Augustine Sokolovski
On May 6, the Church honors the memory of the Holy Great Martyr George. Liturgical texts in honor of the revered ancient saints are usually laconic and brief. In just a few words, they express the very essence of their veneration.
In the troparion to Saint George, we sing and read: " As the liberator of captives and defender of the poor, physician of the sick, and helper of kings, O Victory-bearer Great Martyr George, intercede with Christ God to save our souls."
The troparion to the Great Martyr George calls the saint "Liberator of Captives." This means that a prayerful appeal to him with a request for heavenly intercession before God helped Orthodox believers receive help in freeing their relatives and friends from captivity.
In ancient times, to which the words of the hymn undoubtedly date back, wars were not fought according to any specific rules. Therefore, the return from captivity was an absolutely incredible miracle, a great sign, which, obviously, was performed many times by divine intervention through the prayers of St. George.
The hymn also calls the saint "the Defender of the Poor." Unlike modern times, antiquity did not perceive poverty in social categories. The beggar had nothing, no roof over his head, no food, no relatives. Poverty meant lifelong doom.
By calling St. George "the Defender of the Poor," the Church testified that by some incredible and unaccountable coincidence, which for the believing heart was nothing other than the direct intervention of God in the inevitable human doom, the poor received help, moreover, they found a certain well-being here and now, on earth, exclusively through the prayers of George.
From the reports of ancient church historians, we know that the village of Byzantium, as the place was called where in 330 the Emperor Constantine founded a new capital called "New Rome on the Bosphorus", was known to the pagans as a territory where the idolatrous deities allegedly gave people help in illnesses.
Therefore, as a biblical answer to this superstition, the holy martyrs, whom Christians venerated, by the grace of the True God gave people genuine healings from mental and physical ailments. Among these great holy miracle workers of antiquity, Saint George was obviously highly revered. This is evidenced by the hymn. The saint is “Physician of the sick".
Finally, "Helper of the Kings", that is, the intercessor of pious rulers. St. George is considered their patron by many ancient and new Christian regions, territories and countries.