Saint Christopher

Christian martyr

• Born: Possibly third century
• Birthplace: Asia Minor (now in Turkey)
• Died: c. 250
• Place of death: Possibly Lycia, Asia Minor (now in Turkey)

Although a legendary figure, Saint Christopher has long been a popular Christian saint, known as the patron of travelers and ferrymen.

Early Life

Virtually nothing is known about the early life of Saint Christopher (KRIHS-toh-fuhr). Indeed, the historical documentation for his life is so scant that some scholars question whether he actually even lived. The stories of Saint Christopher’s life belong to a genre known as vitae, or saints’ lives. The purpose of a vita is to present the life of a saint in such a way that it will inspire believers and persuade nonbelievers.

Saint Christopher belongs to a group of very early saints known as martyrs. Martyrs, including those early Christians who were persecuted in Rome, gave their lives for their faith. The early Christian church kept records of those who died as a result of the persecution. There is evidence to suggest that as early as the second century, the church commemorated and venerated martyrs by memorializing the dates of their deaths. Saint Christopher’s name appears on early lists of martyrs known as martyrologies. As early as 452 c.e., a church in Bithynia was dedicated to him. Saint Christopher’s cult is ancient in both the West and the East.

The stories of Saint Christopher’s life are internally inconsistent and offer no insight as to his birth or his childhood. In an early Greek vita, Saint Christopher was described as a monster with a dog’s head who ate people. His name before his baptism was listed as Reprobus in some sources and Offeros in others. By all accounts, Saint Christopher was a very large man, or even a giant, with a fearsome face. In addition, most sources suggest that he was descended from the Canaanites.

Life’s Work

Most accounts of Saint Christopher available in English are retellings of Jacobus de Voragine’s Legenda aurea (The Golden Legend, 1483). William Caxton, the first printer in England, translated this one of the most popular of all medieval books. This life of Saint Christopher follows a predictable pattern. First, there is a description of Saint Christopher’s early pagan life, followed by the details of his conversion. Next, the writer describes with great flourish the miracles of the saint and his ability to convert others. Finally, the story of the persecution and martyrdom of the saint at the hands of a temporal king and by a description of posthumous miracles closes the account.

According to The Golden Legend, Saint Christopher was in the service of a great Christian king. It was Christopher’s desire to serve the most powerful of all kings. When the name of the devil was spoken, however, the king crossed himself. Christopher, discovering that there was someone whom the powerful king feared, went in search of the devil.

When Christopher found the devil, he pledged himself to his service. However, one day the devil demonstrated his fear of a cross by the side of the road. Christopher demanded to know why the devil was afraid, and the devil admitted, “There was a man called Christ which was hanged on the cross, and when I see His sign I am sore afraid and flee from it wheresoever I see it.” When Christopher heard this, he vowed to find Christ and serve him, because any man who gave the devil fear must be stronger than the devil himself.

In his search for Jesus Christ, according to The Golden Legend, Christopher met a hermit. The hermit preached to Christopher about Christ, telling him that he should fast and pray on awakening. Christopher replied that he could not fast, because it would cause him to lose his great strength. In addition, Christopher said he did not know how to pray. Therefore, the hermit told Christopher to go to a dangerous river and there carry people across the river as his service to Christ.

Certainly the most famous of all stories about Saint Christopher is connected to his service as a ferryman. The Golden Legend recounts that one night while Christopher slept, he heard a voice that awoke him, asking him for passage across the river. When he went outside, he found no one. This happened a second and a third time. On the third entreaty, Christopher once again went outside, where he found a child who wanted to be carried across the river. He put the child on his shoulders and started across the river. It was a difficult passage that grew more dangerous with each step. As he walked, the river swelled. The child grew heavier and heavier, and Christopher feared for his life. When he reached the other side, he told the child that he was the greatest burden that he had ever carried. The child responded that he was the Christ child and that he was so heavy because he carried the weight of the whole world on his shoulders.

As a result of this legend, medieval and Renaissance artists painted Saint Christopher with a staff in one hand and a child on his shoulders. The image of Saint Christopher and the child has been a popular one since the Middle Ages, and many paintings and artworks survive, including a famous woodcut of this event by artist Albrecht Dürer. The name “Christopher” means “Christ-bearer,” and thus it is thought that this incident gave rise to his name. However, it is equally possible that the saint’s name gave rise to the legend.

Saints’ lives also usually include stories of the saint’s ability to convert people to the Christian faith. Saint Christopher was reputed to have converted more than eight thousand people. In addition, saints’ lives usually include a description of some sort of contest between the saint and a temporal, or earthly, king. In this case, Saint Christopher was arrested by a king called Dagnus and subjected to many temptations and persecutions. One temptation included two women, Nicaea and Aquilina, who were sent by the king to seduce Saint Christopher. Christopher did not waver in his faith, however. He converted both of the women, who were subsequently tortured and killed.

The king then began his torture of Saint Christopher, but to no avail; Saint Christopher could not be injured, even by arrows aimed at him by soldiers. One of the arrows turned back on the king and blinded him. Christopher said to the king, “Tyrant, I shall die tomorrow. Make a little clay, mixed with my blood, and anoint therewith thine eye, and thou shalt receive health.” On the next day, the king had Saint Christopher beheaded. As Saint Christopher had predicted before his death, his own blood mixed with mud healed the king’s eyes. Because of this miracle, the king converted to Christianity.

Although The Golden Legend calls the king who persecuted Saint Christopher “Dagnus,” the Roman martyrologies report that Saint Christopher suffered at the hands of Decius. The Roman emperor Decius did, in fact, start a wave of persecution in 250, the traditional year of Saint Christopher’s death. Other scholars attribute Saint Christopher’s martyrdom to the emperor Diocletian.

Significance

The stories of Saint Christopher were well known throughout the Christian West and East. Out of these stories grew the belief that Saint Christopher was the patron saint of travelers and ferrymen. His name was invoked as protection against water hazards, storms, and plagues. There was also the belief that anyone who looked at an image of the saint would not be injured or hurt on that day. Many churches erected large statues or frescoes of Saint Christopher so that their parishioners would be protected. This belief, and the general popularity of Saint Christopher’s cult, resulted in the many paintings and drawings of the saint made throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Further, as travel became easier through the years, Saint Christopher’s popularity grew. Many Catholics wore Saint Christopher medals and placed statues of Saint Christopher on the dashboards of their cars. The Catholic Church, however, in an effort to honor only those saints for whom they could establish a historical basis for sainthood, removed Saint Christopher’s feast day (July 25) from the liturgical calendar in 1969. The removal caused an uproar among Catholics, and many continued to honor the saint by wearing medallions and maintaining statues in their vehicles. The significance of this veneration is striking and demonstrates an important point about popular sainthood. Regardless of official church rulings, and regardless of historical documentation, believers continue to believe and pray for intercession in times of need. The importance of Saint Christopher is not in whatever life he may or may not have led in the distant past but rather in what Christians have chosen to believe about him through the centuries.

Bibliography

Butler, Alban. Butler’s Lives of the Saints. Revised by Peter Doyle. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England: Burns & Oates/Search Press, 1999. Updated version of Butler’s eighteenth century work. Contains index, bibliography, and liturgical calendar. A standard source for lives of the saints.

Cunningham, Lawrence. The Meaning of Saints. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980. An excellent general introduction to the idea of sainthood, demonstrating the way historical reality can be transformed into popular belief. Includes some interesting summary statements on Saint Christopher and a bibliography.

De Voragine, Jacobus. The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, edited by William Ryan Granger. 2 vols. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1993. This edition of the English version of The Golden Legend includes index and bibliography.

“The Heavenly Jobless.” Time, June 20, 1969, 70-71. A contemporary account of the furor that arose over the demotion of a number of popular saints, including Saint Christopher.

Hodges, Margaret. Saint Christopher. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Erdmans, 1997. An illustrated adaptation of Caxton’s version of the life of Saint Christopher found in The Golden Legend. Although a juvenile work, a good starting place for the student looking for the basics of the Saint Christopher legend.

New Catholic Encyclopedia. 15 vols. 2d ed. Detroit: Thomson/Gale, 2003. This reference work provides a complete and accessible source for any student beginning a study of saints’ lives. Included are a number of iconographic images of Saint Christopher.

Weinstein, Donald, and Rudolph M. Bell. Saints and Society: The Two Worlds of Western Christendom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. A classic scholarly discussion of the role of sainthood in medieval society. Includes both statistical detail and thorough analysis useful for providing a cultural context for the idea of sainthood.

White, Helen. Tudor Books of Saints and Martyrs. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1963. Includes a comprehensive, chapter-length discussion of the history and impact of Caxton’s The Golden Legend and a long bibliography of both primary and secondary sources.

Wilson, Stephen, ed. Saints and Their Cults: Studies in Religious Sociology, Folklore, andHistory. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983. A collection of essays written by major scholars on sainthood. Most useful is a chapter by Evelyne Patlagean, “Ancient Byzantine Hagiography and Social History,” in which she analyzes the genre of the saint’s life in the Eastern tradition. Includes bibliography.