Saint George (whose name means Harith) was born in the city of Lod in Palestine in the year 280 AD to Christian parents who were wealthy and socially famous. He entered the army when he was seventeen years old. The Emperor (Theocletian) loved him and entered him into the Guards Corps. The royal promoted him and made him the band leader.
He became famous in wars for his victories, to the point of being called “the one who wears nails.” When the emperor began to persecute and torture Christians, he issued orders to force Christians to worship idols, and whoever refused to be killed immediately. George got angry and went to the emperor, declared his Christianity openly, and zealously defended Christians and their beliefs. The Emperor tried to dissuade him from his Christian faith, with beautiful promises, promotion to the highest ranks, and by lavishing money on him, but he rejected all of this with insistence and firmness.
The Emperor became angry and ordered the soldiers to torture him. They took him to a dark prison and began abusing him. They tied his legs with ropes and placed a huge stone on his chest. They continued to beat him with whips and spears until they lost consciousness and left him lying. As for him, he was praying, and the next day they took him to the Emperor, hoping that this would come to an end. The tortures curbed his enthusiasm, and he appeared stronger, stronger, and more daring. So the king ordered him to be tortured again, so he placed him on a wheel full of nails. Then the wheel was turned violently, and his body was torn apart, his face was disfigured, and blood came out like springs from all his limbs. But he endured it with amazing patience, and he heard a heavenly voice say: To him: “Oh George, do not be afraid, for I am with you.” So his resolve strengthened and he left that infernal machine as if nothing had happened, and his wounds had healed and the flow of blood had stopped from him, so they took him to the emperor. As soon as he saw him, he was astonished to find him in a healthy body and full of strength. The Emperor was angry with him and ordered his soldiers to return him to prison and to make him taste other types of torture. They brought him back and beat him with whips until his flesh was scattered. They poured live lime on his body and poured a mixture of tar and sulfur solution on his wounds so that his body would corrode and dissolve, and he began to suffer. Beyond human capacity, but Jesus Christ helped him endure the horrors of those tortures and he remained alive, and the next morning the soldiers entered upon him and when they opened the prison door, they saw the saint standing and praying and his face shining like the sun without any trace of torture, so they took him to the emperor, who when he saw him He accused him of witchcraft and brought him a skilled magician who was famous for his ability to perform magic. He put deadly drugs in a cup of water that kill whoever drinks them instantly. He recited some satanic incantations over it and asked the saint to drink it. The saint took it, made the sign of the cross over it and drank it. He grabbed it and remained upright, smiling. Then the magician took a second cup and filled it with highly effective poisons. He recited satanic spells on it that were more evil than the previous one and asked that the saint be tied so that he would not draw the sign of the cross on the cup as he had done the previous time. But the saint, because of his belief in the power of the cross, began to move his head up, then down, then to the left, then to the right, saying each time, “Should I drink the cup from here, or from here, or from here, or from here?” and so on. He made the sign of the cross by bowing his head in the four directions, then he drank the cup, and no harm occurred to him at all. This was in accordance with the words of the Lord Christ, glory be to Him, “These signs will follow those who believe... They will pick up snakes, but if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them” (Mark 16:17). , 18).
When the Emperor despaired of forcing George to deny Christ, he ordered the making of a large wheel containing sickles, hoops, and sharp swords. He ordered his soldiers to put George inside it and turn it so that it destroyed him. When the saint saw this terrible wheel, he prayed to the Lord to save him from this harsh experience. They placed him in The terrible device, his bones were crushed, his flesh was scattered, and all the parts of his body were separated until it became an interconnected mass. Then the Emperor shouted, addressing the men of his council, saying: Where is the God of George now? Why didn't he come and save him from my hand? Then he ordered his soldiers to throw the remains of George into a deep pit where his supporters could not reach it. At night, Jesus Christ descended with his angels into the pit and raised the saint from the dead and brought him back to life with a healthy body. In the morning, he entered the emperor and his assistants, and they were all astonished. The Emperor said: Is this George or someone else who looks like him? He alerted Prince Anatolis of his ungratefulness and the darkness of his heart and declared his and all his soldiers’ faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Emperor became angry and ordered them all to be killed, so they died as martyrs.
After all the Emperor's attempts with the Saint to deny his faith failed, he called him and began to flatter him and flatter him with attractive promises in order to dissuade him from his resolve and force him to abandon his faith. This time, Saint George pretended that he would return to idol worship and asked the Emperor to allow him to go to the temple of idols. He sees the gods, so the emperor was happy and wanted this to be a public celebration, so he gathered his commanders, the greats of his court, and the masses of people to attend the offering of sacrifice to the god “Apollon” from the hands of George, and when George came, he went to the statue of “Apollon” and made the sign of the cross on himself and addressed him. The idol said to him: “Do you want me to offer sacrifices to you as if you were the god of heaven and earth?” Then a voice came out from the bowels of the idol saying: “I am not a god, but the God that you worship, George, is the true God.” Immediately, that idol fell to the ground, and all the other idols fell with it, and they were all destroyed. The Emperor ordered his head to be cut off, and the fame of his wonderful martyrdom and his rare audacity spread. Throughout the empire, he is called “the Great One among the Martyrs.” Since that day, his name began to grow in all countries, east and west, and his miracles multiplied until peoples and individuals competed to honor him, ask for his intercession, build churches in his name, and name their children after him, and he is One of the saints closest to the emotions of believers.
The painters depicted him as a brave knight, beautiful in countenance, and tall in stature, stabbing a huge dragon with his spear, trampling it with his horse’s spikes, and saving his son, the king, from the dragon’s clutches. You see that princess standing trembling at the dragon, while her parents were supervising her from above the walls, glorifying the heroism of George. This image is symbolic and means that George, the heroic knight and great martyr, defeated Satan, represented by the dragon, and calmed the fears of the church, represented by the king’s daughter.
His pure body was transferred from the place of his martyrdom to the city of Lod in Palestine, and was placed in the church that was built in his name there.
Our Orthodox Church celebrates his feast on the twenty-third of the eastern month of April (the 6th of western May) every year.
Troparia in the fourth tune
Since you are a liberator and a freer of the captives. And for the poor and the needy and a supporter and supporter. For the sick there is a doctor and a healer. And about the believers, a fighter and a warrior. O great among the martyrs, George, clothed in triumph. Intercede with Christ God. In the salvation of our souls.
Qandaq with the fourth tune
You have been prospered by God, and you have appeared as a farmer, honored for your good worship, and you have collected for yourself abundance of virtues, George, because you sowed with tears, and reaped with joy, and you struggled with blood and attained Christ. Through your intercession, you, O saint, grant everyone forgiveness of sins.
