Half of Greece celebrates Agios Georgios today and as it is known. Why can… "house without Giannis, it does not make a fortune", but most houses also have a George or Georgia. After all, "George" is the most popular male name.
But who was Saint George whose memory the church honors today? And why is the holiday mobile, since other years it falls on the second day of Easter and others normally, like this year, on April 23rd.
According to the Orthodox tradition, although the festival includes more than 50 figures with the name George, the saint who is officially celebrated is Saint George the Great Martyr and Trophy Bearer.
Saint George lived during the reign of Emperor Diocletian in the late 3rd to early 4th century. He came from Asia Minor and specifically Cappadocia and was a descendant of an aristocratic family and an officer of the Roman army. The most famous depiction of the Saint is the one that kills the dragon, who guarded the water of a spring in Libya and did not let the inhabitants drink water if they did not give him to eat one of their fellow villagers whom the inhabitants chose by lot. One day, however, the lot fell on the princess, who was rescued by a young officer on his horse, killing the dragon with his pole.
As a military saint, he is considered the patron saint of the Infantry and the Greek Army, while he is also celebrated in other parts of Europe, since he was the Saint of the Crusaders and even today he is the patron saint of England.
In fact, they also believe in Saint George in Turkey and every year thousands of Turks flock to the Monastery of Saint George of Koudounas, in Prigipo (the largest of the Princes' Islands, to worship the miraculous image.
Because it is a mobile celebration
Some years the holiday moves when April 23rd falls before Easter. And it is celebrated on the second day of Easter, because the ecclesiastical tropes of St. George contain resurrection words that can not be sung before the Resurrection.
This year, it is celebrated normally.