Remember when we drove through Tarascon in the south of France
(Provence) between Arles and Avignon?
Why didn’t we see the dragon?
Why didn’t we visit St. Martha’s tomb to thank her for capturing the
dragon and tying him up with her girdle?
There was that time upon the river of
Rhone, in a certain wood between Arles and
Avignon, a great dragon, half beast and
half fish, greater than an ox, longer than an horse, having teeth sharp as a
sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent, and
defended him with two wings on either side, and could not be beaten with cast
of stones nor with other armour, and was as strong as twelve lions or bears;
which dragon lay hiding and lurking in the river, and perished them that passed
by and drowned ships. He came thither by sea from Galicia, and was engendered
of Leviathan, which is a serpent of the water and is much wood, and of a beast
called Bonacho, that is engendered in Galicia. And when he is pursued he casts
out of his belly behind, his ordure, the space of an acre of land on them that
follow him, and it is bright as glass, and what it toucheth it burneth as fire.
To whom Martha, at the prayer of the people, came into the wood, and found him eating a man. And she cast on him holy water, and showed to him the cross, which anon was overcome, and standing still as a sheep, she bound him with her own girdle, and then was slain with spears and glaives of the people.
The dragon was called of them that dwelled in the country Tarasconus, whereof, in remembrance of him that place is called Tarasconus, which tofore was called Nerluc, and the Black Lake, because there be woods shadowous and black. And there the blessed Martha, by licence of Maximin her master, and of her sister, dwelled and abode in the same place after, and daily occupied in prayers and in fastings, and thereafter assembled and were gathered together a great convent of sisters, and builded a fair church at the honour of the blessed Mary virgin, where she led a hard and a sharp life. She eschewed flesh and all fat meat, eggs, cheese and wine; she ate but once a day. An hundred times a day and an hundred times a night she kneeled down and bowed her knees.
To whom Martha, at the prayer of the people, came into the wood, and found him eating a man. And she cast on him holy water, and showed to him the cross, which anon was overcome, and standing still as a sheep, she bound him with her own girdle, and then was slain with spears and glaives of the people.
The dragon was called of them that dwelled in the country Tarasconus, whereof, in remembrance of him that place is called Tarasconus, which tofore was called Nerluc, and the Black Lake, because there be woods shadowous and black. And there the blessed Martha, by licence of Maximin her master, and of her sister, dwelled and abode in the same place after, and daily occupied in prayers and in fastings, and thereafter assembled and were gathered together a great convent of sisters, and builded a fair church at the honour of the blessed Mary virgin, where she led a hard and a sharp life. She eschewed flesh and all fat meat, eggs, cheese and wine; she ate but once a day. An hundred times a day and an hundred times a night she kneeled down and bowed her knees.
The exact nature of the (obviously
now-extinct) creature being called a "dragon" is unknown (many Saints
have been credited with having dealt with "dragons" -- Saints
Margaret of Antioch and George being the two best-known -- and, of course, St.
Michael will have his way with the Dragon of Dragons in the end!). But in any
case, St. Martha's conquering of the beast known as "La Tarasque" has
been commemorated in Tarascon, France
(the town was named for the animal) ever since A.D. 1474 when "Good King
Rene" instituted an annual celebration which continues to this day and
takes place now in the last weekend of June. The town lies
just between Avignon and Arles, on the left bank of the Rhone River, in a part of France famous for caves filled with
"prehistoric" art.
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