Our church is dedicated to St George, the Patron Saint of England, and his feast day on April 23rd is our Patronal Festival.

We will celebrate this special day with a said Eucharist at 12 noon followed by tapas and a drink. Please let Fr Louis know if you'd like to come to lunch afterwards.

Very little is known about St George, although, according to Greek tradition, he was born to Greek Christian parents, in Cappadocia, and, after his father died, moved with his mother to her original hometown of Lydda in Syria. Here he became a soldier in the Roman army, serving as a member of the Praetorian Guard under Emperor Diocletian.

However, the fact that George was a Christian became a problem, and he was arrested and tortured for refusing to recant his faith. He was executed by beheading and his body was buried in Lydda, where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr. A witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra of Rome also to become a Christian and she joined George in martyrdom. George died on 23 April 303 and this has become his feast day.

The earliest known record of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon comes from the 11th-century, The tradition is that a fierce dragon was causing panic at the city of Silene in Libya, at a time when George was there. In order to prevent the dragon from attacking individual people from the city, they gave two sheep each day to the dragon, but when the sheep were not enough they were forced to sacrifice humans instead. Eventually, the king's daughter was chosen to be sacrificed, and no one was willing to take her place. So George stepped forward and saved the girl by slaying the dragon with a lance.

Our feast day gives us a timely opportunity to ground everything we are currently engaged with as a church community in gratitude and joy. Please make time to come if you are able - it is a gift!

The picture above is taken from a stained glass window within the church.