**Wed April 23-Orthodox Church Calendar/ new calendar date, May 6** Holy Glorious Great-Martyr George Life and Readings
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O Holy Great Martyr George, Pray to God For Us!
CHRIST IS RISEN! XRISTOS ANESTI! XRISTOS VOSKRESE!
Date: Mon, 4 May 2015 08:23:15 -0400
Subject: **Wed May 6** Holy Glorious Great-Martyr George Life and Readings
From: Sbn Ilarion Marr
Christ Is Risen! Truly He Is Risen!
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
George,
this truly great and glorious Martyr of Christ, was born of a father
from Cappadocia and a mother from Palestine. Being a military tribune,
or chiliarch (that is, a commander of a thousand troops), he was
illustrious in battle and highly honoured for his courage. When he
learned that the Emperor Diocletian was preparing a persecution of the
Christians, Saint George presented himself publicly before the Emperor
and denounced him. When threats and promises could not move him from his steadfast confession, he was put to unheard-of tortures, which he endured with great bravery, overcoming them by his faith and love towards Christ. By
the wondrous signs that took place in his contest, he guided many to
the knowledge of the truth, including Queen Alexandra, wife of
Diocletian, and was finally beheaded in 296 in Nicomedia. Also
commemorated on this day are Martyrs Anatolius and Protoleon, were
soldiers converted by witnessing the martyrdom of Saint George.
His
sacred remains were taken by his servant from Nicomedia to Palestine,
to a town called Lydda, the homeland of his mother, and then were
finally transferred to the church which was raised up in his name. (The
translation of the Saint’s holy relics to the church in Lydda is
commemorated on November 3; Saint Alexandra the Queen, on April 21.)
The
Church dedicated to the Great Martyr George is located in Lodd, Lydda.
Lodd is one of the major cities in Palestine. Following the tradition
of the ancient churches – built on the graves of the martyrs, the Church
of St George was built in the place where the saint was buried after
been martyred.
Lydda
is an ancient city mentioned in both the Old as well as the New
Testaments; In the Ist Chronicle: 8, 12, and in the Acts of the
Apostles: ” As Peter traveled
about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. There he found a
man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years.
“Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take
care of your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in
Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. “(Acts 9, 32-35). According
to the Holy Scripture, Lydda was built by a member of the tribe of
Benjamin, Shemed. This place was deserted starting with the captivity of
Babylon, but it was reestablished immediately after the Jews returned
from exile.
In
the Hellenistic period, this place was situated outside the borders of
Judea, but in the period of the Maccabees, it was returned to the
Israelis.
By
the Byzantine era, the town was already largely Christianized. This is
one of the legendary places where the Holy Great Martyr St. George was
born which is why, for a time, the city was called Georgiopolis. The
Tomb of the Holy Martyr was built in the very place, where it
exists today. Conquered by the Muslims in the year 636, the city of
Lydda will become part of the region of Philistines. Later, in 1099,
the Crusaders will occupy the city.
For
the English king Richard the Lionheart, the city held a precious value,
considering this was the place of birth of the protector of England –
Holy Great Martyr George. For a time the Crusaders made this city the
seat of the Roman rite. According to the Jewish pilgrim Benjamin of
Tudela, in the city of Lydda, in the year 1170, only a Jewish dyer was
left among the Crusaders inhabitants.
St. George is
famous not only in his hometown but throughout the whole Christian
world as one of the most beloved saints. After saint’ martyrdom,
Christians have taken his body and brought it to the Holy Land in his
native village. The Church St. George (el-Khader) of Lydda, is one of
the most sacred places of worship in the region and it was dedicated to
the Christian Martyrs of the fourth century.
The
present church from Lodd was built in 1870, and it was attached by a
common wall to the mosque of Chodr El. Towards the end of the
nineteenth century, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has
received approval from Turkish authorities, to rebuild a church on the
site of a former Christian basilica. The last ruins present here
belonged to an ancient Christian church from the XV century; the new
basilica – a Greek Orthodox Monastery built over those ruins, was
dedicated to the Holy Martyr George as well as to the Holy Archangels
Michael and Gabriel.
In
order to approve the building of the new Orthodox Monastery, Turkish
authorities have requested that the remaining space to be given up
for the mosque. Therefore, the current Church St. George occupies only
the north-eastern corner of the old Christian basilica.
The underground chapel of this newly built Orthodox Monastery preserves the tomb of St. George and part of his relics.
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The Reading is from the Acts of the Apostles:
12:1-11
King James Version (KJV 1611)
12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.
9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
The Holy Gospel according to: Saint John 15:17-16:2
King James Version (KJV 1611)
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
23 He that hateth Me hateth My Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause.
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.
16 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
From
the conversation of Abbess Alexandra, the Odessa abbess of the
monastery of St. John (ROCOR), with Bishop Ambrose of the GOC-Greece