The Scots celebrate St Andrew; the Welsh wear leeks for St David; the Irish go wild for St Patrick, so why is it that the English are so coy about St George?
In fact, did you even notice St George’s Day – April 23rd? George - our national saint! Strangely, it’s a day that passes most of us by, most of the time. How often do we fly St George’s flag? Possibly when the English football team are doing well, or when the Barmy Army is having a good day at a test match, but otherwise, not very often.
It’s strange that Patrick, David, and Andrew all achieve greater prominence through their respective saints’ days than poor old George. So who was George? He wasn’t a disciple, he has no known link with England, and he doesn’t offer any excuse for raising a glass of Guinness! How did he become our patron saint? Remarkably, we know very little about him.
George was probably born in Turkey and died in Palestine. He was by profession a Roman soldier, and a devout Christian, at a time when it wasn’t at all fashionable for Roman citizens to profess the Christian faith.
He was a man of great courage, who made a stand for his faith against the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Diocletian. And he paid the price for that. Like countless others before and since, he was martyred for his faith, being beheaded at Lydda in modern day Palestine.
Stories about slaying dragons and saving virtuous maidens must be consigned to the annals of myth, but the story contains a truth. George was renowned for fighting against evil and standing for truth. And from him, we can learn a good lesson. The dragon is symbolic of evil. The maiden represents godliness. George was fearless in standing up for the truth and doing what was right. He is a good role model for us.
But how did George become the patron saint of England? The story goes back as far as King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart), who adopted George as a patron during his time in the Crusades. Later, Edward III founded the Order of the Garter under George’s patronage in 1348. Then Henry V invoked George as England’s patron saint at the battle of Agincourt, made famous by Shakespeare’s line, ‘God for Harry, England, and St George!’ (Coincidentally April 23rd is also Shakespeare’s birthday.)
So much for history, what lessons are there for us in George’s example? His example reminds us that we too, are called to champion truth and stand up against the dragons of evil and corruption.
St. Paul urges Timothy: Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Like an athlete in training, we must stick to the rules. Like a hardworking farmer, we will be rewarded according to the effort we put in (2 Timothy 2:3-6). The words that Paul writes to Timothy exemplify the life of George, and we too can take them to heart. Paul continues to give us one of the very first creedal statements – taken straight from the pages of scripture – the call to follow Christ.
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;
if we are faithless, he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
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