Thread: Are Dragons Real?

The Orthodox Church has, over these two millennia, produced an uncountable number of saints.

Many of these saints, spread far and wide all over the world, tend to agree and regularly interact with Dragons, as if to suggest they were real.

In the first case we see Saint John of Damascus write an entire treatise on Dragons, describing them in great detail. In the same treatise he also talks about ghosts.

He says there are multiple types of dragons, one of which has golden eyes and horns.

Saint George the Great-Martyr defended a city being terrorized by a dragon that demanded human sacrifice to be satiated. Saint George was miraculously assisted when he placed a Cross on his spear, and made the dragon docile, and brought it into the city to be killed publicly.

Saint Elizabeth was elevated to Abbess of a convent in Cnople in the 5th Century. Emperor Leo I soon after gave the convent a piece of his property, but tragically, a dragon lived there.

St Elizabeth commanded the dragon come out of his lair, then stamped his head, killing it.

During the consecration of Saint Myron of Crete to bishop, a dragon came terrorizing a village from the North. On hearing the news of the dragon coming a second time, he went out with clergy and ordered the dragon to halt in the name of Christ, which it did. It was then stoned.

During the reign of Julian the Apostate, a dragon lived in a cave on the road of Prousis, killing all who passed. Saint Timothy of Prousis took a handful of gifts he prepared for the queen in his vestments and struck the dragon, forcing it to flee. He saw it dead on the way home.

In the reign of Saint Theodosius, the city of Euroea had a village with a poisoned spring of water. Saint Donatus of Euroea, upon going to inspect it, found a dragon emerge from it. Saint Donatus took his donkey's rope and whipped the dragon, lashing open its back, killing it.

The Bones of the Dragon killed by Saint Donatus are preserved in the Santa Maria and San Donato Cathedral on the Venetian island of Murano

Saint Paraskevi was brought before the king of a city outside of the Roman Empire and was questioned about her activities. On her declaration of the Orthodox faith, she was brought before a cave with a fearsome dragon within. Saint Paraskevi cursed the dragon killing it painfully

Saint Theodore of Amasea was stationed near the village of Euchdita in Pontus with his army units. He learned that the local inhabitants were being terrorized by a dragon. He plunged into the forest and went to the dragon's lair. He killed the dragon with a spear to the head.

Saint Nikolai Velimirovic writes that there is overwhelming evidence to suggest the Chinese dragons were real and were contemporaries with humans.

He accounts the tale of an interaction between Saint Barsanuphius and a dragon in Manchuria

Saint Agapitos was a monk during the reign of Diocletian when a dragon appeared by the monastery in Phrygia. By his prayers, the dragon was killed.

I hope this thread gave a little insight into the Orthodox patristic tradition concerning Dragons.

God be with ye

One Saint I forgot to post

Saint Leonard, who had a four day struggle with the dragon. As a reward for killing the dragon, God silenced the creatures and unarmed the violent ones in the forest so they would not disrupt his prayer. He killed the last dragon in England.