Christian saint, great martyr

short biography

Georgy Pobedonosets (Saint Georgy, Georgy of Cappadocia, Georgy of Lida; Greek Άγιος Γεώργιος) is a Christian saint, a great martyr, the most revered saint with that name and one of the most famous saints in the Christian world. There are many versions of his life, both canonical and apocryphal. According to the canonical life, he suffered during the Great Persecution under the Emperor Diocletian and after eight days of grievous torment in 303 (304) he was beheaded. One of the most famous tales of his miracles is The Miracle of the Serpent.

Life

Greek legends

According to the Byzantine life set forth by the Monk Simeon Metaphrast, Saint George was born in the 3rd century in Cappadocia. Some sources name the names of his parents and provide brief information about them: George's father is a warrior Gerontius (a senator from Armenian Sevastopol, who had the dignity of a stratilate), his mother is Polychronia (owned rich estates near the city of Lydda, Palestinian Syria). After the death of their father, they moved to Lydda. Having entered the military service, George, distinguished by intelligence, courage and physical strength, became one of the leaders of thousands and the favorite of the emperor Diocletian. His mother passed away when he was 20 years old and he received a rich inheritance. George went to the court, hoping to achieve a high position, but when the persecution of Christians began, while in Nicomedia, he distributed property to the poor and before the emperor declared himself a Christian, he was arrested and tortured.

• On the first day, when they began to push him into the dungeon with stakes, one of them miraculously broke, like a straw. Then he was tied to posts, and a heavy stone was placed on his chest.
• The next day he was tortured with a wheel studded with knives and swords. Diocletian considered him dead, but suddenly an angel appeared, and George greeted him, as the soldiers did, then the emperor realized that the martyr was still alive. They took him off the wheel and saw that all the wounds were healed.
• Then they threw him into a pit, where there was quicklime, but this did not harm the saint.
• A day later, the bones on his arms and legs were broken, but in the morning they became whole again.
• He was forced to run in red-hot iron boots (an option - with sharp nails inside). The next night he prayed and the next morning he again appeared before the emperor.
• He was beaten with whips (ox tendons) so that the skin peeled off his back, but he rose up healed.
• On the 7th day, he was forced to drink two cups of medicines prepared by the sorcerer Athanasius, from one of which he had to lose his mind, and from the second - to die. But they didn't hurt him. Then he performed several miracles (resurrected the deceased and revived the fallen ox), which forced many to convert to Christianity.

The hagiographic icon of St. George. Various tortures can be discerned in the brands, including those that are not on the standard list - for example, how they burn him in a red-hot copper bull

George endured all these torments and did not deny Christ. After ineffectual persuasion to renounce and offer a pagan sacrifice, he was sentenced to death. That night, the Savior appeared to him in a dream with a golden crown on his head and said that Paradise awaited him. George immediately called a servant, who wrote down everything that was said (one of the apocrypha was written on behalf of this particular servant) and ordered to take his body to Palestine after death.

At the end of the torment of George, the emperor Diocletian, having descended into the dungeon, once again offered the former commander of his bodyguards, tormented by torture, to renounce Christ. George said: “ Take me to the Temple of Apollo". And when this was done (on the 8th day), George stood in full height in front of the white-stone statue, and everyone heard his speech: “ Am I going to the slaughter for you? And can you accept this sacrifice from me as God?»At the same time, George overshadowed himself and the statue of Apollo with the sign of the cross - and by this he forced the demon who lived in it to declare himself a fallen angel. After that, all the idols in the temple were crushed.

Enraged by this, the priests rushed to beat George. And the wife of Emperor Alexander, who ran to the temple, threw herself at the feet of the great martyr and, sobbing, asked forgiveness for the sins of her tyrant husband. She was converted by a miracle that had just happened. Diocletian shouted in anger: “ Cut off! Cut off the heads! Cut off to both!”And George, having prayed for the last time, with a calm smile laid his head on the block.

Together with George, Tsarina Alexandra of Rome was martyred, named in her life as the wife of the emperor Diocletian (the real wife of the emperor, known from historical sources, was called Prisca).

The legends of St. George were expounded by Simeon Metaphrast, Andrew of Jerusalem, Gregory of Cyprus. In the tradition of the Byzantine Empire, there is a legendary connection between St. George the Victorious and the holy warriors Theodore - Theodore Stratilates and Theodore Tyrone. Researchers explain this by the fact that Galatia, who were the center of Paphlagonia. Theodorov, were not far from Asia Minor and Cappadocia, where Saint George was revered.

There is another connection between Theodore Stratilatus and George the Victorious. In Russian spiritual poetry, Theodore (without specification) is the father of Yegoriy (George the Victorious). There is also a German medieval poem in which the warrior Theodore is called the brother of George (it is not clear from the context whether Tyrone or Stratilat).

Latin texts

The Latin texts of his life, being originally translations of the Greek, over time began to differ greatly from them. They say that at the instigation of the devil, the Roman emperor Dacian, the ruler of 72 kings, subjected Christians to severe persecution. At this time, there lived a certain George from Cappadocia, a native of Melitena, he lived there with a certain pious widow. He was subjected to numerous tortures (rack, iron pincers, fire, a wheel with iron points, boots nailed to his feet, an iron chest studded with nails from the inside, which was thrown from a cliff, beaten with sledgehammers, put a pillar on his chest, threw a heavy stone on his head, put on a red-hot iron bed, they poured molten lead, threw it into a well, hammered 40 long nails, burned in a copper bull). After each torture, George was healed again. The torment lasted 7 days. His fortitude and miracles converted 40,900 people to Christianity, including Queen Alexandra. When, by order of Dacian, George and Alexandra were executed, a fiery whirlwind descended from the sky and incinerated the emperor himself.

Rainbot von Thurn (XIII century) retells the legend, simplifying it: his 72 kings turned into 7, and countless tortures were reduced to 8 (they tie and put a heavy load on their chest; beat with sticks; starve to death; wheel; quarter and throw into a pond; lowered from the mountain in a copper bull; they drive a poisoned sword under their nails), and finally, they chop off the head.

Yakov Voraginsky writes that at first he was tied to a cross and tore with iron hooks until his intestines came out, and then they doused him with salt water. The next day they made me drink poison. Then they tied it to a wheel, but it broke; then thrown into a cauldron of molten lead. Then, at his prayer, lightning descended from heaven and incinerated all the idols, and the earth opened and swallowed the priests. Dacian's wife (proconsul under Diocletian), seeing this, converted to Christianity; she and George were beheaded, and after that Dacian was also incinerated.

Apocryphal texts

The earliest sources of apocryphal legends about St. George include:

• Vienna palimpsest (5th century);
• « Martyrdom of George", Mentioned in the Decree of Pope Gelasius (early version, late 5th - early 6th centuries). Gelasius rejects the acts of martyrdom of Saint George as a heretical falsification and classifies George as one of the saints who are better known to God than to people;
• « Acts of George”(Nessan passages) (VI century, found in 1937 in the Negev desert).

Apocryphal hagiography attributes the martyrdom of George to the reign of a certain Persian or Syrian ruler, Dadian. The Life "The Suffering of the Glorious Great Martyr George" by Theodore Daphnopatus, who lived in the 10th century, calls Dadian the toparch of Syria and the nephew of the emperor Diocletian. According to this apocryphal execution of George was ordered by Diocletian, while Dadian demanded to intensify the torture, and Maximian was also present.

Also in the apocrypha about the holy great martyr Nikita Besogon, known from the 11th century, George is mentioned, “tortured by Dadian”, and it is asked if he taught Nikita to destroy the golden pagan idols. The iconographic image of Nikita Besogon from this life, about the demon-devil defeated by him, and the repeated attempts of Maximian to martyrically execute him, which was hindered by miracles, sometimes merges with the image of George.

Apocryphal lives about George report about his seven-year torment, threefold death and resurrection, about hammering nails into his head, etc. For the fourth time, George dies, truncated by a sword, and heavenly punishment befalls his tormentors.

The martyrdom of Saint George is known in Latin, Syrian, Georgian, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian and Arabic translations, which contain various details about the sufferings of the saint. One of best lyrics his life is in the Slavic Mena.

In the east

In Islam, George ( Girdzhis, Girgis, El-Khudi) is one of the main non-Koranic figures, and his legend is very similar to the Greek and Latin.

He lived at the same time as the Prophet Muhammad. Allah sent him to the ruler of Mosul with an appeal to accept the true faith, but the ruler ordered him to be executed. He was executed, but Allah resurrected him and sent him back to the ruler. He was executed a second time, then the third (they burned him and threw the ashes into the Tiger). He rose from the ashes, and the ruler and his entourage were exterminated.

The life of Saint George was translated into Arabic at the beginning of the VIII century, and under the influence of the Christian Arabs, the veneration of Saint George penetrated among the Muslim Arabs. The Arabic apocryphal text of the life of Saint George is contained in "Stories of Prophets and Kings"(beginning of the X century), in it George is called a disciple of one of the apostles of the prophet Isa, whom the pagan king of Mosul tortured and executed, but George was resurrected by Allah each time.

The 14th century Greek historian John Cantacuzin notes that in his time there were several temples erected by Muslims in honor of St. George. The 19th century traveler Burkhard says the same. Dean Stanley recorded in the 19th century that he saw a Muslim "chapel" on the seashore near the city of Sarafend (ancient Zarepta), which was dedicated to El-Huder. There was no burial vault inside it, but only a niche, which was a deviation from Muslim canons - and was explained, according to local peasants, by the fact that El-Khuder did not die, but flies all over the earth, and wherever he appears, people build similar "chapels ".

There is a great similarity between the legend and the story of the resurrecting Chaldean deity Tammuz, known from the "Book of Nabatean Agriculture", whose holiday falls on approximately the same period, and this similarity was pointed out by her ancient translator Ibn Vakhshiyya. Researchers suggest that the special reverence for Saint George in the East, and his extraordinary popularity, was explained by the fact that he was a Christian version of Tammuz - a dying and resurrecting god like Adonis and Osiris. In the mythology of a number of Muslim peoples there is a legend reminiscent of the Miracle of St. George about the serpent. According to the assumptions of some researchers, George as a mythical character is a Semitic deity who converted to Christianity, in whose history some changes were made during the adaptation process in order to clear it of unnecessary details and deprive it of an erotic connotation. So, the goddess of love of such myths turned into a pious widow, in whose house the holy youth lived, and the queen of the underworld turned into Queen Alexandra, who would follow him to the grave.

Another tomb of the prophet Jerjis is located on the territory of Azerbaijan, in the Beylagan region. It used to be here and ancient city Aran-gala.

Miracles of Saint George

Paolo Uccello. "Battle of St. George with the serpent"

One of the most famous posthumous miracles of St. George is the killing of a serpent (dragon) with a spear, which devastated the land of one pagan king in Berit (modern Beirut), although according to chronology this territory had long been under the rule of the Roman Empire. As the legend says, when the lot fell out to give the royal daughter to be torn apart by the monster, George appeared on a horse and pierced the snake with a spear, saving the princess from death. The appearance of the saint contributed to the conversion of local residents to Christianity.

This legend was often interpreted allegorically: the princess is the church, the serpent is paganism. It is also seen as a victory over the devil - "the ancient serpent" (Rev. 12: 3; 20: 2).

There is a variant of the description of this miracle related to the life of George. In it, the saint conquers the snake with a prayer, and the girl intended as a sacrifice leads him to the city, where the inhabitants, seeing this miracle, convert to Christianity, and George kills the snake with a sword.

Relics

According to legend, Saint George was buried in the city of Lod (formerly Lydda), in Israel. Above his tomb was built the Church of St. George, which belongs to the Jerusalem Orthodox Church. The head and sword of the saint are kept under the main altar in the Roman basilica of San Giorgio in Velabro. This is not the only chapter of George, another was kept, as Trifon Korobeinikov writes about it at the end of the 16th century, in the Church of St. George the Victorious in the city of Lod. In 1821, de Plancy describes several heads that were kept in churches and monasteries and were considered the head of St. George the Victorious, they were located: in Venice, in Mainz, in Prague, in Constantinople, in Cologne, in Rome, in Lod, etc.

It is also known that some of the relics are kept in the Sainte-Chapelle Reliquary Temple in Paris. The relic was preserved by the French king Louis the Saint, after which it served several times at church festivities in honor of Saint George. Other parts of the relics are the right hand, that is right hand to the elbow, - are kept in a silver shrine on the holy Mount Athos, in the monastery of Xenophon (Greece).

The reality of existence

The reality of the existence of St. George, like many early Christian saints, is in question. Eusebius of Caesarea relates:

When the decree on the churches [of Diocletian] was first announced, a certain man of the highest rank, according to worldly ideas, moved by zeal for God and motivated by fervent faith, seized the decree nailed in Nicomedia in a public place and tore it to pieces as blasphemous and ungodly ... This happened when there were two rulers in the city: one - the oldest - and the other, who occupied the fourth step in government after him. This person, who became famous in this way, withstood everything that was due for such an act, maintaining a clear mind and calmness until the last breath.

- Eusebius of Caesarea... Church history. VIII. 5

It is believed that this martyr, whose name Eusebius does not name, could have been Saint George, in which case this is all that is known about him from a reliable source.

An inscription from the year 346 in Greek from a church in the city of Israel (Syria), which was originally a pagan temple, is mentioned. It speaks of George as a martyr, which is important, since in the same period there was another George - Bishop of Alexandria (died in 362), with whom the martyr is sometimes confused. Calvin was the first to doubt that St. George the Victorious should be a revered saint; he was followed by Dr. Reynolds, who believed that he and the Bishop of Alexandria were one and the same person. Bishop George was an Arian (that is, for the modern church - a heretic), he was born in a felt mill in Epiphany (Cilicia), was a supplier of provisions for the army (Constantinople), and when he was convicted of fraud, he fled to Cappadocia. His Arian friends forgave him after paying the fine and sent him to Alexandria, where he was elected bishop (as opposed to St. Athanasius) immediately after the death of the Arian prelate Gregory. Together with Dracontius and Diodorus, he immediately began a cruel persecution of Christians and pagans, and the latter killed him, raising an uprising. Dr. Heilin (1633) objected to this identification, but Dr. John Pettinkal (1753) again raised the question of the identity of the Victorious. Dr. Samuel Pegg (1777) answered him in a lecture given to the Society of Antiquities Collectors. Edward Gibbon also believed that George the Victorious and the Arian bishop were one and the same person. Sabin Baring-Gould (1866) strongly objected to this identification of an unquestionably real bishop with a holy martyr: “… the improbability of such a transformation makes anyone doubt the truth of this statement. The enmity between Catholics and Arians was too great for the adherent of the latter, and even the persecutor of the Catholics, could be mistaken for a saint. The writings of St. Athanasius, in which he painted a far from flattering portrait of his opponent, were quite widespread in the Middle Ages, and such a mistake would have been simply impossible. "

In the 13th century, Jacob Voraginsky wrote in The Golden Legend:

The Bede calendar says that Saint George suffered in Persia in the city of Diospolis; elsewhere we read that he rests in the city of Diospolis, which was formerly called Lydda and is located near Jaffa. Elsewhere, that suffered under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Elsewhere, that under Diocletian, emperor of the Persians, in the presence of seventy kings of his state. Here, that under Vladyka Dacian during the reign of Diocletian and Maximian.

There is also a hypothesis about the existence of two saints named George, one of whom suffered in Cappadocia, and the other in Lydda.

Veneration

The cult of St. George

This saint has become extremely popular since the days of early Christianity. In the Roman Empire, starting from the 4th century, churches dedicated to George began to appear, first in Syria and Palestine, then throughout the East. In the West of the empire, the cult of St. George also appeared early - no later than the 5th century, as evidenced by both apocryphal texts and lives, and religious buildings known in Rome from the 6th century, in Gaul from the 5th century.

According to one version, the cult of St. George, as often happened with Christian saints, was put forward as a counterbalance to the pagan cult of Dionysus, temples were built on the site of the former sanctuaries of Dionysus, and holidays were celebrated in his honor in the days of the Dionysians.

V folk tradition, George is considered the patron saint of warriors, farmers (the name George comes from the Greek γεωργός - farmer) and cattle breeders. In Serbia, Bulgaria and Macedonia, believers turn to him with prayers for the sending of rain. In Georgia, they turn to George with requests for protection from evil, for the bestowal of good luck on the hunt, for the harvest and offspring of livestock, for healing from ailments, for childbearing. In Western Europe, prayers to Saint George (George) are believed to help get rid of poisonous snakes and contagious diseases. Saint George is known to the Islamic peoples of Africa and the Middle East under the names Jirjis and al-Khidr.

Memory

In the Orthodox Church:

• April 23 / May 6;
• 3 (16) November - renovation (consecration) of the Church of St. George in Lydda (IV century);
• November 10 (23) - the wheel of the Great Martyr George;
• November 26 (December 9) - consecration of the Church of the Great Martyr George in Kiev in 1051 (the celebration of the Russian Orthodox Church, popularly known as the autumn St. George's Day).

In the West, Saint George is the patron saint of chivalry, participants in the crusades; he is one of the Fourteen Holy Assistants.

Veneration in Russia

In Russia, since ancient times, Saint George was venerated under the name of Yuri or Yegor. In the 1030s Grand Duke Yaroslav founded the monasteries of St. George in Kiev and Novgorod and commanded all over Russia to "celebrate the feast" of St. George on November 26.

In Russian folk culture, George was revered as the patron saint of warriors, farmers and cattle breeders. April 23 and November 26 (old style) are known under the name of the spring and autumn days of St. George. On spring St. George's Day, the peasants drove their cattle to the fields for the first time after winter. Images of St. George have been found since ancient times on grand ducal coins and seals.

According to T. Zueva, the image of St. George, known in legends and fairy tales as Yegor the Brave, in the folk tradition merged with the pagan Dazhdbog.

Veneration in Georgia

Saint George saving the emperor's daughter
(enamel miniature, Georgia, XV century)

Saint George, together with the Mother of God, is considered the heavenly patron of Georgia and is the most revered saint among Georgians. According to local legends, George was a relative of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, an enlightener of Georgia.

The first church in honor of St. George was built in Georgia in 335 by Tsar Mirian at the burial site of St. Nina, from the 9th century the construction of churches in honor of George became widespread.

The life of the saint was first translated into Georgian language at the end of the 10th century. In the XI century, George Svyatorets, when translating the Great Synaxar, made a short translation of the life of George.

The St. George cross is present on the flag of the Georgian church. He first appeared on the Georgian flags during the reign of Queen Tamara.

Veneration in Ossetia

In Ossetian traditional beliefs, the most important place is occupied by Uastyrdzhi (Wasgergi), who appears to be a strong gray-bearded old man in armor on a three- or four-legged white horse. He patronizes men. Women are forbidden to pronounce his name, instead of which they call him Lægty dzuar(patron saint of men). Celebrations in his honor begin on the third Sunday in November and last for a week. The Tuesday of this festive week is especially revered. The main Orthodox church in North Ossetia is St. George's Cathedral, of the 56 operating Orthodox churches and chapels, 10 are St. George's.

The name of the holiday in honor of George - Dzheorguyba- was borrowed as a result of the significant influence of Georgian Orthodoxy from the Georgian language.

Theonym Uastyrdzhi easily etymologized from the old ironic form Wasjerji, where yas- a word that in the early Alanian language meant a saint, and the second part - the Ironian version of the name George... The etymology of the theonym appears even more transparent when analyzing the Digor form Wasgergi.

In Turkey

The main temple of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Phanar quarter of Istanbul was consecrated in honor of the saint.

The veneration of Saint George in the monastery named after him on the Turkish island of Buyukada (Prinkipo) in the Sea of ​​Marmara has a special character since the end of the 20th century: on the day of his memory on April 23, a significant number of Turks who do not profess Christianity flock to the monastery.

Veneration in Greece

In Greece, on April 23, Agios Georgios (Greek Άγιος Γεώργιος) is celebrated - the holiday of St. George, the patron saint of shepherds and grain growers.

In the Slavic tradition

In the popular culture of the Slavs, Yegor the Brave is called - the defender of cattle, "the wolf shepherd."

In the popular mind, two images of the saint coexist: one of them is close to the church cult of St. George - a serpent fighter and a Christ-loving warrior, another, very different from the first, to the cult of the cattle breeder and farmer, the owner of the land, the patron saint of cattle, who opens the spring field work. Thus, in folk legends and spiritual verses, the feats of the holy warrior Yegoriy (George), who withstood the tortures and promises of the "Tsar Demyanische (Diocletian)" and who struck the "fierce serpent, fiery fierce", are sung in folk legends and spiritual verses. The motive for the victory of St. George is known in the oral poetry of the Eastern and Western Slavs. Poles have St. Jerzy fights with the "Wawel Smok" (a snake from the Krakow castle). The Russian spiritual verse, also following the iconographic canon, ranks Theodore Tyrone as a serpent fighter, whom Eastern and South Slavic traditions also represent as a rider and protector of cattle.

Images

In art

The iconography of the miracle of George about the serpent was formed, probably, under the influence of ancient images of the Thracian horseman. In the western (Catholic) part of Europe, Saint George was usually depicted as a muscular man in heavy armor and a helmet, with a thick spear, on a realistic horse, which, with physical exertion, pierces a relatively realistic serpent with wings and paws with a spear. In the eastern (Orthodox) lands, this emphasis on the earthly and the material is absent: a not very muscular youth (no beard), without heavy armor and helmet, with a thin, clearly not physical, spear, on an unrealistic (spiritual) horse, without much physical stress, pierces with a spear an unrealistic (symbolic) serpent with wings and paws. The earliest depictions of the miracle of St. George comes from the territory of Cappadocia, Armenia and Georgia.

Saint George is one of the great martyrs of the Orthodox Church. He was called the victorious for his courage, strength and will in the fight against the enemy army. The saint also became famous for his help and love for people. The life of Saint George the Victorious became famous for many facts, and the history of his posthumous appearance to mankind is generally similar to a fairy tale.

Life of Saint George the Victorious

The saint's parents were believers and God-fearing Christians. The father suffered for his faith and accepted a martyr's death. His mother, left a widow, moved with the young George to Palestine and took up the Christian education of the child.

Great Martyr George the Victorious

George grew up a brave youth, and when he entered the service of the Roman army, he was noticed by the pagan emperor Diocletian. He took a warrior into his guard.

The ruler clearly understood the danger that Christ's faith carries for the civilization of pagans, so he intensified the persecution of Christianity. Diocletian gave the military leaders freedom to deal with the Orthodox. George, having learned about the unjust decision of the ruler, distributed to the poor all the property inherited after the death of his parents, granted freedom to the slaves who worked on the estate, and appeared before the emperor.

He fearlessly, courageously exposed Diocletian and his cruel plan, and then confessed to him his faith in Christ. The imperious pagan tried to force the soldier to renounce the Savior and offer sacrifice to idols, to which the Orthodox soldier received a decisive refusal. By order of Diocletian, the squires pushed the Victorious Bearer out of the room with spears and tried to take him to prison.

But the steel weapon miraculously became soft and easily bent when it touched the body of the saint.

Having placed an Orthodox soldier in a dungeon, his legs were hammered into stocks, and his chest was pressed down with a large stone. In the morning, the unshakable warrior again confessed the faith of Christ. An angry Diocletian tortured him. The naked George was tied to a chariot, over which boards with iron points were arranged. When the wheels turned, the iron cut his body. But instead of groans and the expected renunciation of the Creator, the saint only called for the Help of the Lord.

When the sufferer calmed down, the pagan thought that he had given up his ghost and ordered to remove the mutilated, torn body. But suddenly the sky turned black, a great thunder struck and the majestic Voice of God was heard: “Do not be afraid, warrior. I'm with you". Immediately a bright glow arose and a blond youth - the Angel of the Lord - appeared next to the Victorious Bearer. He put his hand on the body of George, and he instantly rose up healed.

George the Victorious (Lidda)

The imperial soldiers took him to the temple where Diocletian was. He could not believe his eyes - a completely healthy and full of strength man stood before him. Many pagans who watched the miracle believed in Christ. Even two noble dignitaries immediately publicly confessed the faith of Christ, for which their heads were cut off.

Queen Alexandra also tried to glorify the Almighty, but the imperial servants quickly took her to the palace.

The pagan king, in an attempt to crush the unshakable George, betrayed him to even more terrible torments. The martyr was thrown into a deep ditch, and his body was covered with quicklime. George was dug up only on the third day. Surprisingly, his body was not damaged, and the man himself was in a joyful and calm mood. Diocletian did not calm down and ordered the martyr to be shod in iron boots with nails hot inside them and put under arrest. In the morning, the warrior showed his healthy legs and joked that he really liked the boots. Then the enraged ruler gave orders to beat the holy body with ox tendons and mix his blood and body with earth.

Deciding that George was using magic spells, the ruler summoned the sorcerer to the court in order to deprive the former warrior of magic and poison him. He presented the martyr with a potion, but it did not work, and the saint glorified God again.

Monasteries in honor of George the Victorious:

Miracles of god

The emperor wanted to know what helps the former warrior to survive after terrible torment? George replied that with God everything is possible. Then the pagan wished that the martyr would raise the dead in his presence. When the Conqueror was brought to the tomb, he began to beg the Heavenly Father to show everyone present that He is the God of the whole world. And then the earth shook, the coffin opened and the deceased came to life. Immediately those present at the appearance of the miracle believed in God and glorified Him.

Miraculous image Saint Great Martyr George the Victorious

Once again, George was in prison. Suffering people tried to get to the prisoner different ways and received healing from ailments and help in petitions. Among them was the farmer Glykeria. His ox died the other day and a man came with a prayer to resurrect the animal. The saint promised to bring the cattle back to life. Returning home, the man found a revived ox in the stall and began to glorify the name of the Lord throughout the city.

The end of the earthly journey

On the last night of his earthly life, George prayed fervently. A vision happened to him that the Lord Himself approached Him and kissed Him, placed a martyr's crown on the head. In the morning, Diocletian invited the great martyr to become a co-ruler and rule the country together. To which George suggested that he immediately go to the temple of Apollo.

The victor crossed himself and turned to one of the idols with the question: would he like to accept the sacrifice as God? But the demon sitting in the idol cried out that God is the one preached by George, and he is an apostate who seduces people. The priests attacked the saint and beat him furiously.

Saint George the Victorious May 6

Queen Alexandra, the wife of Diocletian, made her way through the numerous gathering of pagans, fell at the feet of the saint and prayed to the Creator for help, glorifying Him. The victorious and Alexandra were sentenced to death by the bloodthirsty Diocletian. Together they followed to the place of massacre, but on the way the queen fell exhausted. The warrior of Christ forgave all his tormentors and put his holy head under a sharp sword.

And so the era of paganism ended.

Wonders

The life of Saint George the Victorious is filled with many miracles.

About miracles in Orthodoxy:

Tradition says that not far from a lake in Syria lived a huge serpent, similar to a dragon. He devoured people and animals, and then emitted poisonous breath into the air. Many brave men tried to kill the monster, but not a single attempt was successful and all people died.

The Holy Great Martyr is especially revered in Georgia.

The governor issued an order, according to which it was necessary to give the snake to be eaten by a girl or a youth every day. Moreover, he himself had a daughter. He promised that if the lot falls on her, then the girl will share the fate of the other death row. And so it happened. The girl was brought to the shore of the lake and tied to a tree. She was in a frenzy awaiting the appearance of the serpent and her hour of death. When the monster came out of the water and began to approach the beauty, suddenly a fair-haired young man on a white horse appeared. He stuck a sharp spear into the body of the snake and saved the unfortunate woman.

This was Saint George the Victorious, who put an end to the deaths of young people in the country.

The inhabitants of the country, having learned about the miracle that had happened, believed in Christ, a healing spring was erected on the site of the battle of the warrior with the serpent, and later a temple was erected in honor of the Victorious. This plot was taken as the basis of the St. George image.

After the Arab conquest of Palestine, another miracle occurred. Arab who entered Orthodox church, saw a priest praying at one of the icons. In an attempt to show disdain for holy images, the Arab fired a bow at one of the images. But the arrow did not harm the icon, but returned and pierced the arrow's hand. In a fit of unbearable pain, the Arab turned to the cleric, to which he advised him to hang the icon of St. George the Victorious over the head of his bed and anoint the wound with oil from the lamp, which was kindled before his face. Upon his recovery, the cleric presented the Arab with a book describing the life of the saint. The holy life of an Orthodox soldier and his torment made the greatest impression on the Arab. Soon he received Holy Baptism, became a preacher of Christianity, for which he accepted a martyr's death.

1. The saint, in addition to his usual name, is known under the names George of Lydda and Cappadocia.

2. On the day of memory of the saint, May 6 Orthodox Church the memory of Tsarina Anna is celebrated, who cordially accepted the torment of the saint, who believed in Christ and died for the confession of Orthodoxy.

3. The Holy Great Martyr is especially venerated in Georgia. The first of the temples erected in his honor was built in the 1st century.

4. Most Georgian babies are named after George. It is believed that a person named George does not know failure and will be a winner in life.

The great Orthodox warrior endured all the suffering for the faith of Christ, which he did not betray and did not exchange for the power and wealth offered to him by the pagan Diocletian. The Holy Great Martyr of Christ helps all who turn to his intercession. According to the sincere and heartfelt faith of the petitioner, his request will always be fulfilled.

Watch a video about the life of George the Victorious