Fear not.NORMALLY ICONS ARE NOTABLE for their intentional stillness and inner silence. The most striking exception is the icon of St. George battling the dragon. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a medieval legend, local people worshiped a dragon to whom they fed their children (selected by lot) to subdue sub·due tr.v. sub·dued, sub·du·ing, sub·dues 1. To conquer and subjugate; vanquish. See Synonyms at defeat. 2. To quiet or bring under control by physical force or persuasion; make tractable. 3. the dragon's rage. One day Elizabeth, only daughter of the king and queen, was going to meet her fate when St. George appeared, riding a white horse and wounding the dragon with his lance. Using her belt as a leash, Elizabeth then led the vanquished creature into the city. Her grateful parents offered St. George treasure, but all he wished for was that the people be baptized bap·tize v. bap·tized, bap·tiz·ing, bap·tiz·es v.tr. 1. To admit into Christianity by means of baptism. 2. a. To cleanse or purify. b. To initiate. 3. . This Christian legend came centuries after the real St. George died a martyr's death. The "dragon" he fought was fear. Living in a time of persecution Persecution Albigenses medieval sect suppressed by a crusade, wars, and the Inquisition. [Fr. Hist.: NCE, 53] Camisards uprising of Protestant peasantry after the revocation of Edict of Nantes in 1685 was brutally suppressed by the in the early fourth century, he had the courage to walk into a public square and shout, "All the Gentile gods are devils. My God made the heavens and is the true God." For this he was tortured and put to death. His brave witness led to the conversion of many and gave courage to those already baptized. Icons of St. George are simple but powerful images of the struggle against evil and fear, symbolized by the dragon. The horse St. George rides represents God-given courage and his lance the power of God. JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape FOREST, secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship and author of Praying with Icons (Orbis). Image: St. George and the Dragon. Traveler's icon. Bronze and enamel enamel, a siliceous substance fusible upon metal. It may be so compounded as to be transparent or opaque and with or without color, but it is usually employed to add decorative color. It was used to decorate jewelry in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. . Copy of an 18th-century Russian original. Photo: Jim Forest. |
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