I’ve slightly altered the quote from King Henry V as today is also the the projected birthday and the actual date of Shakespeare’s death in 1616. Without any shadow of doubt Shakespeare is the finest British playwright and poet who is celebrated and loved around the world.
I celebrated the Mass of St George, Martyr this morning at St. Mary’s, Ilford and will be concelebrating this evening at the Solemn Mass at the Patronal Festival of St. George, Brentwood.
One of the puzzles for me, is why we have as our English Patron Saint a Roman Soldier from Syria. St |George is venerated particularly by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Never-the-less St. George has been the Patron Saint of England from around 1190. His flag, one of the main parts of the Union Jack, a red cross on a white background, has been sadly hijacked by right wing organisations.
So let today be a Day of Prayer for our Country that the Christian Ideals for which St. George was martyred may be maintained and that all ant-Christian propaganda may be silenced and that our church leaders and politicians maintain marriage as a Sacrament between a man and a woman for life, and abandon the possibility of the marriage of two men or two women.
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I am reliably informed that St George is also the patron saint of (among many other places), Ljubljana - the capital of Slovenia.
ReplyDeleteMy mother (shortly to be 101) and I have had no fewer than 17 holidays in Slovenia and always in the same hotel. Three of these have been by air, and I have driven there for all the others. That number is to be increased further later this year. On each occasion we have visited Ljubljana at least once. It is not a huge city (population 270,220 in a country of just over 2 million) but has a quite charming Baroque centre. It also has a very relaxed atmosphere with (like the rest of the country) some of the most friendly, helpful, and polite people I have ever met.