Miracle with the serpent that happened to the Holy Great Martyr George
Christ is Risen! Happy Feast of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious!
Happy Saint George the Victorious, one of our people’s favorite saints. Many St. Georges glorified the Russian land. Among them is the great commander Georgy Zhukov. Starting from the 13th century, the image of St. George defeating the serpent appears on the seals of the Grand Dukes, and then it becomes the state emblem of Russia.
On November 26, 1769, the Order of St. George was established. It was awarded to the commanders P. A. Rumyantsev, G. A. Potemkin, A. V. Suvorov, M. I. Kutuzov, M. B. Barclay de Tolly. Tsar-martyr Nicholas II was awarded the Order of the 4th degree. In the Grand Kremlin Palace there is the St. George Hall, where the names of holders of the Order of St. George are carved on marble plaques.
We see the image of St. George on the icons, as a warrior crushing a fierce serpent. You will find out what this is connected with if you read an excerpt from an ancient Russian story translated by Vladimir Kolesov.
Miracle with the serpent that happened to the Holy Great Martyr George
... In ancient times there was a city called Ebal, in the land of Palestine, and it was very large, and many people lived in it; and all worshiped idols... turned away... from God, and God turned away from them.
Near this city there was a large lake... God rewarded them for their faith and deeds: a huge serpent appeared in this lake and, coming out of the lake, ate the inhabitants of this city. He killed some with his whistle, while others, suffocating, dragged them into the lake. And there was great sorrow and inconsolable crying in that city because of this beast.
One day all the inhabitants of this city gathered and went to their king, saying: “What are we going to do, since we are perishing evil from this serpent?” The king answered them: “Everything that the gods told me, I proclaim to you... let each of you daily give his son or daughter to be eaten by a snake in his turn, until my time comes: I will also give my only daughter”... And Having retired, they one by one fulfilled the royal command, starting with the main princes and down to the most humble ones, daily giving their children as food to the snake on the shore of the lake...
When all the inhabitants gave up their children... calling his only daughter, the king dressed her in a scarlet robe and, kissing her and mourning bitterly, ordered her to be taken to her death to the serpent...
The holy and great martyr, sufferer for the faith of Christ, George, a warrior honored by the Heavenly King, who lived even after death... by God's will... The Great Martyr at that very hour found himself in that place in the form of a simple warrior, coming from battle and hurrying to his native place.
Seeing a young woman on the shore of the lake, the great and glorious martyr George asked her, saying: “Why are you standing here, young woman?” She answered him: “Get away, my lord, from here, quickly leave so as not to die cruelly.” Answering, Saint George said to the young woman: “What are you talking about, girl, are there robbers here or something else?” The young woman said: “There is a terrible serpent here, nesting in this lake; Now I beg you, my lord, get away from here: I see your pleasant appearance, and the youth, and the shine, and the beauty of your face, and I beg you: get away from here quickly, so as not to perish cruelly.”
...Hearing this, the great martyr... said: “Do not be afraid, young woman!” And then, looking up to heaven, the servant of God prayed, saying: “Beginless, life-giving, God of the whole world, who has neither end nor beginning, who created times and years... show me Your former mercies, and cast this fierce beast to at my feet, let them see and let everyone believe that You alone are God, and besides You, we know no other.” And as soon as the holy and great martyr George said this, a voice was heard from heaven, saying: “George, be bold, your voice will not remain in vain when you ask.”
Suddenly the girl cried out, saying: “Run away, man, from here: now the snake is coming whistling.” And then, retreating slightly, the sufferer for the faith of Christ, Saint George, saw how a huge serpent appeared from the churning lake, raised his head like a vault, and opened his mouth like an abyss, and with a roar he went at the saint and the maiden. But immediately, having drawn the sign of Christ on the ground, Saint George said: “In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, submit, you cruel beast, and follow me.” And immediately, by the power of God and the great martyr George, a terrible snake fell at his feet.
And the holy and great martyr George said to the young woman: “Take off your belt and the reins of my horse and tie the head of the serpent with them, drag him and go to the city.” She did what the saint and great martyr for the faith of Christ, George, told her to do. And that terrible snake followed her, dragging along the ground like a sheep to the slaughter. The young woman dragged him along, rejoicing and having fun.
The king, her father, and her mother that day wept and wept greatly for this young woman. But, suddenly seeing the young woman dragging a snake, and the miracle worker saint, great martyr and passion-bearer George walking ahead, being terribly frightened, they began to run. The holy and great martyr for the faith of Christ and wonderworker George exclaimed in a loud voice, saying: “Do not be afraid! If you believe in Christ, in whom I believe, you will now see your salvation.” The king, coming out to meet him, said to him: “What is your name, my lord?” He answered: “They call me George.” Then the people exclaimed all as one, saying: “Through you we believe in the one God Almighty and in the one Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Life-giving Spirit.” Then the holy and great wonderworker George, stretching out his hand, drew his sword and cut off the head of the fierce beast. Seeing all this, the king and all the inhabitants immediately approached and bowed to him, giving praise to God and His saint, the great wonderworker George.
And the king ordered to build a church in the name of... the great martyr and sufferer for the faith of Christ George and decorated that church with gold and silver and expensive stones. And he commanded to commemorate him in the month of April on the twenty-third day.
Saint George, pray to God for us!
There are many St. George churches on the Russian land. To this day, in them and in many other Orthodox churches, pilgrims chant: “As the liberator of captives and the protector of the poor, the physician of the infirm, the champion of kings, the victorious Great Martyr George, pray to Christ God to save our souls.”
Great Martyr George the Victorious - life
Who did St. George the Victorious kill?
Researchers from the International Union of Cryptozoologists, which brought together 800 scientists from 20 countries, came to the conclusion that the coat of arms of Moscow depicts a real, not a mythical monster.
Monstrous reality
The image of St. George the Victorious, a serpent-fighting horseman with a spear, appeared on the coat of arms of the Moscow Principality under Ivan III (1462 - 1505). The seal of Grand Duke Ivan (1479) has also survived to this day, on which there is a warrior striking a small winged dragon with a spear. And in the drawing from a 12th century fresco. (Church of St. George in Staraya Ladoga) this is how the incredible is depicted: a centipede monster with a crocodile’s tail, a dog’s head and wings like an eagle. He is led on a string, like a pet.
The image of St. George the Victorious, a serpent-fighting horseman with a spear, appeared on the coat of arms of the Moscow Principality under Ivan III (1462 - 1505)
What are these - painted fairy tales of our ancestors or a real MONSTER reality?
“This same Serpent could well have once lived in Russian forests,” says Irina TsAREVA, head of the scientific environmental program RICANN (Russian Intellectual Corps of Current Scientific Directions). — Numerous legends clearly indicate that bloodthirsty dragons once lived in the European part of Russia. They had a ferocious disposition: they pounced on foot and horsemen and tore them to pieces. Russian heroes fought with them. And in Western Europe, they were destroyed by medieval knights in order to win the favorable gaze of their ladies. And who knows, perhaps, not without heroic participation, some species of prehistoric lizards, which even survived the Ice Age, disappeared from the face of the earth.
The miracle of St. George about the serpent. XV century
An amazing entry from the chronicle
“This is not as absurd as it might seem at first glance,” says Olga ZAKHAROVA, candidate of historical sciences, specialist in mythology. “After all, it’s not only legends and fairy tales that tell about mysterious monsters whose descriptions resemble lizards. There are other, completely trustworthy sources with information about unknown dragon-like creatures. For example, in the thirtieth volume of the Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles one can find an amazing entry dating back to 1582 from Novgorod: “...In the summer the Corcodiles came out of the river and closed the path, eating many people, and people were terrified and praying to God throughout the whole earth. And she hid again and beat up others. That same year, Grand Duke Ivan Ivanovich reposed in Sloboda, on the 14th day of December...” The question arises: what are these “corcodiles” - crocodiles (?) - that came out of the river and attacked people? After all, it happened not in distant Africa, but near Novgorod.
Frescoes from the 12th century.
- And what? - I’m interested. “Perhaps in Rus' this is how they dubbed dragons - a land-based variety of sea serpents,” says Olga Vladimirovna. - And mention of these monsters can be found in Aristotle and Euripides, and then in chronicles and historical works of the Middle Ages. The English monk Bartholomew in his book “The Properties of Things” writes: “The dragon is the largest of all serpents, often it comes out of its cave, rises into the air, with its movement it produces a strong wind, and the sea swells from its sting, and it has a crest , and he sticks out his tongue, and he has teeth like a saw, and his strength lies not only in his teeth, but in his tail, and he hurts not only with his bite, but also with his sting. He kills everyone he meets on his way." An ancient description of the monster, dated 600 AD, has also been preserved. BC: “The dragon is the largest of snakes and, in general, the largest of all creatures living on Earth. It has a large snout and narrow blowholes through which it breathes and sticks out its tongue.”
Encounters with the serpent
—Are there more modern descriptions? - I’m interested.
“Nothing is known about dragons today, but there is a great deal of evidence of encounters with a sea serpent,” says Olga Vladimirovna. — A couple of years ago, a friend of mine from ITAR-TASS called me and told me that at one of the whaling bases in the Indian Ocean, helicopter pilots twice observed animals that looked like gigantic snakes, 10 - 15 m in length. The snake lay calmly on the surface of the water. The helicopter pilot descended 30 m, and observer Igor Dolzhenko, using binoculars, was able to determine: the sea monster was a meter thick and had a light brown color. A few minutes later a second such snake was spotted.
And the famous TV presenter Yuri Senkevich said: “In one experiment related to seismic, an explosion was required at great depths in the ocean. And together with my friend - mind you, a biologist - we suddenly saw how, at a distance of about half a kilometer behind the stern of the research vessel, some huge body rose above the water and a moment later disappeared into the depths.”
The existence of the monster is confirmed by amazing finds. In 1932, a strong earthquake occurred off the coast of North America, washing ashore many corpses of sea inhabitants, including a sea serpent. The animal had a pointed head and a mouth full of sharp teeth. And in 1947, on the western shore of Vancouver Island in the Atlantic, a skeleton of an amazing creature 12 meters long with a head resembling the head of a ram was found.
- So monsters exist?
“The fact that people really saw a sea serpent is beyond doubt,” says biologist and researcher of anomalous phenomena Evgeny POTAPOV. - And the descriptions of monsters differ from each other because sea snakes can belong to different species.
BY THE WAY
The Asian calendar is divided into 12-year cycles, each of which is associated with a specific animal. People born in the year of the Dragon are said to be the best leaders, since their character combines strength with generosity.
