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St.Georges Day should we have a bank holiday?
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Tue March 22, 2005 5:06 PM |
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The story of St. George is difficult to trace. He was probably a
soldier who lived in the fourth century, who was executed because
he was a Christian. There are several Christian soldiers called
George, and their stories are difficult to separate! One school of
thought is that he was a soldier in the Army of the Roman Emperor
Diocletian, and he was one of the Emperor's favourite soldiers.
Now Diocletian was a pagan and a bitter enemy to the Christians.
He put to death every Christian he could find. George was a brave
Christian, a real soldier of Christ. Without fear, he went to the
Emperor and sternly scolded him for being so cruel. Then he gave
up his position in the Roman army. For this he was tortured in
many terrible ways and finally beheaded.
St. George is traditionally shown killing a dragon to rescue a
beautiful lady. It is believed the dragon is a symbol of evil, and
the lady signifies virtue. The story of George actually killing a
dragon is believed to be a myth started in Libya in the eleventh
century.
His symbol is the cross of St. George, which is also the English
flag. Saint George was a Christian soldier so that would be why
the Crusaders adopted him as their patron, and he eventually
became Patron Saint of England. George became the patron saint of
England after the Crusades.
I think that although George had no connection with England he is
still an appropriate patron for England because of the tremendous
good done by our soldiers, in standing up to the evil of Nazism in
World War II. What more appropriate Saint could we have for our
older people who took part in that war?
Edited: Tue March 22, 2005 at 5:09 PM by
EileenB |
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