St. George’s Day /День святого Георгия Победоносца: Cry God For Vovka, Russia and St. George!

The only difference between a saint and a sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

~ Oscar Wilde

 Today’s is St. George’s Day and before you Brits go ballistic, remember that, despite all that “religion is the opium of the masses” stuff, Russia still goes by the Orthodox calendar, and thus is always about 13 days behind the rest of the world.  We’ve talked about this before.

Having conceived this stunt, I was determined to steer clear of all but the most important religious holidays…once you get into things like  Day of Saint Simeon the Stylites, you kiss any hope of seeing Grey’s Anatomy on a regular basis good-bye.   But St. George is actively celebrated in Russia, possibly due to its proximity The Major Event (stay tuned) happening later this week, and therefore is something of a warm up.   It’s also a very good example of how post-perestroika Russia has returned to Tsarist traditions. Catherine The Great established the Military Order of St. George in 1769, and this was revived in 1994 by President Boris Yeltsin, with an obvious hiatus from 1917 – 1994.  The Order of St. George, said she in a know-it-all voice, is the highest military order in Russia, and before you HRHs out there start mouthing off about The Hero of The Russian Federation, which used to be called The Hero of the Soviet Union, that is the highest military honor associated with a medal.  So there.

When HRH does something truly astonishing such as carrying his empty coffee cup upstairs to the kitchen (our kitchen is upstairs) and is obviously looking for the gold star, I will often say to him:

“What to do you want, The Order of Lenin?” to which he will instantly and rather cheekily rejoin

“First class.”

I think I will start asking him if he wants the Order of St. George the Triumphant.  If I can figure out how to say “Triumphant” in Russian, which could be uphill work.

If you were in Russia this week, you’ll have seen a lot of these ribbons, the “George Ribbon” which is a fad that got going five years ago when Russia celebrated the 60^th anniversary of World War II:  motorists tie this on their antennae or on the dashboard to show their patriotism.   The colors of the ribbon are said to represent fire and gunpowder and are possibly derived from the original Tsarist Coat of Arms, which also features George and the dragon.

 St. George appears on a lot of coats of arms in Russia, as well as on the Presidential flag.  You can see him in the middle slaying the dragon, which interestingly in Russian/Orthodox tradition never dies (classic) but is locked in eternal struggle with the noble George, who embodies all the virtues of bravery, faith, Christian morals and compassion.  No wonder he’s the patron saint of the Boy Scouts.  

 We don’t know much about George himself, except that he was a noble Roman soldier who was beheaded by Emperor Diocletian (who was often known as “the dragon” which perhaps gave birth to the legend) for protesting the Roman persecution of the early Christians.  

Whoever he was, today, St. George is a busy guy:  he is the patron saint of soldiers, cavalry, chivalry, farmers, field workers, Boy Scouts, butchers, horses & riders, saddlers, archers (hence the Henry V speech), and those who can’t get their visa to Russia because they have leprosy, plague or syphilis.   Saint George is supposedly buried outside Tel Aviv, but that doesn’t stop Moscow from making him its patron saint, along with many countries and cities.

Happy St. George’s Day to all who claim him!  And who is the patron saint of Pony Moms…huh?  Huh?

Author's Note:

I'm indebted to Michael Collin's excellent article on St. George in Britannia for details on the life and worship of St. George.

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 Dear Reader:

Happy St. George's Day!   Are you a Boy Scout or a Butcher?   Did you have to get a leprosy test to get to Russia, or do you think that's just the straw that might break the camel's back?  Thank you very much for stopping by Dividing My Time.  That means a lot to me, as does your feedback.  Tell me, how do you celebrate St. George's Day, if indeed you celebrate it at all?   Does your husband think he deserves a medal of honor for picking up his dirty socks?   Whatever you're thinking, leave me a comment by clicking on the comment button below and let me know about it!