We all know how the stories of Knights and Dragons go –the Knight rescues the beautiful maiden from the jaws of the fire-breathing dragon, and all is well! Even the age-old tales of St. Brendan and St. George have feasts set and conversions accomplished by the slaying of these terrifying beasts.

And yet, the scriptures give us a mysteriously mixed review of dragons. Yes, dragons. In the scriptures too, there be dragons!

In the scriptures, we refer to them most often as “seraphim” –those strange winged dragon-like creatures that circle the altar of God. Creatures of bright light and fire, they serve at the Lord’s pleasure.

In fact, even the “serpent” of the garden of Eden is named as a “seraphim” by most scholars. For the word “seraph” or “saraph” in Hebrew meant “burning,” “fiery,” “poi…