When I was young, it was common to see men wearing a St. Christopher medal affixed to a chain around their necks. Known as the patron saint of travelers, his likeness also appeared on the dashboard of motorists as they gained comfort from his intercession over their safe passage to and from their destinations.
Christopher was known as a martyr who died in the third century under Decius. Though there were many conflicting stories about his journey to notoriety, he became famous for an event that was ultimately determined to be unproven. Since the details of his life are so conflicting, undocumented and cloudy, I will describe it the way I tell the story when someone asks me why I wear his medal today.
“Christopher was a big dopey guy who lived 200 years after Christ died. He was a huge man, almost giant-like. Because of his size, he was given the job of carrying people across the river by the town where he lived. One night the Christ child appeared before him and asked to cross the river. Christopher took him about half way across when he realized that baby Jesus had become incredibly heavy. It took all his strength to complete the journey and bring Jesus with the weight of the world safely to the opposite shore. Read More
