St Martha and the Dragon
Outside of Guildford, there is a hill, and on the top of it is a church- called St Martha’s. If you go in there you will see a standard with a picture of St Martha- and a DRAGON at her feet! This is their story.
A long time ago, in France, in a place called Nerluc, near Avignon, the people were very scared. Animals were disappearing – and no one knew why.
First it was just a lamb. Then a sheep, and then a cow. All the people were worried- what would be next? They began to lock their animals up at night, but then they found scratches on the doors, and sometimes the doors broken open, and more animals taken.
“What is happening? What kind of monster is doing this? Who will find out?”
Ten brave men agreed to stay awake all through the night and see what they could see. Outside the town they tethered a few goats as bait. And they waited.
And waited. It was a long night and as the sun came up, they began to think the monster had left, when all of a sudden they turned and there it was. Just in the shadows in front of them. The monster roared at them, bared its teeth and lunged its claws at the nearest man, who just got away in time.
They had all seen the monster in the shadows. The trouble was they had all seen something different. One man said it was like a bear. Another man said it looked like a big ox with a huge turtle shell on it.
“No, No,” said a third, “It had a lions head.” Two people whispered that it had a scaly tail, just like a scorpion’s. They didn’t know what to think. All they knew that there was something big and strange in their forests, and it was threatening themselves, and their families.
“What if it kills a man, a woman or a child?”
The mayor of Nerluc put out a reward, and many people came to try and kill the beast. But I have to tell you, they all failed and many of them died when they were attacked by the monster.
The people of Nerluc were in despair. They didn’t dare come out of their houses- their animals were all locked up. People were too scared leave their homes to even look after the crops and harvest. They would starve. What were they to do?
Into the town came a young woman called Martha. She had travelled a great distance. She had come from the Holy Land in a boat without a sail, or oars or a rudder and with her faith and a good wind, and she was brought to shore to Marseilles in the south of France. There she had travelled preaching the message of peace and tolerance of Christ.
When the townspeople told her about the beast- she knew she had heard about it before. It was the Tarasque- a dragon from Turkey. And she knew what must be done.
All by herself, she walked into a clearing in the woods, singing songs. The dragon heard her, and came rushing into the clearing. Its teeth were bared, and he was ready to plunge his claws into her. Exactly the same as he had done with all the other people who had come to trap him.
Martha kept calm, and steady. Singing her song. The claws of the dragon came towards her. But her song was so gentle and sweet that it touched the dragon and calmed him down. He stopped, looked at her, and then knelt before her. When she took off her belt, he allowed her to put it around his neck, and as she sang softly to him, the tamed dragon followed her out of the woods into the town.
The townspeople were amazed to see that this young woman had done what many knights had failed to do. And they were frightened to see the dragon coming towards their town. That fear took hold of them so strongly that they picked up their picks, and shovels, and spears and anything that they could get their hands on.
And they did a dreadful thing.
While the dragon stood there peaceful and calm- those terrified townspeople attacked the dragon, and killed it. They were so scared of it.
When it was all over, the people began to realise what they had done. And some people began to feel very sorry and wanted to make up for it. To remember what they had done, they changed the name of the town to Tarascon, and they decided to celebrate the taming of the dragon by St Martha. And that is how St Martha is remembered until today- that you can overcome your fears and worries by facing up to them and taming them.