Saint George Biography – Story of his Life and his Torments
Saint George Biography – Story of his Life and his Torments
The Meaning of the Name and its Nicknames
Saint George is a Syriac expression meaning Saint George, and it is this Syriac expression that has become prevalent among people and in ecclesiastical usage. It consists of two sections:
A) Mar: a Syriac word that means master: Gerges: It is the name that was recognized in Palestine.
b) Saint Georges al-Malti: It refers to the city of Malatya, the home of the saint’s fathers and grandfathers. It is located in the Cappadocia region of Asia Minor (currently Turkey). Therefore, it is sometimes called Saint George’s Cappadocia.
c) Georgios: It is of Greek origin and translated into Arabic: A farmer or laborer in the land and God’s providence has arranged that the deeds and struggles of this blessed person conform to his name. He cultivated in the field of the kingdom and worked in the vineyard of the Lord.
d) St. George the Palestinian: Because his mother was from the city of Lydda in Palestine.
e) Saint George the Great: to distinguish him from other saints who have the same name.
F) Saint George the Roman: he enjoyed the full rights of a Roman citizen, and he was granted this citizenship according to the Caracalla law issued in 212 AD, which stipulates the granting of Roman citizenship to all residents of the Roman Empire and the original princes.
Saint George: It is the name by which the saint is known in the Western Church.
h) Amir al-Shuhada: It is the most famous title for the saint, and it was given to him by Jesus himself.
i) Fast-forward: It is the popular nickname by which the saint is known.
Saint’s Birth
We cannot determine the exact year in which Saint George was born, but we infer from church books that he was born in the middle of the second half of the third century AD in the city of Lydda, in the Cappadocia region in Palestine, of pious Christian parents.
His father, Prince Anastasius, ruler of Malatya, and his mother, Theopste, the daughter of Dionysius, ruler of Lydda, had two sisters, one of whom was Cassia and the other was Madrona. Saint George’s father was a believer in Christ. He was famous for his righteousness and justice.
He rules the country with the fear of God. When God blessed him with his son Gerges, she felt his upbringing on the requirements of upright Christian morals and ethics, and he taught him ecclesiastical and theological sciences. He also taught him the sciences, literature, and laws. As well as proficiency in the Greek language, which at that time was the language of civilization, culture, and mastery of chivalry, which was the pride of that time.
Martyrdom of his father: Saint Anastasius
It happened that when the saint was fourteen years old, the governor learned that his father, Anastasius, had converted to Christianity. He ordered that his head be cut off and another emir was appointed in his place.
The departure of George’s family
After the martyrdom of the father of Saint George. Gerges’ mother took her son and two daughters and moved from the Cappadocia region to the city of Diospolis, one of the regions of Palestine, where she was her original home and where she owned many properties.
Prince Saint George
St. Gerges was of good looks and stature… which qualified him to join the army when he was seventeen years old… When the new governor learned of his bravery and chivalry, he sent him to the Roman emperor, accompanied by one hundred soldiers, and gave him a letter to the emperor recommending his promotion.
When the emperor saw him and read the letter that was with him, he was very happy with him and gave him the title of Emir and became (Prince Gerges) arranged for him a huge monthly salary, and gave him five hundred soldiers to be under his command. And when he left, he gave him a huge horse.
His Mother’s Death
As soon as Prince Gerges returned, the Prince of Palestine came out to meet him with a warm welcome and honor. His mother held a great feast for the people of Medina, as well as many prayers for him. And when the saint was twenty years old, his mother departed, and he had reached an extraordinary degree of courage and he became famous everywhere.
Prince Justus, the ruler of Palestine, decided to marry him to his daughter, the princess. However, before the marriage ceremonies were completed, the prince died, so the saint thought that he would complete his marriage to the princess.
To become a prince over Palestine after her father… But God had arranged for him a kingdom of another kind, a nobler and more beautiful kind, to be a prince over it, which is the kingdom of martyrs, which is not on earth but in heaven… And the Lord Christ preserved him as a firstborn groom to his heavenly kingdom.
Commander Gerges Went to Tyre
To Tyre, Commander Gerges, accompanied by his servant Socrates, went about a matter related to the soldier. When he reached it, he found crowds of rulers and people incense toward idols. They had left the worship of the true God, Jesus Christ, and were interested in worshiping idols, offering sacrifices and incense to idols, deaf stones. Also, King Dadianus met with sixty-nine kings and chiefs in his state on the occasion of the Apollon feast, and they issued a pamphlet stating that.
Demolition of all churches – dismissal of all Christian employees from their jobs.
Burning sacred books – offering sacrifices and incense to the king’s gods and whoever refuses to submit to the king’s commands is tormented severely to death.
The courage of Commander Gerges
The blood of courage and magnanimity boiled in the saint’s veins, and he tore the post in front of the soldiers of King Dadianus. With great speed, the soldiers arrested Prince Gerges and took him to the king in iron shackles. To be punished for what he did against the king’s orders.
The torments of the saint
St. I have tasted the Prince of Martyr’s most kinds of suffering for seven full years of skin and Baldbabis chopping members and put into the lime neighborhood is turned off and published by chainsaw and many sufferings enabled him to be a prince of martyrs. Here we are offering to this suffering-borne saint patiently wondrous.
The Saint is in Prison
The soldiers took the saint to King Dadianus, who was meeting with the sixty-nine kings and princes plotting and planning to destroy the Christians, but they were horrified by the fact that a leader standing before them had a prestigious position in the kingdom, so the king began courting Prince Gerges with promises and promotions to higher positions and that he would marry him to his daughter and would He gives him money, gold, and gifts a lot if he makes prostration and incense to the gods.
But Prince Gerges remembered that God should be obeyed more than people. All the attempts of kings and princes to dissuade the saint from his worship of the true God Jesus Christ did not succeed, which made the king erupt in anger and order that Georgios be put in prison.
Tempting him to sin. the girl receives the wreath of martyrdom
The king consulted his associates about how this leader was tormented, to serve as an example to all those who beg himself to insult the king and not to incense and prostrate to the gods of the kingdom. One of the princes made a proposal to put Gerges with a beautiful girl from the concubines of the king’s palace so that he would lose his chastity and then easily submit to the king’s orders. Immediately the girl was inside the dungeon of St. George.
But what do all the attempts of Satan do in front of the power of prayer? The saint was kneeling and praying to the Lord Christ to help and strengthen him. Here we find the power of prayer that overcomes every temptation turns impurity into chastity and transformed the girl from sin to purity.
As soon as the king’s men came in the morning to take the girl, they found the opposite of what they expected. Because they found the girl liberated and she was dressed with modesty while she confesses her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of Gerges.
It was a lightning surprise that shocked the king and his aides, which prompted him to issue orders to execute her on the spot, and thus she won the wreath of martyrdom. The king was angry, so he ordered his soldiers to tie Gerges with harsh shackles, then they threw a large stone at his chest and left him until the next day, perhaps dying or submitting to their orders, but he endured the pain while thanking Christ.
The torture of the saint by the Hanbazin and the appearance of the Lord of glory to him
When the attempt failed to subdue the saint, the king ordered his torture Bahinbazin, a torture machine is a hideous iron wheel with two wheels of each iron knives and sharp spin each wheel and another reverse. When they put George inside the cupboard and turned his body, taking the wheels torn and blood coming from it.
And indulging in torture came with fire torches and Mrroha on his wounds and then put amounts of salt over his wounds also until the pain became above all the possibility, however, George was offering thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, who endured the pain of the cross for the sins of mankind.
While St. is immersed in a neighborhood between his blood and death the forces of light suddenly appear inside his room in prison and approach him as the savior of the world and give him peace, saying, Fear not, my beloved George because I am with you.
When touching his wounds heal quickly, as it is fantastic, and if he did not hurt any harm. The intensity of four pegs in the lime district and the appearance of the Lord of glory to him a second time to heal from the wounds:
Then Dadianus ordered that they take him out of prison and bring him before him in the judicial council, and the saint was chanting, “My God, look at my help.” Then they became enraged and commanded that he be pulled on four pegs and that a hundred whips should be struck on his stomach.
Then the king ordered that they bring live lime and put it on all his wounds and sores. Then sulfur dissolved in old vinegar is poured over his body, and eight soldiers are assigned to guard him, who will keep him until tomorrow.
The fire ignited and raged in his body, and he suffered greatly, and for an instant, the Savior looked at his suffering, and came down to him from heaven, with his pure angels, and said: Shall I say to you, my beloved Gerges, rise up straight and healthy and free from all your pains, prove and strengthen because I am with you.
Then the Lord touched his body and healed him of all his wounds and gave him peace and ascended to heaven with great glory. As for the blessed Gerges, he stayed the rest of the night, swimming until morning. When the soldiers and the rest of those entrusted with his guard saw him that he was right and healthy, they marveled and hurried and informed the kings.
Accusing the saint of being a sorcerer… and the belief of the sorcerer Athanasius
The next day, the king ordered the commander of his guard to go to prison to verify his death so that he could bury him outside the city. However, the commander of the guard was surprised to find the saint healthy and free of all that had befallen him, so he took him to the king, who was astonished when he saw him in full health. But the king and his assistants began to attribute what happened to the saint to a sorcerer. So the king ordered bring the greatest magicians into the kingdom.
Quickly, the magician Athanasius was in front of the king, who asked him to overcome George and subdue him with the power of magic. Immediately the magician took a cup full of drink and mixed it with a large amount of deadly poison and presented it to the saint to drink, but Saint George repeated himself, saying: “The power of the cross for the perishing is ignorance. We who are saved are the power of God.”
Then he extended his hand and made the sign of the Holy Cross on the cup and ate everything in it, and everyone looked at him, anticipating his fall. But they waited a long time, as the poison did not affect Gerges, so the magician became very angry and took another cup and doubled the amount of poison and read the names of his terrifying demons, the worst of the first, with a tie.
The saint’s hands are alive and he does not make the sign of the cross, but the saint made the sign of the cross with his mouth and ate the cup of poison, but he was not harmed as in the first time.
Then amazement arose among the crowds present, and everyone shouted, including the magician Athanasius, who prostrated between the feet of the saint, declaring their belief in the true God Christ. The king was enraged and the princes who were with him issued an order to behead them with the edge of the sword, and they received the wreath of martyrdom. But the king began gritting his teeth, threatening the hero with all kinds of torments if he continued his belief in the Lord Christ.
Torturing Him with Sharp Blades
The king ordered Gerges to be tortured by extending sharp blades like knives to cut his body parts, but whenever the soldiers tried, their blades were repeated and scattered on the ground. He put the nails of shoes on his feet. The king was not deterred after everything he saw, but his heart hardened, and he asked the soldiers to bring shoes with big nails, then Gerges puts them on and orders him to run.
And in fact, this was done, and blood started to flow from him while he was running, and if he stopped, the soldiers would beat him with the nerves of the cows until his blood erupted from all over his body and he fell into a coma from the severity of the pain, then they took him and threw him in prison between alive and dead. But the Lord Jesus appeared to him in prison and healed him of all his wounds.
The torture of the saint in Norge… and his death for the first time
After that, King Dadianus commanded further torture of the saint, that he be placed inside a Norge with a big wheel with collars, sickles, and sharp swords. Then the king ordered that his bones and flesh be placed in a deep pit so that they could get rid of it once and for all. But the Lord Christ, the Almighty God, wanted to shame Satan and idolaters.
As the earth shook because the Lord of the universe descended and made Gerges alive. As soon as he saw this one of the princes called Anatolis, he declared his faith in the Lord Christ, the God of Gerges, and with him, a large crowd was present and witnessed the great miracle. But the ungrateful king immediately ordered their heads to be cut off, so that the people would not riot, and they received the crown of eternal life. Then the king ordered to put the saint in prison until he mastered a way to destroy the saint and get rid of him.
The torture of the saint with the chainsaw… and his death for the second time
The king then ordered that the saint be brought and spread with a large saw in half while he was lying on the ground with his hands and feet tied with iron chains. When the saint died, the king ordered his burial and that a large quantity of lead, asphalt, and sulfur be placed on him, and ordered the soldiers to kindle fire so that there would be no part of his body left for people to take and honor.
But the Lord of glory did not let the prince of martyrs mock him, as the Lord Jesus descended his angels from heaven and raised Gerges and put him on the ground as if he had not been harmed.
And then the saint began roaming the streets, calling that he was alive in order to believe in the Lord Christ to all. As for the crowds, they surrounded the saint. The king and the princes were very confused when they learned that St. George had returned alive for the second time, and the crowds chanted, believing in the God of George, which made the king issue an order to execute everyone He believed in Christ and killed him with the sword.
The torture of the saint by burying him in a bowl of lime… and the appearance of the Archangel Michael to him
The king was enraged by all that happened, so he ordered Gerges to be placed in a large basin filled with unextinguished live lime for three days, with tight security so that no one would approach him.
But what do all the powers of Satan do? As for the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who transformed the furnace of fire in which he placed the three saints as if it were cold dew. On the third day, the soldiers came to take out his body, which they thought had vanished, and only the bones remained, but they were surprised by the saint. He was not harmed. Archangel Michael and save the saint from any evil.
The torture of the saint and his elevation on the press… and his death for the third time
After that, the infidel king Dadianus ordered to bring Gerges in front of him and beat him mercilessly until his flesh ran out, then ordered to put him in the press until he died and his body became scattered parts. And after they did the king’s orders, as thunder occurred in the sky and severe lightning, and the Lord Jesus Christ, glory be to him, appeared on a cloud and brought Gerges back to life again to shame the infidels, Satan’s servants, and immediately many believed in the God of Gerges.
Inside the King’s Palace
The king was very puzzled, so he petted Gerges and spoke to him gently, promising him that he would make him the second man in the kingdom if he inclined to idols even once. So that the kingdom would not perish because of him, and the saint pretended to agree to show miracles.
In fact, the king ordered his release and made him a guest in the king’s palace inside the palace. The saint hero met with Queen Alexandra, the king’s wife, who wanted to see him when she heard about his courage and endurance of tortures and began to ask him about the secret of his strength and his wonders, and talked about the one eternal and eternal God, the Creator of all things, capable of everything.
And about his incarnation in the womb of the Virgin, and that he is the source of strength that he bestows on his children who believe in him, and that he accepts to him every penitent and forgives him his sins, and he is the aid of those who resort to him in adversity and distress, which made the queen believe in the Lord Christ. Unbeknownst to her husband, the king.
The saint inside the Barba and his talk with the demons and the smashing of statues in front of the crowds
Early in the morning, it was rumored that Gerges had obeyed the king’s orders and that he would incense to the gods. The ceremony was solemn and the corridors crowded with spectators, and the soldiers lined up to greet their friend, the leader, who they thought had submitted to the religion of the kingdom.
The saint advanced and stood in front of the great idol in the middle of the temple and prayed to Christ to show his miracles at this moment so that everyone would know who the true God is.
Then he turned to the idol Apollon and said to him: If you are the true God, reveal your power to the multitudes. A voice heard by all those present came out, “The true God is the one you worship, George. As for us, we are demons living in this stone. Then the saint made the sign of the cross on the great idol, and immediately he fell to the ground, and the rest of the idols in the temple fell. They were beheaded with a sword.
Martyrdom of the Saint
King Dadianus met with kings and princes to find a way to get rid of Gerges and wrote his case that his head is taken with the edge of the sword and signed by the sixty-nine kings and princes. The saint was walking with joy and gladness to the place prepared to receive the wreath of martyrdom.
And when he reached the place, he prayed to the Lord Jesus, then he advanced with a firm and strong heart and stretched his neck to the swordsman who fell heavily on his neck… and received the wreath of martyrdom on the twenty-third day of the month of Baramouda, corresponding to the first of May in about 263 AD.
The transfer of members of the martyr Mar Gerges from Tyre to Lydda
When I took the head of Saint George, his body remained lying on the ground until sunset, and Socrates, the saint’s servant with him, was crying over him and guarding him. And the Lord cast into the heart of two of his servants his friends, and they came into the city to see their master, to know what was his matter.
When he was detailed about him, they informed them that he had been killed on that day. They cried and floated looking for the location of his body. They found Socrates sitting with him crying. So they too sat, weeping with him. Then, after this, they all got up and took the saint’s head and put it with the body.
Then they took off the garment that was on him, which was stained with his pure blood, and put him in a clean garment that belonged to one of them, and they found a new grave outside the city near them. So they put the body of the saint in it and sat there until the next morning.
When they came, they entered the city and bought perfume and pure coffins and shrouded his body with them, then put him in the tomb, and left Socrates with him to guard him, and the other two entered the city to get busy and find the expenses of carrying the body of the saint, their master, in a boat. Departure to Jaffa. They asked the head of the boat carried in their boat, they were glad to do so.
The arrival of the body of the saint to his home in Lydda
Likewise, the merchants, when they heard that the body of Saint George, who was from the city of Lydda, was being carried in their boat, learned his story and were amazed at his torment. And they gathered all of them and prostrated before his body, glorifying God, because they deserved to ascend the body of the saint in their boat.
And one of them was named Leondius by the people of Jaffa. He knew St. George, so he brought a beast, carried his body on it, and took him to his home. Then he found that his mother and two sisters had bowed. So the news spread that the body of Saint George had been brought.
Because they had not seen him for seven years, and the people of his town were Christians, so they gathered and prostrated while weeping, then kissed him while they were amazed at his struggle, and they rejoiced and glorified God.
Then he told Socrates and the other two servants, the name of one of them was Luqas and the name of the other Cyprian. They told the people of the city all that was from their master. And he was astonished. Then they put the body of Saint George in a cupboard inside his house for seven days, and they all came and prayed with him.
Then they carried the body to the pledge of allegiance that was in the city… Then they demolished the saint’s house and built a good and honorable allegiance on the site of his house. And they sent to Jerusalem, Archbishop Anba Tadhosius, who consecrated it on the seventh day of the month of Hatour and put his body there. On that night, miracles and miracles took place in the pledge of allegiance, and the pledge was built in a year and ten months. Biography of Saint Martyr George
The Status of the Martyr in the World
Saint George has an international reputation that extends to all parts of the world. He is the patron saint of Britain: which has 152 villages in his name and his image is engraved on the English pound (gold pound), and Britain celebrates the anniversary of his martyrdom on April 23 of each year. and shelters.
Many British kings take his name for themselves, such as George I, II, III, IV, V, and VI.
In Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, there are churches named after the martyr Saint George. In Lebanon, there is a bay on its bank, the city of Beirut itself. It is known as the Gulf of Saint George or the Gulf of Greens.
In Italy: Saint George enjoys great prestige among the Catholics, as he is the patron of the Catholic Church in misfortunes. There were found in Rome and Naples very old churches named after Saint George. Pope Gelasius I, Pope of Rome, had proven the holiness of Saint George in a council held in Rome in the year 404AD.
In France: King Clovis II (638 – 656) built a large church in the name of St. George. Queen Clonida, his wife, believed in the hero’s intercession, so she built churches in his name, and she allocated a lot of money to serve these churches on her own money.
In Austria: Emperor Frederick established in the year 1470 AD an order of cavalry (equestrian) in the name of St. George.
In Russia: The hero Georges had a great position in Tsarist Russia, so they painted his picture on the forts. And Empress Catherine established a high-ranking medal called the Georges Medal, which is in the form of a cross engraved in the center with a picture of the saint, and was awarded to the great commanders who win wars as a reward for their courage and to commemorate their heroism.
Saint George was the healer of the Russian Empire before the Bolshevik revolution in 1923. There is no doubt that the Russians They will return to take him as their patron after the collapse of communism in their country.
In Greece: They give him the greatest honor, build churches and monasteries in his name, and call him a name that distinguishes him from all the martyrs, so they call him the nailer or the bearer of the sign of victory, as they describe him as the great martyr and the chief of the martyrs. (Google Translate)
Sources: The Book of the Synaxarium, Biographies of the Saints, Saint Tekla website
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