![](\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/__dQCWErAY9c\/S8PtWXTSIFI\/AAAAAAAAAGs\/FdwgiXTzMlk\/s1600\/251px-St_George_Donatello_Orsanmichele_n2.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
<\/a><\/a>I live in a time and a country where many Christians take their faith for granted. If it hadn\u2019t been for brave souls such as St. George throughout history, however, despots might have \u00a0destroyed that faith.<\/p>\nWhen\u00a0\u00a0I was a child, my parents had a small print in their study of Saint George slaying a dragon whose tail wrapped around the edges of the print. In deep blues and greens, the print hung on a corner wall \u00a0near my parents\u2019 dictionary stand and our set of World Book encyclopedias. I knew, of course, that St. George was the stuff of British folklore and no more real than Robin Hood. I was wrong.\u00a0<\/span><\/span> He served under pagan Emperor Diocletian. For much of his reign, Diocletian allowed Christians to prosper. When the Emporer started persecuting Christians, however, \u00a0George protested. But in 302, edicts were issued to suppress Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n The year George was martyred, 303, began the \u201cGreat Persecution,\u201d against Christians. Diocletian issued a series of decrees to force Christians to pledge allegiance to an imperial cult.\u00a0<\/span>An edict was issued \u201cto tear down the\u00a0churches\u00a0to the foundations and to destroy the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Sacred Scriptures<\/span><\/span>\u00a0by fire; and commanding also that those who were in\u00a0honourable\u00a0stations\u00a0should be\u00a0degraded if they persevered in <\/span>their adherence to\u00a0Christianity<\/a>.\u201d Can you imagine living under such conditions? Do you think you would be bold enough to risk your life for your faith?<\/span><\/p>\n It got worse. \u201cThree further\u00a0edicts\u00a0(303-304) marked successive stages in the severity of the\u00a0<\/span>persecution<\/span><\/span><\/a>: the first ordering that the\u00a0<\/span>bishops<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>presbyters<\/span><\/span><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/span>deacons<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0should be<\/span> imprisoned<\/span><\/span><\/a>; the second that they should be tortured and compelled by every means to\u00a0sacrifice; the third including the\u00a0<\/span>laity<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0as well as the\u00a0<\/span>clergy<\/span><\/span><\/a>. The atrocious cruelty with which these\u00a0edicts\u00a0were enforced, and the vast numbers of those who suffered for the\u00a0Faith\u00a0are attested by\u00a0<\/span>Eusebius<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Acts of the Martyrs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n About 10 years after George\u2019s death, the Christian emperor Constantine came to power and George, along with other martyrs, was revered as a saint.\u00a0From there, \u00a0legend about St. George developed. During the First Crusades, the story was he slayed a dragon. At that time, dragons symbolized the Devil. George is said to have appeared to the crusading armies\u00a0at the Battle of Dorylaeum, in 1097, and the Siege of Antioch, in 1198. Both were great crusading victories, and so St George came to be seen as a protector of Christian soldiery.<\/p>\n Saint George, who is the patron saint of England, found his way into British literature. He is mentioned in Spencer\u2019s Faerie Queene, John Bunyan\u2019s Pilgrim\u2019s Progress, and Shakespeare\u2019s Henry V.<\/p>\n I do love good stories, and the ones about George are fanciful and fun. But they also do a grave injustice to this saint who, after all, was an ordinary man of faith living in a tumultuous times.\u00a0The real story of St. George is powerful without embellishment: Once upon a time, George, a brave Roman soldier, endured \u00a0torture and death so generations to come might be blessed with the gift of Christian faith.<\/p>\n O God, who didst grant to Saint George strength and constancy in the various torments which he sustained for our holy faith; we beseech Thee to preserve, through his intercession, our faith from wavering and doubt, so that we may serve Thee with a sincere heart faithfully unto death. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n I live in a time and a country where many Christians take their faith for granted. If it hadn\u2019t been for brave souls such as St. George throughout history, however, despots might have \u00a0destroyed that faith. When\u00a0\u00a0I was a child, my parents had a small print in their study of Saint George slaying a dragon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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The real St. George, depicted above in this bronze sculpture by early Renaissance artist Donatello<\/a>,\u00a0lived in the fourth century after Christ. He was born in Turkey to Christian parents. When his father died, he and his mother moved to her ancestral home in Palestine. When he was 17, George joined the Roman army and became known for his bravery.<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/__dQCWErAY9c\/S8PtWXTSIFI\/AAAAAAAAAGs\/FdwgiXTzMlk\/s1600\/251px-St_George_Donatello_Orsanmichele_n2.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
<\/a>George\u00a0was imprisoned and tortured. He did not back down. He stayed true to his beliefs and for this, he was beheaded in Palestine on April 23, 303. The Church of St. George in Lod, just outside Tel Aviv, contains his tomb. The church is an Eastern Orthodox Shrine. The Greek Orthodox Church calls George \u201cthe Great Martyr\u201d and his feast day is a Holy Day of Obligation. Most interestingly, many Muslims venerate Saint George as well.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n