Celebrate St. George's Day!

Many children in England are raised with the story of St. George and his dragon slaying legend. Pictures of him usually show him killing a dragon to rescue a beautiful maiden. The truth however is that the dragon represents evil and the maiden stands for God's holy truth. So, St. George is seen as a brave martyr who overcomes the devil.

George was a real man, he was born in Cappadocia in eastern Asia. George was a Christian and Christianity adopted the image of the Hebrew religion where the dragon was seen as evil or sin. It was seen then that good overcame evil, hence Christianity overcame Paganism.

George was a soldier in the army of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Diocletian was a bitter enemy to the Christians and he would put to death every Christian that he could find. George, a brave man and soldier of Christ, went to the Emperor and scolded him for his cruelty.

Although George was a favourite in the Emperor's army, he left because of his beliefs. Sadly George paid heavily for leaving and somewhere about the year 303 in Lydda, Palestine, he was badly tortured and then beheaded.

George died for his Christian faith and yet his daring manner gave other Christians courage when they heard of his bravery. People wrote many songs and poems about him and soldiers especially were devoted to him.

In the 12th Century, Richard I - King of England, placed his army under the saint's protection. George was adopted as the Patron Saint of soldiers. It was probably because of this that he was made the Patron Saint of England in the 14th Century.

St. George was a very popular saint and has been since the 6th Century. Tales of him are found in the Greek, Latin, Armenian, Coptic, Turkish and Ethiopian cultures. As well as being the Patron Saint of England, he is also the Patron Saint to Catalonia, Venice, Portugal, Genoa and Istanbul.

It is amazing how St. George's faith covered so many different countries and cultures. We should be very proud of St. George because of this.

In a far distant country, a dreadful dragon lived near a community village. The villagers were terrified by the noise of it's flapping bat-like wings. They feared upsetting this dragon, as they knew that with one sweep of one wing and one swoop of his powerful claws, the dragon could destroy the village easily. The flames and smoke which poured from the monster's nostrils could consume the land, the crops and all of the people!

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