The Life of Saint George

Saint George (his name means "the tiller of the soil") was born in Cappadocia, in Asia Minor, around the middle of the second half of the third century (some sources place his birth in the year 280 AD) to noble Christian parents who possessed both wealth and social standing.

His father was the prince Anastasius, governor of Melitene, and his mother was Theopisti of Lydda in Palestine, daughter of Dionysius the governor of Lydda. When George was born, his father devoted himself to raising him in sound Christian morals and virtue, and taught him the sacred and theological sciences, the laws and letters. He learned Greek, which in that age was the language of culture, and he excelled in horsemanship, the pride of the era. George was handsome of face.

He was full of vigour and tall of stature. His father Anastasius was a companion of the emperor on his journeys, and on one of them the emperor learned the truth of his Christian faith and ordered him beheaded, appointing another prince in his place; George at the time was no more than fourteen years old.

After his father's martyrdom, his mother took her son and went to the city of Lydda (Diospolis), her native home, where she owned abundant estates.

The new governor came to know of this young man, of George's courage and horsemanship when he was seventeen years old, so he summoned him and sent him to the Roman emperor Diocletian — who reigned from 284 to 305 AD, during the persecution of Christians — providing him with a letter recommending his promotion. The emperor was taken with him and granted him the rank of prince, allotted him an enormous monthly salary, and gave him a thousand soldiers under his command, so that by his office he became a tribune, that is, a commander of a thousand. He appointed him governor over several lands, entered his name in the register of the empire among the great, and gave him an excellent horse.

On his return to Palestine, its governor received him with honour and esteem. When he reached the age of twenty, his mother died, leaving in him a good memory that made him continue his path persevering in the Christian faith. At the same time George became renowned for his victories in war, so that he was called "the Bearer of Victory," "the Victor," or "the Triumphant."

When the emperor Diocletian began to persecute and torture the Christians, issuing his orders to compel them to worship idols and to put to death at once whoever refused, George went in to the emperor in anger, openly professed his Christianity, and ardently defended the Christians and their beliefs. The emperor tried to turn him from his Christian faith with dazzling promises, promotion to the highest ranks, and lavish sums of money, but he refused all of this firmly and insistently.

The emperor was enraged at him and ordered him tortured. They led him to a dark prison, bound his feet with ropes, placed a huge stone upon his chest, and beat him with whips and spears until he lost consciousness, then left him cast upon the ground; but he was praying.

The next day they brought him to the emperor, hoping the torture would make him change his mind, but he appeared before the emperor even bolder and more steadfast and firm. So the emperor ordered him tortured again: he was placed on a wheel full of nails, and the wheel was turned violently so that his body was torn and his face disfigured and blood poured from his body; yet he endured this with wondrous patience, and heard a heavenly voice saying: "George, fear not, I am with you."

His resolve grew stronger and he came out of that machine as if nothing had happened to him, and his wounds were healed. They brought him to the emperor, and when he saw him he was seized with amazement, for he found him whole in body and full of strength. His fury increased and he ordered his soldiers to return him to prison and torture him. They took him back and beat him with whips, poured quicklime upon his body and a mixture of tar and a solution of sulphur upon his wounds; he bore the pain beyond human endurance, and Christ appeared to him, healed him, and assured him that He would always be with him.

On the morning of the next day the soldiers came in to him and saw him praying, his face shining like the sun without any trace of torture. They brought him to the emperor, who, when he saw him, accused him of sorcery and summoned a skilled magician famed for his powers of magic. The magician placed in a cup of water drugs that kill whoever drinks them at once, recited over it certain demonic incantations, and asked the saint to drink it. He took the cup from him, traced the sign of the Cross over it, and drank what was in it, and no harm came to him; he remained standing and smiling. Then the magician took a second cup and filled it with powerful poisons, recited the incantations over it, and asked that the saint be bound so that he could not trace the sign of the Cross over the cup as before; but the saint, because of his faith in the power of the Cross, began to move his head over the cup and traced the sign of the Cross with the motion of his head, then drank the cup, and no harm at all befell him. Thus the word of the Lord Christ, to whom be glory, was fulfilled: "And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17–18).

The magician then asked the emperor to order the saint taken to the tombs and tested as to whether he could raise the dead; and if he could do so, then his God was the true God.

And so it was done. The magician turned to the faith and was martyred before the saint's own martyrdom.

After this the emperor grew still more cruel and savage, and ordered a great wheel made, in it a scythe, hoops and sharp swords, and commanded his soldiers to place the saint inside it. When the saint saw this terrible wheel he prayed to the Lord to deliver him from this harsh trial; they placed him in it and his bones were crushed, his flesh scattered, and the members of his body severed from one another. The emperor cried out, addressing the men of his council: "Where now is George's God? Why has He not come to save him from my hand?"

Then he ordered his soldiers to cast the saint's remains into a deep well, so that his followers could not reach him; but the Lord Christ appeared over him with His angels, raised the saint from death, and restored him to life whole in body.

In the morning he was brought into the emperor's council and they were all astounded. The emperor said: "Is this George, or someone else who resembles him?" At last the idea occurred to the emperor of persuading George to change his faith, so he asked him to come before the idols and offer them fitting worship, and George consented.

The emperor gathered the nobles and the people in the public square to see George offering the idols pagan worship. George stood before the great idol and said to it: "Speak plainly, if you are the true God." A roaring voice answered him: "The true God is the one whom you worship; we are but rebel angels who became demons." At once the great idol fell to the ground, and with it fell all the other idols, and they were all shattered.

So the emperor ordered him beheaded, and the fame of his martyrdom and his rare boldness spread throughout the empire; for this reason he was called "the Great among the Martyrs."

This was on the 23rd of April, 303 AD (some sources place the date of his martyrdom in the year 296 AD).

His servant Socrates carried his body from the place of his martyrdom to the city of Lydda, and his servant worked to conceal the body until his pure body was transferred from the place of his martyrdom to the city of Lydda in Palestine in the year 323 AD, and placed in the church that the emperor Constantine the Great (274–337) built there in his name.

Saint John of Crete described it as "very great, rectangular in shape, and one can see there the opening of the saint's tomb, beneath the holy table, covered with white marble." Studies have shown that his relics were later distributed among monasteries and churches in various places in the East and the West, such as Greece, Palestine, Cyprus, Egypt and Iraq.

Saint George is considered among the most prominent saints of the Church and the closest to the affections of the faithful, and the most famous and widespread in the honour that common people offer him. The faithful are named after him more than after any other saint, and many churches, monasteries and cities have been named after him and taken him as their patron.

Saint George is depicted in the icons in various postures, but the most famous shows him in his military dress on a white horse slaying the dragon; and in this posture a set of detailed icons may be added around the central image depicting his sufferings.

Sometimes he is shown standing and praying at his full height, or with other saints, men and women, such as Saint Demetrius, Mercurius, Procopius, Paraskevi and others. He may also be shown standing, trampling the dragon as he slays it.

There exist metal and gold coins and medallions bearing his image, as well as bronze crosses from the ninth century that place him at their top with his hands raised in prayer.

As for the dragon in his icons, it is a symbol drawn from a story going back to the sixth century, told in various forms, the substance of which is that the daughter of a certain king was threatened by a dragon; Saint George appeared to her, slew it, and delivered her, while the princess stood trembling before the dragon and her parents looked down upon her from atop the walls. This image is symbolic: it means that Saint George, the heroic knight and great martyr, triumphed over the devil represented by the dragon, and calmed the terror of the Church represented by the king's daughter.

Our Orthodox Church celebrates his feast on the twenty-third of April every year.

Troparion (Tone Four)

As deliverer of captives and defender of the poor, healer of the sick and champion of the faithful, O great among the Martyrs, the victory-bearer George, intercede with Christ our God for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion (Tone Four)

Cultivated by God, you were shown to be an honoured tiller of true worship, and you gathered for yourself the sheaves of virtue, O George; for you sowed in tears and reaped in joy, and you contended unto blood and won Christ. And so, O holy one, through your intercessions you grant to all the forgiveness of trespasses.