Monday 23 April is St George's Day. YC got into the mood with an evensong for St George at St Augustin's church today. In the words of Rev T: "very little is known about St George". What is known is that he was a Roman soldier who was martyred for his faith in the third century in modern day Palestine. The other stuff - that he killed a dragon to defend a town and a fair maiden - came along later when he was adopted by the crusaders and then England as a patron saint. He was firmly embedded in the nation's sympathies in Elizabethan times - "Cry God for Harry, England, and St George" said Henry V (according to Shakespeare) at the battle of Agincourt.
St George was martyred - but do readers actually know what this means? YC assumed it meant someone who was killed for their faith. But he learned tonight that martyr comes from the Greek word martus meaning "witness". So St George can be an example to us all as a witness to his Christian faith. Crumbs. It's time to start singing along to your favourite school hymn (click here):
When a knight won his spurs in the stories of old,
He was gentle and brave, he was gallant and bold.
With a shield on his arm and a lance in his hand,
For God and for valour he rode through the land.