St George's Day Assembly
Today our House Captains from St George led a whole school assembly about the patron saint of England, whose feast day is celebrated on the 23rd April.
Did you know that Saint George is the patron saint of England, yet he wasn’t born in the country and never even visited!
Saint George was born in Turkey, almost 300 years after the birth of Jesus, but he grew up near Bethlehem. At that time, Bethlehem and the surrounding lands were ruled by the Roman Empire, and so, as a young man, George became a Roman soldier. Around this time, George also became a Christian, which made his role as a soldier a bit tricky for two reasons. Firstly, Jesus instructed his followers to be people of peace. In Saint Matthew’s Gospel we hear Jesus say to his disciples, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’ Mt 5:9 That’s why, in the picture of Saint George we can see, his sword has been turned into a farming tool, and he’s holding Saint Matthew’s Gospel in his hand. Secondly, the Roman Emperor at the time hated Christians. In fact, he ordered the execution of hundreds of Christians. As a Roman soldier, George had the chance of escaping death by giving up his faith, but George chose instead to give all his money and possessions to the poor and courageously die as a martyr. A martyr is a person who is killed because of their beliefs. Saint George was martyred on 23 April 303.
St George was buried in a city called Lod, in the Holy Land. The Holy Land is the name given to areas that are sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The map of the Holy Land that we can see shows us some places we learn about in the Bible, including Bethlehem. After George’s death, a great church was built over his grave. Several other churches named after Saint George were built in other parts of the Holy Land too. One was built very near to Bethlehem, in a town called Al-Khader. The town Al-Khader is named after a Muslim prophet. It’s a name which means ‘the green one’. Some Muslims believe the green prophet is Saint George. In the town of Al-Khader, both Muslims and Christians honour Saint George. Their love and respect for Saint George unites the people.
Thank you to the wonderful house captains of St George, who planned and delivered a brilliant assembly where we found out so much about this famous saint!
