Passion of St George
From The Martyrdom and Miracles of Saint George of Cappadocia (E.A.W. Budge, 1888), pp. 236-241. For the rest of the series, see St. George’s;
Martyrdom (BHO 310) | Miracles (BHO 318) | Encomium (BHO 320)
BHO 316
These are the mighty deeds and miracles which God wrought by the hand of St. George after his martyrdom and after the coming of his body into Diospolis his native city, and after the building of his shrine, which was completed and consecrated on the seventh day of the month Athor, and after the laying of his body within it. Saint Theodosius, Bishop of Jerusalem, recited the mighty deeds and miracles which God wrought by Saint George, and the gracious acts which took place in his holy martyrium when he pronounced the following encomium on the day of his holy commemoration, which is the seventh day of Athor, when there was gathered together a great multitude of the orthodox to celebrate the festival of Saint George in his shrine and to praise our Lord Jesus Christ.
"I will open my mouth in parables, I will declare the things which have been hidden from the beginning, which we have heard and known, and which our fathers have declared unto us." As [p. 237] the Holy Spirit spake by the mouth of David the righteous king, so also will I show forth to you the gifts and the miracles which came to pass through Saint George the mighty martyr of Christ, and what happened to him in the city of Tyre where he consummated [his martyrdom] under Dadianus, the lawless [governor] of the Persians. Now Tyre was the city of king Nebuchadnessar who was king of all the Chaldaeans, and he forsook his city Tyre, and went to Babylon, and built it in a beautiful manner, and fortified it, and made it his royal city. And it came to pass that when they had taken off the head of Saint George it was separated from the body from the ninth hour of the day until sunset; and Pasikrates the servant of Saint George stood by it weeping over it and watching it. and behold God put it into the heart of two of his fellow-servants to come to the city to visit their master, and to learn what had become of him; and [the people] told them, saying, "They have slain him today." And they went and rent their garments, and came to the body, and they found Pasikrates sitting and weeping; and they sat down and wept with him. After these things they rose up together and joined the head of the saint to his body, and it united with it as if it had never been severed at all. And they took the napkin which one of them had on him and wrapped his holy body smeared with blood in it; and they found a new sepulchre near to them outside the city, and they laid the body of the holy man in it until it was morning, and they sat outside the door. And it came to pass on the morrow that they rose up, and went into the city and bought incense and linen; and they brought them and put them around the body of Saint George; and they found that the head had joined on to the body [p. 238] as if he were alive and there was no mark of the sword stroke upon it at all. And the servants marvelled greatly, and believed with all their heart that God had received him to Himself, and that everything which He had promised him while he was alive should in truth be done for him. Then they spread incense over him, and carefully prepared him for burial according to the custom of the country, and they buried him in a sepulchre, and sealed it with seals, and they set Pasikrates outside to watch it. And the two other servants went into the city to labour for their living, and to obtain money wherewith to carry the body of the saint with them to their country. And it came to pass that after they had worked for two months the Lord sent to them there a merchant ship from Joppa laden with merchandise: and when they had sold the cargo the servants of Saint George spake with the sailors, and they agreed with them for a price to take them and the body of Saint George on board; and by the help of God they came to Joppa. When the sailors and the merchant heard that it was the body of Saint George of Melitene of Diospolis who had gone into the country of the Persians, they marvelled greatly at the manner of his martyrdom; and they all arose and worshipped him, and glorified God that they were esteemed worthy of carrying Saint George in their ship. And one of the sailors, Leontius of Jopaa, an acquaintance of Saint George, brought horses and laid the body upon them, and carried it into Saint George's own house [at Diospolis]; and when he arrived there he found Saint George's mother and sisters had gone to their rest. [p. 239] Then the report spread abroad that they had brought the body of Saint George who had been martyred, and whom they had not seen for the past seven years, into the house, and because they were Christians they threw themselves down and worshipped him, weeping and marvelling at the things which had taken place; and again they rejoiced and glorified God that they were worthy of such a gift. Then Pasikrates and the two other servants whose names were Lukios and Kirinneos told the people of the city everything that had happened to their master, and they all marvelled. And they laid the body of Saint George in his house for a week, and they all came and worshipped it. When the great day of the festival came they all assembled in the church, and the martyrdom of Saint George was read to all the believers, and they marvelled at him and especially at all that had happened to him, and they glorified God and His holy martyr. And behold when a certain wealthy nobleman of the city called Andrew, who was of the family of Saint George's mother, heard his martyrdom read, God opened his heart and he listened attentively to the passage [in the martyrdom] which says, "And the Lord appeared unto him, saying, I swear to thee by Myself that no harm shall befall any man who shall confess thy sufferings, for I know that he is flesh and blood. No evil shall happen to any man who is in any necessity whatsoever, whether he be in peril by fearful judgements, or by many waters, or on the mountains, or in any affliction, if he remembers My name and the name of My Father which is in heaven, and the Holy Spirit, and My servant George, and I will deliver him out of every trouble. I will write in the Book of Life the name [p. 240] of any one who shall write down thy martyrdom and thy mighty deeds, and shall manifest forth thy day and the sufferings which thou hast endured in My name. I will never allow to want any good thing in this world during his whole life, the man who shall make a book on thy sufferings and place it in faith in thy shrine; he shall be numbered with my saints. I am the Lord God, and that which I have said will I do. I will take into My kingdom whoever shall build a shrine in thy name, and I will never forsake him. I will cause mighty miracles to take place wheresoever thy body shall be laid; I will make the nations of the earth come to thy shrine and bring thee gifts; and I will gather together to thy shrine all the heathen of the earth, Jews, Samaritans, Persians, the children of Esau and even the barbarians, and they shall bring thee gifts."
When the believing and truly God-loving man Andrew heard of all these cures with which God would benefit the people through him, he received great joy like Jacob when he saw the face of his son Joseph the ruler in Egypt, and he rose up quickly and wrote down his martyrdom and put it in his house, saying, "I will set the memorial of my brother in my house, that his blessing and favour may abide with me forever." And he cried out among the whole multitude, saying, "My brethren, as we have suffered great tribulation for the sake of our brother who was slain with the sword, let us now rejoice exceedingly that he has received great honour in heaven, and verily, because he has thus received freedom of speech before God, he is able to entreat God on our behalf that He may show mercy and help to us in this world and in that which is to come. And now, my brethren, hearken unto me, and let us build a little shrine to his name, and let [p. 241] us lay his body in it, that his blessing and favour may abide with us forever." Then all the people answered with one voice, "Let be done what thou hast said. If thou wilt undertake the matter, we will undertake with thee, that the blessing of the saint may be with us and with our children, and that his blessing may abide in our city forever." And it came to pass that when he heard these things he rejoiced. And he rose up early in the morning, and brought his servants and labourers and the servants of Saint George, and he pulled down the walls and the dwelling of Saint George, and said, "I will not lay my brother's body in strange ground," and the rest of the people of the city helped him and laboured at the holy place. And he deposited the body of Saint George in the church, until they had cleared the ground and could bring it back again. And it came to pass that when they had cleared the place they laid the foundations, and he marked out with straw where the walls should be according to the size of the little shrine, and he built it as well as he could (i.e. according to his means).
