The legend of St. Christopher, whose name means “Christ-bearer”,
is that he carried the Christ child through a raging flood. The
mission of St. Christopher’s by-the-Sea is to reflect Christ’s
love in the island community of Key Biscayne. The parish logo shows
a ship sailing over the “waters” of a book, representing
both the Bible and our Book of Common Prayer, and guided by the
Celtic cross of the Anglican tradition.
The patron saint of travelers, Christopher has been a popular
saint among Christian communities worldwide since 500 A.D., centuries
before any formal process of canonization existed. He belongs
to the realm of tradition, legend and folklore that began after
the writing of the New Testament and extended until the age of ‘modern”
church scholarship. Monasteries were named for him and images
of him were used as early as the sixth century A.D., especially
near bridges and roads. This association with roads and bridges
made Christopher a logical choice as patron of the Episcopal church
established on Key Biscayne in 1959, just 12 years after the construction
of the Rickenbacker Causeway opened Key Biscayne to residential
development.
His feast day is celebrated on July 25, when medals, passports
and other travel items often are blessed. The most common renderings
of our saint show him as a large, strong man with a wooden staff,
carrying a child on this shoulder. More than 50 Episcopal churches
are named for St. Christopher.
Who was St. Christopher?
According to tradition, Christopher died a Christian martyr,
probably in the Roman province of Lycia (modern Turkey and Syria),
in the persecution ordered by the Emperor Decius in about 250 A.D.
Whether history or legend, the various stories of this gentle but
very strong man who sought the truth are as compelling in the modern
era of constant travel as they were1500 years ago when they spread
wherever Christians went.
Before his conversion, it is said, the pagan later known as Christopher
worked for a great king until he learned that his powerful master
was afraid of an even more powerful person, the Devil. Then, like
many another prodigal, Christopher did the Devil’s work for
several years until he heard that there was someone even more powerful
than the Devil: Jesus Christ.
Christopher then went looking for this Jesus. He could not find
Him, but along the way he found others who claimed to know Him.
These Christian teachers told Christopher that the best way to
find Christ was to use his own human gifts to help others. And
so this big, strong man became a ferryman, helping strangers to
cross a dangerous river.
After many years of this work, one night he meets a traveler who
is a small child. In some versions of the story this child is accompanied
by his parents, who are returning to Israel from a sojourn in Egypt;
in others he is alone. In all accounts, Christopher carries the
child on his own shoulders across the river and has the experience
that the child grows heavier and heavier as they ford the turbulent
waters. Christopher is afraid that he will not make it to the other
side, but he fights hard against the currents to save the life of
this strange child.
When they do arrive safely on the far side of the river, the identity
of the child is revealed to Christopher, who realizes that he has
been carrying the One who bears the weight of all the world’s
sins. Thus, Christopher meets Jesus, the person he had been seeking
for many years. In some versions of the story, Christopher then
pushes his walking staff into the ground and it sprouts into a living
tree to mark the miracle.
Taking the name of “Christopher,” or bearer of Christ,
the saint is converted to Christianity and later dies a martyr for
his faith.
Lessons for Today
For modern Christians the lessons of the Christopher story are clear:
- Seek Christ
- Use one’s
gifts to help others
- Reach out
to travelers and other strangers
- Spread the
Word
St. Christopher,
the Christ-bearer, is indeed a saint for our time and place!
