It is curious that St George ended up being the patron saint of the English and their land. As deeply online liberals are fond of reminding each time his feast comes around, the dragon-slaying saint was – shock! horror! – not English. For Catholics, who are meant to take a certain cosmopolitanism in our stride, this has never presented a problem. A parish priest of Westminster is fond, at the end of Mass, of wishing a happy St Patrick’s Day to all his Irish and Nigerian congregants – the saint of the shamrock having been adopted by that West African land as their patron as well. The United States of America has the Blessed Virgin of the Immaculate Conception as their patroness – and while there are many great, strong and virtuous Jewish women in America, the Blessed Virgin was not herself American.
4:18 PM
How St George became England’s patron saint
Long before modern arguments about identity, St George had already been claimed by England as a saint whose witness stood above blood, region and politics
Andrew Cusack
9 min read
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