George the Standard-Bearer

Saint George the Standard-Bearer (Greek: Ἅγιος Γεώργιος ὁ Σημειοφόρος), also known as Saint George the Confessor

In 813, during the reign of Emperor Michael I, George travelled to Constantinople to settle cases, but remained for a further two years at the request of Nikephoros, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. At the onset of his reign, Leo V, Michael's successor, restored iconoclasm and began to persecute iconodules (supporters of religious images). George, alongside the Patriarch and others, approached the Emperor and petitioned an end to the persecution. Forthright in his criticism of the Emperor, George was flogged with a hundred lashes and exiled to a barren island in the Sea of Marmara.

Whilst in exile, George practised asceticism and survived on wild greens. Christians began to travel to the island to confess their sins, hear his teachings, and be healed. Several miracles are attributed to George during his exile, including the healing of a man possessed by a demon, a deaf person, a blind person, and others. George became known as a simeiophoros ("standard-bearer" or "wonder worker" in Greek). After six years in exile, George died on 7 April 821 and was buried on the island. A bright star is said to have shone over the city of Mytilene at the time of his death.

In 846–847, after the end of iconoclasm, George's remains were brought to Lesbos and buried at a location known as the Tria Kyparissia, near the Chapel of St John the Baptist. George's right hand was later moved to Mytilene in the eighteenth century.