Information AboutSaint George |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SAINT GEORGE | |
| 3rd century births | |
| 303 deaths | |
| christian martyrs of the roman era | |
| saints from the holy land | |
| ancient roman saints | |
| fourteen holy helpers | |
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Saint George (c. 275 / 280 – April 23 , 303 ) was a Soldier of the Roman Empire and later became a Christian Martyr . TRADITIONAL ORIGIN The traditional account of his life is considered to have originated in the 4th Century . According to it, George was born to a Christian family during the late 3rd Century . His father was from Cappadocia and served as an officer of the Army . His mother was from Lydda , Palestine . She returned to her native city as a Widow along with her young son, where she provided him with a respectable education. The youth, it would seem, followed his father's example in joining the army soon after his Coming Of Age . He proved to be a charismatic soldier and consequently rose quickly through the Military Rank s of the time. By his late twenties he had gained the titles of Tribunus ( Tribune ) and later Comes ( Count ), period which George had been positioned in Nicomedia as a member of the personal guard attached to Roman Emperor Diocletian (reign 284 – 305 ). In 303 , Diocletian issued an edict authorising the systematic persecution of Christians across the Empire. His Caesar , Galerius , was supposedly responsible for this decision and would continue the persecution during his own reign ( 305 – 311 ). It is believed that George was ordered to take part in the persecution but instead confessed to being a Christian himself and criticised the imperial decision. An enraged Diocletian proceeded in ordering the Torture of this apparent Traitor and his Execution . According to the tradition, after various tortures, George was executed by Decapitation in front of Nicomedia's Defensive Wall on April 23 , 303 . The witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra and Athanasius, a pagan priest, to also become Christians, and so they also joined George in martyrdom as consequence. His body was then returned to Lydda for Burial , where Christians soon came to honour George as a martyr. VENERATION AS A MARTYR The validity of the above account is considered questionable at best. However, his veneration as a martyr appears to have started relatively early. A church in his honour was reportedly built in Lydda during the reign of Constantine I (reigned 306 – 337 , sole emperor since 324 ). The church was destroyed in 1010 but was later rebuilt by the Crusader s. In 1191 and during the conflict known as the Third Crusade ( 1189 – 1192 ), 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 4th Century the veneration of George seems to have spread from Palestine to the rest of the Eastern Roman Empire . The 5th Century would see his fame reach the Western Roman Empire as well. In 494 , George was canonised as a Saint by Pope Gelasius I (term 492 – 496 ). However Gelasius included George among those "…whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God ." This statement would not prevent the creation of several differing accounts about his life, several of them filled with Miracle s. According to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', the earliest text preserving fragments of George's highly miraculous narrative is in Acta Sanctorum identified by Hippolyte Delehaye of the scholarly Bollandists to be a Palimpsest of the 5th Century , 'full beyond belief of extravagances and of quite incredible marvels'. This practice would continue for centuries. In the ". Notably, not every image of a dragon-slaying saint represents Saint George. For instance, in Italy this figure is known as Saint Mercurialis , the first bishop of the city of Forlì , in Romagna . He, too, often is portrayed in the act of killing a dragon. PATRONAGE AND REMEMBRANCE The cult of St George probably first reached the Kingdom Of England 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 England . 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 still takes place there every year. 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.” With the revival of Scottish and Welsh nationalism, there has been renewed interest within England in St 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 Flag s in stadiums where English sports teams compete. Nevertheless, St George’s Day still remains a relatively low-key affair with the City of London not publicly celebrating the patron saint. 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. Gold Proof Half-Sovereign by the Royal Mint depicting St George killing the dragon]] On the . Their previous patron Saint James The Great was considered more strongly connected to Castile. Already connected in accepting George as their patron saint, in 1386 England and Portugal agreed to an Anglo-Portuguese Alliance . Today this treaty between the United Kingdom and Portugal is still in force. Saint George is a patron Saint of Georgia . The popular saint would also come to be honored as patron to a number of other countries, cities and causes. The latter vary from Archers and Scouts to Skin Disease s and Herpes . In 1969 , Saint George's feast day was reduced to an optional memorial in the Roman Catholic calendar, and the solemnity of his commemoration depends on purely local observance. He is however still honoured as a saint of major importance by Eastern Orthodoxy . His feast date, April 23 , is the Day of Aragon ( Spain ) and is also holiday in Catalonia ( Spain ) where it is traditional to give a rose and a book to the loved one. This, together with the anniversary of the deaths, in 1616 , of Cervantes and Shakespeare , has led UNESCO to declare April 23 as World Book And Copyright Day . St George's Day is also celebrated with parades in those countries of which he is the patron saint. Also, St. George is the patron saint of Scouting . On St. Georges day (or the closest Sunday ) Scouts from around the world generally take part in a parade and some kind of church service in which they renew their Scout Promise , this is observed by every Scout worldwide. MUSLIM WORLD In Islamic cultures, the figure of Al-Khadr (or Al-Khidr ; according to the Qur'an a companion of the prophet Moses ), is associated with St.George, who is also venerated under that name by Christians among mainly Muslim people, especially Palestinian People , and mainly around Jerusalem , where according to tradition he lived and often prayed near the Temple Mount , and is venerated as a protector in times of crisis. His main monument is the elongated mosque Qubbat al-Khadr ('The Dome of al-Khadr') which stands isolated from any close neighbors on the northwest corner of the Dome Of The Rock terrace in Jerusalem. SEE ALSO |
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