The most important aspect of this week's feast celebrating Victoria's patron and protector ought to be the spiritual one. Through it we all can discover in St George his persistence in giving witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ.

Despite the so many sufferings, he persevered till the end and many nations and peoples look at him, even today, as a true model of how this Christian witness should be lived.

This year, together with the so many Church teachers who since St George's martyrdom in 303 have presented him as a model and example of this authentic witness of spiritual life, we have to add the eminent teaching of the present Pope, Benedict XVI.

During the celebration of Vespers at the Greek Melkite Cathedral of St George in Amman, Jordan, last May, in the presence of many Iraqi Christians who had fled persecution in the home countries, Pope Benedict remind-ed all those gathered that all Christians are called to respond actively to the Lord's mandate to bring others to know and love Him, as St George did in dramatic ways, that is in the most terrible persecution of those times.

May we all celebrate St George in this way inspired by the Holy Father.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.