ST GEORGE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16456, 18 June 1921, Page 3

ST GEORGE.

ENGLAND’S PATRON SAINT. St George he was for England, And before he killed the. dragon. He a pint of English alo Out of ail English flagon. I am afraid that England has been sadly neglectful of her patron Faint (writes T. Mitchell Pope in “John O’London's Weekly.”) You will scarcely find an Irishman in any part of the world who does not know that March 17 is the Feast of St Patrick. But how many Englishmen are there who could tell you offhand that April 23 is St George’s Day—and, by a glorious coincidence, Shakespeare’s - birthday to boot? Not many, I fear. “THE ODIOUS STRANGER.” Nor is forgetfulness the worst injury tliat St George lias had to suffer at the hands of posterity. John Calvin, that prince of iconoclasts, denied his existence altogether, while tho sceptical Gibbon identified him with a swindling Arian army contractor- —ono George of Cappadocia. “ The odious stranger,” he wrote, “ disguising every circumstance of time and place, assumed the mask of a martyr, a saint, and n Christian hero; and the infamous George of Cappadocia has been transformed into the renowned St George of England, the patron of arms, of chivalry, and of tho Garter.” The historian of the Roman Empire’s decline and fall was, however, for once speaking without liis book. As a matter of fact, George of Cappadocia laid down his inglorious life in the year 361, or about severity years before the martyrdom of England’s patron saint. THE DRAGON EPISODE. There is good reason to believe, in tho historicity of St George, though I am afraid that in a rationalistic ago like this we must be content to relegate the dragon episode to the limbo of legend; and even the ‘‘jiint of English ale,” on which Mr G. K. Chesterton so strongly insists, is of doubtful authenticity. He—St George 1 mean —is said, to have been born towards tho close of tho # third century at i.yrlda, in Palestine, where his father was Governor of the city. His family came from Cappadocia, a circumstance which is, no doubt, accountable for Gibbon’s strange error. While still young 110 entered tho army, was raised by tho Emperor Diocletian to the rank of tribune, and probably served under Galerius in the Persian War, after which ho appeared to have removed to Beirut. There is a tradition—unhappily it is nothing more—tliat he was sent by Diocletian to Britain.

It was at Beirut (or, as it was then called, Berytus), however, that tho famed encounter with tho dragon took place, and, according to a modern writer on the subject, “ the well is shown into which lie cast the monster, and the spot where ho washed the blood from his hands.” His conversion to Christianity ultimately cost him his life. He refused to make sacrifices to the gods, and, after a week of tortures, was beheaded on a Good Friday. Such, as related by Eusebius, are the main facts in the life-history of George, of Lydda, and, though they arc Inciting in corroborative testimony, there seems no reason to doubt their substantial accuracy. Certain it is that there was n cult of St George from the very earliest times. A church in South Syria dedicated to his memory is said to date from the rear A.D. 346; while the Emperor Justinian built a magnificent church in his honour at Lydda. In the East, indeed, the memory of St George has always been held in high honour. He is venerated even by the Mohammedans, who believe that the soul of the prophet El-Khudr passed successively into Phineas, Elijah, and St George. So far as England is concerned, the cult of St George appears to have taken its origin in the Crusades. Our absentee monarch. Richard (Jmur de Lion, while in tho Isle of Cyprus became acquainted with the story of George, and immediately adopted him as patron of liimself and of his army. Henceforward—for three hundreds years at least—“ God and St George: ” was to become the English war-cry. His festival was ordered to bo kept throughout England by a Council] held at Oxford in 1222, churches bearing his dedication sprang nj> throughout tho country, and, late in the fifteenth century, Henry VII. chose him as his principal patron. RECOVERING HIS POSITION. Then came the Reformation, and wit-li it the overthrow' of so many of the ancient loyalties. St George was among the fir c t to suffer. In the eighteenth century St George again fell into disrepute. Happily, there is every indication tliat iii our own day England's patron •aint is once more recovering his position in tho national regard. On April 23 the red cross of St George will float from countless steeples, as a reminder 1 of tho fact that beneath that banner some of England’s mightiest victories Uavc been fought—and won.