April 23rd - St. George the Great
Waldtraud
(Also known as Giorgio or Joris of Cappadocia)
Born in Cappadocia; died c. 303. Many legends have gathered around the name
of Saint George, one of the 14 Holy Helpers, and there are differing
accounts of his origin. There is evidence that George was, indeed, a real
martyr who suffered at Diospolis (Lydda, Ludd) in Palestine before the time
of Constantine, probably under Diocletian. He was probably born of Christian
parents in Cappadocia, where his father was a martyr.
Later he himself took refuge in Palestine, where he became a Roman soldier
and displayed courage. He is said to have been raised to the rank of
military tribune of the imperial guards. On his mother's death he inherited
a fortune and attached himself to the court of the Emperor Diocletian in the
hope of finding advancement.
Once when the emperor was present, heathen priests were consulting the
entrails of animals to foretell the future. Those Christians among the
guards made the Sign of the Cross on their foreheads. The emperor was
extremely angry and ordered them flogged and dismissed. He then sent out an
edict ordering the Christian clergy to make sacrifice to the pagan gods.
On the outbreak of persecution, George declared himself a Christian and
distributed his money to the poor. When the decree which preceded the
persecution was published against the churches in Nicomedia, "a certain
man," Eusebius tells us in his History, "of no mean origin, but highly
esteemed for his temporal dignities, stimulated by a divine zeal, and
excited by an ardent faith, took it as it was openly placed and posted up
for public inspection, and tore it to shreds as a most profane and wicked
act." This man who showed such courage is believed to have been Saint
George, and such a bold and defiant action well suits what we know of his
character.
As a result, he was subjected to nameless tortures over a period of seven
years. He was tied to a revolving wheel of blades and swords, thrown into a
pit of quicklime, made to run in red-hot shoes, scourged with thongs of
hide, beaten with sledge-hammers, and cast over a precipice; his limbs were
broken and exposed to flame, and he suffered many other torments. He is said
to have miraculously escaped from a cauldron of burning oil after he
destroyed the temple of Apollo. One version says that by making the Sign of
the Cross, he remained unhurt in all these intermediate trials. Frustrated
that their tortures had little effect, George was beheaded.
His story also takes other forms, mainly legendary, the most familiar of
which concerns his fight with the dragon. It is said that George was riding
through the province of Lybia (Libya?), and came upon a city named Sylene.
Near the city was a marsh in which a dragon lived. The people had attempted
to kill it but were poisoned by the creature's fetid breath.
To placate the dragon, they offered it two sheep each day, but when they
began to exhaust their supply of sheep, they were forced to substitute a
human each day instead, using a lottery to determine who would be
sacrificed. At the time of George's arrival, the lot had just fallen to the
king's daughter, Cleodolinda. No one volunteered to take her place, so she
was dressed in bridal finery and sent to meet the dragon, weeping as she
went. George rode in upon this scene. The princess urged him to hurry on so
that he would not also die. Instead of acting prudently (according to the
wisdom of the world), George made the Sign of the Cross and then attacked
the dragon. After an energetic battle, the saint speared it with his lance.
He then fastened the princess's girdle around its neck, and the girl led the
dragon into the city. The people were frightened and started to run away,
but George told them not to be afraid-that if the whole city would believe
in Jesus Christ and be baptized, he would slay the dragon.
The king and the people agreed, and more than 15,000 were baptized. George
killed the dragon, and it was carried away on four ox carts. He accepted no
reward for this service, but he asked the king to build churches, honor
priests, and to maintain compassion for the poor.
The above legend is of Italian origin from a much later date than George
himself. Words, however, attributed to him in these imaginary tales are
characteristic of his faith and courage, and may well have been upon his
lips as he faced his actual torture, such as: "Christ, my Captain, my Lord,
I have no strength but what You give me. Help me this day, and the glory
shall be Yours for ever and ever."
He preached the Gospel and baptized many into the Christian faith. The
Greeks called him "the great martyr." His name and influence also spread far
into the West under the influence of the Crusaders; however, devotion to him
there predates the Crusades. Since the 5th century many churches could be
found in the West bearing his name. It was in England, however, that his
fame became most popular.
It is uncertain why he is the patron saint of England, though his cultus
travel to the British Isles before the Norman Conquest (1066). William of
Malmesbury states that SS. George and Demetrius, "the martyr knights," were
seen helping the Franks at the Battle of Antioch in 1098, and it appears
probable that the crusaders, in particular King Richard I, who placed
himself and his soldiers under George's protection, returned from the East
with a belief in the power of George's intercession. His veneration as
protector of England was officially approved by Pope Benedict XIV.
He is also patron of Britain's oldest order of knighthood. King Edward III
found the Order of the Garter about 1347, of which George has always been
patron, and for which the chapel of Saint George at Windsor was built by
Edward IV and Henry VII.
"Saint George's arms" became the basis of the uniforms of British soldiers
and sailors, and George's red cross appears on the Union Jack (British flag)
(Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Gill, Sheppard, Tabor, White).
The "dragon" initially connoted the evils of paganism that were overcome by
the saints (primarily missionaries). But the symbol gave rise to legends of
deliverance from fierce dragons that were intent upon devouring whole
populations. This was the source of the story about Saint George related in
the Golden Legend (Appleton).
Saint George is the patron of England, the Order of the Garter, Boy Scouts,
the Italian cavalry (which had retained a devotion to the holy knight),
chivalry, Istanbul, Aragon, Portugal, Germany, Genoa, and Venice. In the
East, he is the patron of soldiers, and also of husbandmen, due to a play on
the Greek form of his name (Delaney, Roeder, White). He is invoked against
the plague, leprosy, syphilis (White), and herpes (Sheppard).
Saint Quote:
O God, let me know you and love you so that I may find joy in you; and if I
cannot do so fully in this life, let me at least make some progress every
day, until at last that knowledge, love and joy come to me in all their
plenitude. While I am here on earth let me know you fully; let my love for
you grow deeper here, so that there I may love you fully. On earth then I
shall have great joy in hope, and in heaven complete joy in the fulfillment
of my hope.
O, Lord, through your Son you command us, no, you counsel us to ask, and you
promise that you will hear us so that our joy may be complete. Give me then
what you promise to give through your Truth. You, O God, are faithful; grant
that I may receive my request, so that my joy may be complete.
-Saint Anselm of Canterbury
Bible Quote:
7 Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they
also that pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth shall bewail
themselves because of him. Even so. Amen. 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is
to come, the Almighty.
(Apoc. 1:7-8)
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AN ACT OF CONTRITION
Forgive me my sins, O Lord, forgive me my sins;
the sins of my youth, the sins of my age, the sins of my soul,
the sins of my body; my idle sins, my serious voluntary sins,
the sins I know, the sins I do not know;
the sins I have concealed so long,
and which are now hidden from my memory.
I am truly sorry for every sin, mortal and venial,
for all the sins of my childhood up to the present hour.
I know my sins have wounded Thy tender Heart,
O my Savior, let me be freed from the bonds of evil thorough
the most bitter passion of my Redeemer.
Amen.
O my Jesus, forget and forgive what I have been. Amen.