St. George & That Dragon...

Someone asked me earlier today whether there really was a dragon slayed by St. George. The implication was that, since church statues always depict St. George with a dragon, then, if the dragon did not really exist, then neither did St. George.

Aha! cries the sceptic: Another myth of the medieval church debunked... and so one can't believe anything that the Church says about saints and miracles...

First of all, I would urge caution about debunking medieval myths. Like the one about St. Peter being buried under St. Peter's in Rome... which turned out to be true... or the one about St. Paul being buried in St. Paul outside the walls... which turned out to be true...

Secondly, there is always the possibility that the dragon is a metaphor - a picturesque depiction of sin or the devil - and it is quite possible that St. George overcame something of that sort, no?

Whatever. The truth of the matter is that, whether it was a real dragon or only a metaphorical one, I don't actually care. St. George is a saint of the Church, and the patron saint of the country in which I was born and in which I live... and tomorrow is his feast day. Personally I think it ought to be a Bank Holiday, but no doubt some Governmental bean-counters would object to "yet another" Bank Holiday on economic grounds, ignoring the fact that working more days for longer hours doesn't actually mean one is more productive.

I shall at least have the opportunity to go to Mass for the feast day...