Saint George

About Saint George

George was born in Cappadocia, in present-day Turkey, and served as an officer in the Roman army. When Diocletian ordered the persecution of Christians around the year 303, he refused to carry it out, declared his own faith before the emperor and was executed. He is one of the earliest martyrs venerated in both East and West.

The dragon came later — a thousand years later: a medieval legend put him on horseback, lance in hand, freeing a whole city from a monster that demanded lives. The scene caught on because it says what the devotion already felt: that someone is willing to face what nobody faces alone.

He is patron of England, Portugal, Georgia and cities all around the Mediterranean. In Brazil, and above all in Rio de Janeiro, he is the warrior saint: 23 April is a public holiday, and his prayer is said by people leaving home to work on the street. His feast is 23 April.

A message from Saint George is sent to someone in a hard fight, to someone whose work leaves them exposed, to someone who needs the courage to start over — and on 23 April, to the lifelong devotees.

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