THE P RTAL

April 2011 Page 7

The idea of this regular feature is to give readers “ a martyr a month ” which sounds rather grisly but is , alas , all too easy to achieve given the great realities of Christian history . The emphasis is to be on English martyrs , reflecting the particularities of our history . But for April , and in this first year of PORTAL ’ s life , it ’ s right to focus on a great martyr who never visited England , who could not speak our language , or whatever version of it was existing at the time in which he lived , and whose connection with our land might seem a bit remote .

St George ( feast day April 23 rd ) is Protector of the English Realm , has been honoured here at least since the time of the Crusades – when Norman and English soldiers brought back tales of his cult from the Holy Land – and is today enjoying something of a rather forced revival in a plastic-hats and let ’ s- get-drunk sort of way which reflects rather bleakly on our lack of authentic culture .

which was Good Friday .

Far too many churchy booklets and religious materials begin their section on St George with the cliché that we don ’ t know much about him and that he ’ s really a sort of legend . This is nonsense .

St George was a major martyr of the Diocletian persecution ( 4 th century , Roman Empire ), held the rank of Tribune ( roughly Colonel ) in the Roman Army , was serving in the Middle East , and as a prominent citizen was among the first Christians to protest when the Emperor issued a series of anti-Christian edicts . These edicts aimed at ferreting out Christians from the Army – Diocletian had been persuaded that they were a source of disloyalty – and resulted in several being arrested , and all soldiers being forced to offer public pagan worship .

George was personally known to the Emperor , wellconnected , and a loyal Roman with a distinguished record of service whose father had similarly been a senior Army officer and public official .

There seems to have been a reluctance to arrest Tribune George and once he was imprisoned there were prolonged attempts to persuade him out of his commitment to Christ . Eventually , persuasion gave way to threats and then to torture .

Ancient documents hail George as one of the greatest of the martyrs of this era . His cult spread rapidly . There is evidence of pre-Anglo-Saxon ( ie “ ancient British ”) devotion to him here , with churches named in his honour . The later revival of his cult following the Crusades , and his being made Patron of the Noble Order of the Garter , are of course the stuff of standard history-books ... or were . Does the history syllabus feature such things at present ?

Inevitably , in today ’ s Britain , there are attempts to claim a sense of identity by waving St George flags and shouting about “ Ing-ger-land !”. All rather bleak . The Church will do real good by simply telling the story of St George and celebrating his feast-day . It was touching to hear the Holy Father invoking St George ’ s prayers - along with those of St Andrew and St David - for us on his recent visit .

There ’ s a fine chapel of St George in Westminster Cathedral , where the walls are lined with the names of our fallen soldiers .

In these days when affirming Christian faith and morals in Britain can evoke derision , and under certain circumstances legal penalties , we do well to invoke the aid of St George .