ST GEORGE - PATRON SAINT OF
ENGLAND
ST GEORGES DAY - USUALLY APRIL 23RD!
This year 2011, St Georges Day will be officially celebrated on May
2nd. This is because Easter falls late this year and April 23rd is
Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Under
the rules of the Church of England, if St Georges Day falls within a
week of Easter then Easter has precedence and St Georges Day is
moved to after Easter. This will the first Monday in May, May Day
Bank Holiday, which will please many English people who believe St
Georges Day should be a bank holiday anyway!!
Similarly, if 23rd April falls on a Sunday, then St Georges Day
moves to Monday 24th April, again because of the rules of the
Church.
Every nation has its own ‘Patron Saint’ who in times of great peril
is called upon to help save the country from its enemies.
St David is the
patron saint of Wales, St Andrew of Scotland and St Patrick of
Ireland - St George being the patron saint of England.
But who was St. George, and
what did he do to become England’s Patron Saint?
Very little is known about St.
George’s life, but it is thought he was a high ranking officer in
the Roman army who was killed in around AD 303.
It seems that the Emperor
Diocletian had St. George tortured to make him deny his faith in
Christ. However despite some of the most terrible torture even for
that time, St George showed incredible courage and faith and was
finally beheaded near Lydda in Palestine. His head was later taken
to Rome where it was interred in the church dedicated to him.
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Stories of his strength and courage soon spread throughout
Europe. The best-known story about St. George is his fight with
a dragon, but it is highly unlikely that he ever fought a
dragon, and even more unlikely that he ever visited England,
however his name was known there as early as the eighth-century.
In the Middle Ages the
dragon was commonly used to represent the Devil. Unfortunately
the many legends connected with St. George’s name are
fictitious, and the slaying of the ‘Dragon’ was first credited
to him in the twelfth-century.
St. George, so the story
goes, killed a dragon on the flat topped Dragon Hill in
Uffington, Berkshire, and it is said that no grass grows where
the dragon’s blood trickled down!
It was probably the 12th
century Crusaders however who first invoked his name as an aid
in battle. |
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King Edward III
made him the Patron Saint of England when he formed the Order of
the Garter in St. George's name in 1350, and the cult of the Saint
was further advanced by
King Henry V, at the battle of Agincourt in northern France.
Shakespeare made sure that
nobody would forget St. George, and has King Henry V finishing his
pre-battle speech with the famous phrase, ‘Cry God for Harry,
England and St. George!’
King Henry himself, who was
both warlike and devout, was thought by his followers to possess
many of the saint’s characteristics.
St. George’s Day is still
celebrated, and his flag flown, on his feast day, April 23rd all
over England.
An interesting piece of trivia
- Shakespeare was born on St. George’s Day. 1564, and if the story
is to be believed, died on St. George’s Day, 1616.
An appropriate end perhaps for
the man who helped to immortalise the Saint in English tradition.
Useful Information:
The Royal Society of St George
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http://www.royalsocietyofstgeorge.com
Shakespeare Birthday
Celebrations, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire: 30th April 2011.
A day of pageantry and carnival to celebrate the life of the world’s
greatest playwright at Shakespeare’s Birthplace and throughout
Stratford-upon-Avon. (Delayed by one week in 2011 due to Easter).
©
E.P.C.
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