Have a great St Georges Day.

Cliff




Today, 23rd April, England celebrates St George's day with varying
degrees of officialness. The great Englishman was born in Turkey and never
actually made it to England, but has worked for us for more than 800 years.
Cataluña also shares St George as their patron Saint and they traditionally
celebrated with lot of fireworks.

Saint George is popularly identified with England and English ideals of
honour, bravery and gallantry, but actually he wasn't English at all. Very
little is known about the man who became St George.

Quick known facts:

* Born in Turkey (in Cappadocia)
* Lived in 3rd century
* His parents were Christian
* Became a Roman soldier
* Protested against Rome's persecution of Christians
* Imprisoned and tortured, but stayed true to his faith
* Beheaded at Lydda in Palestine

St. George is believed to have been born in Cappadocia (now Eastern
Turkey) in the year A.D. 270. He was a Christian. At the age of seventeen, he
joined the Roman army and soon became renowned for his bravery. He served under
a pagan Emperor but never forgot his Christian faith.

When the pagan Emperor Diocletian started persecuting Christians, St.
George pleaded with the Emperor to spare their lives. However, St. George's
pleas fell on deaf ears and it is thought that the Emperor Diocletian tried to
make St. George deny his faith in Christ, by torturing him. St George showed
incredible courage and faith and was finally beheaded near Lydda in Palestine on
23 April, 303.

In 1222, the Council of Oxford declared April 23 to be St George's Day and
he replaced Edward the Confessor as England's patron saint in the 14th century.
In 1415, April 23 was made a national feast day.

St George is patron saint not only of England but also of Aragon,
Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine and Portugal - amongst others -
although he is celebrated on different days.

St George is also patron saint of scouts, soldiers, archers, cavalry and
chivalry, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers, and he helps those
suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]