The Feast of St. Christopher in the Latin Church is July 25.
The Legends of St. Christopher
St. Christopher is a popular patron saint of travelers. His most popular story is that he carried a child across a river, and the child turned out to be the Christ child.
The saint is usually depicted as a large man with a staff carrying a child on his shoulders.
Much of his legend comes from the Golden Legend (1200s) which was a medieval book of saint stories. It was sort of a saint encyclopedia and one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages. It was probably a form of medieval social media.
The Latin church demoted St. Christopher because his veneration only arose in the Late Middle Ages and his miracle was a legend.
People still love him though. Many people wear St. Christopher medals. Some taxi drivers hang them from the rear view mirrors of their taxis.
What is the Meaning of St. Christopher?
The saint’s obvious meaning is to help others. It’s to be in service to humanity, and through service on life’s journey to connect with the divinity that we all share.
There’s a popular song, by Joan Osborne “What if God was one of us?”(1995) (YouTube). The song’s video is shot in Coney Island, Brooklyn. You never know how the divine may reveal itself to you, and it might be in a very unexpected way, even a way that your culture prevents you from seeing.
Carrying an unknown child across the river is sort of the opposite of family separation and deporting very young, sick children to other countries without their parents. It’s hard to understand what kind of people we have become. The most righteous often seem to be the most wrongest.
What if God was one of us? It’s not really for me to say, but I think God looks just like you.
