Faith In The Home: Fight Those Dragons!

In this Faith in the Home article, Dr Antonia Braithwaite reflects on the witness of St George, England’s patron saint and a courageous Catholic martyr, and suggests simple ways families can celebrate his feast day while encouraging children to grow in faith, courage, and loyalty to Christ.

23 April is the feast day of England’s patron saint, St George. While often associated with flags and dragon legends, St George is first and foremost a Catholic martyr who gave his life for Christ.

He lived in the early 4th century under Emperor Diocletian, a time when Christians were required to burn incense to the Emperor as a sign of loyalty and worship of him as a divine figure. Refusing was seen as defiance and could lead to arrest, torture, or execution. Many Christians gave in reluctantly out of fear, sprinkling a pinch of incense, but George boldly declared that he served only God and His Son, Jesus Christ. He endured imprisonment and torture and was ultimately beheaded on Good Friday in AD 304. The day was 23 April, and this, his heavenly birthday, became his feast day.

Within a century, devotion to St George spread from the Euphrates River in Iraq to Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. A church was dedicated to him in Doncaster in the 6th century. He became a true symbol of courage and faith: a warrior fighting the dragon of evil.

Catholic families today can celebrate St George’s Day by attending Mass and also in simple ways at home, such as reading his story aloud to children from books, or using free online stories or videos and talking about ways to show courage and stand up for what is right.

Children can craft symbols of St George, such as drawing or colouring pictures of dragons, crosses, or knights, or making a paper banner with a red cross on a white background.

A fun game to play is “Dragon Hunt!”, where children search for a hidden dragon toy or picture, or a “Bash the Dragon!” game, where a dragon piñata filled with sweets is bashed.

Celebrating with food such as cakes or cupcakes with red decorations or berries arranged in the shape of a cross, or traditional English desserts like trifle, always goes down well.

In St George we do not have a vague, semi-mythical figure as our patron saint, but a real warrior who reminds us that faith, courage, and loyalty to God matter above all else.

St George – pray for us!

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