St. Christopher
Saint who lived in Lycia under Decius reign and is considered one of the
14 holy helpers. Almost nothing is known about him, but there are, however,
many legends connected to him.
Some stories are about his martyrdom. The emperor wanted to kill him for
his faith, but first wanted him to renounce it. The saint was tied to an
iron stool, which was placed over fire. The stool melted, but St. Christopher
was unharmed. The emperor then ordered archers to shoot him, but all the
arrows missed. One archer shot the emperor in the eye. Outraged, the emperor
then ordered that the saint be decapitated. St. Christopher's severed head
told the emperor to put some of his blood in his wounded eye, and when the
emperor did so he got his sight back, and so converted.
An old superstition is that if you see an icon of St. Christopher you can
not die that day. Because his name means "carrier of Christ" he
is often depicted as a man carrying Christ as a boy on his shoulder. Often
he is seen as having difficulty carrying the child's weight, since he is
carrying the whole weight of the world. In some rare icons he is pictured
with a dog's head, which is not accepted by the church.
He is believed to be the protectoer of travellers.
Orthodox nameday: 9/5
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