St George - The Brave

As a very young teenager, St George's Father and Mother passed away. Feeling extremely sad and probably very lost, he ran off and joined the Roman Forces. His father was a member of the Roman Forces, a long time before. This left St Georges family in great standing, within the community. They were a highly regarded christian family.

The Emperor took a great liking to St George and soon, he became part of the Emperor's personal guard. St Georges place of birth is not known but the belief is, somewhere around 280AD in Syria.

Society changed dramatically in 302AD. The Emperor Diocletian, ordered all christian soldiers to be arrested. The soldiers that remained, had not sworn themselves to Christianity. Each of them were demanded upon, to make a sacrifice. These sacrifices had to be attended to swiftly and in the name of Paganism.

St George was ordered to do the same. He had always been a dutiful soldier, up till this point but was incapable of following through, with this plan.

The Emperor really did not want to execute him and offered St George, all the riches a man could desire. Many times the Emperor tried to temp St George, away from his faith. Ultimately he could not deny, his family and his faith. Admitting to being a christian, his arrest and execution were ordered.

St Georges death was not an easy one. Suffering terribly through torture, he was eventually beheaded. St George was then layed to rest in Palestine. At the time of his death, St George was approximately twenty two years of age. From that day on, he was idolised by Christians everywhere. Many travelled far, to see his final resting place.

No question about it! this man was definitely a legend. Courageous, loyal and faithful. The stories of St George slaying dragon's, is just a tall tale. A story that was designed for the purpose, of building up a legend. There are many stories about St George. Most of them are very exaggerated but this man did exist. He stood up for his beliefs, proud of who he was and where he came from.

Why not, this is a truly brave man and he deserves not to be forgotten. St George was simply a christian man, with tremendous character.

This is why Christians everywhere celebrate St George's Day. We go to church, like our candles, say our prayers and hope we can be as true to our faith, as St George was!

(C)Copyright, Tassie Stuart, 2011