The monks who slayed a dragon

A visit to the ancient abbey of Saints Felice and Mauro

Italy is full of holy fairy tales, as we explored last week. Mystical monks slaying dragons, raising the dead and curing diseases in the name of Christ were especially well known in Umbria, a land of mysteries. Today we will visit a little restored Benedictine abbey, built in the 12th century, just inside the Valnerina where two 6th century Syrian monk-saints helped the locals out with a little problem they were having with a dragon.

The 12th century façade of the abbey church of San Felice and Mauro. The frieze shows Saint Mauro slaying the dragon.

The story tells of a pious monk and former Roman soldier Mauro, with his son Felice and the child’s faithful nurse, who arrived in southern Umbria with a group of hermit monks from Syria, close to the centre of the Byzantine empire. Like many other eastern Christians of this time, they were fleeing persecution by the adherents of the various Christological heresies that flourished in powerful circles in the Byzantine empire at the time.

The little Abbey of Sts. Felice and Mauro, a tiny place jammed with miracles and mysteries. Photo from umbriaconamore.wordpress.com

Various theories are proposed by modern sceptics explaining away the legend of the dragon, but whatever they did must have been impressive enough to the local pagans for the whole area to have become Christian by the end of the century.

I’m glad to share the known (and proposed) details of this fascinating ancient legend, and some of the photos and videos I took on a day trip to the abbey on March 9th.

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