“After Philip had preached in Scythia for twenty years, the pagans laid hold of him and thrust him before a statute of Mars, intending to force him to make a sacrifice. Suddenly a huge dragon emerged from the base of the statute and killed the pagan priest along with the two tribunes who were holding Philip in chains. Everyone was overcome by the stench of its’ breath. Philip proclaimed, ‘Believe what I tell you, smash this statue and in its place worship the cross of the Lord, and your sick will be cured and your dead restored to life.’ Philip commanded the dragon to depart to the wilderness where it could do no harm and was never seen again. Then he cured the sick and obtained the gift of life for those who had died. All accepted the faith, and he preached to them for a whole year, appointing priests and deacons for them.” –freely adapted from The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine