Three Reflections on Saint George and the Dragon
Aurelio Porfiri
In the Catholic imagination, the image of Saint George is closely tied to his battle with the dragon. This knight and warrior — at least as portrayed by a certain hagiographic tradition — lived between the third and fourth centuries and offers many points of reflection. Here, I would like to propose three that, in my view, summarize much of the meaning behind this figure, celebrated on April 23.
The first point of reflection is that Saint George teaches us that life is a battle. Saint Paul himself said he had "fought the good fight." Not all battles have the same value, of course — we must learn to choose the ones worth fighting. But we must recognize that we are called to struggle and that we belong to an army that fights on the side of good. And to truly stand on that side, we must constantly form ourselves, listening to teachings rooted in eternal foundations.
"As with other saints surrounded by legend, we might say that Saint George’s historical role is to remind the world of one fundamental truth: that good, in the long run, always triumphs over evil. The struggle against evil is a constant in human history, but it is not a battle one wins alone: Saint George slays the dragon because God is acting through him. With Christ, evil will never again have the last word."
(vaticannews.va)
Becoming knights of Christ — this is what Saint George teaches us.
The second reflection is tied to the image of the dragon. The Crusaders saw in it a symbol of their battle against Islamic invasion, but we can see many other meanings in it today. Each day, we fight our own dragons — whether external or within ourselves. Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, once said: “He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.” Today, the word discernment is very fashionable, and I believe this is a case where it truly applies. We all have our dragons to face; we must identify them and confront them. We must overcome our fears — for courage is nothing more than fear that has been faced. I imagine even Saint George must have felt fear before the dragon, but in the end, he faced it and won. At times, we may feel defeated, trapped in a life of sin, but we must not give up. We must rise again every time we’re thrown to the ground.
The third reflection tied to Saint George concerns the young maiden he saves from the dragon — a maiden who had been chosen for sacrifice. The image of the knight, the man who protects the woman, is today looked upon with suspicion, as if it were something shameful. And yet it is part of our way of life. It is good to rediscover the unique characteristics of each sex, because through this, we also come to better understand the opposite sex. We should rediscover the virtues of chivalry. I’ve heard many women and young girls express a desire to find men who embody these very qualities. These virtues of the knight, noble expressions of Christian civilization, teach us to look to eternal values — values that today are being fiercely opposed and cast aside by a world that increasingly seeks to dwell far from God.
