t manner--
but as illustrations, more or less apt, whose object was to attract the
attention by their artistic character and thus to draw the mind to the
contemplation of their original, and by it to God, and thereby serve the
purpose of edification."

If we are not devoid of all sentiments of piety, the history of the
combats and victories of the saints and martyrs, and the narrative of
the miracles wrought through their intercession before and after their
death, will always be a source of joy and consolation to us, and will
tend to animate us with similar fortitude and love of virtue.

The legends of the Fourteen Holy Helpers are replete with the most
glorious examples of heroic firmness and invincible courage in the
profession of the Faith, which ought to incite us to imitate their
fidelity in the performance of the Christian and social duties. If they,
with the aid of God's grace, achieved such victories, why should not we,
by the same aid, be able to accomplish the little desired of us? God
rewarded His victorious champions with eternal bliss; the same crown is
prepared for us, if we but render ourselves worthy of it. God placed the
seal of miracles on the intrepid confession of His servants; and a mind
imbued with the spirit of faith sees nothing extraordinary therein,
because our divine Saviour Himself said, "Amen, amen I say to you, he
that believeth in Me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater
than these shall he do" (_John_ xiv. 12). In all the miraculous events
wrought in and by the saints appears only the victorious omnipotent
power of Jesus Christ, and the living faith in which His servants
operated in virtue of this power. To obliterate the miracles that appear
in the lives of the saints, or even to enfeeble their import by the
manner of relating them, would rob these legends of their intrinsic
value. If our age is no longer robust enough to acknowledge the effects
of divine omnipotence and grace, it does not follow that they must be
disavowed or denied.

The Legends of the Fourteen Holy Helpers

I.

St. George, Martyr

LEGEND

ST. GEORGE is honored throughout Christendom as one of the most
illustrious martyrs of Jesus Christ. In the reign of the first Christian
emperors numerous churches were erected in his honor, and his tomb in
Palestine became a celebrated place of pilgrimage. But his history is
involved in great obscurity, as no early records of his life and
martyrdom are at