saint Mark; the Greeks hold him in honour. And in 1222 the Council
of Oxford appointed 23rd April as his Feast Day. He became the English
Patron Saint in 14th Century and he became associated with the Order of the
Garter. He is also the patron saint of Moscow in Russia,
and was, until 18th century, patron of Portugal (when they
broke from Spain in 12th century, they had to choose a new patron: their acquaintance
with the English in the Crusades confirmed George as the natural successor
- he remains still "in charge" of the army), and of Aragon.
St George is also the Patron Saint of the Scouting Movement.
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