George the Confessor

Saint George the Confessor of Constantinople suffered for the veneration of the holy icons in the first half of the ninth century. He is remembered together with his wife, Irene, and their children.

The emperor Theophilus tried to force him to renounce the veneration of the holy icons, but the brave confessor refused and told the impious emperor that, bowing before the holy icons, we bow before their eternal Image, the Prototype. For disobedience the emperor ordered his property taken and plundered, and himself dragged with a rope round his neck through the streets of Constantinople and thrown into prison. After that Saint George was sent into exile with his wife Irene and the children. Having endured many sorrows in exile, the holy confessor George departed to the Lord.

The saints are commemorated on 26 May.