36th Day of Lent - Saint Christopher 🏄♂️ Patron Saint of Safe Travel!
Celebrate Saint Christopher
Today, April 12, 2022
Saint Christopher is perhaps the most well-known and popular of all the saints. He offers protection during travel, so it’s basically constant protection he’s providing, because we’re all traveling somewhere every single day.
The story about Saint Christopher tells a legend of Christopher helping a small child crossing a raging river. Christopher was able to hoist the little boy on his shoulders and get him across the water safely.
What Christopher did not know was that he had been carrying Jesus and that Jesus carried the whole world on his shoulders. It’s not surprising Saint Christopher thought the boy was very heavy.
In 1969 Pope Paul VI and others involved with the Catholic Church began to take issue with the whole story. It was noted that if Jesus had the whole world in his hands, then the story lacked logic. Other skeptics also saw inconsistencies in the story about Saint Christopher, Jesus, the world and the raging river.
Pope Paul VI didn’t really single out only Saint Christopher though. He took issue with many saints who lived before the 13th century when Canonizations became very official and “a thing”. He noted that some of the older pre-13th century Saints wind up being overly esteemed, leaving the post-13th century Saints a bit marginalized. So, Pope Paul took Christopher off the Calendar of Saints. Whether he is still a Saint can be decided individually. Just because he was taken off the calendar does not quite preclude Saint Christopher from having the title of “Saint.” We like Christopher as a patron for travelers offering hope and protection to all.
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