My Thoughts on 23/04/2020

Today, the feast of St George, patron of England, is celebrated liturgically as a solemnity, it is not a holy day of obligation and is not a public holiday.

My Dictionary of the Saints says:

“This renowned martyr of whom virtually nothing historical is known, is Protector of England, patron saint of Italian cavalry and a patron saint of Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Catalonia and Istanbul. He also has the honoured title of “prophet” in Islamic hagiography.”

He was a genuine martyr, who died at Lydda (now Lod, in Israel) under the persecution of Christians by the emperor Diocletian around 303. They say that the legend of the slaying of the dragon is a medieval introduction, possibly deriving from the Crusades misinterpreting an image in Constantinople of Constantine destroying a dragon representing the devil.

“Faithful Servant of God, inflamed with an ardent love of Christ, you fought valiantly against the dragon of pride, falsehood and deceit. Nothing could part you from the love of Christ. Help me by your intercession to overcome the temptations that surround me, and to bear bravely the trials that oppress me, so that I may patiently carry the cross that is placed upon me, and let neither distress nor difficulties separate me from the love of our Lord Jesus Christ”.