 Oh, my gosh, we are live guys. Whoa. You're not going to believe this. Let me tell you something. Right before this happened, sitting at this desk, we're surrounded by tech and equipment and papers and books and things of that nature. And your boy here decided to knock over a full drink of brain juice. That's not what it's called, but it makes my brain work. And so we were just scattering trying to clean things up. So if we're a little late, that's why because apparently today I am a klutz and I am spilling things, but that's OK. Things happen. That's life, right? To be honest, to be honest, when I was a kid, I used to spill drinks so often, like out to eat or just at the dinner table that my mom started calling me the spill queen. Wow. That was like my nickname, my childhood name. So there you go. It's OK, Jordan. I'm really late. Well, here we are. Like I said, that's not if it happens. Spilling things. And so then I switched to something with a cap. So hopefully that doesn't happen again during the show. Having said quick things real quick, if you are just now tuning in. Listen, we're doing something really fun, funky, cool, fresh, whatever the kids say nowadays, if you would like to talk to us after the show live, literally live, we will put your beautiful faces and your hopefully beautiful comments on the screen. All you have to do is you're either watching us on Facebook or you're watching us on YouTube, just chat, chat, chat away in the type of type type type. That was much better than chat type. Type type type in the box, comment, make your comments. We will throw your comment on screen and in fact while I'm doing these quick announcements If you want to test it out to see that we're not lying Go ahead drop a comment and we'll throw one of your comments on screen But while we're doing that a couple things we have to talk about as we always do APO SCO Li vi a.org possibly VA. Why should you go there? Well, you are a smart person How do I know that you're watching our show only intelligent people watch our show you're just you're you're intelligent I'm just letting you know that You should be more intelligent. We should all be striving for more and you can do that at oh, you know what? I'm mixing up my sites. I what I really meant was Abla-dash Institute What does this have to do with intelligence everything is thrown out. Everything is thrown out right? I was trying to figure out what you meant. This is the beauty of behind-the-scenes. Well, but here's the thing Abla-dash Institute org or a possibly VA either one of those because what do we have on AV? We have free courses on a possibly make you smarter. See I can clean it up Clean it up like the mess. I spilled everywhere And then of course if you want to take some courses from some of the greatest minds that the Catholic Church has ever known faithful to the Magisterium Abla-institute.org Two more things one We have a ton of webinars coming up this year like really excited about it if you would like to check out those webinars I'm not even gonna list them out the one that I know that I'm really excited for is Father Moro overcoming or habitual sin. I was just making the promo for it something about habitual sin overcoming Yeah, I'm doing a terrible job. You can find that at spiritualdirection.com slash events Really excited for that. That's gonna be in April and then last thing is if you like what we're doing There's seven of you here. I would hug every one of you if you would allow it. Maybe not. I don't know I probably shouldn't make those statements a Firm high five would be more appropriate if you would like to you know kind of help us out because you like what we're doing Go to Abla-army.org where you can become a you actually you know more about this. Yeah Yeah, so Abla-army.org you if you want to be a monthly donor we would love your support even if it's five dollars a month just forget that Starbucks once a week, you know or whatever you drink and Donate and then you can join our Monthly donors Abla-army and it's really epic to be a part of you even get a welcome package We pray rosary weekly You get free content there too. It's exclusive and you get to insider access to all kinds of stuff So join the Abla-army. We would love to have you That's awesome enough of the ads That's what we do in the beginning of the show And folks just so you know, I'm sorry. Listen, I gotta say this real quick We're doing kind of a change up with the time So we'll probably end up having ads mid-show rather than the beginning of the show just so you're aware So we're not boring you guys. I know you don't come here for the ads you come here for the saints and the sages This is just behind the scenes anyway. The scenes so on that note You ready what note was that Jordan? I was a terrible no correct. No I'm ready Hey, I'm Jordan Burke and I'm Kristen Paiola and this is Saints and Sages where we talk about the wisdom of the saints and how it's relevant for you I'm ready. I don't know about you. I'm ready personally to slay a dragon I don't actually believe that you just spilled your drink because the amount of energy that you have just I didn't I didn't drink it. Yeah, I didn't drink it So for those those tuning in posts if you're listening to this currently on the podcast You're gonna be wondering what does she mean? Well, I spilled a drink a full drink all over the desk all Everything of Dan's and like so and you know what I'm proud of myself. I didn't cry. So on that note Not yeah, you didn't cry like St. George didn't cry Okay, so St. George you might know him if you've ever seen a saint with a with a spear And he's he's not a horse and he's slaying a dragon, right, you know, St. George That's who we're talking about today. So he's way back in like 300 AD Yeah So we actually don't know his birth date which is interesting But we know that he was likely born in Cappadocia with to a Cappadocia father and a Palestinian mother of noble rank and Kind of when we are talking about like when he first like comes on scene and shows up is in this catalog that I'm going to attempt to say it, but I have a feeling it's gonna end up horrendously Bibliotheca Higo-graphica Gracia Maybe anyway, what it is is Greek materials and including ancient literary works on the lives of the saints That's what it is. So that's where we kind of first see where he's at and generally these have like translations of Miracles and it's arranged alphabetically and kind of gives them all these different things It's like a it's like a the encyclopedia of the saints for that time And essentially what Jordan is saying is this man has been revered for centuries a long ages and ages the church has revered St. George Yeah, and to revered to the point that Pope Galicia Galicia Galicia's G e l a s i u s I'm on a struggle bus today. I can't listen words are hard Said he was a saint who quote whose name he's comparing him I should I should provide context. I apologize He is saying St. George and several others So the quote starts with whose names so these saints including St. George are justly Reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to God and that was basically him saying we know He's a saint. We know enough about him that that is true. We don't know the entirety of his story This is just another one of those saints that isn't just not super well known. It's not we don't have a ton of history on Yeah, in the Middle Ages, he was given towel as one of the 14 holy helpers Which is a big deal. Okay. I didn't have that and then also King Edward the third even made him patron saint of England To this day. He's still the patron saint of England, right? He's not English. Yeah, in fact, Cappadocia is modern-day Turkey So if you're trying to look for a Cappadocia on the map, it's Turkey, which is I would prefer Cappadocia to Turkey I think that sounds such a cool name and then it sounds like pasta So to his story what we do know is that when George was old enough He basically went into Dioletian's army and then by his late 20s. He became a Roman like Imperial guard So this was a big deal. He was in and I should provide context for that as well Guys who made it to that point They are well trained and battle and combat like these guys are not just they're no joke They are legit soldiers and the good news is that his parents actually raised him Christian So he went into the army Christian and since his dad was a Roman officer, I'm sure that's how he was able to get in But he was serving under Emperor Nicomedia, but unfortunately Diocletian announced that every Christian army that passed would be arrested and every other soldier if they Came by it would have to sacrifice the Roman gods. So yeah, this was including Saint George Yeah, and it wasn't just Christian armies. It was Christians in general So they were doing a full-out persecution of the Christians. They just hated Christians, right, right? Well, you know, we're supposed to be hated by the world So but yeah, Diocletian hated the Christians and and as you said basically he put out this mandate You see a Christian we're arresting them and every one of you better worship the pagan Roman pagan gods That's what we do here. And if you're not about it, we're gonna have some issues This is what kind of this is what George is finding himself coming up against now And if you think about that too, he's in a situation where he was completely and entirely loyal to his career Right as he should be he was a good good soldier. That's why he made this rank That's why you know, he's respected and and we should also probably note that Dioletian was friends with his dad. I have with George's father Yeah, he was friends with him and so that actually made it very difficult when George said no and refused to worship the Roman gods Because then it kind of put Diocletian in this weird spot where he's like man I'm like friends with your dad. So I can't kill you. I kind of have to so maybe we could work a deal, right? So he did he tried to yeah, he was like, I gotta convert this guy. So he's like offering him land and his slaves and Money all kinds of things were offered to George and still he said no. Yeah, it's that typical story of you know Well, well, I shouldn't say typical because it is interesting that Diocletian was trying to quote-unquote save him and Just purely from what I read out of respect for it George's father that friendship that they had Whatever that looked like or however that kind of came about But it is and it is the typical story in the sense of hey, I'll offer you whatever you want You just have you know, it's interesting I'm stopping myself mid-sentence because it just reminded me of kind of something that we have going on in the world today Which is these attempts from the enemy to drag us into Worldly things enticements. I'll give you anything you want. You just have to do what I say I'll give you anything you want. You just have to you know worship this God Like we have so many idols nowadays whether it's the golden calf of fame Whether it's the idol of money whether it's the idol of whatever it is I mean, you can you there's people worshiping the idol of fear right now They're just completely fearful and and that's not I'm not passing judgment on anybody with that statement We just have these different things that are coming about but it's all the same story, right? It's the same through line It's it's the enemy saying I'll give you what you want. I'll give you or I'll give you all these things Just to just do this little thing because what happens with George George says hey look I'm not going to persecute Christians. Sorry. Not only am I not going to pursue you Christians. I am a Christian and Dioletion says well, we can't we can't roll that way Yeah, he he stood his ground. He said no, I will not worship other gods and That's the cool part about st. George is he was enticed He had all those temptations right in front of him It would have been the easier route to just take the land the wealth and the slaves and be like I'm out of here But no, he was like forget it. I I love my God. I will serve him to the day I die I worship him him alone and so I will I will not worship your pagan gods And so unfortunately Dioletion was like well, I guess I'm gonna have to order you to be executed right and tortured in a pretty horrific way And I actually heard of it actually. Yeah, I actually didn't write down the entire thing because I was thinking okay Who's gonna be listening to this? We probably shouldn't go too into details Suffice to say it is it's pretty it's pretty intense and it to the point where At one point or one of the things I read said that he was resuscitated three times So they brought him like to the brink of death Or to death resuscitated him and then brought him to death again Resuscitated him and then brought him to death, you know for a total of three times I hope this isn't too graphic, but he was lacerated on a wheel of swords. Yeah, yeah I don't even know what that looks like. Hi, but that sounds so painful. Don't Google. We'll send in. He was decapitated Then he was decapitated. Yep outside of the city walls if I if I remember reading correctly So it's really interesting, you know, obviously he is a martyr for the faith But that's not even what's one of the things that I was kind of wondering about as I was doing research was That's not his like well-known story The well-known story is the dragon. Yeah, I mean, that's right That's the art that we see, you know We do a lot of events at the shrine of the most blessed sacrament in the event hall Where we have most of our stuff going on. There's this gorgeous Gorgeous bronze statue about the size of my torso. I mean, it's no joke. It's huge and It's St. George slaying the dragon. It's just it's incredible But that's what he's well-known for Yeah, there were apparently a lot of Christians at his burial and it was near Palestine Palestine apparently and Many people were there to honor him and because they saw that he had so much faith and just couldn't believe it and There was a basilica built also over where he was buried and that's modern-day Israel But yeah, maybe we should tell them the story of the dragon. Yeah, I have that you know, well known It's it's pertinent to a story. I guess so this is taken from CNA and as always will link The resources and the post if you want to go back later and read it yourself But this is this is the story from CNA St. George is usually depicted in Christian art as a soldier on horseback killing a dragon with a lance This image is a representation of a pop popular legend of St. George Which first appears in 1265 in a romance titled the golden legend in which he saved a town Terrorized by a dragon with one blow of his lance the image However is also and more significantly a powerful symbol of the victory of Christian faith Over-evil sometimes interpreted more contextually in the church as paganism Which we were talking before the show is very similar to St. Patrick in the drawing or driving with snakes, right? Personified by the devil who was symbolized by the dragon according to the imagery in revelations now more in depth So that's the that's like the clip notes version of the story I was gonna say yeah, but the actual story you had we both read it, but it's it's there was a King and his daughter and there may have been a crocodile Okay, so it says he was fighting a dragon, but it might have been a crocodile in reality It might have also been just like a metaphorical story in the Middle Ages because dragons The devil was often portrayed as a dragon, but people weren't able to collect water Apparently, I don't know if it was a river or lake or something and because this animal, you know I think it was a dragon was nesting there So they were like throwing it sheep like two sheep a day, right? And I guess there was a bad dragon there There was a point where all the sheep were gone and they needed to feed this dragon so they could get their water for their livelihood So they started like, you know drawing sticks like okay Who's gonna go next and they were throwing women like maidens well No, so the first one so the first so the king says we're gonna draw Whatever draw straw or whatever Yeah, and this is gonna be the new thing because we're out of we're out of Out of sheep and so the very first day that he puts this new law in order law in order SVU great show done done The very first day that he puts this law into effect His daughter is the one his daughter is the one who picks the straw and he's like Oh, yeah, the princess was chosen Unfortunately, she was the one and but George showed up George came in and was like no We can't let that happen. He came in protected her from the dragon He showed the sign of the cross the dragon was slayed and of course after that They abandoned paganism became Christians, right? So that is the story. We're gonna go to a break and when we come back We're gonna give you some more interesting facts and a reflection be right back For those watching behind the scenes, you might be thinking be right back Yeah, we're doing that for post-production. We're gonna try some new things here And hopefully it's gonna be more relevant for y'all five of you are watching right now I'm happy to see all five of you if you would like to talk to us after the show stay around type something in the chat box and we will Talk to you. I mean, there's really nothing more to it than that. It's kind of cool I ask a question your face gets if your face is plugged in here Your face pops up on screen and we can say oh, hey, we see that person You might want to know what color the dragon was you might want to know might or might not have answers What what drink did you spill like all that kind? Yeah, what is Jordan drink right right now? Just water insider, right? Okay, ready. Yeah Welcome back to Saints and Sages. I'm Jordan Burke with Hey, yeah, we are talking about St. George We have just kind of gone over his history gone over the most popular story of the dragon All these different things and now let's get in like I have a ton of quote-unquote interesting facts That I stole from Catholic org, which I don't think they would mind me shouting them out and using their facts as well as you know Maybe we have some reflections that we'll get into what kind of just see how this goes and flows. What do you think? Sure. Okay, great. All right. So tell us all your fun facts. These are my interesting facts They are in no particular order. Okay, so Random facts for you not like a top 10 or Jordan and break here. We go So St. George again, these are all from Catholic org. St. George stands out among other saints and legends because he is known and revered by both Muslims and Christians. Yeah, I wrote that down too. I find that fascinating So why are the Muslims like him? It must be the wow factor of the dragon's leg I don't know like this guy was epic. I couldn't find any info on it I and granted I didn't search that deep because we're obviously very focused on well, right, you know the show Maybe the princess was Muslim. I don't well, so Capitose You know, I don't know I shouldn't speculate because I really don't know geography, but yeah interesting enough St. George is revered by both Muslims and Christians. There you go. Okay, so it is said that St. George killed the dragon near the sea in Beirut Thus, St. George Bay is a name in his honor. Ah Yeah, so if you ever at St. George St. George Bay near Beirut, you can say hey, I know the story It's like a cool party trick or like a party story like hey guys Pull that out of your back pocket, right? St. George's feast day is celebrated on April 23rd, but if it falls before Easter It's celebrated Easter Monday. Oh really the Catholic Church, right? Okay. How interesting is that? I didn't know that The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates three Count them one uno dos tres St. George feast days each year April 23rd as expected November 3rd to commemorate the consecration of a cathedral dedicated to him and Lydia and On November 26th when a church in Kiev was dedicated to him That's a lot of celebrating of one saint So I thought I don't know I thought that was interesting just because I have not heard of One saint having multiple feast days. Wow. Yeah, but it's also the orthodox and I know that there's like anyway Let's life goals try to have four feast days when you die. That is actually, you know what? That's a good life goal In Bulgaria his feast day is celebrated at May 6th with the slaughter and roasting of a lamb Back to the story of the dragon. Oh with the sheep, right, right lamb is delicious and Egypt The Coptic orthodox church in Alexandria called St. George the prince of martyrs and celebrates his feast day on May 1st Now there's a second celebration November 17th in honor of the first church Dedicated to him. So again, this is You know, they are interesting facts, but it's fascinating in the sense that like we still don't know that much about him Historically, but he's very widely celebrated even by other religions. Just just all over the world It's fascinating I got two more bear with me St. George is the patron saint of England as you said yes in Catalonia and his cross can be found throughout England And then finally in older works St. George works of art St. George is depicted wearing armor and holding a lance or fighting a dragon Which represents Christ's enemies? So that one was kind of more towards the A symbolism aspect of kind of what we were talking about before all of those can be found on catholic org Which is a great resource when you're researching saints now reflections I just feel like anyone who gets claimed or titled one of the 14 holy helpers from the middle ages Because they were just epic back then anybody from the middle ages. I just feel like they were really Just incredible people who just I don't know. They fought hard bloody to death. I don't know He must have been really well known and really just revered because if you get to be one of the 14 holy helpers That's a pretty big deal So but my question is how like what about him in particular versus some other people Is it because he was offered so much like to get out of it? And like he just didn't fall into that temptation. Is it the dragon story? Like what led to his fame and popularity? Yeah, there there's such an interesting aspect to our faith where we've talked about it like we we have endless The saints are endless. I mean there's saints in heaven that we may not ever know about right because they're saints That's just how it works But we have saints now where we don't know their history as well as we we could Whether it being lost or just not recorded. We just have bits and pieces and they still have this huge wide effect I'm still blown away. I get a kick out of it every time I'm in mass and I hear st. Lucy Oh, yeah, after we after we did that episode you correct stick, right I mean we don't pre congregation barely have any information on her I mean really hardly any information on her and yet she said every single Some cake well, yeah every day in mass. I think that really displays just the beauty of tradition in the catholic church and how things are lasting and how So much could happen years and years and years ago and to this day It's still so real for us, right? Um, I mean st. George in our modern day. I wouldn't say he's as popular as like st Teresa of Calcutta like you could ask anybody who you know, mother Teresa is they're gonna know But still st. George. I mean most people know that one saint who slayed a dragon and um But I mean other than that Jordan. Did you have other reflections? No, I mean it's just another yet another example of dying for your faith another example of being relentlessly just Um fighting yeah fighting for it. Yeah, I'm struggling for words But it's it's the same with so many of the saints that we've already talked about who have given their lives You know st. John of Arc to the point of literally shedding blood to the point of literally shedding blood Yeah, I mean yeah scripture. It's it's it's really an incredible thing and it's it's an example because Look folks. I mean In a lot of ways. Well for one there's persecution going on in the world right now Against Christians all over the world all over the world China Um, who is the there's a group a very popular group of Christians right now being persecuted. Oh lord, forgive me I can't think of their names Anyway, persecution is happening currently all over the place Even in some cases in the united states believe it or not, but nothing to this level And I we see at least that we see correct. That's a good. That's a good qualification I always kind of fall back on am I prepared Am I prepared if it gets this if it gets this far? Will it get this far? And and then even with that even if it doesn't am I living up to my faith today? Am I living up to you know, the what is what is necessary the standard or so to speak one of the standards? I think anyway, like if this guy died for his faith in a horrific way I mean resuscitated three times come on, you know torture to the point of death and brought back What excuses do I have to live in a lukewarm manner and the answer is none? You don't have any excuses to do that. I don't know nor does anyone else So I don't know that's something that always pops of mind when I when I kind of hear about these these martyrs and these saints I mean the majority of us will not have the opportunity I I'm I'm pretty sure in our lifetime to Be murdered like this per se. So I guess that makes me pause and wonder like, okay so how am I to live out my faith in a way that Is true to you know, what I say I believe in really living out the faith and a lot of it I think is pretty simple and just being faithful in the way that we are called to be christians And one of which is just this little way of like being joyful amidst anything Like we are called to be joyful and it's like if you're in a room and you're with a group of people And they were to be like, all right, we're gonna pull out the christians in this room Like are they gonna know that you're christian? Like if if you're in that group, like are they gonna see that you're different? Like what makes you stand out and you know, jesus calls us to be radical Like what does that look like for you in your workplace in your family in your home? Every day just driving on the road like how are you different? How are you standing out and and that should be living a virtuous life And I think st. George although, you know, I didn't know personally But it seems like he was a good christian man and there were people who knew This man, he's he's got it together like he loves the lord and he's gonna die for for god I'm gonna follow that god, right like, you know, so he brought other people with him Evangelistic in the way he lived Right, no, we can learn from him in that way. I couldn't agree more. I think you nailed it I mean, it's again It's just looking up to these saints as the examples that they are In every form and fashion even if it's not to the point of death But still saying That person when they see or interact with me on a daily basis or whenever they interact with me There's something different about that person, right? That's that should be the goal Like that's what I want people to say and I think you're right I think st. George exemplified probably exemplified that I mean, how could he not right? He's denying these orders while still being loyal as much as it can anyway Um, yeah, just another yet another incredible story these martyrs every one of these saints who's a martyr You know, we've talked about it before where we think like Well, is that story going to get boring? Like there's so many who there's so many saints who have just been martyred and it's the same story the same sacrifice Right, they may have been they may have died in her different ways in horrific different ways But still a martyrdom and is that going to get boring and I think no I think every time it comes up. There's something else unique or if not, it's just a good reminder You know what I mean? It's just a yet another reminder. Hey, someone died for this what you're living right now. How good do you have it? I mean, it's not like jesus's passion You know his death and resurrection that doesn't get boring like his nativity story doesn't get boring I'm not bored at christmas And so I don't think these saints stories are boring and even if it is the same thread It's always a different story a different life experience um But I I encourage you to go before the lord and really just reflect What part of my life needs to change? What part of my life am I living am I marked by joy? Do people see me and they see love? Am I loving those who are difficult to love, you know, am I am I really fighting for this? And living out my faith and so and we can ask for st. George's intercession because he clearly was brave And if you need some courage, I think he's got you Yeah, I help them ask him to help slay the dragons whatever dragons are in your life Whether or not it was just metaphorical it's still Something that we can look up to and and and use in our prayer and and you know Even meditate on and as long as it brings us closer to christ, you know, so I think that is a great suggestion That's all we have on st. George Yeah, I think you know if you'd like to learn more about him. We're gonna have We'll put all the links at you know in the description at the end of the show And um, I mean that's really it. Yeah, and if you're interested in chatting with us, um Feel free to email us at saints pod at my avala.com and we would absolutely love to have you And if if you would like to contact us in that way, um, we would we would love to respond So yep. Yep. That's that st. George pray for us. Bye