 |
| | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
| #1  23-Apr-2004, 10:30 | |||
| |||
| Happy St. Georges Day From my bike and I  St George's Day is not celebrated as much as other Countries national days, many of which are National holidays, but there are more and more people becoming aware of our National Day and who knows eventually we may all celebrate it as such as people did between 1344 to 1778 when it was a National Day before reverted back to a day of devotion for English Catholics. There are varying stories of St George, some experts claim him to be a myth, but following is what is regarded as the history of St George. He was born in what is now known as Turkey to parents who were Christian nobles and after the death of his father his mother took George to her homeland, Palestine, where he became a soldier in the Roman army and rose to the rank of tribune (equivalent to a major or a colonel in modern services). He served under the Emperor Diocletian who hated Christians so much that in 303AD he began to slaughter them. George is reputed to have been so horrified by this that he went to the Emperor and made a personal protest about this slaughter of innocent people, but his appeal fell on deaf ears and he was imprisoned and tortured for his views. He refused to denounced his Christianity and was dragged through the streets and beheaded on April 23rd 303AD, hence the day of St George. The Emperor's wife was said to have been so inspired by the bravery of George that she converted to Christianity only to be condemned to her death by her husband. The Emperor stepped down in 305AD and from there on the cult of St George rapidly spread and he became an inspirational saint around the world to many warriors and soldiers. St George was adopted as his personal saint by Richard the Lion Heart in the 12th century and it was his symbol of a red cross on a white background that today makes up the English flag, known as the flag of St George. In the 14th century he became the patron saint of England and Edward III dedicated the Order of the Garter to him, this Order is still going today and is made up of the Queen, the Prince of Wales together with twenty four others and twenty six Knights or Ladies Companions. The home of the Order is at St George's Chapel within Windsor Castle, which recently saw the burial of the late Queen Mother. In more modern days King George VI instituted the George cross - for acts of great heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger - and this award is second only to the Victoria Cross, it is a silver cross depicting St George slaying the dragon on one side, with the words "For Gallantry" with the other side bearing the persons name and the date. There is also a George Cross, most famously awarded to the island of Malta during the second World War, this has the reigning monarch on one side with St George slaying the dragon on the other side. As mentioned St George is very often depicted slaying a dragon, this is believed to have come from the area's of the world that once inhabited with dragons, but were subsequently defeated by Church missionary's and so with the past example of bravery from St George, the slaying of the dragon became the symbol we have now become associated with St George. About forty years ago the Roman Catholic Church demoted St George to a minor saint, as they claimed there was scant evidence that he had existed at all, but in the year 2000 Pope John Paul II recognised St George as the England's national saint and so the story may well continue. Another matter that we tend to struggle with is our own National Anthem, as we tend to use God Save The Queen and are taught this in our school days, however it is widely recognised that the National Anthem of England is Land Of Hope And Glory.  |
| #3 23-Apr-2004, 11:47 | ||||
| ||||
| Im just glad its a Red cross and not a Yellow one  Well I live and learn Any more tips of very useful information lads or is that it for the day. I feel Good to be British (English) Come on you Scots what have you to say about that then ,the Welsh can keep quite last year on holiday I saw quite a few old Dragons about still 4D Desmondo,like the P.S. paint job [Edited on 24-4-2004 by Fordie] |
| #6 23-Apr-2004, 13:34 | |||
| |||
| Quote:
so where was that exactly? Quote:
So if I'm understanding this correctly here he wasn't even English nor had he really any association with England! But it does at least explain the profusion of Kebab shops south of the border! |
antonye
Linear Mode
