'Saint Christopher' (
Greek: 'Άγιος Χριστόφορος') was a
saint venerated by
Roman Catholics and
Orthodox Christians, listed as a
martyr killed in the reign of the
3rd century Roman emperor Decius (reigned
249 -
251). In Catholicism he is considered the
patron saint of travellers. However, St Christopher's feast day was removed from the universal calendar of Saints by the Vatican in 1969 due to lack of historical evidence. It is unclear whether the man in question actually existed and if so, whether he lived a life of holiness.
[1] The feast remains on local calendars (such as diocesan or national calendars) on July 25.
Christopher's story
The story of this saint's life is astoundingly different, depending upon whether one consults Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox church sources.
Roman Catholic view
One legend states that Christopher was a
Roman of imposing stature, originally named 'Reprobus'. According to Legend, Reprobus - referred to as a giant by those who knew him - converted to
Christianity and vowed to serve Jesus Christ. Other sources say his name was 'Offero', and that he was born in
Canaan.
[2] He sought out a Christian
hermit to inquire as to how he could better serve Jesus. The hermit directed him to a path with a dangerous crossing point at a swift river, and suggested that the man's great size and strength made him a good candidate to assist people in crossing the river. Reprobus began ferrying people across the river on his back.
One day, a small child approached the river and asked to be carried across. Reprobus began to comply, only to discover that the small boy was far heavier than any other passenger he had taken. The child revealed that he was in fact
Jesus Christ, and that his unusual weight was due to the fact that he bore the sins of the world. The boy (Jesus) then
baptized Reprobus in the river, and he acquired his new name, ''Christopher'', which is
Greek for "Christ-carrier" (from ''Christos'', "Christ", and ''pherein'', meaning "to bear").
The child then told Christopher to plant his staff in the ground. The staff miraculously bloomed into a fruit-bearing tree. This
miracle converted many. Enraged at these conversions, a local
king (or by some accounts, the emperor
Decius) had Christopher imprisoned, where, after cruel
tortures, he was
beheaded as a
martyr.
Eastern Orthodox view
Saint Christopher is sometimes represented with the head of a dog.
During the reign of the Emperor
Decius, a man named Reprebus (or Reprobus) was captured in combat against tribes to the west of
Egypt and was assigned to the ''numerus Marmaritarum'' or "Unit of the Marmaritae", which suggests an otherwise-unidentified "Marmaritae"
Berber tribe of Cyrenaica. He was of enormous size and terrifying demeanor, being a
cannibal with
cynocephaly (the head of a dog instead of a man), like all the Marmaritae.
Traditional Orthodox
iconography depicts him as literally
dog-headed. Regardless, Reprebus accepted
baptism and began to preach the faith.
Eventually, the governor of
Antioch (or in some versions, the Emperor himself) decreed that Reprebus was to be
executed for his faith. He miraculously survived many attempts at execution, eventually permitting himself to be
martyred after converting multitudes. His body was then taken back to
Alexandria by Peter of Attalia.
The Eastern Church's hymn for the feastday of St Christopher (May 9) reveals details about the holy saint and the traditional Greek Orthodox dogface legends:
Christopher, Great Martyr (Kontakion Tone 4):
''Your physique was overwhelming and your face horrifying.'' /
''You willingly suffered trauma from your own people.'' /
''Men and women tried to arouse consuming fires of passion in you,'' /
''but instead they followed you to your martyrdom.'' /
''You are our strong protector, o great martyr Christopher!''
Historical verifiability
The veneration of this improbable figure was sharply criticized by
Erasmus in his ''
Praise of Folly''. Christopher's feast day was downgraded by the
Vatican to a purely local commemoration in
1969 based on a lack of specific historical evidence regarding the details of his life. Contrary to popular belief, he was not "de-canonized" and is thus still considered a saint by the Catholic Church.
While surviving accounts of his life are replete with miracles and events that do not mesh well with modern
historiography, enough information has been preserved to present a possible account of a St. Christopher that would be amenable to modern historical sensibilities.
The first hurdle to consider is the idea that he was a dog-headed cannibal. This can be understood in the light that the surviving accounts of St. Christopher are contemporaneous. The practice of the time was to describe all people outside the "civilized" (Greco-Roman-Persian) world as cannibals, dog-headed, or even more bizarre things, albeit often
metaphorically. A later generation could then mistake a metaphor or
hyperbole for a literal statement.
However, the man in question is also said to have been assigned to a military unit made up of Marmaritae. The Marmaritae were the independent tribes of Marmarica (now in modern
Libya), who would have been pushed to the frontier region after Roman settlement. Since he was from a frontier tribe, describing him as being from the land of dog-headed people would have been a literary convention of the day.
The various miracles attributed to him in the Eastern stories could be explained as ordinary embroidering typical of
hagiography, especially regarding saints of the early centuries of
Christianity.
Finally, we have the statements that he was killed in Antioch and his body taken elsewhere by a bishop. St. Christopher could not have been killed in the fourth year of the Emperor Decius, as Decius only reigned for two years. However, before ascending to the throne of the
Eastern Roman Empire,
Maximinus was known as "Daza" before rising to power. Unfortunately, there is no record of a visit to Antioch by Maximinus in the fourth year of his reign (
308). It is, of course, possible that St. Christopher was executed in Antioch during this year by the order of a lower authority; a personal trial before one of the
Caesars could be a later embellishment.
Unfortunately, none of this information permits identification of the actual man. ''Christopher'' is simply
Greek for "
Christ-bearer", and it refers, in the Eastern tradition, to St. Christopher's willingness to "take up the cross" -- a common metaphor for converting to Christianity. ''Reprebus'' or ''Reprobus'' simply means "wicked person", so saying that ''Reprobus'' became ''Christopher'' amounts to saying "A wicked person became a Christian." Furthermore, no place claims to be the burial site of St. Christopher, which would be very unusual for a martyr.
It has been speculated that St. Christopher could be the same man known as
Saint Menas among the
Copts, for whom a
4th century burial site is known but has no verifiable details about his life or martyrdom attached to him. However, there is no conclusive link.
Some believers in the Roman Catholic tradition carry images of Saint Christopher, either on their person or in their vehicles, for protection on journeys
Veneration and patronage
Veneration
After having been held in
Constantinople, the
relics and the head of the saint were moved to the island of
Rab in
Croatia. When
Normans tried to invade the islands and besieged the city, its inhabitants placed the saint's relics on the city walls. Miraculously, the winds changed and the bows and ships were blown away from the city. One of the city's largest medieval squares is named after the saint.
Christopher is one of the
Fourteen Holy Helpers, and the
patron saint of travelers. Despite his removal from the
calendar of saints, devotion to Saint Christopher remains popular among Roman Catholics.
Medallions issued in his name, which are worn to show devotion to a certain saint and ask for that saint's prayers, are fairly popular among Catholics. They are frequently displayed in
automobiles.
General patronage
Christopher has always been a widely popular saint, being especially revered by
mariners,
ferrymen, and travelers. His feast day is
July 25, except in
Greece, where it is celebrated on
May 9. In modern times a major center of his following has been in
Italy and among
Italian-Americans. Saint Christopher medals and
holy cards sometimes have this phrase written: "Si en San Cristóbal confías, de accidente no morirás" ("If you place your trust in St. Christopher, you won't die in an accident").
Among Roman Catholics, Saint Christopher is revered as one of the
Fourteen Holy Helpers. He holds patronage of things related to travel and travelers: people who carry things; against
lightning; against
pestilence;
archers;
automobile drivers;
bachelors; boatmen;
bookbinders;
epilepsy;
floods; fruit dealers;
fullers;
gardeners;
hailstorms; for a holy death;
lorry drivers; mariners; market carriers; porters; sailors; surfers;
toothache; transportation; and transportation workers.
Patronage of places
Christopher is the patron saint of the following places:
Baden, Germany;
Barga, Italy;
Brunswick, Germany;
Mecklenburg, Germany;
Rab, Croatia;
Roermond, The Netherlands; Saint Christopher's Island (
Saint Kitts);
Toses in Catalonia, Spain;
Agrinion, Greece;
Vilnius, Lithuania; and
Havana, Cuba.
References in popular culture
In the hit BBC drama Life on Mars, the character Sam Tyler wears a St Christopher's medal.
In the movie
The Spirit of St. Louis, (
1957),
James Stewart stars as
Charles 'Slim' Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo, non-stop from
New York City, across the
Atlantic Ocean, to
Paris, France. Lindbergh is given a St. Christopher medal before his big flight, which he refuses to accept, to save every unnecessary ounce of weight. His friend instead hides the medal in the aircraft, to make sure that the Saint would be with him for the long and dangerous trip. Whether this short scene is based in fact, or a product of the Hollywood Film Industry is unknown.
In The Children of Green Knowe, by Lucy M. Boston, there is a large statue of St. Christopher in the garden at Green Knowe.
It is notable that the large
African-American healing protagonist John Coffey of the
Stephen King novel and
movie ''
The Green Mile'' is given a medal of Saint Christopher on a necklace after healing a woman. It could be considered symbolic, since both men are large, have extraordinary abilities they use for good, and that some accounts report that Saint Christopher was from
Libya or elsewhere in
Africa, making him of African descent, the same as John Coffey.
Dennis DeYoung of the rock band
Styx wrote the song "Christopher, Mr. Christopher" for Styx's 1974 album ''
Man of Miracles''. The song reflects fondly of the story of Saint Christopher and laments the perceived downgrade of Saint Christopher's status in 1969, when DeYoung sings "So when they took that saint away, all that's left were her fears".
Tom Waits wrote the song "Hang on St. Christopher", released on the album
Franks Wild Years in 1987, in which he implores Saint Christopher to watch over him as he pushes his
hot-roded cars and motorcycles to their limits.
Tom Waits also penned "Tom Traubert's Blues" where he sings "I've lost my St. Christopher, Now that I've kissed her".
In the
2004 movie ''
Crash'', Peter Waters (
Larenz Tate) carries around a pocket sized statue of Saint Christopher. Waters hitches a ride from a cop (played by
Ryan Phillippe) who has the same statue figure. When he laughs at the thought that he has one too and reaches to pull his statue from his pocket, the cop suspects a gun and shoots him. Later the cop finds out he was pulling the statue out after he shot him to death.
In the
2004 movie ''
The Butterfly Effect'', the story's main character, Evan Treborn (
Ashton Kutcher) is seen wearing a Saint Christopher pendant throughout the entire movie in each stage of his life. This could symbolize the long "journey" that Evan took.
In the episode entitled Would You Want Me to Tell You? (1.5) of the
2007 show
Saving Grace Grace mentions that her husband (whom does not exist) carries around a St. Christopher's medal for good luck while he his driving his trucks. She says that if she wanted to hurt him she would steal the medal just before a "long haul".
Notes
1. http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=36
2. Christopher
charlie was ere07
External links
★
The Military Martyrs A site with information on St. Christopher, St. Menas, and many other "soldier-saints" of the ancient era.
★ ''
Historia de Sancto Christophoro'' by Jacobus de Voragine (
Latin) at
The Latin Library
★ ''
The Legend of St Christopher'' from Caxton's edition of the ''Golden Legend'' (
Middle English)
★
A selection of icons depicting St. Christopher in the traditional Eastern manner.
★
A modern Orthodox icon of the saint.
★
Gymflesh.com, "The Legend of Saint Christopher the DogFace." With Orthodox icons.
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