Saint Christopher

Saint Christopher was a martyr of the early centuries of Christianity and is one of the best-known saints of both East and West. The Roman Martyrology commemorates him on July 25 in a single sentence: “In Lycia, Saint Christopher, martyr.” His Greek name means “Christ-bearer.”

Almost nothing certain is known about his life. History has kept his name, the region of Asia Minor where he died, and a very ancient cult. Later acts of his martyrdom, full of fantastic tales, place his death in the middle of the third century, during the persecution under Emperor Decius, but they are not a reliable historical source.

The oldest certain witness to his cult is a Greek inscription found in Bithynia, near Chalcedon. It records the building of a shrine of the martyr Christopher, begun in 450, and the deposition of his relics there in 452. In the West, Pope Gregory the Great, who died in 604, mentions a monastery bearing his name.

The best-known story about Christopher is a legend, spread in the thirteenth century by the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine. According to it he was a giant named Reprobus who wanted to serve only the mightiest of lords. He served a king, then the devil, and when he saw that the devil feared the cross, he set out to look for Christ. On a hermit’s advice he carried travelers across a raging river. One day he carried on his shoulders a child who grew heavier and heavier. On the far bank the child revealed that he was Christ, and that Christopher had borne the weight of the whole world. At first the saint’s name was understood spiritually, as bearing Christ in one’s heart; only in the Middle Ages did people begin to take it literally.

This legend gave rise to his veneration as protector of boatmen, pilgrims and travelers, and today of drivers as well. He is counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers, invoked in various needs. These patronages belong to popular devotion. In Poland, around his memorial, many parishes bless vehicles and drivers, and MIVA Polska then collects offerings for vehicles for missionaries.

In the calendar reform promulgated in 1969, the memorial of Saint Christopher, which had entered the Roman Calendar around 1550, was left to local calendars. The commentary on the new calendar explains that his acts are legendary, although ancient witnesses to his veneration survive, and that his cult does not belong to the Roman tradition. Christopher remained in the Roman Martyrology. He has been venerated since antiquity, without a formal canonization.