Christopher

Christopher (from Gr. Christophōros, 'Christ-bearer'), a saint of the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches. According to the oldest form of the legend, he is said to have lived in Syria, and suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Decius (249–251). He is said to have been 12 feet high, and of prodigious strength. In the pride of his strength he would serve only the mightiest upon earth. After being some time in the service of a king, and seeing his master's dread of the devil, he gave himself to be the devil's servant. One day, however, he saw the devil trembling before an image of Christ, and he resolved thenceforth to serve Christ only. For his penance he undertook to carry pilgrims across a broad unbridged stream. One day Christ came to him in the form of a child to be carried over, but the burden grew ever heavier and heavier, until it was almost too much for him to reach the farther shore. 'Marvel not, Christopher,' said the child, 'for with me thou hast borne the sins of all the world.' In painting and sculpture the saint is usually represented with the infant Christ upon his shoulders, leaning on a great staff, and straining every nerve to support his weight (see the Monograph by Sinemus, Hanover, 1868). The various legends of St Christopher are found in a connected form in the Legenda Aurea (1st ed. Nürnberg, 1478; new ed. by Græsse, Leip. 1850) of Jacobus de Voragine, who died in 1292. The Greek Church celebrates his festival on the 9th of May, the Roman Catholic on the 25th of July.