This Day in History: 2025-04-23
The commemoration of St. George, one of the fourteen holy helpers and infectious disease protector, is celebrated around the world on April 23.
Fourteen holy helpers is the name for a group of saints worshiped together in the Roman Catholic Church. Believers turn to them, asking for protection against disease and any other distress. The Holy Helpers include Mary the Virgin Mary as Queen of Martyrs and Christians’ Assistant. The commencement of the worship of this group of saints is related to the German province of Rhineland and dates to the 14th century. The original German name “Vierzehn Nothelfer” literally means fourteen helpers in distress, and it is believed that the occurrence of this worship is largely related to the great epidemics of this era like the plague.
St. George is advocated in war danger, fever, plague, for good weather and is the patron saint of domestic animals. As a Roman soldier, he receives a martyr’s death for the sake of Christianity. He is shown dragging a dragon. In the beginnings of Christianity, the dragon symbolized evil, which in the transferred sense referred to paganism.