The Corinthians’ favorite saint was also a sufferer. Personal guard of Diocletian – emperor responsible for the last and most violent persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire –, George of Cappadocia he renounced the life of a soldier for the faith of Christ, was arrested and became a martyr. He was tied to a wheel full of swords, thrown into a cauldron of molten lead.
And he survived everything, according to legend, making the sign of the cross. His greatest adventure, however, would be the execution of a dragon that was about to devour a king’s daughter. With this story told for the first time in the West in 1260 – a clear metaphor of the struggle between good and evil – one of the greatest icons of the Christian imagination of all time emerged.
George of Cappadocia died beheaded on April 23, 303 – hence this being, until today, Saint George’s Day.
4 curiosities
1. Historical confusion
Saint George’s armor reinforces the image of a “warrior” saint. But the red cross was only associated with it in the early 12th century, when England adopted it as its flag. The symbol was created during the First Crusade.
2. Disputed Blessing
São Jorge is the patron saint of several countries, such as England and Portugal. In Brazil, it protects the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Ilhéus. Corinthians, on the other hand, adopted the saint because, in 1926, they inaugurated their headquarters in Parque São Jorge, which is located in the Tatuapé neighborhood, in São Paulo.
3. Albino mount
No one knows whether George actually rode a white horse in the Roman Empire. However, the same legend that originated the figure of the dragon also says that it was like this, galloping the white boy, that the hero saved the city in trouble.
4. In the moon world
The legend that the saint lives on the moon may have Brazilian roots: in Umbanda, São Jorge corresponds to Ogum, the saint of war. This orixá has masculine energy, which makes him look for feminine vibrations on the Moon – hence the relationship.