Celebrating Saint George: Best wishes Holy Father

April 23, 2013: Here in the Vatican Saint George’s Day is celebrated in a special way this year. Cardinal Bergoglio may have taken the name Francis as Pope but his Christian name is Jorge , George to you and me. Therefore it is his Feast day on the 23rd of April.

Today, as we celebrate the Memory of St. George, the Pope celebrated his feast day. On the occasion of this anniversary, the whole Church expresses his affection for the Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Lots of good wishes are coming to the Pope at this time from all over the world. St. George is venerated as a martyr of Christ, who according to tradition lived in the third century.

The figure of St. George is shrouded in mystery. There is very little information about his life. Most of it is however, the legendary stories attributed to him. What is certain is that the cult of Saint George is very popular both in the East and in the West, since the fourth century. Just to give a few examples: 21 Italian municipalities bear his name. He is the patron saint of England and several kings chose to be named after him. It is clear that St. George was born in Cappadocia and had been brought up by parents in the Christian faith. As an adult he became a tribune of the army of the emperor of Persia Daciano, but according to some sources it would be of the army of Diocletian in 303, which began to persecute Christians. It was then that George distributes his possessions to the poor, and having destroyed the edict, he confesses his faith. He was subjected to tortures and thrown in jail. The hagiographers tell a series of amazing episodes. The legend of the dragon appears in the Middle Ages when it processes his identity as a heroic knight. It is said that in the city of Silene, in Libya, the inhabitants, to appease a dragon that lived in a pond, were to offer every day a sheep and a young human drawn by lot. One day the lot fell on the king's daughter. Passing by, Giorgio intervened to save her by slaying the dragon with his spear. Then the king and the people were converted to the Christian faith. The history has been deeply influenced the fine arts, by symbolizing, among other things, the fight against evil. In subsequent literary works such as "De situ Terrae Sanctae" by Theodore Perigeta of about 530, it is stated that at Lydda in Palestine today at Lod Tel Aviv in Israel, there was a Constantinian basilica built over the tomb of Saint George and his companions. Although, therefore, scholars still try to determine who really St. George was, the deeply inspired history of art and his figure was and still is very dear to the whole Christian world.