(2) For the salvation of Demetrius the deacon and of Georgius (his) son and of all of their household, the whole work was completed in the month of April of the year 582, indiction 12.

(3) For the salvation of Demetrius the deacon and of Georgius (his) son, and for the rest of Somas (his) father and of Demetrius and of Theodora (his) children.

(4) O Lord God of Saint Sergius, have pity on Thy servant Demetrius the deacon and on George his son and on all their household.

There are relics of Georgius in the village [of Saint-Martin-des-Bois in the territory] of Le Mans, where often many miracles are revealed. For the blind, the lame, those with chills, and other ill people are often there rewarded with the favor of health.

(2) In the month of Artemisius at the time of the tenth indiction of the year 5[32]. O Lord, have mercy and protect this village from the little one to the big one from now forever.

The holy Arculf gave us another true story also about this confessor George, which he learned accurately in the above-mentioned city of Constantinople from some well-informed and quite reliable narrators. This was the tale they used to tell about the holy confessor: At a time when many thousands from every quarter were coming together to form an expedition, a certain fellow, a layman, mounted on horseback, entered the city of Diospolis. He approached the house where the above-mentioned marble column is, which has depicted on it the likeness of the holy confessor George, and entering it began to address the image as if George were present, saying: 'I commend myself and my horse to thee, George the confessor, that by virtue of your prayers we may both return safe from this expedition and reach this city, delivered from all dangers of wars and pestilences and waters. And if, according to the prayer of our littleness, the merciful God grant to thee our successful return, I will bestow on thee as a gift this steed of mine, which I love exceedingly, assigning him in the prsence of thy image.' Speedily terminating these remarks, this fellow left the house, mingled with his other companions in the multitude of the army, and went off with the expedition. Then after many and divers dangers of war, in which thousands of unfortunate people perished, he got back safely to Diospolis mounted on that same beloved horse of his, having by God's grace escaped all evil chances, since he commended himself, as mentioned above, to George the servant of Christ. He joyously entered the house where the image of the holy confessor was, bearing with him gold as the price of his horse, and he addressed the holy George as if he were [p. 117] present, saying: 'Holy confessor, I give thanks to the eternal God, who by the steadfast prayer of your loftiness brought me back safe; and because of that I give thee these twenty gold sovereigns as the price of my horse, which thou hast conserved for me to this day since he was first commended to thee.' While saying this he laid the said sum of gold before the feet of the holy confessor's image, loving his horse more than the gold. His devotions completed, he went out, mounted the beast in question, and spurred him onward. But nothing would induce him to move. Realizing this the fellow dismounted, went into the house again, and offered ten sovereigns more, saying: 'Holy confessor, thou wast indeed a gentle protector to me as I rode amid the perils of the expedition; but nevertheless, I see, in horse dealing thou art hard and greedy.' With this remark he added 10 sovereigns to the 20, and said to the holy confessor: 'I am giving thee these sovereigns too that thou mayst be appeased and set my horse free to walk.' Then he went out again, mounted the horse, and urged him forward; but he kept standing as if fixed in that place, and could not move even one foot. To cut the story short: after mounting and dismounting fully four times, going into the house with 10 sovereigns, coming back to the immovable horse, and again back to the house, he kept running from one point to the other, and all the time nothing could succeed in moving his steed, until finally the collected sum of sovereigns amounted to 60. Then he would repeat too the above-mentioned remarks about the gentle kindness of the holy confessor and his safe guardianship during the expedition, mentioning also his hardness, as it were, or even greed, in dealing. According to the story he would repeat such language on his return to the house on each single occasion of the four. On the final occasion he addressed the holy George as follows: 'Holy confessor, now I know thy will for certain, and accordingly I offer thee as a gift the whole sum of gold thou askest, that is 60 sovereigns, and my steed too which I originally promised to donate to thee after the expedition, I now donate bound as he is by invisible bonds, but soon, I believe, to be released through thy honour before God.' After these remarks he went out of the house, and at that moment found his steed released. He led him into the house and assigned him as a gift to the holy confessor in the presence of his image and he went away from there joyfully, magnifying Christ. The clear conclusion from this is that whatsoever is consecrated to the Lord, whether it be man or animal, according to what is written in the book of Leviticus, can by no means be redeemed or changed. For if anyone change it, both that which is changed and that for which it is changed shall be consecrated to the Lord and shall not be redeemed.

However, the following description of events occurs in the deeds of blessed Pope Zacharias who was the 93rd ruler of the Roman church since the blessed apostle Peter:

In his time our Lord God saw fit in this city of Rome to disclose a great treasure through this bountiful pontiff. In the venerable patriarchate the holy pope discovered St. George the martyr's sacred head, kept safe in a casket; in this he also found a note made out in Greek letters, indicating its identity. The holy pope, altogether satisfied, immediately convened the city of Rome's people, and caused it to be taken with hymns and spiritual chants to the venerable deaconry which is dedicated to him in the city, in the 2nd region at the Velabrum; and there almighty God sees fit to work infinite miracles and benefits to the praise of his own name through this sacred martyr.

For this reason, we think that some venerable men either from Britain, that is, from the race of the English who are always especially close to the apostolic see, or from Germany or from some other region to enter which one must cross the sea, had been away at that time in the city of Rome and that the aforementioned relics had been received by them from the pope himself, but that, while they were trying to return, they were seized at sea by shipwreck or some other disaster, and in this way lost these relics, and that these were borne, by the will of God, to the same territory where they are revered with the greatest respect by the faithful people right until the present. At a later time again, a certain head of a family by the name of Bernehard, because it was his estate on which the very basilica of the aforementioned martyr seems to have been situated, gave it to this monastery, and it came in this way into the authority of this place. I have taken care to entrust to memory these things concerning the arrival of the relics of blessed George the martyr just as I have learned them by listening or have found them in the writings of the same pope or have even myself seen, because I found the times fitting. For at the same time as they arrived, Zacharias was the apostolic successor, Pippin was king, and Rihwin was count, so that there is no doubt about this. Also, it is agreed that that gospel-manuscript was written in the city of Romulus, as the writing itself suggests.

The church was not yet finished, however, and once again the whole plan was altered and new ideas incorporated in its construction. The symmetrical arrangement of the stones was broken up, the walls pulled down, and everything levelled with the ground. And the reason for it ? Constantine's efforts to rival other churches had not met with the complete success he hoped for: one church, above all, remained unsurpassed. So the foundations of another wall were laid and an exact circle described with the third church in its centre (I must admit that it certainly was more artistic). The whole conception was on a lofty and magnificent scale. The edifice itself was decorated with golden stars throughout, like the vault of heaven, but whereas the real heaven is adorned with its golden stars only at intervals, the surface of this one was entirely covered with gold, issuing forth from its centre as if in a never-ending stream. On all sides there were buildings, some completely, others half-surrounded by cloisters. The ground everywhere was levelled, like a race-course, stretching farther than the eye could see, its bounds out of sight. Then came a second circle of buildings, bigger than the first, and lawns full of flowers, some on the circumference, others down the centre. There were fountains which filled basins of water; gardens, some hanging, others sloping down to the level ground; a bath that was beautiful beyond description. To criticize the enormous size of the church was impossible, so dazzling was its loveliness. Beauty pervaded every part of the vast creation, so that one could only wish it were even greater and its gracefulness spread over an area still wider. And as for the lawns that were bounded by the outer wall, they were so numerous that it was difficult to see them in one sweeping glance: even the mind could scarcely grasp their extent.

It was not merely the exceptional beauty of the whole, composed as it was of most beautiful parts, but just as much the individual details that attracted the spectator's attention, and, although he could enjoy to his heart's content all its charms, it was impossible to find one that palled. Every part of it took the eye, and, what is more wonderful, even when you gazed on the loveliest part of all, some small detail would delight you as a fresh discovery. To attempt to place its various merits in any order of preference was useless for, when all the parts were so lovely, even the least attractive could not fail to give pleasure inimitable. Its every detail excited the greatest admiration. People marvelled at the size of the church, its beautiful symmetry, the harmony of its parts, the variety and rhythm of its loveliness, the streams of water, the encircling wall, the lawns covered with flowers, the dewy grass, always sprinkled with moisture, the shade under the trees, the gracefulness of the bath. It was as if a pilgrimage had ended, and here was the vision perfect and unparallelled.