Saint Christopher

Who they were

Christopher was martyred, tradition says, at Samos in Lycia. His best-known image, a bearded giant carrying the Child Jesus across a river, comes from a legend: Reprobus, a giant who wanted to serve the strongest king in the world, left a king who feared the devil, and the devil who feared the cross, and at last, carrying travellers across a river as a hermit told him to, bore a child who grew heavier than the whole world - Christ, who bears the world.

According to the Golden Legend he endured torture with iron rods and fire, and was beheaded; the king who condemned him was healed by his blood and converted.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Christopher has been honoured as a martyr since the early centuries. The stories told of him are legend, not examined miracles. He is patron of travellers.

Why that counted as sanctity

Christopher's legend says what his martyrdom meant: he searched for the greatest Lord and found Him in Christ, and served Him to death.