There are many stories surrounding the life of this warrior of God, stories of conversions, and signs and wonders, but the story you must hear is how Georgios overcame the dragon.
In the vast desert of Libya there was a large oasis which sheltered the city of Silene. On one side of the city, fertile fields provided food for their flocks, on the other side, a large lake teemed with fish. What the people could not provide for themselves was obtained through the desert caravans that made Silene a center for trade and commerce in the middle of the desert.
And so for many years the people of Silene prospered and lived contentedly. Then, in a single day and a single night, their peace was shattered. A fierce dragon took up residence in the lake, ravaging their flocks and attacking their people. Its fetid breath poisoned their water and made barren their fields. Silene became a place of such terror that even the caravan masters risked a longer trek through the desert sands rather than face the monster.
A thousand men set out from the city, armed and armored, to destroy the beast, not a one returned.
Finally they sought to appease the dragon and offered it two sheep each day in the hope that it would leave the town and its people unmolested. And for a time an uneasy peace settled upon Silene. But soon the flocks grew thin and the people argued over how they would satisfy the creature when the last lamb was sacrificed.
To their everlasting shame they settled upon sacrificing their children, chosen by lot, one each day. They continued on this way for many months. Each day lots were cast, a choice was made, and a child was sacrificed to the monster from the abyss.
When fully a third of the children were murdered in this way, the lot fell to Sabra, the king’s own daughter. She had neither brothers or sisters and her mother had died many years before. The king of Silene begged the people of the town to spare her life. But this only served to enrage them.
“You demanded of us our children to appease the beast, and now you seek to withhold your own? Give her up freely of your own choice or we shall take her ourselves.”
And so with a heavy heart the king gave up his own daughter to be sacrificed. Too late he saw the high price he and his people paid for a freedom that was an illusion. Sabra was taken, arrayed and bedecked as a bride, and led out to the edge of the lake where she was left for the dragon.
Now it happened that to the north of Silene there lived a hermit named Timosz. Years before, he had left the dwellings of men to seek God in the wild places and follow a life of contemplation and prayer. In a cell dug out of the rock with his own hands he made his simple home. It was there that the Lord appeared to him in a dream. In this dream it was revealed to him all the sorrowful happenings in the city of Silene. He saw the ruined land and the sacrifice of the children. Lastly he saw the king’s own daughter being prepared for her fate.
“Timosz, my child,” said the Lord, “go down to the road that runs along the sea and there meet my servant Georgios, tell him what you have seen in this vision and he will bring the glory of the Lord to the people of Silene, for the hardness of their hearts has kept them from knowing me.”
The hermit awoke with the sweet voice of the Lord still echoing in his ears and without so much as taking the time to wash the sleep from his eyes he hastened towards the coast road. Soon he saw a cloud of dust which heralded the approach of a column of soldiers and at their head, on a white horse, rode the tribune he saw in his dream, the one the Lord named Georgios. As they drew near, Timosz called out;
“Georgios! Blessed be the Lord Jesu Christus.”
“From the ages to the ages,” replied the tribune as he signaled a halt to their march. “Do I know you Grandfather?” asked Georgios as he peered through the settling dust.
“No, my son, but I have been sent to you by Our Lord, to tell you what I have seen.”
And Timosz the hermit conveyed to Georgios, the warrior of God, all that God revealed to him in his vision. He told him of the city of Selene and the coming of the dragon. He told him of the tyranny and oppression brought on by the beast and the sacrifice of the city’s children, Lastly he told of the king’s daughter Sabra and her fate.
Georgios was silent for a long while, contemplating all that Timosz told him. Finally he turned to his soldiers and ordered them to proceed to Nicomedia where, by the grace of God, he would meet them before they entered the city gates.
Georgios then prepared for battle, praying as he donned his armor. “May I be shod with the Gospel of peace. May I be protected by Righteousness and defended by Faith. May I be girded with Truth and armed with the Spirit. May I always bear in mind the salvation the Lord has won for us.”
So saying he mounted his horse, took up the great lance, Askalon, named for that ancient city, and set off for the oasis of Silene.
Sabra, the daughter of the king, sat on a stone where she had been left, gazing out onto the the lake of the dragon. She resolved not to show fear or weakness, knowing that her sacrifice meant one more day for the people of the city who even now watched her from the walls of Silene. Still, she could not stop tears from rolling down her cheeks as she thought of her father. She was so lost in thought that Georgios was almost upon her before she heard the hoof beats of the warrior’s horse.
“Maiden, what are you doing in this fell place?” he asked her.
“Good sir, take your horse and flee quickly or you will share my fate.”
“Nay child,” answered Georgios, “I will not leave save to take you back to your father. Why are you here and why are these people gathered on the walls watching?”
And Sabra told the knight all that had befallen her city and her people.
“Do not fear,” replied Georgios, “I have come to help you, in the name of Christ.”
“That is not possible, a thousand men have tried to destroy the dragon and failed. Save yourself while there is time, else you will die as I am about to.”
As they spoke the lake began to boil and suddenly the dragon reared his head out of the water. His poisonous breath withered what little grass remained. Georgios turned towards the monster, strengthened himself with the sign of the cross, and charged the dragon.
A thousand men tried and failed to pierce the armored hide of the dragon, but God guided the lance, Askalon, into the mouth of the beast. The force of the charge carried the lance through its gullet and pierced its heart. The first blow of Georgios was a fatal one.
With his sword he took the head of the monster and held it aloft so that all on the city walls could see that the beast was destroyed. The people poured from the city gates, surrounding Giorgios and covering him with gratitude and accolades. But in all this he declined any praise for himself, giving the glory of his victory to Christ alone. He spoke to the people and preached to them the Gospel of the Lord. He told them of God’s love for them, a love so great he became one of them in order to take their sins upon Himself and free them from the oppression of evil and death. His words were so eloquent that more than fifty thousand men, women and children were baptized that day.
Four yoke of oxen were needed to haul the body of the dragon away into a broad field outside the city walls and buried. The king caused a church to be built upon the site in honor of Blessed Mary and blessed Georgios. The king offered Georgios a great sum of treasure, the hand of his daughter in marriage, and the throne of Silene after him but the good knight refused all and ordered the treasure to be given to the poor of the city.
“You will not accept our gifts, then how may we honor you?” asked the king.
“I charge you to have good care over the Church of God, to honor his priests, to lead the people in daily prayer, and to have the poor always in mind.”
With those few words, Georgios took to his horse and left the people of Silene riding hard to overtake his company of soldiers before they entered the city of Nicomedia.
Now there are some who say this tale is not true, that it is mere fable, a yarn spun to teach children that there are monsters in the world. But children already know there are monsters. Whether or not Georgios truly defeated a dragon at the gates of Silene, matters little. The great truth of the tale is that with faith in God, dragons can be defeated.