St. Christopher, Servant of the Devil

[Died c. 250] FEAST DAY: July 25

Poor St. Christopher. For centuries he was one of the popular saints, yet today most Catholics believe one of two things about the patron saint of travelers: the pope expelled St. Christopher from the calendar of saints because he never existed, or the pope demoted St. Christopher and he is no longer a saint (in which case maybe we should call him “Mr. Christopher”). The de-sainting of St. Christopher has become a religious urban legend, a story that “everyone knows is true” but in fact is flat-out wrong.

St. Christopher is still a saint in good standing. There is no doubt among hagiographers—the scholars who study saints professionally—that there was an early martyr named Christopher.

What, then, is the source of the misinformation about St. Christopher? It began in 1969 when Pope Paul VI authorized a complete revision of the Church’s liturgical calendar. Some popular saints such as St. Ursula and St. Catherine of Alexandria were removed from the calendar because Vatican hagiographers believed they were apocryphal characters. Other saints had their feast days lowered in rank to an optional memorial, which lets local churches decide if they will commemorate the saint in the Mass of the day. Media reports at the time of the shake-up often got the facts wrong, only adding to the confusion. It didn’t help that many bishops and parish priests failed to explain to the people in the pews what was happening. Unfortunately, St. Christopher was one of the victims of this mess.

There are perhaps as many as forty thousand saints recognized by the Catholic Church. But there are only 365 days in a year. Consequently, every day is the feast day of dozens of saints. Since time immemorial July 25 has been the feast day of both the apostle St. James the Greater and of St. Christopher (to say nothing of many other less well-known saints). In the hierarchy of saints, an apostle outranks a martyr, even a martyr as famous as St. Christopher. After the 1969 revision of the Church’s calendar, priests throughout the world were instructed to offer Mass on July 25 in honor of St. James. This is the general rule, but it is not carved in stone. Parishes and chapels dedicated to St. Christopher, or regions where St. Christopher is especially honored, have the option of celebrating his Mass on July 25.

There was a real St. Christopher. The Roman Martyrology, the ancient compendium of Christians who were martyred during the first centuries of the Church, records Christopher’s martyrdom in Lycia, in present-day Turkey, during the persecution of the emperor Decius (reigned 249–251). The executioners shot Christopher through with arrows, then beheaded him. Devotion to St. Christopher spread quickly in both the East and the West: churches were being dedicated to him as early as 452, while the earliest surviving image of St. Christopher, preserved in the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, dates from about the year 550.

Those are the facts. What follows is the legend.

At birth the man we know as Christopher was named Reprobus, which comes from the Latin word for someone destined for damnation. When he reached manhood Reprobus was tall, almost a giant, and exceptionally strong. His massive physique made him vain, and he swore he would serve only the greatest power on earth. The king of Canaan had a mighty army and ruled over a vast territory. When Reprobus offered to serve him, the king accepted at once and made Reprobus part of his inner circle.

One day the king’s fool was singing a song that made frequent mention of the devil. Every time Satan’s name was mentioned, the king, who was a Christian, made the sign of the cross. “Why do you do that?” Reprobus asked. “I make this sign,” the king answered, “to ward off the devil so he will do me no harm.”

“If you are afraid of the devil,” Reprobus said, “then I will go serve him, because I will serve no one except the most powerful lord in the world.”

Out in the desert Reprobus encountered an army of fierce-looking men. Their commander, who looked more terrible than the rest, asked, “What are you doing in this wasteland?”

“I am searching for the devil,” Reprobus replied. “I hear that he is the greatest lord in the world.”

“I am the one you are looking for,” the leader said. “I am the devil.”

So Reprobus swore eternal allegiance to Satan.

One day as the devil and his men were marching along, a roadside cross came into view. Trembling, the devil ordered his men to leave the road and led them on a long detour through rough and rocky country.

“What was that all about?” Reprobus asked.

“There was a man named Christ who was nailed to a cross,” the devil answered. “Every time I see a cross, I think of Christ and I am afraid.”

“Then Christ must be stronger than you,” Reprobus said. “I will go serve him.”

After a long period of wandering, Reprobus met a Christian hermit who explained the kind of service Christ required.

“You will have to fast in penance for your sinful life,” the hermit said.

“I can’t do that,” Reprobus said. “My appetite is too great. Let the Lord Christ require something else from me.”

“Then spend your days in prayer,” the hermit said.

“I don’t know any prayers,” Reprobus answered. “Give me some other task to perform.”

The hermit thought for a moment before he spoke again. Nearby was a river. The water was deep and the current so strong that many travelers who tried to cross it were drowned. “You are tall and strong,” the hermit said. “Go live beside the river and carry on your shoulders anyone who wants to cross. That will please Christ, and perhaps he will show himself to you there.”

“This I can do,” Reprobus said. So the hermit baptized Reprobus, giving him the new name Christopher, which means “Christ-bearer,” and sent him on his way. Near the riverbank Christopher built himself a hut. In the woods he found a tall, stout staff to steady himself when he carried travelers across the river.

One day, while resting in his hut, he heard a child’s voice crying, “Christopher, come out and carry me across.”

Outside the hut Christopher found a little boy. He grabbed his staff, lifted the child to his shoulder, and stepped into the water. As Christopher made his way through the river, the current grew rougher, the waves higher, and the boy became heavier and heavier. Christopher feared he would lose his step, that both he and the little boy would be swept away and drowned. At last, exhausted and gasping for breath, he reached the safety of the opposite shore.

“Boy,” Christopher said, “you put us both in great danger. Who are you?”

The little boy answered, “Today you carried on your shoulders the Creator of the world. I am Christ your king.” Then the Christ Child vanished.