The Saint George holiday, on april of 23, is the second most fight encounter in spiritual warfare in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The highest spiritual fight happens in carnival days. Because association between religious traditions of the Afro-Brazilian people the worship to entity called Ogum is remarkable.

The Brazilian church needs more prayer against spiritual blindness of people. Prayer walk, fasting, 24-hour intercession journey open the Heavens above Brazil and to deliver people for conversion and service to the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, Corpus Christi procession is decreasing and Saint George Feast is promoting by political intentions.

The worship to Saint George has increased with political support since 2001 when april of 23 turned religious holiday in Rio de Janeiro city. The government of state of Rio de Janeiro followed, signing state law in 2008. Many policemen and firemen ask to saint for protection. As Wikipedia, St. George is the patron saint of England; his cross forms the national flag of England, and features within the Union Jack of the United Kingdom. The country of Georgia, devotions to the saint date back to the fourth century. Devotions to Saint George in Portugal date back to the twelfth century, and Saint Constable attributed the victory of the Portuguese in the battle of Aljubarrota in the fourteenth century to Saint George. During the reign of King John I (1357–1433) Saint George became the patron saint of Portugal and the King ordered that the saint’s image on the horse be carried in the Corpus Christi procession.

CORPUS CHRISTI

Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ) is a Western Catholic feast. It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran churches and some Liberal Catholic Churches. Corpus Christi is a public holiday in some traditionally Catholic countries including amongst others Austria, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Croatia, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Liechtenstein, Panama, Poland, parts of Germany, Portugal, San Marino, parts of Spain and Switzerland, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.

The celebration of Corpus Christi became widespread only after both St. Juliana and Bishop Robert de Thorete had died. In 1263 Pope Urban IV investigated claims of a Eucharistic miracle at Bolsena, in which a consecrated host began to bleed. In 1264 he issued the papal bull Transiturus de hoc mundo in which Corpus Christi was made a feast throughout the entire Latin Rite. This was the very first papally sanctioned universal feast in the history of the Latin Rite. A new liturgy for the feast was composed by St. Thomas Aquinas. This liturgy has come to be used not only on the Feast of Corpus Christi itself but also throughout the liturgical year at events related to the Blessed Sacrament.

IN BRAZIL, SAINT GEORGE IS OGUM

The Corpus Christi procession was one of most solemn religious festivals in the city of Lisbon. Celebrated in Portugal since the 13th century, it was King João I who decided, in 1387, that the statue of St. George, the armed knight defender of the Kingdom, would be a part of the Corpus Christi procession. The statue of the saint, in military dress, followed mounted on a white horse. To its left was a young groom on horseback, wearing ceremonial dress, and to its right a horseman called the “man of iron”, acting as standard bearers for the saint. Following them was a group of blacks on foot with drums and behind them horn players mounted on forty-six horses with harnesses of silver and gilt bronze, the royal kettledrums and twelve more horn players with silver instruments.

Starting in 1719, on the first Thursday after the Trinity, the procession followed a route that went from the Patriarchate (in the Ribeira Palace) to the Rossio, returning to the point of departure through the Terreiro do Paço. As part of the Portuguese Empire, Brazil inherited the devotion to Saint George, as patron saint of Portugal. In the religious traditions of the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé and Umbanda, Ogum (as this Yoruba divinity is known in the Portuguese language) is often identified with Saint George in many regions of the country, being widely celebrated by both religions’ followers. Popular devotion to Saint George is very strong in Rio de Janeiro, where the saint vies in popularity with the city’s official patron Saint Sebastian, both saints’ feast days being local holidays.

In Yoruba mythology, Ogun is a primordial Orisha whose first appearance was as a hunter named Tobe Ode. He is said to be the first of the Orisha to descend to the realm of Ile Aiye (the earth) to find suitable habitation for future human life. In the religious tradition of the Afro-Brazilian Candomble, Ogum (as this Yoruba divinity is known in the Portuguese language) is often identified with Saint George, for example in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. However, Ogun may also be represented by Saint Sebastian, as it is often done in the northeast of the country, for example in the state of Bahia. Officially Saint Sebastian is the patron saint of the city of Rio de Janeiro, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to anthropologist Luiz Mott, Saint Sebastian is also considered by many homosexuals, especially those belonging to the lower and marginalized classes, as the patron saint of gay people. In all his incarnations Ogun is a fiery and martial spirit. He can be very aggressively masculine much like the spirit Shango but can also rule the head of female, or effeminate male initiates to whom he takes a liking. He is also linked with blood, and is for this reason often called upon to heal diseases of the blood.