36. Mar Giwargis (St. George)

Giwargis was a Greek military leader. He came to a city steeped in moral corruption, but defended the locals from a serpent. He also saved the king’s daughter, who was about to be sacrificed to the serpent. Giwargis came to the region (today’s northern Iraq) and became a Christian. The pagan locals enslaved him, but he survived. He freed himself and became a religious teacher. The speaker continues the story with the miracle attributed to Mar (Saint) Giwargis, which she personally witnessed. A Kurdish neighbour came to her with her sick child. The narrator advised the Kurdish woman to take him to the church, to bring an offering to Mar Giwargis and to leave the sick boy there. The woman did this and her son was healed. The child’s mother was very grateful, but the Christian woman (the story-teller) warned her that the Kurds should stop desecrating Christian holy sites, lest a bigger disaster fall on them.