BritBoyUK

Its the 23rd of April!!
Happy St. Georges day EVERYONE especially to the English members! its our day today and it makes me proud to celebrate who i am and where i'm from! "With St. George in my heart keep me English!"

well heres a few things u "probably" didnt know about the Patron Saint of England..

· St George is the patron saint of England and among the most famous of Christian figures. But of the man himself, nothing is certainly known.


· St. George held the rank of tribune in the Roman army and was beheaded by Diocletian for protesting against the Emperor's persecution of Christians. George rapidly became venerated throughout Christendom as an example of bravery in defence of the poor and the defenceless and of the Christian faith.


· St George had become acknowledged as Patron Saint of England by the end of the fourteenth century. In 1415, the year of Agincourt, Archbishop Chichele raised St George's Day to a great feast and ordered it to be observed like Christmas Day. In 1778 the holiday reverted to a simple day of devotion for English Catholics.


· The banner of St George, the red cross of a martyr on a white background, was adopted for the uniform of English soldiers possibly in the reign of Richard 1, and later became the flag of England and the White Ensign of the Royal Navy.


· The Legend of “St. George and the Dragon”
According to legend, a pagan town in Libya was being terrorised by a dragon. The locals kept throwing sheep to it to placate it, and when it still remained unsatisfied, they started sacrificing some of the citizenry. Finally the local princess was to be thrown also to the beast, but Good Saint George came along, slaughtered the dragon and rescued the fair princess. At this the townsfolk converted to Christianity.

The symbols explained are that the Dragon represented satan and the Princess represented the Christian Church. Saint George rescued the pagans from evil by vanquishing it and saved the Church from being devoured by the insatiable forces of darkness.


· Saint George is a leading character in one of the greatest poems in the English language, Spencer's Faerie Queene (1590 and 1596). St George appears in Book 1 as the Redcrosse (sic) Knight of Holiness, protector of the Virgin. In this guise he may also be seen as the Anglican church upholding the monarchy of Elizabeth1.


· St. George is also mentioned in these famous lines from Shakespeare's Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1, l. 31:

'I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge
Cry God for Harry, England and St George!'.



p.s sorry if its kinda long. Happy St. Georges Day tho!!

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This is MY first Siggy hehe


Thanx to Julie for making this awesome sig!!


St. Georges Cross of England

ZackMack

i must admit i don't know much about St. George or the celebration.
but every day i feel proud to be English, people who know me best know how patriotic i am, especially when it's football related
*puts hand on heart*

BritBoyUK

yeah ppl who know me also know that i am VERY patriotic! i am aslo proud to Be English every day too lad but this is the only day that we r ALLOWED to be English and not stupid "british" or summut! Land Of Hope Anf Glory!

__________________

This is MY first Siggy hehe


Thanx to Julie for making this awesome sig!!


St. Georges Cross of England

ZackMack

yeah i know what u mean, i don't consider myself British, European or whatever u want to call it...i am ENGLISH, from my head to my toes, and that's the bottom line.

~*atomic*~

Me too! I'm very proud to be English!

TeensNQueens

*wishes she was english*

Happy St George's Day Have a good one and never forgert your roots

~*atomic*~

Thanks! I know I'll never forget my roots!, 'cos my mums tracing my family tree! Infact I'm a quarter Irish! Cos my dads dad was Irish So don't say any 'irish' jokes 'cos I'd get offended