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Showing posts from April, 2020

St. George the Dragon Slayer

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As I mentioned in my post on Muirgen , the mermaid saint, I have a particular affinity for the more mythical side of the saints' stories. Perhaps it's just because I'm a fan of fantasy, but I like to think it's because myth has a way of sneaking deeper truths around our defenses. For an excellent example of the mythologized side of St. George, I highly recommend Margaret Hodges and Trina Schart Hyman's beautiful and moving St. George and the Dragon . Lifetime: ~300 Region: Cappadocia (modern Turkey) Patronages: England; Soldiers; Boy Scouts Iconograpy: Killing a dragon; Shield with red cross; Riding a horse Feast Day: April 23 Most of the popular story of St. George is not based on history. According to legend, George was a knight in shining armor, battling a vicious dragon on the green hills of Arthurian England to save a princess from certain death. In actuality, he was most likely an officer in the Roman military who was martyred for refusing to r

St. Isidore of Seville

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There's a song in Just Dance called Isidora that is going to be in my head for the next 24 hours after writing this. In a world where the coronavirus has pushed many of our livelihoods and even social lives entirely onto the internet, Isidore of Seville, the patron saint of the internet, is a particularly appropriate intercessor for us to turn to. Lifetime: 560 to 636 Region: Seville, Spain Patronages: The internet; Students; Programmers Iconograpy: Crosier and miter; Book; Bees Feast Day: April 4 Isidore's parents were doing something right, because every child they raised ended up canonized as a saint. Isidore's brothers St. Leander of Seville and St. Fulgentius of Cartagena, and his sister St. Florentina of Caragena all join him among the Roman (and Eastern Orthodox) canon. As with St. Nicholas and St. Anthony the Great , St. Isidore was involved in combating the Arian heresy. I'm not sure there's any other movement in history that produced as m