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Diocletian gave all his
governors full freedom in their court proceedings
against Christians, and he promised them his full
support.
St. George, when he heard the decision of the emperor,
distributed all his wealth to the poor, freed his servants, and
then appeared in the Senate. The brave soldier of Christ spoke
out openly against the emperor's designs. He confessed himself a
Christian, and appealed to all to acknowledge Christ: "I am a
servant of Christ, my God, and trusting in Him, I have come
among you voluntarily, to bear witness concerning the Truth."
"What is Truth?" one of the dignitaries asked, echoing the
question of Pontius Pilate. The saint replied, "Christ Himself,
Whom you persecuted, is Truth."
Stunned by the bold speech of the valiant warrior, the emperor,
who had loved and promoted George, attempted to persuade him not
to throw away his youth and glory and honors, but rather to
offer sacrifice to the gods as was the Roman custom. The
confessor replied, "Nothing in this inconstant life can weaken
my resolve to serve God."
Then by order of the enraged emperor the armed guards began to
push St. George out of the assembly hall with their spears, and
they then led him off to prison. But the deadly steel became
soft and it bent, just as the spears touched the saint's body,
and it caused him no harm. In prison they put the martyr's feet
in stocks and placed a heavy stone on his chest.
The next day at the interrogation, powerless but firm of spirit,
St. George again answered the emperor, "You will grow tired of
tormenting me sooner than I will tire of being tormented by
you." Then Diocletian gave orders to subject St. George to some
very intense tortures. They tied the Great Martyr to a wheel,
beneath which were boards pierced with sharp pieces of iron. As
the wheel turned, the sharp edges slashed the saint's naked
body.
At first the sufferer loudly cried out to the Lord, but soon he
quieted down, and did not utter even a single groan. Diocletian
decided that the tortured one was already dead, and he gave
orders to remove the battered body from the wheel, and then went
to a pagan temple to offer thanks.
At this very moment it got dark, thunder boomed, and a voice was
heard: "Fear not, George, for I am with you." Then a wondrous
light shone, and at the wheel an angel of the Lord appeared in
the form of a radiant youth. He placed his hand upon the martyr,
saying to him, "Rejoice!" St. George stood up healed.
When the soldiers led him to the pagan temple where the emperor
was, the emperor could not believe his own eyes and he thought
that he saw before him some other man or even a ghost. In
confusion and in terror the pagans looked St. George over
carefully, and they became convinced that a miracle had
occurred. Many then came to believe in the Life-Creating God of
the Christians.
Two illustrious officials, Sts. Anatolius and Protoleon, who were
secretly Christians, openly confessed Christ. Immediately,
without a trial, they were beheaded with the sword by order of
the emperor. Also present in the pagan temple was Empress
Alexandra, the wife of Diocletian, and she also knew the truth.
She was on the point of glorifying Christ, but one of the
servants of the emperor took her and led her off to the palace.
The emperor became even more furious. He had not lost all hope
of influencing St. George, so he gave him over to new and
fearsome torments. After throwing him into a deep pit, they
covered it over with lime. Three days later they dug him out,
but found him cheerful and unharmed. They shod the saint in iron
sandals with red-hot nails, and then drove him back to the
prison with whips. In the morning, when they led him back to the
interrogation, cheerful and with healed feet, the emperor asked
if he liked his shoes. The saint said that the sandals had been
just his size. Then they beat him with ox thongs until pieces of
his flesh came off and his blood soaked the ground, but the
brave sufferer, strengthened by the power of God, remained
unyielding.
The emperor concluded that the saint was being helped by magic,
so he summoned the sorcerer Athanasius to deprive the saint of
his miraculous powers, or else poison him. The sorcerer gave St.
George two goblets containing drugs. One of them would have
quieted him, and the other would kill him. The drugs had no
effect, and the saint continued to denounce the pagan
superstitions and glorify God as before.
When the emperor asked what sort of power was helping him, St.
George said, "Do not imagine that it is any human learning which
keeps me from being harmed by these torments. I am saved only by
calling upon Christ and His Power. Whoever believes in Him has
no regard for tortures and is able to do the things that Christ
did" (John 14:12). Diocletian asked what sort of things Christ
had done. The Martyr replied, "He gave sight to the blind,
cleansed the lepers, healed the lame, gave hearing to the deaf,
cast out demons, and raised the dead."
Knowing that they had never been able to resurrect the dead
through sorcery, nor by any of the gods known to him, and
wanting to test the saint, the emperor commanded him to raise up
a dead person before his eyes. The saint retorted, "You wish to
tempt me, but my God will work this sign for the salvation of
the people who shall see the power of Christ."
When they led St. George down to the graveyard, he cried out, "O
Lord! Show to those here present, that You are the only God in
all the world. Let them know You as the Almighty Lord." Then the
earth quaked, a grave opened, the dead one emerged from it
alive. Having seen with their own eyes the Power of Christ, the
people wept and glorified the true God.
The sorcerer Athanasius, falling down at the feet of St. George,
confessed Christ as the All-Powerful God and asked forgiveness
for his sins, committed in ignorance. The obdurate emperor in
his impiety thought otherwise. In a rage he commanded both t
Athanasius and the man raised from the dead to be beheaded, and
he had St. George again locked up in prison.
The people, weighed down with their infirmities, began to visit
the prison and they there received healing and help from the
saint. A certain farmer named Glycerius, whose ox had collapsed,
also visited him. The saint consoled him and assured him that
God would restore his ox to life. When he saw the ox alive, the
farmer began to glorify the God of the Christians throughout all
the city. By order of the emperor, St. Glycerius was arrested and
beheaded.
The exploits and the miracles of the Great Martyr George had
increased the number of the Christians, therefore Diocletian
made a final attempt to compel the saint to offer sacrifice to
the idols. They set up a court at the pagan temple of Apollo. On
the final night the holy martyr prayed fervently, and as he
slept, he saw the Lord, Who raised him up with His hand, and
embraced him. The Savior placed a crown on St. George's head and
said, "Fear not, but have courage, and you will soon come to Me
and receive what has been prepared for you."
In the morning, the emperor offered to make St. George his
co-administrator, second only to himself. The holy martyr with a
feigned willingness answered, "Caesar, you should have shown me
this mercy from the very beginning, instead of torturing me. Let
us go now to the temple and see the gods you worship."
Diocletian believed that the martyr was accepting his offer, and
he followed him to the pagan temple with his retinue and all the
people. Everyone was certain that St. George would offer
sacrifice to the gods. The saint went up to the idol, made the
Sign of the Cross and addressed it as if it were alive: "Are you
the one who wants to receive from me sacrifice befitting God?"
The demon inhabiting the idol cried out, "I am not a god and
none of those like me is a god, either. The only God is He Whom
you preach. We are fallen angels, and we deceive people because
we are jealous."
St. George cried out, "How dare you remain here, when I, the
servant of the true God, have entered?" Then noises and wailing
were heard from the idols, and they fell to the ground and were
shattered.
There was general confusion. In a frenzy, pagan priests and many
of the crowd seized the holy martyr, tied him up, and began to
beat him. They also called for his immediate execution.
The holy empress Alexandra tried to reach him. Pushing her way
through the crowd, she cried out, "O God of George, help me, for
You Alone are All-Powerful." At the feet of the Great Martyr the
holy empress confessed Christ, Who had humiliated the idols and
those who worshipped them.
Diocletian immediately pronounced the death sentence on the
Great Martyr George and the holy Empress Alexandra, who followed
St. George to execution without resisting. Along the way she felt
faint and slumped against a wall. There she surrendered her soul
to God.
St. George gave thanks to God and prayed that he would also end
his life in a worthy manner. At the place of execution the saint
prayed that the Lord would forgive the torturers who acted in
ignorance, and that He would lead them to the knowledge of
Truth. Calmly and bravely, the holy Great Martyr George bent his
neck beneath the sword, receiving the crown of martyrdom on
April 23, 303.
The pagan era was coming to an end, and Christianity was about
to triumph. Within ten years, St Constantine (May 21) would
issue the Edict of Milan, granting religious freedom to
Christians. Of the many miracles worked by the holy Great Martyr
George, the most famous are depicted in iconography. In the
saint's native city of Beirut were many idol-worshippers.
Outside the city, near Mount Lebanon, was a large lake,
inhabited by an enormous dragon-like serpent. Coming out of the
lake, it devoured people, and there was nothing anyone could do,
since the breath from its nostrils poisoned the very air.
On the advice of the demons inhabiting the idols, the local
ruler came to a decision. Each day the people would draw lots to
feed their own children to the serpent, and he promised to
sacrifice his only daughter when his turn came. That time did
come, and the ruler dressed her in her finest attire, then sent
her off to the lake. The girl wept bitterly, awaiting her death.
Unexpectedly for her, St. George rode up on his horse with spear
in hand. The girl implored him not to leave her, lest she
perish.
The saint signed himself with the Sign of the Cross. He rushed
at the serpent saying, "In the Name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit." St. George pierced the throat of the
serpent with his spear and trampled it with his horse. Then he
told the girl to bind the serpent with her sash, and lead it
into the city like a dog on a leash.
The people fled in terror, but the saint halted them with the
words: "Don't be afraid, but trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and
believe in Him, since it is He Who sent me to save you." Then
the saint killed the serpent with a sword, and the people burned
it outside the city. Twenty-five thousand men, not counting
women and children, were then baptized. Later, a church was
built and dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos and the Great
Martyr George.
St. George went on to become a talented officer and to amaze the
world by his military exploits. He died before he was thirty
years old. He is known as Victory Bearer, not only for his
military achievements, but for successfully enduring martyrdom.
As we know, the martyrs are commemorated in the dismissal at the
end of Church services as "the holy, right victorious
martyr...."
Troparion of St. George (Tone
4)
As deliverer of captives and
defender of the poor, healer of the infirm, champion of kings,
victorious great Martyr George intercede with Christ our God for
our souls salvation.
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Icon of The Holy and Great Martyr George on the Iconostasis