Another 1st for the Columbans in Fiji: The Celebration of St George’s Feast Day Sunday 23rd April 2023.
St George slaying the dragon
At the Central House Committee Meeting on the 8th March 2023, it was decided we celebrate other National Feast days other than St Patrick’s Day (17th March) St Columban’s Feast Day (23rd Nov) and Fiji Day (10th Oct). Since we are now an intercultural Society – St George’s Day would be celebrated on the 23rd April because Fr Paul Tierney is from Bath, England, Korean Independence Day on the 15th August for the sake of Fr Carlo Jung and Tongan Constitution Day on the 4th Nov., Fr Felisiano and Naanise Mo’unga are from Tonga.
So yesterday 23rd April, the parishioners of St Pius X Parish, Raiwaqa put on a big celebration for their parish priest, Fr Paul Tierney, while later in the evening St George was honoured at the Columban Community gathering in the Central House, where Fr Paul Tierney gave a short talk on the life of St George:
Men of St Pius X Parish celebrates St George’s Feast Day with Fr Paul Tierney
Women of the Parish
The youth of the Parish
The children of the Parish
Plenty of grog and good food provided for the feast of St George
Feast day cake
Fr Paul at the Columban Community evening.
Fr Paul is helped by Fr Frank to cut the feastday cake. Fr Felisiano supervising proceedings.
St. George the patron saint of England and of Georgia, lived in 3rd century. Nothing of St George’s life or deeds can be established, but tradition holds that he was a Roman soldier and was tortured and decapitated under Diocletian’s persecution of Christians in 303 in Lydda, Palestine [now Lod, Israel]. His Feast Day is on April 23. He is honoured as an early Christian martyr who during the Middle Ages became an ideal of martial valour and selflessness.
The slaying of the Dragon: Legend has it that George arrived at a village where a dragon was terrorizing the local people. To appease the creature, they had to sacrifice a sheep per day to feed its hunger until they no longer had any sheep. The King then decreed that they must sacrifice the local children to keep the dragon at bay. Each day, the sacrifice was chosen by lottery until the King’s daughter was selected. As she was being led to the dragon, George happened to pass by. Horrified by what he discovered, he offered to slay the dragon. During his battle with the dragon, George noticed a vulnerable patch of skin under its arm and charged forward with his sword, slaying the beast.
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