St George - his story

There was a time some five decades ago when it was widely rumoured that St George had been "demoted" and no longer belonged to the "premier division" of mega-martyrs. The truth is that St George is the patron saint of England, Portugal, Aragon, Catalonia and Lithuania. A former Soviet republic, Georgia still bears his name. One of the two parishes of Qormi in Malta, and one of the two parishes of Rabat in Gozo are dedicated to St George.

Qormi-born historian Fr George Aquilina, OFM, must have been harbouring this slight for quite some time. So he started researching and keeping notes along the years to produce a monograph to prove the authentic history of the patron saint of his birthplace.

Towards the end of last year the parish of St George published San Gorg Martri ta' Kristu (St George Martyr of Christ). This historical information was collected and compiled by Fr Aquilina, a Franciscan scholar, historian and archivist of his order. His aim undoubtedly was to discredit the false rumour and to honour his patron saint and his worshippers.

Fr Frans Abdilla, archpriest of St George's parish, was justified in stating in his presentation of the book that there is nothing artificial, no sentimentalism, really and truly everything as it should be as behoves the mature spiritual nature of the author.

There are nine chapters in this book. Translated from the original Maltese, these chapters read: Sources on the lives of ancient martyr saints, Persecutions, George is his Name, St George martyr, Lydda the town of St George, The Crusades, The legends and early symbols of St George, The cult of St George started in Palestine, and St George in the Maltese Islands.

The first chapter is by way of introduction showing the approach needed for the study of one particular saint. This is further to premise that documentary proofs on the third and fourth centuries are rare. The documentation that exists simply provides the scenario of the period of the life of the saint in review.

Persecution is the subject matter of the second chapter. It throws light as to the reasons the Emperor Decius suspected the dangers to his autocratic rule by the superstitions and macabre rites introduced from the east into his Roman Empire. Hence the persecutions of Christians.

In the chapter Gorg hu ismu, the author based his thesis on the Passio Sancti Georgii. These acta passionis were written to fill the void regarding known martyrs. They formed part of the liturgy of those days.

The decretum, an important document that originated during the Roman council of the time of Pope St Damasus twice contains a mention of St George. There is a description of the martyrdom suffered by St George and his companions. St Andrew of Crete composed his panegyric on St George, of whom he was a devotee. He confined his findings to that which appeared to him to be more or less sure and without exaggeration. The author proves that Anici is not the surname of the saint. Anikitos means 'the invincible' from which Anici is derived. George is listed with the Anikitos. Ancient writers did not hesitate to include George among the great saints.

As to the credit given to St George as a martyr Fr Aquilina proves by quoting the gospel of St Mathew. By the word martyr the evangelist means the man who gives or provides evidence of his act. It was simply a juridical term. Later the word was given the meaning of witness of Jesus. The first Christians were baptised with water. Later, during the persecutions those who proclaimed their faith by having been baptised received their second baptism by shedding their blood. This is the development of the word martyr.

Fr Aquilina shies away from sentimentalism and explains why the early martyrs were so called even those who did not die when proving their evidence of being believers in the Christ Jesus.

This monograph is therefore essentially a study about St George who was one of the witnesses or martyrs of Christ.

Fr Aquilina even went so far as to explain and give his opinion based on the writings of the early Fathers of the Church concerning the legends and early symbols of St George.

It is proved that St George and later St Sebastian are buried in the crypt of the basilica of Lydda. At present the site consists of a mosque and a Christian basilica, both dedicated to St George, since he was considered by Muslims as a disciple of the prophet of Allah.

This worthwhile study contains no self-praise, Indeed Fr Aquilina admits that this study is only a preliminary work that has to be completed either by himself or by another researcher. He satisfies himself as having produced a book for his co-citizens of Qormi to have in hand something tangible so that this 'historical information' - a phrase incorporated in the title - strengthens their love for their patron saint.

The author shies away from what is obviously sentimental and legendary and relies solely on what can be proved scientifically according to the norms of history writing.

The last two chapters deal with the origin of the cult of St George in Palestine. The very last chapter concerns the worship of St George in the Maltese Islands. This book is a must for devotees of St George.