Liturgically he is known as the holy glorious Greatmartyr, Trophy-bearer and Wonderworker George. Saint George is one of those saints about whom little is known historically, yet he seems to be popular all over the world. After the Virgin Mary and the Apostles, there are probably more churches dedicated to Saint George than to almost any other saint. The Church’s love for Saint George comes from the many miracles he has performed since his martyrdom.He is officially designated the patron saint of Canada, England, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Russia. He is also the patron saint of several regions and cities, including Moscow, which is why there are so many Russian icons of Saint George.

Devotion to Saint George was brought to England by crusaders returning from Palestine, and since the reign of King Edward III, Saint George has been considered the patron saint of England. The English called on him for help in the battle of Agincourt, which was fought on Saint Crispin’s Day, but Saint George got credit for the victory; and in Shakespeare’s play Henry V the battlecry was “Cry God for Harry, England and St. George!” Shakespeare himself was born and died on Saint George’s Day, but he didn’t make this part up: After Agincourt, Saint George’s Day was as important as Christmas in England.

Given the fairly recent history of British imperialism and colonialism in many parts of Africa, it might seem to some that Saint George was a symbol and relic of colonialism. Many of the churches dedicated to him in Africa south of the Sahara were indeed built by English people, many of whom doubtless thought that they were planting a symbol of England on foreign soil.

But Saint George has been in Africa a long time, before England even existed. And to African Christians, he is as much a symbol of anticolonialism as of colonialism, if not more so.

Saint George is the patron saint of Ethiopia, and the Battle of Adwa, fought against the Italians in 1896, is as important for Ethiopians as the battle of Agincourt was for the English. It was fought on the 1st of April, which is Saint George’s Day in Ethiopia.

The Scramble for Africa, which began in the mid-1880s, was led by the British and the French, and the Italians were late in coming to it. Virtually the only countries not already claimed by other European states were Ethiopia and Libya, and they set out to conquer those, and were repulsed. The news that Ethiopia had defeated the Italians at the battle of Adwa in 1896 gave the Ethiopian movement in South Africa a tremendous boost. It showed that Europeans were not invincible, and for a while it boosted the popularity of the African Independent Churches known as “Ethiopian”. For them, Ethiopian Christianity was a symbol of an African Christianity that was independent of Europe, and therefore independent of European colonialism.

And so Saint George as patron saint of colonial powers like England is actually a pretty subversive symbol. He is just as much a symbol of anticolonialism, and so is perhaps a suitable symbol for a postcolonial age.

Commemorated April 23 / May 6

The Greatmartyr George was a native of Cappadocia (a district in Asia Minor), and he grew up in a deeply believing Christian family. His father was martyred for Christ when George was still a child. His mother, owning lands in Palestine, moved there with her son and raised him in strict piety.

When he became a man, St George entered into the service of the Roman army. He was handsome, brave and valiant in battle, and he came to the notice of the emperor Diocletian (284-305) and joined the imperial guard with the rank of comites, or military commander.

The pagan emperor, who did much for the restoration of Roman might, was clearly concerned with the danger presented to pagan civilization by the triumph of Christ, and intensified his persecution against the Christians in the final years of his reign. Following the advice of the Senate at Nicomedia, Diocletian gave all his governors full freedom in their court proceedings against Christians, and he promised them his full support.

St George, when he heard the decision of the emperor, distributed all his wealth to the poor, freed his servants, and then appeared in the Senate. The brave soldier of Christ spoke out openly against the emperor’s designs. He confessed himself a Christian, and appealed to all to acknowledge Christ: “I am a servant of Christ, my God, and trusting in Him, I have come among you voluntarily, to bear witness concerning the truth.”

“What is truth?” one of the dignitaries asked, echoing the question of Pontius Pilate. The saint replied, “Christ Himself, Whom you persecuted, is Truth.”

Stunned by the bold speech of the valiant warrior, the emperor, who had loved and promoted George, attempted to persuade him not to throw away his youth and glory and honors, but rather to offer sacrifice to the gods as was the Roman custom. The confessor replied, “Nothing in this inconstant life can weaken my resolve to serve God.”

Then by order of the enraged emperor the armed guards began to push St George out of the assembly hall with their spears, and they then led him off to prison. But the deadly steel became soft and it bent, just as the spears touched the saint’s body, and it caused him no harm. In prison they put the martyr’s feet in stocks and placed a heavy stone on his chest.

The next day at the interrogation, powerless but firm of spirit, St George again answered the emperor, “You will grow tired of tormenting me sooner than I will tire of being tormented by you.” Then Diocletian gave orders to subject St George to very intense tortures. They tied the martyr to a wheel, beneath which were boards pierced with sharp pieces of iron. As the wheel turned, the sharp edges slashed the saint’s naked body.

At first the sufferer loudly cried out to the Lord, but soon he quieted down, and did not utter even a single groan. Diocletian decided that the tortured one must be already dead, and he gave orders to remove the battered body from the wheel, and then went to a pagan temple to offer thanks.

At this very moment it got dark, thunder rolled, and a voice was heard: “Fear not, George, for I am with you.” Then a wondrous light shone, and at the wheel an angel of the Lord appeared in the form of a radiant youth. He placed his hand upon the martyr, saying to him, “Rejoice!” St George stood up healed.

When the soldiers led him to the pagan temple where the emperor was, the emperor could not believe his eyes and he thought that he saw before him some other man or even a ghost. In confusion and in terror the pagans looked George over carefully, and they became convinced that a miracle had occurred. Many then came to believe in the Life-Creating God of the Christians.

Two illustrious officials, Anatolius and Protoleon, who were secretly Christians, openly confessed Christ. Immediately, without a trial, they were beheaded with the sword by order of the emperor. Also present in the pagan temple was Empress Alexandra, the wife of Diocletian, and she also realized the truth. She was about to publicly confess Christ, but one of the servants of the emperor took her and led her off to the palace.

The emperor became even more furious. He had not lost all hope of influencing St George, so he gave him over to new and fierce torments. After throwing him into a deep pit, they covered it over with lime. Three days later they dug him out, but found him cheerful and unharmed. They shod the saint in iron sandals with red-hot nails, and then drove him back to the prison with whips. In the morning, when they led him back to the interrogation, cheerful and with healed feet, the emperor asked if he liked his shoes. The saint said that the sandals had been just his size. Then they beat him with ox thongs until pieces of his flesh came off and his blood soaked the ground, but the brave sufferer, strengthened by the power of God, remained unyielding.

The emperor concluded that the saint was being helped by magic, so he summoned the conjuror Athanasius to deprive the saint of his miraculous powers, or else poison him. The conjuror gave St George two goblets containing drugs. One of them would have quieted him, and the other would kill him. The drugs had no effect, and the saint continued to denounce the pagan superstitions and glorify God as before.

The people, weighed down with their infirmities, began to visit the prison and they there received healing and help from the saint. A certain farmer named Glycerius, whose ox had collapsed, also visited him. The saint consoled him and assured him that God would restore his ox to life. When he saw the ox alive, the farmer began to glorify the God of the Christians throughout all the city. By order of the emperor, St Glycerius was arrested and beheaded.

The exploits and the miracles of the Great Martyr George had increased the number of the Christians, therefore Diocletian made a final attempt to compel the saint to offer sacrifice to the idols. They set up a court at the pagan temple of Apollo. On the final night the holy martyr prayed fervently, and as he slept, he saw the Lord, Who raised him up with His hand, and embraced him. The Savior placed a crown on St George’s head and said, “Fear not, but have courage, and you will soon come to Me and receive what has been prepared for you.”

In the morning, the emperor offered to make St George his co-administrator, second only to himself. The holy martyr with a feigned willingness answered, “You should have shown me this mercy from the very beginning, instead of torturing me. Let us go now to the temple and see the gods you worship.”

Diocletian believed that the martyr was accepting his offer, and he followed him to the pagan temple with his retinue and all the people. Everyone was certain that George would offer sacrifice to the gods. The saint went up to the idol, made the Sign of the Cross and addressed it as if it were alive: “Are you the one who wants to receive from me sacrifice befitting God?”

The demon inhabiting the idol cried out, “I am not a god and none of those like me is a god, either. The only God is He Whom you preach. We deceive people because we are jealous.”

St George cried out, “How dare you remain here, when I, the servant of the true God, have entered?” Then noises and wailing were heard from the idols, and they fell to the ground and were shattered.

There was general confusion. In a frenzy, pagan priests and many of the crowd seized the holy martyr, tied him up, and began to beat him, calling for his immediate execution.

The empress Alexandra tried to reach him. Pushing her way through the crowd, she cried out, “O God of George, help me, for You alone are all-powerful.” At the feet of the Great Martyr the holy empress confessed Christ, who had humiliated the idols and their worshipers.

Diocletian immediately pronounced the death sentence on the Greatmartyr George and his own wife Alexandra, who followed St George to execution without resisting. Along the way she felt faint and slumped against a wall; there she surrendered her soul to God.

St George gave thanks to God and prayed that he would also end his life in a worthy manner. At the place of execution the saint prayed that the Lord would forgive the torturers who acted in ignorance, and that He would lead them to the knowledge of truth. Calmly and bravely, the holy Greatmartyr bent his neck beneath the sword, receiving the crown of martyrdom on April 23, 303. He is celebrated as the Trophy-Bearer for most triumphantly gaining a martyr’s crown, and for his wonder-working assistance to people in danger long after his victorious martyrdom.

The relics of the holy glorious Greatmartyr, Trophy-Bearer and Wonderworker George were placed in the Palestinian city of Lydda, in the church that bears his name, while his head was preserved in Rome, in the church that is also dedicated to him.

Troparion – Tone 4
You were bound for good deeds, O martyr of Christ, George;
by faith you conquered the torturer’s godlessness.
You were offered as a sacrifice pleasing to God;
thus you received the crown of victory.
Through your intercessions, forgiveness of sins is granted to all.

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