Saint George

“ APRIL 23. SAINT GEORGE, MARTYR.
Heretics have written falsehoods in their books
about the holy man who is called George.
Now will we tell you that which is true about him, that their error may not secretly harm any one.
The holy George was in heathen days
a rich noble under the cruel emperor,
who was called Datian, in the province Cappadocia.
Then Datian bade men gather the heathen
to his devil-worship, as an insult to his Lord,
and, with many threats, frightened the people
so that they offered their sacrifices to the false gods with him. ”

“ Some said by Saint George in person, who appeared riding upon a miraculous white horse and speaking a tongue that nobody could understand, wherefore it was held to be the language common in Paradise. Some declared Saint George had nothing to do with it, and that this was the pious achievement of Father Anselm. Others were sure Miss Elaine had fulfilled the legend and conquered the monster entirely by herself. ”

“ As, in a glory of armour like Saint George,
Out again sprang the young good beauteous priest
Bearing away the lady in his arms,
Saved for a splendid minute and no more.
For, whom i' the path did that priest come upon,
He and the poor lost lady borne so brave,
—Checking the song of praise in me, had else
Swelled to the full for God's will done on earth—
Whom but a dusk misfeatured messenger,
No other than the angel of this life,
Whose care is lest men see too much at once. ”

“ It is equally difficult to discover how the saint became invested with military glory. But, leaving such questions to martyrologists and legend-makers, it is sufficient for our purpose to observe that a person called Saint George was in very early ages regarded as the tutelary saint of England, and became therefore very naturally one of the heads of the new military order. ”

“ The rival of Athanasius was dear and sacred to the Arians, and the seeming conversion of those sectaries introduced his worship into the bosom of the Catholic church. The odious stranger, disguising every circumstance of time and place, assumed the rank of a martyr, a saint, and a Christian hero; and the infamous George of Cappadocia has been transformed into the famous St. George of England, the patron of arms, of chivalry, and of the garter. ”

“ The days when a great noble could change the fortunes of the day by withdrawing his vassals or transferring himself and them, on the eve of the fight, to the opposing party, were over, and men fought no longer in the interests of Warwick or of Percy, but in the cause of England and beneath the banner of St. George, the national Patron Saint.
"Thou, amongst those saints whom thou dost see, Shall be a saint, and thine own nation's frend And patron: thou Saint George shalt called bee, Saint George of Mery England, the sign of victoree." ”

“ The bells in the church and chapel tower would be ringing out right jovial peals. Then would come the town trumpeters marching before the High Bailiff, Aldermen, and Chamberlains, with their long furred [171] scarlet robes, their chains of office, and the newly-gilded maces borne before them.
"Then, riding on horseback, his armor and drawn sword flashing back the rays of a fitful sun, would be seen the living representative of Saint George, with his great white plume floating from his white helm, as the soft, sweet, playing wind tossed it to and fro. ”

“ This chapel, built by Henry II of England, was under the patronage of Saint George, and from it the bailey received its name of Fort Saint George. [633] In those days every one knew the story of Saint George the valiant knight, who with his lance transfixed a dragon and delivered a King's daughter, and then suffered martyrdom confessing his faith. Like Saint Catherine he had been bound to a wheel with sharp spikes, and the wheel had been miraculously broken like that on which the executioners had bound the Virgin of Alexandria. ”

“ Saint George of mery England, the signe of victoree. ”

“ The Crusaders, including our Richard I., all invoked his protection. In 1348 Edward III. founded St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and used the saint’s name when besieging Calais and routing the French. The effect of St. George’s name was so marked that he was adopted as the patron saint of England in lieu of Edward the Confessor. In 1349 the Order of St. George was instituted. In 1545 the saint’s day was made a red-letter day, with a proper collect, epistle, and gospel, in the services of the Church. Many of the great painters have shown their skill in representing the legend. ”

“ And [127] boys learned from him that it was a knightly thing to protect the weak, and to guard all maidens from harm; and that a pure heart, a firm trust in good and true courage could meet and overcome any monster, however terrible and strong.
And of all nations it befits us most that our men and boys should be brave and courteous; for Saint George is our own patron saint, the model of all that an English knight should be. ”

“ And the saint rose up to pray, and he prayed, and repeated a psalm of David, and the empress, the wife of the emperor, kissed him, and asked him to explain to her what he had read. And he began to make her to know and to understand the matter from the time when God created the world, to the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; and his words entered her heart and she believed on our Lord Jesus Christ. And on the following day a herald went round calling upon all the men of the city to gather together in order to see Saint George make an offering of incense to the gods. ”

“ His first appearance, it is said, as a patron of our people, occurred at the instance of Richard Cœur de Lion during his campaign in Palestine; and this, as we shall see, really stands for a new England which might well have a new saint. But the Confessor is a character in English history; whereas St. George, apart from his place in martyrology as a Roman soldier, can hardly be said to be a character in any history. ”

“ This and Saint George to boot.
Dr. Johnson is undoubtedly right against both his opponents, one of whom has adduced the phrase [Pg 338] St. George to borrow, unintentionally in support of him. To borrow is no more a verb than to boot; it means as a pledge or security, borrow being the Saxon term for a pledge. The phrase is an invocation to the saint to act as a protector. Saint George to thrive is evidently a misconceived paraphrase of the old mode of expression, by improperly changing the substantive to a verb. Holinshed, in the speech of Richard before the battle, introduces "St. ”

“ The "Percy Society" has just issued The Anglo-Saxon Passion of St. George, from a manuscript in the Cambridge University Library. It is a work highly creditable to the Society; and in the interesting Introduction prefixed to it by the Editor, the Rev. C. Hardwick, M.A., Fellow of St. Catharine's Hall, he has gratified our national prejudices by showing the favour which the Saint from whom we take
"Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George"
enjoyed in England before the Norman Conquest. ”

“ That all souldiers entring into battaile, assaulte, skirmishe, or other faction of armes, shall have for their common cry-word, ‘Saint George, forward, or upon them, Saint George!’ whereby the souldier is much comforted to minde the ancient valour of England, which with that name has been so often victorious ”

“ Every year on 23 April, the day of St. George (titular saint of Hardingham church) , it was his harmless practice to collect his friends at a picnic under a beech on a hillock called St. George's Mount, and to claim from each of them an appropriate poem in Latin or English. A specimen of his verses on one of these occasions is in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ (1816, i. 542–3) . ”

“ In these old days it was quite common to attribute to brave men the slaying of a dragon, and that St. George was the bravest of the brave we need not doubt. There is also no doubt that, as a Christian warrior, he fought against all that was sly, cruel and ravenous—these being the evil characteristics of a dragon.
Several nations adopted St. George as their patron saint, for his bravery was known all over Christendom, and he was specially honoured during the Crusades. It was in England, however, that the saint was held in highest esteem. ”

“ The popularity of St George in England has never reached the height attained by St Andrew in Scotland, St David in Wales or St Patrick in Ireland. The council of Oxford in 1222 ordered that his feast should be kept as a national festival ”

“ Other tales, true or only symptomatic, told of one on a great white horse who was not the victor of Blenheim or even the Black Prince, but a faint figure out of far-off martyrologies--St. George. One soldier is asserted to have claimed to identify the saint because he was "on every quid." On the coins, St. George is a Roman soldier.
But these fancies, if they were fancies, might well seem the last sickly flickerings of an old-world order now finally wounded to the death. ”

“ If we are called on missions we go; if we are called upon to contribute to assist others to go we contribute. If the word is, "remove here," or "go there," we go—that is, many of us do, some do not. When I was at Conference at Saint George I felt that I was among a very good people, and that there was a great deal of the Spirit of the Lord there ”

“ George’s Day.| In some parts of Silesia the might of the witches is believed to be at the highest pitch on St. George’s Day. The people deem the saint very powerful in the matter of cattle-breeding and especially of horse-breeding. At the Polish village of Ostroppa, not far from Gleiwitz, a sacrifice for horses used to be offered at the little village church. ”

“ The numbers in the legend of the soldier-saint have a solar look about them. The torments of S. George last seven years, or, according to the Greek acts, seven days; the tyrant reigns over the four quarters of heaven, and seven kings; in the Nabathæan story, Tammūz preaches the worship of the seven planets, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Osiris is sought seven days. The seven winter months are features in all mythologies. ”

“ George; a very loyal, large-hearted, human, joyous saint, who, one feels quite sure, will regard with a lenient eye the shortcomings of his clients and do his best to help them, but for all that he seems to have the air of being not quite at ease, not quite sure perhaps whether the poor old canon is worthy of an introduction. May be this strangely fascinating figure is also a portrait.
As for the scheme of colour, it is simply glorious. Gold gleams everywhere. We see it in the blue brocade of the canopy and in the blue brocade of St. Donatian’s cope ”

“ Then Datian became fiendishly angry,
and bade seize on the sorcerer, who had there believed in God,
and bring him out of the city, and instantly behead him.
Again on the second day the wicked emperor commanded
George to be bound on a broad wheel,
and two sharp swords to be set against him,
and so to be drawn up, and shoved backwards.
Then George commended himself boldly to God;
Deus in adiutorium meum intende; domine, ad adiuuandum me festina.
'Give heed, O God, to deliver me, make haste now to help me, O Lord' [Ps. lxx. i] . ”

“ We have long ceased in England to take much interest in saints, and in the recent revival of the cultus of St. George, the saint is little more than a patriotic figurehead. And the appeal to the saints to succour us is certainly not a common English practice; it is held Popish by most of our countrymen. But angels, with certain reservations, have retained their popularity, and so, when it was settled that the English army in its dire peril was delivered by angelic aid, the way was clear for general belief, and for the enthusiasms of the religion of the man in the street. ”

“ After this prayer, a very sudden fire burst out
from Heaven, and burned up the temple,
and all the gods sunk utterly
into the earth, and never appeared afterward.
Likewise, the priests sunk down with them,
and some of the heathen who stood there at hand;
and George asked the wicked emperor,
'On what sort of gods persuadest thou us to believe'?
How can they deliver thee from perils,
when they cannot deliver themselves?'
Thereupon, Datian endited this decree,
and bade thus to kill the champion of God ”

“ A church, in Catholic countries, ever possesses something to strike the eye, though there may not be service going on. There are generally to be seen numbers of poor old women, before their saint, counting their beads, the low murmurings of their prayers alone breathing the silence of the place: many times have I advanced with cautious steps, fearing to interrupt their devotions. The absence of a congregation gives one, likewise, an opportunity of a closer inspection of the glittering altars, virgins, saints, and Madonas. ”

“ In no other way can her treasures be drawn forth, her powers directed, or her forces utilized or controlled. She makes no discriminations among men, but is to all absolutely impartial. She knows no distinction between master and slave, king and subject, saint and sinner. ”

“ Wilt thou be Christian? Then he took her by the hair, and did do beat her cruelly. Then demanded she of St. George: What may I become because I am not christened? Then answered the blessed George: Doubt thee nothing, fair daughter, for thou shalt be baptized in thy blood. Then began she to worship our Lord Jesu Christ, and so she died and went to heaven. On the morn Dacian gave his sentence that St. George should be drawn through all the city, and after, his head should be smitten off. ”

“ Rushing in, he laid about him with the pickaxe so vigorously that the grooms, taken by surprise, one after another fell before him. As soon as all were dead, St. George put on a suit of armour and a sword that hung in the furnishing room, and, mounting the strongest horse he could find in the stable, rode boldly to the nearest gate.
'Open, porter, in the king's name,' cried he. 'Know you not that St. George of England has escaped from his dungeon, and that the whole city is seeking him? ”