Great St George

I was away from blogging on the Solemnity of St George, but as we come to the end of the Octave (!) I thought I'd better pay tribute to our glorious patron. I can think of no better way of doing this than by posting some photos that I took last week in the church of St George in Amberg.


I particularly liked the early eighteenth century frescoes on the walls of the nave showing examples of St George's powerful intercession - the usual stuff (sickness, fire, death, etc) but also various military situations involving the great enemy of Christian Europe at the time: the Ottoman Turks. The first fresco, with the inscription Ecclesiae Tropoeophorus Tuetur - in Duello, shows a 'duel' between a Christian knight and a Turk:



This fresco, in pugna navali, shows St George using what looks like thunderbolts against the Turks at Lepanto (1571):

Finally, this one, in obsidione, refers to the Siege of Vienna (1683), again showing St George's assistance:

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Great St George, our patron, help us,

In the conflict be thou nigh;

Help us in that daily battle,

Where each one must win or die.