According to Orthodox tradition, the great feast of St. George is influenced by Lent and the day that occurs each year at Easter.
Resurrection is a movable holiday and is calculated based on the Full Moon. Easter is defined as the Sunday after the first Full Moon that rises after the vernal equinox. So depending on the date on which Easter is celebrated, the feast of Saint George is also determined.
Feast of St. George on May 6
Saint George (280 – 23 April 303) was a Greek soldier in the Roman army. He came from Cappadocia and served as an army officer under Emperor Diocletian. He was sentenced to death because he did not renounce his Christian faith and was later canonized as a Christian martyr.
If April 23 falls within Lent, then the feast is moved to the day after Easter, i.e. the feast is moved to May 6, 2024.
Who was Saint George?
At a young age George enlisted in the Roman army. He distinguished himself for his boldness and heroism and received the office of tribune. A little later, the emperor Diocletian made him a duke (commander) with the title of count (colonel) in the Ankioron order of the imperial guard; “many years ago you excelled majestically in the schools after this first order of count by election was promoted”.
In 303 AD, when the persecutions of Diocletian began, George did not hesitate to confess his Christian faith, causing Diocletian’s anger, because he held a great office and was his favorite. He initially offered him riches, land and slaves to convert and when George refused, pitying the pagans, he subjected him to a series of horrific tortures. First they tied the saint to a tree and beat him in the stomach with a pole.
Christian tradition describes that after they stabbed him, they tore his flesh with a special wheel of knives. He was then thrown into a pit of slaked lime and then forced to walk in hot metal shoes.
According to Christian tradition, out of all these trials, God miraculously kept him alive.
George was finally martyred by beheading, on Friday, April 23 of the year 303 AD. According to the calculation of the Christian historian and apologist Saint Eusebius, this day corresponded to the Friday of the Transcendent Easter. The Christians took his remains and buried them with those of his mother, who was martyred on the same or the following day.
According to Christian tradition, George’s faithful servant, Pasikrates, fulfilling his wish, took the remains of George, together with that of his mother, and transported them to Lydda in Palestine. Constantine the Great built a temple over his tomb. From there the Crusaders took them to the West.
George’s faith seems to be the reason for the baptism of the soldiers Anatolios and Protoleon, Victor and Akindinus, Zoticus and Zeno, Christophoros and Severianus, Theonas, Caesarius and Antonius, whose memory is celebrated by the Church on April 20 and Queen Alexandra, wife of Diocletian, together with Apollo’s servants Isaac and Codratos, whose memory is commemorated on April 21, and Saint Nike.
After the martyrdom of Georgios, his associates Eusebius, Neo, Leontius, Longinus and four others were martyred together.
The Church honors their memory on April 23. We see that centered on the day of the martyrdom of St. George, a festive cycle is created within the liturgical time of the Church, which is cultivated more than the Standard of Constantinople, which begins on April 20 and ends on April 24.
This festive cycle shows the prominent position of Saint George in the life of the Church. From the hymnography of the Orthodox Church, he is adorned with the epithets “the precious daisy”, “the excellent the divine”, “the glorious lion”, “the multi-bright star”, “the soldier of Christ”, “the interlocutor of the heavenly army” ».
What are the Foen-type winds that affect the country – When does the phenomenon subside
Easter weather: The forecast of Arniakous, which does not surprise us, and Kallianos, which surprises us
Clash of minors in a structure in Larissa – A young man is in the hospital
