Harry, England and St Alban!

This is the time of year when we stop complaining for a moment about the dreadful spring weather and start complaining about the neglect of England’s patron saint, St George. Our grumbles go something like this: we don’t know what to do to mark his feast day (23 April), we have no traditions like the shamrock or daffodils to fall back on — and the nearest we can manage to a dragon seems to be a bout of football violence.

All that is true; and it reinforces my view that adopting St George as our patron saint was a terrible mistake. It was something we stumbled into and don’t know how to get out of. St George was a soldier who openly reproached Diocletian for his cruelty. He was beheaded in 304, one of many Roman soldiers who chose to be a martyr rather than deny the exclusive Lordship of Christ over this world.