SAINT GEORGE

In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Saint George is called the “great martyr.” There are various explanations for this name. Thus, in popular piety it is customary to believe that the great martyrs are saints who were killed for their faith in Christ, and at the same time endured especially severe suffering. This opinion has its objections. The fact is that the ancient world, when such a name was formed, was generally indifferent to suffering. Moreover, biblical ethics does not measure holiness by the number of torments.

Most likely, the saints who testified to faith in Christ, being of royal or very noble origin, were called great martyrs. Overall, there were very few of them. According to the Apostle Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians, there were very few people of high standing among the believers in Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26). If such became believers, their testimony was very great. The very word martyr in the original Greek language does not mean a sufferer at all, but a witness.

The Great Martyrs were rare, visible, great witnesses. Perhaps the most revered of them is St. George. According to his life, he suffered for his faith in Christ at the beginning of the 4th century during the persecution of Diocletian. Unlike most saints, whose iconography sought to depict the circumstances of the time in which they lived, icons and images of St. George often placed him in the context in which those images themselves were painted. This is a unique feature. It’s worth paying attention to. Perhaps a separate work could be written, “the theology of the images of St. George”.

Various types of images of the saint are known. In icons, paintings and other images we often see George riding a horse, slaying a dragon. This is a triumph over demonic power and a reproduction of the images of the Apocalypse. The Great Martyr takes on angelic features, he is the archangel and the winner in the last battle over evil forces. It is interesting that historically other saints were depicted in a similar way, especially those of them who, like George, were a high-ranking Roman military officer and a royal family, of noble birth, that is, great martyrs.

It is known that during the era of resistance to the Arab conquests, and later in the fight against the Ottoman armies, George was depicted with a cross on his back or with a banner decorated with it. Subsequently, this cross of St. George was used as the basis for the flags of many Christian countries and became a badge of honor and even the most important order. Such a theological foundation in secular symbolism is striking in its universality.