sT. gEORGE'S BIOGRAPHY
SAINT GEORGE
He was born about 280 A.D. of a Christian family that was wealthy and of noble origin, in Cappadocia, a region of the Eastern Empire in Asia Minor.
He followed the usual career of a young nobleman and joined the Roman army, where his ability and charm brought him quick promotion. The Emperor heard about him and, as a result, made him a tribune or an officer in the Imperial Guard.
One story says that he was a friend of Constantine, another officer, who later became the first Christian emperor. The legend says that St. George came with Constantine to Britain and visited some holy places, such as Glastonbury and Caerleon. On his return to Nicomedia, the capital of the Eastern Empire, where Diocletian had settled, he met the fierce storm of persecution. Diocletian gave orders for the issue of a formal edict against the Christians on February 23, in the year 303 A.D., being the feast of Terminalia. The provisions of this edict, which was published on the next day in the marketplace, were as follows: “All churches should be leveled to the ground. All sacred books to be burned. All Christians who hold any honorable rank are not only to be degraded, but to be deprived of civil rights. Also, all Christians who are not officials are to be reduced to slavery.”
With great courage, the young man George pushed his way through the marketplace to read the proclamation, and then, in front of the awe-stricken crowd, he deliberately tore down the Imperial edict and threw it away. Consequently, he was arrested and brought to the presence of Diocletian.
Some historians believe that St. George was not the young man who tore the proclamation, but that, when the edict was proclaimed and the great church in Nicomedia was ransacked and destroyed by the praetorian guard, he liberated his slaves, distributed all his wealth to the poor and prepared himself for martyrdom. He entered Diocletian’s palace and rebuked him for his behavior against the Christians.
The Emperor tried to seduce him by promises that he would be granted a higher position in the Empire. But as these promises failed to attract him, the Emperor began to threaten him with unbearable tortures that he would inflict on him. Lastly, he put him in prison.
ST. GEORGE'S CHASTITY
Diocletian knew that nothing, except sin, could destroy the strength and demolish the integrity of this Saint. Thus he arranged for a very beautiful woman to spend the night with him in prison and try to debauch him. St. George, who could only look forward to heavenly joy, began to pray, and within a short while he managed to turn her heart to the Christian faith. Soon she seriously began to inquire about salvation, and by the morning she declared that she had found her true Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. With great courage she announced her Christianity to the emperor and his men, and joined the other saintly martyrs.
ST. GEORGE'S SUFFERINGS
It is not the purpose of this page to go through the tortures that were applied to St. George in depth, but we would like to show his great love for Christ by listing some of them. His body was torn by a special instrument with metal teeth, and he died. Our Lord Jesus raised him from the dead, and many pagans were converted. He was put in quicklime, and water was then poured on it. Again the Lord returned him to life. The Emperor became very agitated, imagining that the Saint was using magic. He called his top magician, Athanasius, and asked him to prepare a lethal poison to kill St. George. The Saint made the sign of the Cross over the cup before drinking it, and, of course, no harm came to him. The Emperor's councillors informed him that St. George's "magic" was in fact contained in the sign of the Cross itself. Another cup was given to the Saint, but this time with his hands tied behind his back. The Saint signed it with his head, saying, "Shall I drink it from here, or here, or here, or here?"
Throughout all these tortures, although the Saint had enough pain and suffering of his own, he nevertheless kept on talking to Diocletian about the power of the Christian faith. In the end, the Emperor asked him whether he could raise a dead man he knew of. St. George prayed to our Lord, and the dead man came back to life. As a result, both the dead man and the magician were converted, as well as many others. They were all martyred.
IN THE EMPEROR'S PALACE
When all methods failed to incite St. George, the Emperor invited him to his palace to entertain him. He offered him an appointment as a prince if he would only sacrifice once to the idols. The Saint replied, "Tomorrow you will see the power of your gods."
At the palace, St. George met Empress Alexandra, who had a fair idea about the Saint's God. She spoke with him, but the conversation quickly changed its course, and the Saint began to preach to her about Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
On the following day, many people went to the temple to witness St. George's sacrifice to the idols. The Saint stretched his hands and raised his eyes to Heaven, and in a moment the idols collapsed and fell to the ground! The crowds shouted, "We believe in George's God!" At this, the Emperor and his men put an end to the lives of the new Christians, St. George, and Empress Alexandra on 23 Baramouda, 303 A.D.
St. George was buried in his mother's home, which was situated on the seashore at Lydda, in Palestine. Before long, his fame spread all over the world. Emperor Constantine, who took over after Diocletian, considered St. George the true model of the young Christian man and ordered a church to be built over his grave. In Egypt, the Copts call him "The Prince of Martyrs" and have built over 200 churches named after him. Moreover, he is a personal friend of the majority of the Copts, who believe in the power of his prayers for them. The Greeks call him "the Great Martyr."
HIS FIGHT WITH THE DRAGON
Legends grew up about this Saint, but the most famous one is about his fight with the dragon, which was documented in a book called "The Golden Legend" by Jacobus de Voragine, the Archbishop of Genoa. It happened when St. George was once stationed with the Roman army near Silene in Libya, North Africa. In that area, a dragon, which was described as a huge crocodile with scaly wings, had eaten so many of the country folk around Silene that the remaining survivors fled to the town and took shelter behind its walls. There, the dragon positioned itself outside the city gates, and nobody could get in or out. Moreover, its poisonous breath was so lethal that when it blew over the city wall, people nearby could actually drop dead. In order to keep the beast away from the walls, two sheep were tethered every day some distance away. The system worked fine until they ran out of sheep, and the miserable people could not think of any other alternative but to sacrifice one child every day.
One day the lot fell on the king's daughter, Sabra, a girl of fourteen, sometimes called Cleodolinda. Dressed in her most splendid clothes, as for her wedding, the poor girl was taken outside the city walls. While she was waiting for the dragon, weeping, George the tribune came up, mounted on his white horse. On hearing the story, he decided to put an end to that tragedy and to kill the dragon.
"Fair girl," he said, "do not be afraid, for I will save your life with the aid of my Lord Jesus Christ." When the dragon appeared, George the hero engaged the wild beast in a great combat. Finally, he managed to wound it with his lance so badly that it could fight no more. Then the two of them tied a rope around its neck and dragged it to the town. There in the marketplace, George cut off its head in front of all the cheering inhabitants, and the people of the whole town were baptized and became Christians.
The above story may seem exaggerated, and it could have started from a fight between St. George and an ordinary crocodile. However, it became very popular all over the world because of its spiritual meaning: St. George defeated the devil by the Cross and by his righteousness in Christ.
WHY WE HONOR THE RELICS OF SAINTS
Honoring the relics of a saint is an act of love and reverence for a holy person who loved God. Relics may be a saint's body or part of it, his clothing, or objects he touched, and they remain a tangible link between us and those who have gone before us in the faith. Portions of St. George's relics are kept in many churches today.
The Church's teaching rests on the Incarnation. God became man and took a body, and in doing so He showed that the material world can carry His grace. The bodies of the saints were temples of the Holy Spirit, and the Church believes they remain holy after death. Scripture itself points to this, for example in Matthew 9:20-22 and Acts 19:11-12.
Relics are never worshipped; worship belongs to God alone. We honor them as reminders of a saint's holy life and nearness to God, and we believe God often uses such things to comfort and heal His people, just as He did in the Bible.
Biblical foundations for honoring relics
- The bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:20-21). After the prophet Elisha died and was buried, a dead man’s body was accidentally thrown into Elisha’s grave. When the man’s body touched Elisha’s bones, he was revived and stood on his feet. This account shows that even after a holy person’s death, their physical remains can be a conduit of God’s power.
- The hem of Jesus' garment (Matthew 9:20-22). A woman who had suffered for twelve years was healed by touching the edge of His robe. It was only His clothing that she touched, yet her faith was rewarded. This passage illustrates how God’s grace can operate through physical objects connected to holy individuals.
- Paul's handkerchiefs and aprons (Acts 19:11-12). God worked extraordinary miracles through cloths that had touched Paul's body, and the sick who received them were healed.
- Peter's shadow (Acts 5:15-16). The sick were laid in the streets so that Peter's shadow might fall on them as he passed by, and they were healed.
- Sacred objects of the Old Testament (Exodus 25:10-22; Numbers 21:8-9). The Ark of the Covenant was treated with great reverence as the place of God's presence and even its mere presence brought blessings or judgments. God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent, and those who looked upon it were healed of snake bites. This shows that, even in the Old Testament, God sometimes used physical objects as instruments of His healing power.
- The body as a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). St. Paul teaches that our bodies are “temples of the Holy Spirit” and should be honored as such. This understanding lays the groundwork for the honor shown to saints’ bodies, which are believed to be filled with God’s grace even in death.
- The cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 11). This chapter is not about relics, but it calls us to remember the faithful who went before us and to follow their example.
In Orthodox teachings, the saints are believed to be alive in Christ, interceding for the faithful. Relics serve as visible reminders of these saints’ continued presence and connection with the living Church
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