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t. Patrick ~ March 17th

What could better represent Christianity than a powerful churchman, St. Patrick in this case, herding snakes–the embodiment of evil in Eden–into the sea? No snakes equals no Satan and without Satan surely the inhabitants of such a land would have a leg up on the rest of us when it came to holiness.

Of course, the truth is a little different.

 

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t. George ~ April 23rd

NEWS FLASH! Not much of the tale about St. George and the Dragon is true.  But that doesn’t make the story any less compelling.  It’s likely that there was a George and that he was born in Lydda, Palestine and was a high ranking officer in Emperor Diocletian's army.  When Diocletian declared that every Christian soldier should be arrested, George steps forward to proclaim his Christianity. George is then tortured and offered bribes, but he refuses to refute his faith and is finally decapitated on April 20, 303, after which his body is returned to Lydda where he is venerated as a saint.

So where’s the dragon?