Saint George
Today is both Holy Tuesday in the Orthodox Church, and the feast of the great Syrian Palestinian warrior for Christ, Greatmartyr, Trophybearer and Wonderworker George of Lydda.
Born to a Christian father from Cappadocia and a mother from Diospolis (that is, al-Ludd or Lod) in Syria Palæstina, his father was martyred for the faith when George was still only a boy. George’s widowed mother thereafter took him back to her homeland, where she owned some farmland outside Beirut – then Berytos in the Eastern Roman Empire – and raised him there. He was evidently quite well brought-up. Upon enlisting in the Roman Army, he was commended several times not only for his beautiful physique, bodily strength and serious military bearing, but also for the noble turn of his mind – his bravery and his care for his comrades. As a result, he rose quickly through the ranks and attained the station of regimental tribune, or præfectus.
For the thirty years before the rule of Diocletian, Christians in Rome had it, not particularly well, but they were treated better than they had been prior. The last great persecution had been under Decius. From Decius’s death on, Christians had been allowed to rise to positions of prominence in the years between his reign and that of Diocletian, under whom George served. According to the tradition, George became a particular favourite of Diocletian’s on account of his service record and on account of his personable appearance, and became one of his chief aides in the military.
Diocletian was co-ruler, along with Galerius, of the Eastern Roman Empire, and was notable for his military victories against uprisings in the Balkans and in Ægypt, as well as against the Persians. He was, however, a staunch adherent of the Roman pantheon, and an active patron of the traditional diviners. When a divination in Syria produced an ambiguous result, the Christians were wrongfully blamed for it. At this time, George, understanding that he would be forced to acknowledge his faith publicly, loosed his servants, sold all he had and distributed it to the poor. Diocletian gathered his military aides, including George, in Cæsarea and told them of his plans to destroy the Christian church, then had each of them in turn offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods to prove their loyalty to him. All of the aides did so – except George. Not only did George refuse to make an offering, but he also openly declared himself to be Christian, and moreover made a number of arguments to Diocletian’s face about the injustice of his plans against the Church, and made a passionate plea on behalf of the Empire’s Christians.
Incensed and humiliated by this refusal at the hands of one of his favourite military officers, Diocletian ordered George to be shackled in a donjon and subjected to peine forte et dure, which he bore with patience. The following morning he was brought before Diocletian for questioning, and the Emperor tried to get the saint to abjure his faith in Christ, which he refused to do. Diocletian ordered Saint George to be subjected to further tortures, including placing him on the wheel. George did not make a sound as his body was pierced by blades and broken, leading Diocletian to believe that he was dead. However, he was taken down living. Seeing this, two of Diocletian’s officials Anatolius and Protoleon, knelt down and confessed the power of Christ. Diocletian ordered them beheaded on the spot. Diocletian’s wife, too, began to confess Christ, but she was led away to the palace before she could speak.
The enraged Diocletian ordered ever more ruthless torments to be visited upon George. He was buried in quick-lime for three days, forced to run in shoes filled with red-hot nails, and beaten with ox hide whips. Diocletian ordered a sorcerer to drug George, but he consumed the poisons with no ill effect and went on confessing Christ as before. Several more times Diocletian alternated between afflicting George with cruel tortures, and offering him blandishments, wealth and position to rival his own. But George remained steadfast throughout. During his time in prison, he was visited by many of the sick and poor, whom he helped through the power of Christ. At last, Diocletian ordered George to be beheaded, alongside his own wife who had come to believe in Christ after witnessing the tortures George had been subjected to. George offered his neck meekly to the executioner and thus gave up his life to the Lord.
Saint George is remembered with particular fondness in his Palestinian homeland by the Christians who reside there – and even on occasion by Levantine Arabic Muslims (as related by William Dalrymple), who refer to him as al-Khidr الخضر or ‘the Green One’. Palestinians, according to Archbishop Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebasteia, admire George because ‘We believe he was a great martyr for his faith who defended the Christian faith and values… By making sacrifices for his faith he was able to defeat evil. We take Saint George as a patron for people living here – and as he was born in historic Palestine, we pray to him to remember us and this holy land.’
By comparison, the cultus of Saint George in the country of whom he is the most famous patron – England – is relatively recent. He was a favourite among the Crusaders who came to the Holy Land, on account of his having been a soldier and on account of his martyrific death. It is no wonder that the Crusader King himself, Richard the Lion-hearted, was a particular devotee of the George cultus and did his best to spread it in England on his return home. It was King Edward III, however, who did the most to cement Saint George’s reputation as the defender of England by making him the patron of his Order of the Garter upon its establishment in 1348.
For us sinners and for your suffering homeland of Palestine, martyr of Christ George, we beseech you intercede with Him to save us!
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!
Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight,
And blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching,
And again unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless.
Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep,
Lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom.
But rouse yourself crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, are You, O our God!
Through the Theotokos have mercy on us!
Parable of the Ten Virgins Icon
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