Happy St George's Day

Dear Residents,

Happy St George's Day

You are invited to a service to mark St George's Day in Thurrock

Venue: St Peter and St Paul's Church, Grays

Date: Sunday 26 April, 2015 

Time: 4pm

St. George is the patron saint of England but it is believed that Saint George was not English at all. His emblem, a red cross on a white background, is the flag of England, and a part of the British flag -- Union Jack. St George's emblem was adopted by Richard, The Lion Heart and brought to England in the 12th century. The king's soldiers wore it on their tunics to avoid confusion in battle. It was probably the 12th century Crusaders, the Christian knights, first used his name as an aid in battle during the religious wars in the Middle East.

The story of Saint George is wrapped in myth and legend. Pope Gelasius once said that George is one of the saints "whose names are rightly reverenced among us, but whose actions are known only to God." It is accepted that Saint George was born into a noble family in Cappadocia, now in Turkey in the year A.D. 270. His parents were Christians. After the death of his father, his mother returned to her native land -- Palestine. At the age of seventeen, George followed his father’s profession of a soldier and joined the Roman army of the Emperor Diocletian as a soldier and rose to the rank of a Tribune for his bravery. The Emperor Diocletian (245-313 AD) began a campaign against Christians at the beginning of the 4th century. George objected to this persecution and pleaded with the Emperor to spare the lives of the Christians. He resigned his military post in protest. He was imprisoned and tortured but he refused to deny his faith. Finally he was beheaded at Lydda in Palestine on 23rd April, 303 -- becoming an early Christian martyr. He died for his belief. Emperor Diocletian’s wife was impressed by George’s faith and became a Christian. She was also executed for her faith.

One of the best known stories about Saint George is his fight with a dragon to rescue a beautiful princess from death. The story became popular when it was printed in 1483 by William Caxton in a book called “The Golden Legend”. This was translated from a book by Jacques de Voragine, a French bishop. Saint George is always pictured as a knight in white robes, carrying a shield with a red cross (or a banner with a red cross), generally sitting upon a horse and always killing a dragon.

In the 16th century, William Shakespeare made him famous in his play “Henry V”, in which the English troops are rallied with the famous phrase “Cry God for Harry, England and St George.” King Henry himself was both warlike and devout and was thought by his followers to possess many of the saint’s characteristics. Shakespeare was born on St. George’s Day in 1564 and is to be believed died on St. George’s Day in 1616.

Saint George is the patron saint not only of England but also of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to Saint Mark). He is also the patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers, and he helps those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis. In recent years he has been adopted as the patron saint of Scouts. On the Sunday nearest to 23rd April, scouts and guides throughout England parade through high streets and attend a special St George's Day service at their local churches.

In 1222, the Council of Oxford declared 23rd April to be Saint George’s Day and in 1415, April 23rd was made a National day. By tradition, 23rd April is the day for a red rose in the button hole, the national flower and to fly the Saint George’s flag.