St George, our Patron
OT: 1 Macc. 2.59-64; NT: 2 Timothy 2.3-13; Gospel: John 15.18-21
I was greatly puzzled to discover that the Feast of St George - the festival
of our Patron Saint - has not usually been celebrated here in Hanover Square.
I was all the more puzzled therefore when I read the very fine booklet on
the church and parish written in the 1970s by former Rector Prebendary Bill
Atkins. In that booklet Fr Atkins notes that St George was one of the most
venerated of the early martyrs of the church - and is still known today
in the Eastern Orthodox Churches as 'The Great Martyr'. Fr Atkins then goes
on to remark, with characteristic wry humour, that although in the 1960s
the Roman Catholic Church had downgraded the observance of St George to
'the mere status of a local saint… this view is not shared by the Orthodox
Church. Nor is it in Hanover Square'!
It is therefore in part out of respect for Prebendary Atkins' conviction,
that we are honouring St George by this special Festal Eucharist this morning.
For it is an opportunity for us to give thanks to God, not only for St George,
our Patron, but also to acknowledge all that we, and former worshippers
over the years - both lay people and clergy - owe to this St George's Church,
as a place where we have sought and found God, where we have brought our
joys and sorrows, and where we have been fed and nurtured in the faith,
and have gone out strengthened and refreshed with God's blessing and his
peace.
But who in fact was St George, the 'Great Martyr'? And why was this church
dedicated in his honour in 1725? And why, even with Fr Atkins' encouragement,
should we be marking his feast day in 2005?
It is said that there is little known about St George, but when I announced
that we would be observing his feast day today, a member of the congregation
kindly produced a copy of the entry on St George from the Dictionary of
National Biography. It runs to 35 A4 pages, and three and a half pages of
footnotes! But have no fear you're not in for a 50 minute lecture! According
to the most reliable - even if rather sketchy - sources, our St George was
born in about AD265 into a Christian family, in what is modern Turkey. About
the age of 17, he enlisted as a cavalry soldier in the army of the Roman
emperor, Diocletian.
The next we hear of George is in 304, by which time he had risen to senior
rank in the Roman army and was serving in Lydda, a town about half way between
modern Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It was in the early 300s that the emperor
Diocletian began his savage persecution of Christians, and when George refused
to compromise or renounce his Christian faith, he was tortured and eventually
beheaded in April 304. That is the bare outline of his story. The fact that
as early as 322 his martyrdom is written up, that he was canonised in 494,
and that very soon numerous churches dedicated in his name were built throughout
the Holy Land and beyond, give reputable historians sufficient grounds for
attesting to his story.
I fear I gravely disappointed the children at our parish school on Friday,
when I very quickly passed over questions about the dragon and the princess!
The story also goes that having saved the princess from the dragon, in a
chivalrous flourish, George presented her with a red rose, giving rise to
the tradition of wearing a red rose on his feast day! Alas, these exploits
of our saint, however fascinating to the young, and attractive for their
daring, are entirely fictitious, and did not become attached to George's
story until the 12th century - the age of the Crusades when such legends
were extremely popular. That was the period when other fantastical episodes
and miracles were attributed to St George, but let it be sufficient for
us to honour him for what can be trusted - his faith and faithfulness.
But why, in 1721, a period of English history not known for its devotion
to the saints, should the name of St George have been chosen when the foundation
stone of this church was laid by local benefactor, the Honourable William
Steuart? That Dictionary of National Biography article I was given, suggests
that the popularity of St George in England in the 1700s was directly related
to the fact that the first four monarchs of the new Hanoverian dynasty bore
the name of George. In a slightly sarcastic aside, the author of the article
suggests that it was thus possible 'for the loyal, the ambitious, and the
sycophantic' of the time to acclaim the monarchs of the new dynasty by celebrating
the nation's patron saint! Since at least four new churches built in London
in that period are named in honour of St George, the diocese must have had
a fair few loyal and ambitious sycophants!
But despite a waxing and waning of his popularity across the centuries,
St George has always maintained a place in the affections of the English.
Yes, he was of course popular in the years of the Crusades, but there were
several churches dedicated in honour of St George before the Norman Conquest.
By 1222, St George's Day was so popular that it was declared a 'lesser holiday'
by the Synod of Oxford; King Edward III made St George patron of his new
Order of the Garter, and then in 1415, by which time St George was well
established as Patron Saint of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury raised
23rd April to a feast of the highest rank, on a par with Christmas Day.
And by an interesting coincidence, within 20 years of this church being
dedicated, it was a Pope Benedict, the XIVth, who declared St George to
be England's 'protector'.
So much for the past, what of the significance of St George for us today?
As most of you will know, it was your previous Rector, Fr John Slater, who
wanted to reclaim our patron saint, and his red cross flag, from exploitation
by football hooligans or divisive political extremists. So he inaugurated
the St George's Day celebration of readings and music, the second of which
we held here last Thursday evening. It was a delightful evening; and how
good it was to be able to express pride in 'England and all things English'
without any fear of infringing so-called 'political correctness'. For I
find it a lovely irony that St George has no direct links with England at
all. He was a Turkish national, spent half his life in Palestine, served
in the Roman army and never set foot in this country throughout his life!
And furthermore, we have to share his patronage with more countries than
any other saint in the calendar, all over Europe and beyond! As well as
being 'England's saint', George is patron saint of Greece, Germany, Portugal,
Lithuania, Palestine, the State of Georgia, Catalonia, Aragon, the cities
of Moscow, Istanbul, and Genoa, and he is featured on 13 Swiss flags, as
well as on the flags of Slovenia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Province
of Saragossa and the City of Barcelona. And he is especially honoured in
the Orthodox Churches, and by the Churches of the Near East and Ethiopia.
This is the third Church of St George in which I have served. In fact the
very first church where I served as a curate at the beginning of my ministry
was the Church of St George the Martyr, in the Diocese of Auckland, NZ.
It also happens that I have never before preached on St George, so this
exercise has enabled me to reflect on what all these elements of St George's
life amount to for us today.
First, in sharing St George with people of so many other nationalities,
cultures and traditions there is little hope of us getting away with being
xenophobic or jingoistic in our honouring of our patron saint. May that
enable us to celebrate St George with a deeper and wider generosity of spirit,
and to reject the anxious, defensive and hostile nationalism that falsely
portrays itself as patriotism. As nurse Edith Cavell's last words before
she was shot remind us: "Patriotism is not enough", she said.
"I must have no bitterness towards anyone." There is nothing at
all wrong with patriotism. It's just that it is "not enough".
Which is why I see today's celebration as complementing, rounding off, the
celebration we had on Thursday. There, in the name of St George, we rejoiced,
we revelled, in our love of England and all things English. Here, this morning,
in the spirit of St George, we enlarge our vision. Here in the context of
the eucharist, this all inclusive gathering around the Lord's table, this
feast in which we join our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving with the
offerings of the lives and deaths of the saints, we give thanks for the
inspiration of the 'foreigner' we claim as our brother in the faith, and
we honour him as our patron, for his steadfastness in that faith. St George
the Martyr, our soldier-saint, stood up for what he believed, and spoke
out against what he saw as undermining that belief. That 'witness' (which
is what the word µ??t?? (martyr) means) challenges us all. May it
also encourage us, wherever we find ourselves, to do likewise.