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April 23rd marks the Feast of St. George and the day of his martyrdom, which makes for a fitting time to reflect upon the impact of this most revered Golden Master.
There is much legend and mystery surrounding him, but the Order has preserved his memory and honored his influence, having been a holder of the truth of the Order, long ago in the year of 303 AD.
Serving at the rank of Tribunus, he was a soldier of great renown under the reign of Emperor Diocletian. St. George held great favor in the eyes of the Emperor, for the Caesar knew his father, Gerontius.
One day, his favor turned, however, when the Emperor issued an edict in which every Christian soldier must renounce Christ and offer sacrifices to the Roman idols, swearing fealty by the genius of Caesar.
What follows next is best cited from "Saints Beyond the White Cliffs":
There is much legend and mystery surrounding him, but the Order has preserved his memory and honored his influence, having been a holder of the truth of the Order, long ago in the year of 303 AD.
Serving at the rank of Tribunus, he was a soldier of great renown under the reign of Emperor Diocletian. St. George held great favor in the eyes of the Emperor, for the Caesar knew his father, Gerontius.
One day, his favor turned, however, when the Emperor issued an edict in which every Christian soldier must renounce Christ and offer sacrifices to the Roman idols, swearing fealty by the genius of Caesar.
What follows next is best cited from "Saints Beyond the White Cliffs":
"George objected and with the courage of his faith approached the Emperor and ruler. Diocletian was upset, not wanting to lose his best tribune and the son of his best official, Gerontius. George loudly renounced the Emperor's edict, and in front of his fellow soldiers and Tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian and declared his worship of Jesus Christ. Diocletian attempted to convert George, even offering gifts of land, money and slaves if he made a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor made many offers, but George never accepted.
Recognizing the futility of his efforts, Diocletian was left with no choice but to have him executed for his refusal. Before the execution George gave his wealth to the poor and prepared himself. After various torture sessions, including laceration on a wheel of swords in which he was resuscitated three times, George was executed by decapitation before Nicomedia's city wall, on April 23, 303. A witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra and Athanasius, a pagan priest, to become Christians as well, and so they joined George in martyrdom. His body was returned to Lydda in Palestine for burial, where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr."
With the Empress being converted, and Athanasius, later known as Saint Athanasius (known for his excellent treatise on the Trinity), the ground work was laid for the crumbling of paganism in the Roman Empire, consummated by the Edict of Milan, given by Emperor Constantine I in 313 AD.
To those who understand such things, the Dragon that George had slain was no mighty reptile, but is a symbol for the roaring beast of Paganism and the evil imperial state. Just as in Revelation, the Dragon is that old Serpent, the devil, ever the reptile, and the Beast by interpretation is the anti-christ agents that work in the world. George defeated the anti-christs of his day and was given a baptism in blood.
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Legacy
Much later in time, inspired by the slaying of the Dragon by St. George, there came another Grandmaster, Milos Obilic, who founded a shell of Aurum, dubbed "The Sacred Order of the Dragon of Saint George." Founded with 12 knights, sworn with a single mission, to defeat the dragon of anti-christ in their day, Ottoman Sultan Murad I.
All of the original knights perished in the Battle of Kosovo, save for the Grandmaster Milos, who succeeded in his mission in 1389. By single-handedly infiltrating the enemy camp and deposing of the Sultan in a series of quick blows, he sealed his life by defeating the Dragon.
The Legacy of St. George lives in following the conviction: to never bear easily with evil, but to stand against it, expose it and denounce it. The devil has been a liar from the beginning, and that Old Serpent is most easily slain by our undefeatable weapon, the Sword of Truth.
This Ingot contributed by:
Daniel, Golden Brother of the 12th.
Much later in time, inspired by the slaying of the Dragon by St. George, there came another Grandmaster, Milos Obilic, who founded a shell of Aurum, dubbed "The Sacred Order of the Dragon of Saint George." Founded with 12 knights, sworn with a single mission, to defeat the dragon of anti-christ in their day, Ottoman Sultan Murad I.
All of the original knights perished in the Battle of Kosovo, save for the Grandmaster Milos, who succeeded in his mission in 1389. By single-handedly infiltrating the enemy camp and deposing of the Sultan in a series of quick blows, he sealed his life by defeating the Dragon.
The Legacy of St. George lives in following the conviction: to never bear easily with evil, but to stand against it, expose it and denounce it. The devil has been a liar from the beginning, and that Old Serpent is most easily slain by our undefeatable weapon, the Sword of Truth.
This Ingot contributed by:
Daniel, Golden Brother of the 12th.