Today’s article is about St. Christopher.
This Saint, of Christian religion, is recognised, and called upon, by those who consider themselves religious and non-religious alike. He is one of the most well-recognised of the Saints and yet very little is known about his life.
Here we will look at what there is to know about this legendary figure and why it is that he is so popular.
St. Christopher’s Particulars
• Feast Day –
25th July in the Roman Calendar.
Although this date can vary in different denominations of the Christian faith. The feast day is often observed locally but is no longer part of the “Calendar” of official feast days.
• Martyred –
25th July in Samos, Lycia (a region in modern-day Turkey).
St. Christopher was beheaded, probably sometime in the 3rd century, after travelling to Lycia and ministering to the Christians being martyred in that region.
• Original Name –
Likely Reprobus.
Upon baptism Reprobus became Christopher or Christophorus.
Christophorus is Greek and is made up of the words Christos – meaning Christ – and phero – meaning to bear or to carry. Therefore, as many believe, translating literally to Christ bearer.
• Patron Saint –
St. Christopher is the Patron Saint of a long list of areas and this list varies depending on the source you consult but includes:
- Travelling
- Storms
- Sudden Death
- Eye Complaints
- Gardeners
- Transportation
- Bachelors
- Children
• One of the 14 Holy Helpers
The 14 Holy Helpers are a group of Saints that are called upon together to help with a variety of uncomfortable scenarios.
The 14 count St. Christopher as one among their number due to his large list of patronages.
As you can see within these particulars there is much that is not definite or certain. So let us begin to take a closer look at the life of the legend….
The “Facts”
There are very few, what we might term, “hard facts” known about St. Christopher himself. Those that are known may, or may not, refer to the actual Saint.
Archaeology
The only archaeological proof of St. Christopher comes from a stone found in the ruins of a Christian church. This bears testimony to a foundation stone being laid, along with details of the construction and consecration, of a church in honour of St. Christopher’s martyrdom.
This stone dates to around 450 AD.
Although the stone provides proof that people believed in a St. Christopher, who was martyred at about the right time, it does not provide any details about the life of the man himself. Nor does it confirm that the St. Christopher that church was dedicated to is the same one that we know today.
Academia
There are a few scholarly titbits that hint at the idea of a St. Christopher.
One is an account that states St. Christopher was a man baptised by St. Babylas, Bishop of Antioch, and received his martyrdom in the third century.
Another account details a man of Palestine or Syria who was gigantic in stature, incredibly strong, and was martyred in Lycia while Lycia was under the rule of a person names Decius.
Both of these accounts are very slim and do not contain much more in the way of detail.
Popularity
Other than the brief details above we are very much in the dark about our St. Christopher.
It appears that this is likely because he was not a very popular Saint in his own time. Appearing to be little known to any of his contemporary Saints. Other than one church dedicated to him, a long time after death, he appears to have been forgotten by history, left to dwell in antiquity.
How then is he so popular now?
When did St. Christopher begin to mean so much to people that, here in Britain, there were more images of St. Christopher than any other Saint save the Mother Mary herself?
Why are there now numerous churches dedicated to his name?
Why are there at least two islands named for him? Saint Christopher (or St. Kitts) Island in the Caribbean and Saint Christopher Island in the Antarctic.
For the answers to these questions we must look to a closer time in history and the legend that was created around the man we know a St. Christopher.
The Legend
It would appear that St. Christopher’s popularity came about due to the publication of accounts considered by many to be fictitious rather than academic.
Epics began to surface that include mention of St. Christopher across Europe but none became overly popular.
The two epics credited with being the foundation of the rise of St. Christopher as a legend were provided by two church scholars, one Walter of Speyer and one Jacobus Voragine.
Walter of Speyer
Walter of Speyer provided the first, less popular, account of St. Christopher in the 11th century.
This version of the tale of St. Christopher created the image of a cynocephalic (dog-headed) giant who was known to bark and eat human flesh. This terrifying man was later granted a human appearance as a reward for carrying the Christ child.
There are indeed early depictions of what people believe to be St. Christopher in which he is portrayed with a dog’s head. It may be that these were influenced by Walter of Speyer’s story, or he may have been inspired by these images to write an account that gave an explanation for the dog’s head.
There are several reasons postulated by scholars as to why there may be images of the Saint with a dog’s head including;
- traditional/cultural images regularly used dog-headed beings to represent barbarians or foreign cultures of which they were afraid;
- a dog is often used as a symbol in the bible to depict an unclean, or foreign, entity, which St. Christopher, as a giant, was seen to be before he attained baptism;
- there may have been a mistranslation of the term Cananeus. Cananeus meant a Canaanite but could have been mistaken for being related to a word related to canine;
- even the possibility that there was a link with Egypt and the jackal-headed God Anubis.
Whatever the reason for the dog-headed version of St. Christopher it did not make Walter of Speyer’s story particularly popular, especially when a more preferable story came along some two hundred(ish) years later.
Jacobus Voragine
A much more popular story of St. Christopher’s life, and the one most credited with the St. Christopher’s worldwide fame, came from Jacobus Voragine in the 13th century.
This story was included in Voragine’s Golden Legend book of Saints. (To read my adapted version of the full legend click here and to read the original click here.)
Voragine tells of a man of Canaanite decent, who was a giant of a man, looking to serve the greatest prince on earth. After trying a human King, and the devil, he sets out to find Christ. He then meets a hermit who instructs him to help travellers cross a river.
One day a child asks to be helped across and St. Christopher is beset by storms as the child gets heavier. After much effort they get to the other side of the river and it appears the child was Christ. Christ gifts St. Christopher the name of Christopher and makes a bare stick grow leaves and fruit to prove he is Christ.
St. Christopher then goes to Lycia and ministers to Christians being martyred there. After refusing to worship false gods he is tortured and beheaded by the King of Lycia.
The King of Lycia has been wounded in the eye by an arrow and dabs on some of the Saint’s blood. Whereby the eye is healed and the King becomes a convert to Christianity.
Here Voragine has provided us with the iconic scene that is printed on almost all representations of St. Christopher. That of the giant with a staff in one hand, holding the Christ child on his shoulder with the other, as he wades across a river.
This is our legend of St. Christopher brought to life and repeated around the globe and down throughout time.
The Saint
As a martyred miracle worker St. Christopher is accepted by the church as a Saint and his work continues to this day.
St. Christopher the Patron
Whatever the reason for St. Christopher’s popularity, the truth is that almost anyone you ask will have heard of him.
Most will tell you that he is the patron saint of travellers, but many will also list him as the patron saint of a number of other notable areas such as;
- sudden death – due to the nature of his martyrdom;
- storms – due to the storm that came upon him when carrying the Christ child through a river;
- gardeners – due to the nature of the miracle Christ used to prove his existence;
- eye problems – due to the healing of the King of Lycia through St. Christopher’s blood.
There are many more areas that St. Christopher is also patron saint of, all interesting and connected with various elements of his legend.
St. Christopher the Helper
This multitude of saint-like attributes led to St. Christopher becoming one of the 14 Holy Helpers, further adding to his popularity and fame.
The Holy Helpers were a group of fourteen Saints originally called upon together as a group, during the 14th century (what a wonderful synchronicity there), in a Germany wracked with bubonic plague. They were called together to help ease the various elements of plague suffering as it came with symptoms as varied as the powers of the multiple Saints.
This tradition soon spread throughout Europe and continued after the plague was no longer an issue. The Helpers were called upon to assist with a host of other issues now that they were established as successful. They even had a church dedicated to them as the 14 Holy Helpers group.
The Magic
You may be asking yourself at this point, or likely even from the moment you saw this article, why a Faery friend would be writing about a Christian Saint?
Well, as with most spiritual areas there is a lot of overlap between religion, magic, Faery, etc.
St. Christopher has always felt to me like a figure that crosses those boundaries and could be important, not just to the Christian faith, but, to all who wish to live a more magical, spiritual existence.
St. Christopher Talismans
It has always intrigued me that people carry a St. Christopher medallion, or keep a St. Christopher statue with them, when travelling. They do this for protection, just as a pagan might carry a talisman.
If one believes that St. Christopher will aid with protection when one calls on him how is this different to a witch calling on the power of a nature god/goddess?
Indeed, it is not only the religious that carry a St. Christopher, or call on him for protection. Even people who profess to have no belief in any faith or God can be found with little St. Christopher statues in their cars…. or some other representation, or calling card, of St. Christopher somewhere in their lives.
Faery Connections
It is also of interest to me that St. Christopher is a giant. The aspect of being a giant suggests the possibility that St. Christopher had Faery somewhere within his family tree.
Old Welsh folk tales, and various other sources, suggest that giants are very interlinked with Faery and almost all have Fae lineage.
The bible mentions giants, indeed one giant even has part of his story told when he faces David, but it is not entirely clear on the origins of those giants. Even Goliath’s backstory is not complete. Though there is suggestion they are involved in magic of some kind.
Further, the fact that St. Christopher could stop arrows, and his blood could heal, seems to me very likely to be due to a Fae heritage. Suggesting an ability to bring the natural magic of his ancestry into the physical world when he required.
The Moral
Regardless of whether one considers St. Christopher to be a dog-headed monster, a Faery creature, or just a large man, his story is one that all facets of spiritualist nature strives for.
Whether you are religious, spiritual, esoteric, pagan, wiccan, etc., whatever your belief/faith system, or lack of one, the idea of finding one’s true calling in life, being of service to others, and holding true to your moral nature, resonates with all who strive to be the best versions of themselves.
The transformation from selfish desire to selfless service given out of love is a wonderful teaching no matter its origin. The more that strive towards this nature the better the world becomes.
So no matter whether truth or fiction, religious or magical, we can all take some wisdom from the legend that is St. Christopher.
Do you identify with this Saint? How do you interact with him if you do? Do you think this is all just a fiction, just an interesting story? Do you not find it interesting at all? Please do let us know in the comments any thoughts or discussion points you have on St. Christopher and his legend.
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Sources
https://14hh.org/parish-about-us/14holyhelpers/
https://archive.org/details/journalofbritishns10brit/journalofbritishns10brit/page/131/mode/1up
https://www.behindthename.com/name/christopher
https://www.britannica.com/place/Saint-Kitts-and-Nevis
https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/christopher.htm
https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=139241
https://www.kylesconverter.com/length/cubits-to-feet
https://orthodoxartsjournal.org/the-icon-of-st-christopher/
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/07/25/st–christopher–martyr.html
