Saint George Martyr, the patron of Gozo

Abstract

One of the better known saints of the era of persecutions in the early Christian Church is Saint George, the martyr of Lydda. He is the patron saint of the kingdom of England, of soldiers, of boy-scouts, and titular saint of numerous churches throughout the world. Amongst the latter there is one of the earliest churches to be raised on Gozo, the parish church of Rabat, the town of the island. Where did he precisely come from? Hardly any historical particulars of his life have survived. Veneration towards Saint George as a soldier-saint was widespread from early times and its centre was in Palestine, at Diospolis, now known as Lydda or Ludd in Arabic. Saint George was probably martyred there at the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century during the persecution fomented during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (285-305). [excerpt]