Spring, Easter and St. George Collide in This Ancient Prayer

A prayer from the Eastern Menaion, the equivalent of the propers of the Mass in the West, containing the changeable prayers of the Divine Liturgy on Feasts that are not dependent on the Paschal Cycle.

From Aleteia

By Philip Kosloski

The following prayer combines three major spiritual themes on the feast of St. George.

t. George has been venerated by the Church for many centuries, with April 23 being chosen as his feast day.

The placement of his feast at the end of April means it is always during the Easter season as well as springtime in the Northern Hemisphere.

Dom Prosper Gueranger mentions in his Liturgical Year an ancient hymn, which he claims is “taken from the Menæa of the Greek Church.”

The hymn has much poetic language, and concludes with a prayer that combines Easter, Spring and St. George into a spiritual symphony.

Come, all ye people, let us celebrate in festive song the bright and glorious Resurrection of the Lord; let us also joyously celebrate the bright memory of George the martyr: let us crown him, as the invincible soldier, with the flowers of spring; that by his prayers we may deserve to be freed from tribulation and sin.

Spring is come; let us exult with joy: the Resurrection of Christ hath shone upon us; let us rejoice in gladness: the feast of the prize-bearing martyr George hath appeared, gladdening the faithful with its brightness; come, then, let us who love his feast celebrate it with our spiritual canticles. For, like a brave soldier, George stood with manly courage before the tyrants, and covered them with confusion, being an imitator of the Passion of our Savior Jesus Christ. He had no pity on the earthen vessel of his body, but wholly transformed it by delivering it to torments, as brass is melted by fire. Thus, then, let us cry out unto him: O prize-bearing martyr! beseech God that he save our souls.