Martyrdom George

In the name of God. The martyrdom of the holy George, the strong martyr, of our Lord Jesus Christ, who completed his struggle on the twenty-third of the month Pharmouthi, in the peace of God. Amen. Now at that time, in the season of winter and the great persecution that arose against the church, there was a great commotion. It was severe. The cities, each place, were in turmoil, persecuting the confessors of the truth under the hands of the demons of the idols. They were compelling everyone to worship the idols. Then King Dadianos, he who had received the authority and ruled the fourth part of the earth, took the lead. King Dadianos first sat upon the tribunal and wrote decrees that they should be read throughout all the world. These are the things written in them: "Since a report has come to our hearing that he whom Mary bore, he alone is the one worshipped, and Apollo and Poseidon and Hermes and Artemis and Zeus and Azabel and Ornas and Scamandron and the rest of the gods are not worshipped, but Jesus Christ alone, he whom the Jews killed, he is the one served. Therefore I write to all the cities, throughout the region, and all the rulers who are in my dominion: Come to me, hasten, that you may know the counsel of my authority.

Then there gathered together from the whole inhabited world kings and great multitudes, and they were unable to find a place to contain them because of their multitude. And King Dadianos sat upon the tribunal, and he commanded them to bring to him all the instruments of torture. They placed them all before him, which were these: iron claws, and hooks, and saws, and bronze wheels, and wheels with sharpened swords attached, and iron instruments, and a tree that was a wheel, and bronze hands, and swords of flint, and sharpened knives, and bronze saws that cut the bones, and chains bound with the fire of the instruments of the terrible tortures. And the king cried out, saying, “If I find any who are of two hearts, saying that they will not worship the gods, I will fill the furnaces of my fathers, and I will torture them with high tortures. I will burn them in the pyre of fire. I will cut off their heads. I will scatter their assembly with sharpened swords. I will burn them. I will break their leg bones. I will strip the skin from their body.” When the multitudes heard these things, they feared greatly before the tortures, so that those who wished to become martyrs, seeing the multitudes of tortures, would waver until six years had passed, and no one dared to say, “I am a Christian.” But there was a young man whose name was George, the sun of...

The truth, the precious seed which is in the midst of heaven and earth, this one was a tribune in the rank of the kingdom, and he was from the Cappadocia who completed the service of the tribuneship. He received many riches and brought them to King Dadianos, wishing to make him a count. But when the holy George came down into the city, he saw the affliction of the kings in the idolatry, and they had abandoned God. Immediately his heart was troubled, forsaking the rank of the tribuneship, saying, “I will become a soldier for my Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the heavens.” Then he distributed all his riches to the poor, and he ran into the presence of the kings and cried out, saying, “Cease from your madness, O kings! Do not say that these are gods, for they are not gods. For the gods who did not create heaven and earth, let them perish. I will worship the One alone, God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.” But when the dragon looked at him, he said, “All who have come through the beneficence of the gods, we are destined for those below. The sun and the fire, for the gods will appear to us like great ones. Know now that...

You have troubled me, but my righteous gods you have insulted. Now, therefore, do homage to the gods, Apollo who saves the whole world, the gods whom you have blasphemed. They know those who honor them and obey them, and they know those who dishonor them who do not obey them. Now, therefore, tell me where you are from, or what is your name, or why have you come to this place? The holy George answered, saying: My first name which was given to me is Christian. And I am from the village of the Cappadocians, having been enrolled as a soldier in a noble legion, and I completed my tribuneship well. These things were in the province of Palestine. And if they worship there any gods, O king, you compel me, O king, to worship them. The king said to him: I wish you to do homage to Apollo, who stretched out the heaven, and Poseidon, who established the earth together. The holy George answered, saying: Not for you, O evil dragon and your fellow kings, but for the sake of these multitudes who stand here, I will marvel at these righteous ones and at your dead gods. You compel me, O king, to do homage. To whom? To Peter, the chosen of the apostles, or to Apollo, the destroyer of the whole world? You wish me to sacrifice.

Who will tell me of Elijah the Thesbite, the angel who was upon the earth, walking upon the earth and ascending to the heights under the gates of heaven, until Kamandros the archon, who bound the fire, who is a searcher of a multitude in the magic arts, the ship of the Medes, who begot Saar and Sarphat, the Ophani, the givers of the Pontus, the city? These, whose works are evil, and they have been cast into the depth of the sea. Tell me, O king, whom have you troubled? Samuel the intercessor of God, until Poseidon the destroyer of the ships of the sea, Antos and Heracles, until the crown-wearers of the martyrs and the prophets. Tell me, O king, whom have you troubled? Jezebel the slayer of the prophets, until Mary the virgin, the mother of my Lord Jesus Christ. Shame on you, O king! Those whom you worship are not gods, but rather mute idols. Now as the holy George was saying these things, the king became angry and commanded that he be taken to the praetorium and that he be scraped until his bones fell out upon the ground. And after these things, he commanded that he be stretched out by four soldiers, and that they strike him with iron rods until the flesh of his body fell down, and they cast his body into lime, and they brought iron hooks to tear his body with them until his blood flowed like water. But he endured in the torments. And he commanded again.

...to bring him a pair of Benipi, which had iron hooks attached to them. He cast them into the wounds of his feet, entering into him, and his blood flowed like water, and he did not resist him, saying, "It is not he who is being tortured." And after these things, he had them make a high tree, and he had them bring twelve iron hooks, sharpened like razors, and inside them they were tearing the flesh of the righteous one. He commanded, and they brought him down from the tree, and they cast him into a bronze vessel of water, and they sealed it over him. And the executioners were striking upon his head with iron rods until they shattered the joints of his body. And his skull broke open from his mouth, white like a dove, and his entire body became like a torrent of blood. Then the king commanded, and they brought a slab of a column, which thirty men were carving, and they placed it upon his neck. He had them bind it into him and leave him until his counsel, saying, "What will he do to himself?" But in that night, the Lord appeared to Saint George, saying to him, "Be strong, and you shall prevail, my beloved George. I am the one giving you strength until you endure all these sufferings that have come upon you. I swear by myself and by my holy angels that from the birth of the women, no one has arisen like John the Baptist; after him, you are the one. No one will arise who is equal to you. Behold, I have given you to be Lord over the king...

...will kill me, but it is he who will die by my hand. You, however, will die a violent death.

In the second time, however, I myself will come upon the children of my tribe, my deposit which I entrusted to you in your holy place. Do not fear, for I am with you. And after he had greeted him, he went up to the heavens with great glory and his holy angels. When morning came, the king commanded, and they brought him to the tribunal. He himself began to sing psalms, saying, "Lord, have mercy on me, have mercy on me according to your judgment." When he reached the tribunal, he cried out, saying, "Tribunal, tribunal, I have come to you again today. You and your stone Apollo, I and my Lord Jesus Christ." And they bound him, they stripped him, and they cast him into the furnace. They threw him into the fire, but he remained unharmed in his body and his soul. Again they cast him into prison. Then King Diadianos wrote an epistle, saying thus: "I write to the whole world: Greetings, because all the temples and all the magicians who have the power to undo the magic of this Christian, let him come to me. I will give him a multitude of riches and every honor he desires, and he will be second in my kingdom." When he had sent the letters out into the whole world, behold, a man appeared, whose name was Athanasios. He came before the king, saying, "King, live forever! Nothing is impossible for me.

Then the king rejoiced and said to him, "What is the sign that you will perform before me, so that I may know whether you have the power to undo the magic of the Christians?" Athanasius answered and said, "Let them bring me a calf that has been fattened." He spoke into its ear, broke it, and it became two. And he said to them, "Let them bring me a calf." And they brought him one that had been fattened. Then they divided the calf into one side and the other side, and they came out equal with each other, so that they could not tell which was which. The king commanded them to bring the holy George onto the tribunal. He said to him, "George, concerning you, I have summoned this man into the kingdom, either for you to undo his magic, or for him to undo yours, or for you to kill him, or for him to kill you." The holy George, when he saw the magician, said to him, "Woe to you, my brother! What you wish to do, do it quickly, for I see that the grace has touched you as well." At that moment, Athanasius took a vessel for himself, uncovered his face, and called out against some names of demons over the vessel. He gave it to him to drink. When he drank it, however, nothing evil happened to him at all. Athanasius answered and said to him, "My Lord, there is no other sign that I will give you, unless the evil does not happen to you. I will believe in the one who was crucified." He took another vessel, uncovered his face from it,

He called out some names.

The demons cried out against him, being very evil. He gave him the cup to drink, and when he drank it, the saint did not let any evil thing touch him. Athanasius saw that no evil thing happened to him, and he said, "The holy George, the seal of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners, these for my soul, and give me the seal of Christ." Dadianus, when he saw what had happened, became very angry and ordered them to take the magician outside the city and kill him with a sword, and he completed his martyrdom. He became worthy of eternal life. Then the king ordered them to throw the holy George into prison until he decided what to do with him. When morning came, he ordered them to make a large wheel, very large, to be fitted with many iron spikes and knives fitted, and he made the wheel according to the way he had ordered. Above it was a rim of swords, and below it was a rim of sharp swords. The king ordered them to bring the holy George from prison and place him on top of the wheel.

When the holy George had cried out and looked upon the form of the instrument of torture above him, which was like a sword, and below him it was like a sword of flame, he said within himself, "Truly, I will not escape from this place of judgment." Then again after this he said within himself, "Woe to you, O George! Why have you placed this thought in your heart? Remember the crown that has been set before you. Remember that your Lord also was crucified in the midst of two thieves by the Jews." After this he lifted his eyes up to heaven, saying, "O Lord God, the unchangeable, the ruler of the ages, to whom belongs the victory, and who gives it as a gift to the martyrs, for you are their glory and their crown, who before you created anything, before you created the heaven and the earth, you stretched yourself out over the waters, and now you stretch yourself out over the whole race of men. You who know your resting places, who stretched out the heaven like a curtain, and the stars are at your command; at the moment they appear, they are as a multitude. You, O Lord, who judges the righteous and the wicked, who weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a scale, who brings the winds out of storehouses, and the angels who transgressed, you cast them down into the abyss of Tartarus to be tormented by evil dragons, and they are bound in unbreakable chains and bars that cannot be opened.

of you

It is not possible for anyone to change your commands, O Lord God. You sent your only begotten son into the world for the salvation of the times. He took flesh in Mary, the virgin, and he became man. It is not possible for any man to alter his humanity. He himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one born from you in truth, he who walked on the face of the sea as if he were walking on dry land, he who fed five thousand men from five loaves until they were satisfied, he who calmed the storms on the sea, and the ships could not harm you. Now come, my Lord, at this hour, for you are Jesus. Help me in my work, for I am a sinner. Let them release me from these sufferings, for the glory is yours, and your name is filled with glory forever. Amen. When he finished the Amen, they took him to the wheel. They bound him to it severely. His body became pieces in an instant. Dadianus raised his voice, saying, "Know, O kings, and find a god, for there is no god besides Apollo, Hermes, Zeus, Athena, Scamander, Hephaestus, Heracles, and Poseidon, those who have done good to the kings of the sea, from whom the kings receive power." He then said, "Now, the god of George, who is called Jesus, he who was condemned, he whom the Jews killed, why...

He could not save himself from the hands of the dragon of the abyss, who commanded that his bones be scattered outside the city down into a lake that was shining, saying within it, "Perhaps the Christians will find his bones and build a martyrion for him, and raise his blood up against us." But at the time of eating, the king went to eat with the other king. While they were eating, a great trembling and fear occurred, and the sky darkened with clouds, and a great fear arose, so that the mountains split in an instant, the earth moved, the sea was troubled, the waves rose up to the height of a cubit. Michael blew a trumpet on the peak. Behold, the Lord Jesus came upon his chariot of cherubim and stood upon the banks of the lake. He said to Michael the archangel, "Go down to the lake, gather the bones of my servant George." Then George took counsel in his heart, saying, "If I am alive, I will not be saved this time from this place of judgment; I have left it." He cried out within it, "Let him believe with all his heart and know that I am God, the one who alone has the power to save." Michael went down to the lake and prepared the holy body of Saint George. The Lord placed his hand upon him, saying, "George, my beloved, behold, this is the hand that fashioned Adam.

The first man of the city now also commands that your bones be gathered.

The Lord took his face within him and filled him with life again. The Lord greeted him, and he went up to the heavens with his holy angels. The holy George arose quickly from among the dead, and he walked in the streets of the city, seeking the rulers. After this, he found the rulers sitting in the streets, judging within, and he entered among them. He said to them, "You do not know me, O rulers." The king Dadianus raised his eyes upward in astonishment, saying to the holy one, "Who are you of this kind?" The martyr of Christ said to him, "I am George, whom you killed because of your blasphemy against my God, who will destroy you before evening comes." But King Dadianus, continuing to spit in the face of the holy one, said, "You are not he, but his likeness is another." Another said, "Truly, he has recognized himself." Then Anatolius the stratelates said, "In truth, this is George, who has arisen from the dead." And Anatolius and his entire company believed. Then a multitude of those who believed in Christ, three hundred and nine men and a woman from the crowd, came forth. And King Dadianus commanded that they all be taken outside the city into a desert place. They were made into four parts, and they were cut to pieces in this way, and they completed their martyrdom.

of the days of Pharmouthi, on a Sabbath day, in the morning of that day, and they went in glory to the paradise, receiving grace upon the sinners. The king commanded to bring the holy George to the tribunal, and he ordered them to bring a wheel of bronze, so that they might bind the righteous one to it, and he had them set it under a press until it was loosened, and they brought a measure of the size of a bronze funnel, and they placed it into his mouth, and he had them pour nine measures of lead into his head, into the wheel. He had them bring a great stone, burning hot, according to his head, and they placed his head upon it to strengthen the press, and they scraped him with the stone, and they loosened the joints of his bones. He persevered, however, in this torture with strength, and he commanded them to bring the stone away from him, to lift it up over him, and they bound a great stone within it with a great chain of iron over him. After these things, he commanded to place him into a bronze bull and to pierce him with sharp nails into him. The lawless king ordered them to bring a canon into the bull, to put it inside so that the nails might crush the body of the saint and his limbs, like a sieve of bran in the summer. He persevered again with strength, and he commanded.

ed to have him brought to the torture and to cast him into the desert until his judgment, whether he would do something to him or destroy him, in what manner? It was a time of great distress in that hour. The Lord appeared to him in that same evening, saying, "Come to me, my chosen George, and receive the covenant; do not be afraid, for I am with you. A great joy awaits you in heaven, descending upon your contest. Behold, now you have died once, and I have raised you; you will die a second time, and I will raise you again in the seventh time. I myself will come in hidden ways, and the deposit that I entrusted to your body, I will take it. I will give strength to your holy body so that you may rest with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not be troubled in heart, for I am with you. Your martyrdom will take place before this king; you will bear witness before him. For seven years they will torture you, but do not be troubled in heart. After the Lord called him, he went up to the heavens with his holy angels, while the strong martyr of Christ was comforted, and he himself remained steadfast in the prison until the light of dawn, rejoicing in the Lord's promise, the whole of which was given to him.

Then, after the first time, the king commanded that the holy George be brought to the tribunal. When they had brought him, one of the king’s officers, whose name was Magmentios, said to him, “George, I give you a sign from me: if you will obey before me, worship our lord the sun, and the gods, and the mother of the gods, Artemis, who helps the whole world, I too will believe in your gods and serve them well.” The holy George said to him, “Tell me your condition.” Magmentios the king said to him, “Behold, here are thrones, each one set up, and in them are images of all kinds, some of them are of trees that bear fruit, and some of them are of trees that do not bear fruit. If, then, the images of the fruit-bearing tree appear, they will receive a form; and the fruit of each one of them will come forth through your prayers, and the fruit of the fruit-bearing trees will come forth, and the fruit of the non-fruit-bearing trees will come forth. In this way I will believe in your god.

The holy George made the sign of the cross on his face and prayed to God for a great while, lamenting. When he had finished the prayer, he said, “Amen.” Then a great fear and trembling came upon his adversary, for a spirit of the Lord came upon the thrones, and they gave forth light, and the fetters fell away, and the judges marveled, and those who were bound were released, and those who were unbound were bound, and they put on sackcloth. Then King Magmentios said to him, “A great god is Heracles, for with the other honors that are glorious, he has revealed his power among them in this way.” The holy George answered, saying, “God, who created the sky and the earth, who made things that do not exist come into being, has turned you to Heracles, a blind idol of dung, which you will destroy together with dung.” The impious Dadianus answered, saying to the holy George, the chosen one of the Galilaeans, “I know that I will destroy you in some manner.” Then he commanded that a great cauldron be brought, and they placed him in the middle of it and kindled a fire, and in this way he gave up the spirit. He commanded that a great slab of lead be brought, and they struck the body of the holy saint two hundred blows, together with a rod and a whip and an ox tendon and a hammer, and they placed them beside him, so that his limbs and his hairs stood on end exceedingly, so that

it of the Lord came upon him. Then those who were present fled to this place and that, because of the great number of the plague, so that his suffering might be a witness. They brought the executioners of the king's governor, saying, "He has answered, he has refused," said that fierce one there. *The king commanded that they stone him and bury him in the ground, along with the governor and the limbs of the saint, in the midst of them, so that the Christians might not find a limb of his to raise up a martyrion for him. When the servants had finished burying him in the middle, they withdrew. Then a great trembling occurred in the air, and the earth shook to its foundations. Behold, the Lord Jesus Christ came down from heaven with his holy angels, and he stood upon the place where the governor was buried, and he said to Zalathiel the angel, "Bring this governor up." When he had brought the governor up, he cast him down upon the ground. The Lord of the powers cried out to him, "George, my chosen one, arise. I am the one who raised Lazarus from the dead. Likewise now, I command you: arise and come up out of the governor, and stand upon your feet. I am the Lord, your God." He arose at that very hour, that true strong one, with great and mighty power, like one who had received no pain at all. All who saw were amazed. The Lord said to him, "Be strong.

And George, my beloved, gained strength, saying, "A great joy will come to you in the heavens and on the earth, and before the good father and before the angels, concerning your struggle. Be strong, for I am with you." And he went up to the heavens with his holy angels. But he arose and walked, and the holy George sent word to the king, saying, "Behold, I am revealed in the city, and I am teaching at this hour." Then the king commanded that he be brought before the tribunal. And as he was coming, he cried out, "The tribunal! The tribunal! I have come to you, you and your Apollo. I also, with my Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the living one. Behold, there is a woman named Chollastice. She cried out against the holy George, the martyr of Christ, saying, 'My Lord George, my son has drowned in the river. The calf has fallen and died. Help my weakness. I know, my Lord, that you have the power of God.' The holy one said to her, 'Take this staff from my hands, go to the river, and place this staff upon the mouth of the calf, saying, "These are the words that George speaks: In the name of Jesus Christ, arise and stand."' And she did as he told her, and the calf arose at that very hour, and she gave glory to God.

The woman said, "Blessed is the hour that came to my city. Truly, you are a prophet, and God has found a way to his people." Again, Diadianos sent for the martyr. When he had come, the king said to him, "George, the trees that bear fruit that have come forth, we do not know exactly whether it is your god who has caused them to come forth, because our gods are gods. But behold, there is a cave before you in the rock, which is a tomb of the dead. No man knows its path or its entrance. If, through your prayers, the bones of those who are dead rise up, O my lord, the sun, the moon, and Artemis, the mother of the gods, then I too will believe in your god and become a Christian." The blessed George answered, saying, "I have heard the voice in the gospel which says, 'If you have faith in the manner of a mustard seed, you would say to this mountain, "Be removed," and nothing would have power to move you.' You and King Diadianos and the other rulers of Egypt, go. Open the door of the cave and take the bones of the dead that have rotted away, and the corpses of those who have died, and bring them to me." And they went, and the king's soldiers went with them.

of the prison. They opened the door of the prison. They found no bones of the dead within it, and they took the shrouds off the bones that they found. They brought them to Saint George. Then Saint George threw himself upon his knees and prayed for an hour. After he finished the Amen, there occurred a great disturbance with flashes of fire, and they shone upon the bones there. And immediately, there came out from them 300 men, 200 women, and 100 small children. The rulers, when they saw what had happened, marveled. Then the rulers called out to one among those who had risen from the dead. They said to him, "What is your name?" He who had risen from the dead answered, saying, "Isouben is my name." The king said to him, "How many years is it since you died?" He said, "300 years." The king said to him, "At that time, did Christ come into the world?" He who had risen from the dead said to him, "I do not remember, nor have I heard at all that he came." Diadianos said to him, "In which gods do you believe?" He who had risen from the dead said to him, "Do not force me, O king. I am ashamed to say in which gods I believe. I believe in one who is called Apollo, 200.

of you. Do not turn away from the blind man, for I am placing my body in the evil ways of this life; I have come to be alive in the paths that are there in the river of fire until I go down to him. There was the serpent of Atefkot, saying to you, "You did not listen to the scriptures of the Christians, which are scattered abroad; you gave me the remembrance of that day which is there, which is a terror, the path where there is no help, but it is a torment and a terror; there is none of these in it, nor did they shake the heart of the judge, but the deed of each one that he did is before his eyes. Then the judge would answer, saying, 'Tell me the deed of each one of you, so that I may give him his reward according to what he has done.' Listen, then, to my explanation before you, O king: 'All the men who will be upon the earth and who will appear from the one who was crucified, that is Christ, even if there is a multitude of sins, they receive his body, and he is cut off from this evil world; he becomes in two ways because of his sins, but on the Lord's Day they give him rest, for truly the Lord Jesus blesses the punishments of the Lord's Day. But we, not even on the Lord's Day have they given us rest at all, for if his lordship had not appeared upon the earth, how would we have appeared? We would have been pious to idols and beasts; they did not move at all.' The king answered him, saying, 'Has your heart given way through

The remainder of the time of this year, he who had risen from among the dead, the martyr of Christ, the holy George, said to him, "My Lord, the martyr of Christ, we bow before you. Give us the holy ointment of Christ, so that we may not be troubled by the tortures that are within them." Then the holy George saw the faith. He cast a handful of dust on the ground, and water sprang up. He anointed them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He said to them, "Go in peace to the paradise." And immediately they appeared, and they saw themselves. The king, being alive, appeared to them for a moment. The soldiers who were with him answered him, saying, "This man is a sorcerer, for through his magic he has set up some demons before us." He said, "I have raised up some dead men. I myself will now destroy this entire race of Christians." He commanded, "Choose for me a widow of a beauty such as there is none in the world." And they searched the city and found one for him.

the widow and the poor woman cast the righteous one into her house as if she wished to destroy the Christians. The righteous one entered the house of the widow, and he said to her, "Give me some bread, for truly I am hungry." The widow woman answered him, "There is no bread in this house, my lord." Saint George said to her, "In whom do you believe, that there is no bread in the house?" The woman said to him, "I believe in Apollo and Heracles, the great gods of the Greeks." Saint George said to her, "Truly, it is a just judgment of God that there is no bread in the house." She turned her face into his face, and the woman saw his face in the form of an angel of the Lord. The woman said within herself, "I will go out to seek bread from my neighbors and my relatives, so that I may place it before this man of God, for since his entrance into my house, I have found a grace before my relatives." It happened that when the widow woman went out, the righteous one sat at her feet like a base of a wooden pillar inside her house. Immediately, the pillar received a shoot and put forth branches, and it became a great tree, and it overshadowed the house up to the roof. Behold, Michael the archangel came to him with a table full of all good things. The saint ate and was satisfied, and the table remained full of bread.

and all kinds of good things. The widow and the poor woman entered her house, and she saw great wonders: a table set, filled with all kinds of good things and a cloth, which he had received as a gift in a beautiful field. She said in her heart, "The God of the Christians has remembered my widowhood and poverty. He has brought his martyr into my house for my wretched soul, until he helps me." And immediately she threw herself at the feet of the saint, and she worshipped him. The holy George answered her, saying, "Rise up, stand on your feet. For I am not the God of the Christians. But I am his servant, who suffers for his holy name." Then the woman said to him, "My lord, if I have found favor before you, tell me, that I may dare to speak a word before you." The saint said to her, "Speak." The woman said to him, "My lord, there is in my house a child who is in the twelfth year, and he is blind, deaf, mute, and paralyzed. I am ashamed to tell you my troubles. If only you could make him see, hear, and speak, I would believe in your God." The righteous one answered, saying, "Bring the child to me." Then she brought the child to him from the inner room of the house, and

She wrapped him in linen. The true one, Saint George, however, remained steadfast, praying earnestly over himself. His flesh was torn downward, and the youth was in linen. He brought him inside, and tears fell from his eyes like grains of salt. He looked out, and the woman said to him, "My Lord, I am ashamed before you, that he might speak and that he might hear with his ears, that he might rise and walk on his feet." The holy George said to her, "Woman, this one is a servant now, for I have need of him to serve me in a task. If I call him, let him hear my voice and let him walk and let him serve me in the word." And the woman was not able to answer him with a word, for his face was like the face of an angel of God. Then the lawless and impious king Dadianus and the other king with him, who had come out of the palace, stood in the streets of the city. But when the dragon of the abyss, King Dadianus, saw the tree that had sprouted from the hand of the true one, he inquired of the archons, saying, "This new shoot, what tree is it?" He informed him, saying, "This is the path by which the great saint of the Galileans, George, enters." The king, however, gave orders to bring him and set him before him in public. He had him tortured with inhumanity until his flesh was shredded and his bones were broken by the multitude.

They cast him into the fire and placed a basin of fire upon his head. Afterward, they commanded that he be shaved and that they fill him with vials of balsam filled with fire, and they placed them under his armpits until he gave up his spirit. And the king commanded that they take his body and cast it down from a high mountain. For the dragon thought in his heart that the birds of the sky would come and eat his flesh, which had been torn from the body of the blessed one on that mountain called Siris. They cast him down from that place, and the servants hastened. When the servants of the devil had gone a short distance from the mountain, about thirty stadia, a cloud appeared in the sky with thunderbolts, so that the whole mountain there trembled. Behold, the Lord came, mounted upon a horse, and said to Saint George, "My chosen good one, arise from your sleep." And immediately the martyr of Christ arose and ran after the servants, crying out against them, saying, "Wait for me a little while until I come with you to those who have persecuted you." Afterward, the servants saw the true George running after them, and they glorified him.

the fire, they placed them under his armpits until the seal of Christ the blessed one was upon them. Truly, the holy George answered them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and they came and stood before the lawless king. They all cried out, "We are Christians," with boldness. Then the kings were greatly afraid because of this matter. He commanded to bring the servants and to set them before him. The name of one of them was Claudanus. He had him seized and gave him punishments. The other, however, who was called Lasiri and Lasiriane, so that they might be put to the sword of Clecon, he delivered them to the beast. After these things, the kings commanded to bring the holy George. The king Dadianus answered and said to him, "George, worship the sun, the moon, the gods, and their mother Artemis, for I will honor you as a beloved son of the house, and all the things that you will ask of me, I will give them to you as a gift. Only listen to me as a father and consent, so that you may come and worship the gods." The holy George alone answered and said to him, "I am amazed at your words that you speak. Now, have I not been with you until this day? Why did you not say these things to me? Behold, for seven years and days you have been torturing me, you have killed me nine times.

and I died. The Lord Jesus Christ raised the seal the third time. But I did not hear these things from you until now. You do not know, O king, that this race of Christians are lovers of victory, and they cast themselves into the fire for those who cast themselves into it. But now, give me the command of your greatness, and I will make an offering to your great god Apollo, whom you love. When King Dadianos heard these things, he rejoiced greatly. He bowed the head of the holy George, saying that he had persuaded him. He gave him his hand, and the true one said, saying, "Do not, O king, the Galileans are not cowards. If they had not first worshipped the gods, but now they have cast me into the prison until his anger." The king answered him, saying, "It shall not be for me from now on that I have given any punishment, but all the tortures that I have given you, I have given them to you as if I had done them to you in ignorance, like a father who has taken you. Come now, so that I may take you inside the palace, inside the prison where the city of Alexandria lies in its curtain, clothing itself. When the king took him inside, he cast him into the prison with the city.

Alexandra was amazed at the king's mouth. The king went away, for it was evening. Then the holy George bent his knees and began to pray to God, saying, "My God, the true God, you are the one among the gods who works wonders. Why have the nations cried out and the peoples practiced vain words? All the kings of the earth and the other rulers together have spoken against the Lord and his Christ." Alexandra the queen answered, saying to the holy one, "My lord George, I hear you well, and I desire your words. But who are those who cry out? Or who are those who have practiced? Or who is the Christ? Teach me about him so that I may know him." The holy George answered, saying, "If you wish to know the Christ and his words, listen, O Alexandra. When the Lord formed the heaven and the earth, and took a handful of earth, he formed man, living, according to his image and likeness. How did he make flesh of earth? Again, he formed senses from it; he formed a nerve and those that see with it, and the arrangement of the members in the man. He formed the eyes as lamps, and a tongue, and a lip. He formed hands and all that is ordered for man. Is it not earth that is within? God the Christ took flesh from the virgin.

the holy Mary, and he himself became man, God, the one who raised from the dead those who were dead, enduring sufferings for the sake of his holy name, and his good father, and the Holy Spirit, because of Adam. O Alexandra, the queen, God the creator of heaven made the sun and the moon, the light-giver, and the stars, and the firmament. The queen answered him, saying, "Tell me the word." The holy George said to her, "The worship of idols that exists in the world today, they worship the works of their hands, and not God. They bow down to lifeless idols made by human hands, without soul, blaspheming God, the creator of the universe." The queen said to him, "Are the gods demons?" The holy George said to her, "Yes, they are demons." The queen said to him, "Then how did the world come to be?" The holy George answered her, saying, "Listen to me, O Queen Alexandra. The prophet David says, 'He who sits upon the cherubim, reveal yourself, send forth your power, come to save us.' And again he said, 'He will descend like rain upon a fleece,' that is, the blessed virgin Mary. Again, the prophet Habakkuk cries out, saying, 'The Lord, I have heard.'

I feared your face and I considered your works, and I understood what the prophet said in truth, for he knew that Christ Jesus was coming down into the world, and he feared and considered that he is God. He became man because of him who is our salvation, that he might save us from the hand of the devil, the enemy of all truth, who made a king of iniquity a slave to this age. The woman answered, saying, “In truth, you have spoken well; you have touched my heart concerning Christ, that he is God of all. Now, therefore, I beg you, pray over me, that every error and the demons and the idols together may be cast out from me.” The holy George answered her, “If you believe in him who was crucified, Jesus Christ, no evil of the demons will be able to approach you at all.” She said to him, “I believe, my lord George, but I fear before the king, for he is exceedingly evil, a flesh-eater like the beasts. But keep this mystery; do not tell anyone until I receive the crown of martyrdom in the kingdom of Christ. Leave me in peace for now.” When morning came, the king commanded the herald to proclaim throughout all the city, saying, “Gather all of you to see this great

The Galileans were about to worship Apollo, when the king commanded that they take Saint George in the middle of the temple, so that he might make a sacrifice. He said to Apollo, and Saint George answered. He said to the hypēretai who were with him, "Go, all of you, and stand at the feet of the king. I also, together with the priests and the magistrates of the temple, we will go and stand at the feet of Apollo, and we will worship him." But the herald proclaimed in a loud voice, for all the cities, both small and great, had gathered to see the spectacle. Now when the poor widow, whose son the saint had raised, heard, she looked out from her place. She let down her hair, tore her garments, and threw herself on the road where the saint was standing. She said to him, "The one who raises the dead, who gives light to the blind, who gives sight from birth, those who are withered and have been made lame, you have made them become like flourishing trees, and they have become beautiful to behold. The one who made the pillar of my house take root, and it became a tall tree, and filled the table with bread and many good things. The one who revealed many signs that put the devil to shame. Now I will go and stand at the feet of Apollo, and you will worship him, and you will put the whole race of Christians to shame." When Saint George heard these things, he smiled inwardly at her and said to her, "Put the child down now.

out of his hands, and he fell down. The holy George said to the little child, "I wish, in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, that you would come and serve me as a deacon in this work." The little child heard with his ears, came, and stood at the feet of the holy George. The holy George said to him, "Come, go inside the temple of Apollo, and say to that idol, 'George, the servant of Christ, calls you.'" The little child went quickly inside the temple and said to him, "I have found you, you blind and ignorant one. Come out, for the servant of Christ, the holy George, calls you." The evil spirit dwelling in the idol cried out, saying, "The Nazorean, you have drawn all to you. This little child also, whom you sent against me, has given me pain." Then the idol of Apollo fell from its base and came to the holy George. The holy George answered and said to him, "Are you the god of the nations?" The evil spirit dwelling in it said to him, "O bold one, I will tell you the matter.

All these things you have not told me," said Saint George to him. "Speak, he began to speak, and the child was amazed at all these things before him, saying, 'My Lord, Saint George of God, I am ignorant, for from the beginning God created a paradise in the east, and he placed in it the man whom God created, and he commanded him. The Lord said, "Let the angels come and worship him." After that, Michael came with his entire host of angels; they came and worshipped him. But I did not worship the man whom God created, but I contradicted the word of God, saying, "O righteous judge, I am the first to fear. How then should I worship the little one before me? The cherubim, full of eyes, mock me." Then God became angry with me; he cast me out of my glory that I had within, and he cast me down from heaven like a thunderbolt upon a rock, and I became in two pieces. Now I am in this idol, wailing for the children of men. I cry out, I groan up to the firmament of heaven, hearing the angels singing to the Lord. If I hear the decree of one that he will die and be taken out of the world, I go to him to give him suffering until he denies God.'" Saint George answered and said to him, "You have not spoken the truth, O rebellious one, but you were cast out of heaven because of your arrogance, because you did not prepare a throne for yourself.

...that you sat upon him and you made him your equal with the one who is high, you said. Suddenly he cast you down from the sky to the depths of the sea, and all your army came to me so that I might save them from him. He closed his mouth and ceased speaking. Immediately, Saint George struck the ground with his hand, and the ground opened its mouth, and he said to the idol, "Go down now to the abyss, O unclean spirit, until you give account for all the souls you have destroyed through him." Immediately he went down to the abyss, and the other idol over which the unclean spirit was set also went down. Saint George struck the ground with his hand, and it split open again. After these things, Saint George completed his prayer. He turned his face to the idol of Heracles, dragged it to the ground, and shattered it. He said to the assembly of idols, "Flee to the abyss, O gods of the nations, for I have come to you in wrath and fury." When the priests, the satraps of the temple, and the servants who served the idols saw the destruction that had befallen their god, they seized Saint George, bound his hands behind his back, and took him to the king. They informed him of everything that had happened to the god Apollo, that they had overthrown him.

...down to the depths. And when King Dadianos heard these things, he was filled with rage. He said to Saint George, "O you who are unworthy of being buried, did you not tell me, 'I will make an offering to the honored gods in the place where you worship the gods, and I will burn incense for them'? You have undertaken such magical deeds. Do we not know that your spirit is in your hands?" Saint George answered him, saying, "Go, bring me Apollo, so that I may worship him before you." Dadianos said to him, "Not in this way. I have been informed by the priests that he has sunk into the depths, and now I wish to sink there as well, while I am alive." Saint George answered the king, saying, "If Apollo is your great god, he was unable to save himself, but he was the first to be destroyed among all your gods. These things that happen in their temple—this one in whom you have placed your hope, that he will save you in the evil day—when the Lord my God comes to shake the heavens and the earth, what will you and the one in whom you have placed your hope do?" Then the king went away with great sorrow of heart because of the destruction of his god Apollo, entering into the city of Alexandria, saying, "I have struggled with this race of Christians, this Galilaean George.

...down to the depths. And when King Dadianos heard these things, he was filled with rage. He said to Saint George, "O you who are unworthy of being buried, did you not tell me, 'I will make an offering to the honored go Then Queen Alexandra answered, saying to the king, "Did I not tell you many times, 'Depart from this race of Christians, for their God is the true God, and it is He who will humble you in your pride'?" The king answered the queen, "Woe to me, Alexandra, you frighten me, for even the magicians of the Christians have come to me." He commanded that his face, which was of the form of a serpent, be turned and that it be brought before the kings who were with him, who were the nine, and he made them know all the things that had happened. Then the kings commanded that she be brought out to the amphitheater and that she be burned. But she did not speak a word, but she was looking upward to the sky. And when she looked up in the face of Saint George, she said to him, "Pray for me, for I am perishing in these tortures." Saint George answered her, saying, "Be patient a little while, O queen, so that you may receive the crown from the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ." She said to him, "My Lord George, I have become as one who has not received the holy baptism." Saint George said to her, "Go, receive baptism through the voice of the holy blood, and they will take it to destruction." She cried out, saying, "My Lord Jesus Christ, behold, I have left the gate of my palace open, and I have not closed it. But you, Lord, do not close the gate of the paradise of joy to me." And when she had finished saying these things, she completed her martyrdom.

...down to the depths. And when King Dadianos heard these things, he was filled with rage. He said to Saint George, "O you who are unworthy of being buried, did you not tell me, 'I will make an offering to the honored gods'?" Then Alexandria, the city of the kings, on the third day of the month of Pharmouthi, in a noble manner, received the crown that does not perish. After these things, the kings called the holy George and said to him, "Behold, this other city you have destroyed. Now then, we have sent for him." And the king, Magmentios, one of them, answered, saying, "Let us give his sentence." The matter was pleasing to all of them. Then the king sat down and wrote his sentence in this manner, saying: "George the Great of the Galileans, he who has abandoned the decrees of the kings, I deliver him to the sword. Let it be known to the peoples that we are purified by his blood." All of them wrote beneath his hand on his epistle, the sixty-sixth king, concerning these things. Then the holy George was walking, rejoicing, to the place where he would receive the crown. When he arrived at that place, he said to the soldiers who were guarding him, "O courageous ones, my brothers, for seven years they have been torturing me through this king, so that I might worship them." Then the holy George looked up to the heaven and said in this manner, "My Lord Jesus Christ, he who sent the fire from heaven upon the holy Elijah until he consumed the pentikontarchos and the two hundred soldiers, let it come now, the fire.

...down to the depths. And when King Dadianos heard these things, he was filled with rage. He said to Saint George, "O you who are unworthy of being buried, did you not tell me, 'I will make an offering to the honored king'?" And then a fire came down from heaven and consumed the honored king and his multitude, while the palace was made like a furnace. And again the saint said to the soldiers, "Open your hearts a little," and he prayed again, saying, "My Lord Jesus Christ, I see a multitude standing in this place, wishing to take my body. But the body is not for the world. I entreat you, grant me a favor for my body, so that everyone who is troubled by an unclean spirit, through the remembrance of your servant George, may have my name become a blessing to him. O Lord my God, everyone who will be in a place of judgment, greatly afraid, and remembers my name, may he come out in peace. Everyone who will write my martyrdom and the sufferings I have suffered, may you write a name in the book of life. If the heaven will remain over the earth and they swear by the name of the God of George, I entreat you, may your help reach them quickly. The God of truth, who receives these sufferings for his holy name, to remember everyone who will show mercy with a poor in my name, and you forgive them their sins they have done.

Now while he was saying these things in the burning of his heart, the blessed one, behold, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him, saying, "Come now, ascend to the sky, take your rest in the place I have prepared for you in the kingdom of my father, the heavens. O my chosen George, all the works you have done, I will fulfill them all for you, and many more that are greater than these." The holy George said to the soldiers, "Come now, fulfill the command that was given to you." And he stretched out his neck, and his holy head was cut off. Water and sweat came forth. The Lord Jesus took his blessed soul, greeted it, and took it with him up to the heavens. He gave it as a gift to his good father and the Holy Spirit. In that hour, the earth shook to its foundations. There were earthquakes and flashes of lightning in fear, so that no one at all dared to go out from that place because of the great fear that was there. All those who became martyrs through the holy George, they number 500 and 9,000 and Alexandria. The holy George completed his martyrdom on the 23rd day of the month of Pharmouthi, on a Sunday, at the 9th hour of the day.