St. George was commemorated on the day of his death with the celebrations held in the churches bearing his name in Iskenderun. Because of St. George Feast, Eucharistic celebrations were held in St. George Greek Catholic Church in Iskenderun and Greek Orthodox Church of St. George (Mar Circıs).
The first mass was held in St. George Greek Orthodox Church was led by Rev. Father Dimitri Yıldırım.
Another mass in the evening was celebrated in the Iskenderun St. George Catholic Church. This mass was led by the parish priest Fr. Julius Ohanele who was accompanied by Deacon Alexandre.
Father Julius Ohanele gave information on the personality of Saint George, who was a soldier in the Roman Army and was asked to refuse the Christian belief. As he did not do this, Diocletian condemned him to death. Afterwards, Deacon Alexandre gave his sermon on the meaning of the day.
Deacon Alexandre, during his sermon said that St. George faced the death many times because of his faith but God prevented this. He said: “They took St. George to the pagan temple. They wanted him to present sacrifices to the idols. But when he stood in front of the statue, the demon which was in that idol came out and yelled, ‘Jesus is the true God.’ Everyone is surprised. Then they witnessed miracles while trying to kill Him.
St. George is said to have raised a man who was dead 300 years ago. He continued to spread the Gospel of the Lord in prison, and there were some prisoners who believed even in that prison. Empress Alexandra also believed in Jesus, this is why she was condemned to death.
St. George is usually depicted in killing a dragon. The dragon symbolizes the evil, our saint symbolizes the faith. Faith overcomes evil. He became the saint of all of the soldiers.”
A small cocktail was arranged in the garden of St. George’s Catholic Church in Iskenderun after the mass.
The Christian children enjoyed in the Children’s Festival.
The Youth Committee of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church of Iskenderun organized a festival for the children of the community after the lunch on Sunday, April 23rd, for the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.
