George
Saint George is the patron of soldiers and of those who go into battle because he was himself a Roman soldier — an officer, by tradition, who refused to renounce Christ during Diocletian’s persecution and was martyred around 303. The famous legend of the dragon, in which the knight George rescues a princess and a city by slaying the beast, made him the very image of the Christian warrior overcoming evil, and crusaders spread his cult across Europe. From the dragon-slayer on horseback comes too his patronage of saddle-makers and of farmers (whose fields the legendary dragon menaced; his feast in late April falls at the heart of the planting season). He is invoked against skin diseases and plague — afflictions once thought to flow from the same poisonous “dragon” of corruption. He is the patron of England, Georgia, Ethiopia, and many other nations.
Saint George was a Roman soldier of Greek origin who was martyred during the Diocletian persecution around 303 AD. The famous legend of Saint George and the Dragon symbolizes the triumph of faith over evil. He is one of the most venerated saints in Christianity and Islam, and is the patron saint of England, Ethiopia, Georgia, and many other nations.
