St George's Day.

Who is St. George and why is there day honouring him?

IN HIS Oxford Dictionary Of Saints, David Hugh Farmer explains that St George was adopted as patron saint in the Middle Ages by England and Catalonia, as well as by Venice, Genoa and Portugal, because he was the personification of the ideals of Christian chivalry. St George had been known in England since the 7th-8th centuries but his cult gained new impetus in England during the Crusades. A vision of George and Demetrius at the siege of Antioch preceded the defeat of the Saracens and the fall of the town on the first Crusade. Richard I placed himself and his army under George's protection, and St George was subsequently regarded as the special patron of soldiers. Edward III founded the Order of the Garter under St George's patronage in 1348. In 1415 - after the battle of Agincourt, when Henry V invoked George as England's patron - St George's feast was raised in rank to one of the principal feasts of the year. St George remained popular in the post-medieval period, but as there is considerable doubt about the historical veracity of his legend, his cult was reduced to a local one in the reform of the Roman calendar in 1969.
Hope that helps.
Upt'North.

Oh yes, he is a dragon slayer too, for dragon read evil.
 
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St Joseph is the Patron Saint of carpenters....and cuckolds...

You see? the Catholic Church really does have a sense of humour.

Happy Saint George Day to our English cousins.

All kidding aside, the Patron Saint of Canada is Jean de Brebeuf, who was ritually tortured to death by the Mohawk.
 
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