SAINT CLARE OF ASSISI

Abbess and Founder of the Poor Clares

1193-1254

Feast Day: August 11

Patron of: embroiderers, eye disease, gilders, goldsmiths, laundry workers, occulists, telephones, television

Invoked: against fever, against blindness, for good sight

Symbols: monstrance, cross, olive branch, lily, sometimes a lamp

 “Love God, serve God: Everything is in that.”

                                                Clare of Assisi

            Without ever leaving  her convent on the outskirts of Assisi, Saint Clare founded orders of nuns throughout Italy, France, and Germany. Though she maintained a vow of silence, Popes, Cardinals and royalty came to her for spiritual advice. Only twelve years younger than her mentor, Saint Francis of Assisi, she quietly helped him lead a movement of young people that confronted the church hierarchy for their material excesses and  revolutionized religious expression by embracing simplicity and poverty.

            Chiara Offreduccio was the daughter of a wealthy Count and Countess in Assisi, Italy and displayed little interest in the worldly advantages offered by her highborn state. She was eighteen and destined for an arranged, profitable marriage when she heard Saint Francis deliver the Lenten sermon at her church.  Inspired by his simple message of living with complete trust in God, she conspired to run away and live like this new order of mendicant friars, dependent solely on alms received from begging. The turning point for her occurred on Palm Sunday of 1212 . That day, Clare went to the Cathedral of Assisi in her finest clothes for the blessing of the palms. While others went to the altar rail to receive their palms, she sat in her seat, too shy to move. With the entire congregation as witnesses, the bishop stepped down from the altar and delivered the palms to her. She took this as a sign to act on her plan.

            Homes in Assisi were built with two doors, one for regular use and one called the Door of the Dead, opened only to remove a coffin from the house. That night, Clare secretly cleared the debris from the Door of the Dead and stepped through it, renouncing her former life and the material world forever. She slipped through the woods to the chapel of the Portiuncula, where Francis and his small community of men were at prayer. Clare exchanged her finery for a penitential tunic of coarse cloth tied with a rope, and  Francis cut off her luxurious hair in front of the Blessed Virgin’s altar. Having no separate living facility for women, he then took her to the local Benedictine convent.

            Clare’s family embarked  on a rescue mission, sparing no expense. During a violent struggle to drag Clare her from the convent, her clothing was torn off, and her shorn hair revealed. She declared to her shocked father, “The only spouse I will have is Christ, and further attempts to remove me from my chosen life will make me more steadfast!”  Her powerful father had to submit to her will and leave her behind. To his great anguish his younger daughter Agnes joined Clare two weeks later. Thus began a retreat of wealthy young women turning their backs on privilege and society in order to follow a higher spiritual path. Francis of Assisi had offered his peers a way of living that shook the foundations of society in the Middle Ages. Instead of becoming dependent behind the walls of staid, established religious orders, he encouraged his followers to exist in a day-to-day manner, experiencing nature and depending on the good will of others. The joy he and his band of friars exuded was infectious and he developed a following wherever he went. Clare was the first young woman with the courage to join him. 

            In 1215 when Clare was twenty two years old, Saint Francis installed her as the Abbess of the Order of Poor Ladies in a small house across from the Church of San Damiano. These women followed the Franciscan rule, forbidden to own property or material goods and entirely dependent on the alms the Friars Minor could beg for them. Upon the death of her father, Clare did not veer from Saint Francis’s teachings. She gave her vast inheritance to the poor rather than to her own religious community. This act of devotion caused much controversy – church authorities expected women to give their dowries to the religious orders they joined. This was to ensure that the nuns would be supported throughout their lives and would not serve as a burden to their parish communities.

            Despite this disagreement with church hierarchy, convents of “Poor Clares” as the order became known, were started in cities all over Italy, gradually spreading to France and Germany. These first convents attracted many educated and wealthy women who not only walked away from titles and estates but also lived in a state of self imposed austerity that was considered extreme for men and unheard of for women. They went barefoot, wore sackcloth, slept on the ground, ate no meat and maintained a vow of silence, speaking only out of necessity. Agnes, daughter of the King of Bohemia, broke her engagement to become Empress of the Holy Roman Empire to start an order of Poor Clares. The correspondence between Agnes and Clare leaves a lasting portrayal of the intellectual brilliance and good nature of the order’s founder.

            Because of her great mind,  Saint Clare was an invaluable advisor to Saint Francis. When he was wrestling with the choice of becoming a religious hermit or going out in the world to evangelize his movement, she encouraged him to go out to the people. It was Clare who nursed Francis through the last days of his life, and it was under her care that he composed one of his greatest works, “Canticle of the Sun.” After Francis’s death Clare could never be convinced to relax his strict rules of poverty remaining the most loyal adherent of his teachings.

            Though she was Abbess of her own order of nuns, Clare lived as humbly as possible. She served at the table, tended the sick and washed the feet of the lay sisters when they returned from begging. Because of the austere manner in which she lived, Clare’s health suffered, and  like Francis, she had the reputation for mystical powers. When she prayed she exuded a rainbow aura  and enjoyed a silent rapport  with animals. While bedridden, she would embroider altar cloths for neighboring churches and her cat would bring her whatever she needed..

            In 1234 the army of Frederick II was at war with the Papal States, and the convent of Poor Clares came under attack by a band of Saracen mercenaries. Clare rose from her sick bed and took a monstrance containing a host from the chapel. While ladders were being set up for the invaders to scale the walls, Clare calmly prayed, “Does it please Thee, O God, to deliver into the hands of these beasts the defenseless children whom I have nourished with Thy love? I beseech Thee good Lord, protect these whom now I am not able to protect.” She then heard the voice of a child saying, “I will have them always in my care.” In response, she turned to the terrified nuns and told them to have no fear but to trust in Jesus. In that instant, the attackers were seized with an incredible wave of dread and they fled the convent. The citizens of Assisi credit Clare with saving them from a later assault by the same army. Telling her nuns that they needed to support the city which had given them so much charity, she had them pray through a day and night until the attacking army inexplicably gave up and retreated.

            Two days before her death at the age of 59, Pope Innocent IV approved the rule for her order which she had formally written herself. As she lay on her death bed her sister and the early followers of Saint Francis were at her bedside, reciting the same prayers for her as they had said for him.

            In art, Saint Clare is usually depicted holding the monstrance which she held in driving out the Saracens. Those working in embroidery as Clare did, frequently suffer from eye problems, and so she is their patron as well as patron to those who treat the eyes. Because gold work requires intense use of the eyes, gilders are also under her patronage. Because her name ‘Chiara’ means “clear”, she is called upon for clarity of vision.  Since laundresses work at dawn and her name reminds one of the effects of the rising sun, they are also under her protection. Vision and clarity accompanied Clare throughout her life. When she was too ill to attend Christmas midnight mass, she was able to visualize it on her wall, amazing those who did attend by relaying exact information of the events. Because of this miracle she was named the patron of television, telegraph operators and the telephonein 1958.

Prayer of Saint Clare of Assisi

                                    Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road.

                             Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy,

                                     Has always protected you, and loves you as a mother.

                                          Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.

Excerpted from the book “Saints: Ancient and Modern” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

SAINT MARIA GORETTI

1890 – 1902

        Because of her gentle nature, Saint Maria Goretti has been called the Saint Agnes of the twentieth century; but unlike the ancient girl martyrs before her, Maria Goretti was not a heroic victim of the state. Murdered for refusing to submit to rape, her tragic fate was transformed into a remarkable example of the healing power of forgiveness. It is the amazing work that she accomplished after her death that caused her to be canonized as a saint in 1950. Through her intercession, her unrepentant killer became living proof of the power of love and forgiveness to transform an individual. His visions of Maria offering him flowers so moved him that his testimony became crucial in her canonization. Saint Maria Goretti is the patroness of rape victims and young girls. She is called upon for comfort, strength and guidance. She is particularly sympathetic to the plight of young teenagers in the face of peer pressure. Her own story is an illustration of how great good can supplant evil.

      Maria Goretti was born in Ancona, Italy, in 1890. She was the third of six children. Her family moved to Nettuno, where her father worked as a field hand. His death of malaria in 1900 left the family destitute, forcing his wife to take his place in the fields while Maria stayed home and cared for the younger children. Alessandro Serenelli, the twenty-year-old son of a neighboring farmer, began pestering Maria while her mother was away at work. Not wanting to cause trouble for his family, she rebuffed him as best she could, without telling anyone. On the evening of July 5, 1902, as she sat mending a shirt and minding her baby sister, Alessandro burst in and dragged Maria into the bedroom. She refused his sexual advances and he stabbed her fourteen times, leaving her for dead. She was found by family members and rushed to a hospital, where she clung to life for another twenty hours, during which time she expressed great concern for the plight of her mother and also for the soul of Alessandro Serenelli. She said that she fully forgave him and that she wanted him to be with her in paradise. Maria Goretti died immediately after making this statement. She was just eleven and a half years old. Unrepentant, Serenelli was convicted and sentenced to thirty years in prison. In the eight year of his incarceration he had a vision of Maria standing in a garden, dressed in white with an armful of lilies. Smiling at him lovingly, she beckoned him and encouraged him to take the flowers. As he accepted them, each lily transformed into a still, white flame. Stricken with remourse, Alessandro became totally devoted to the memory of the girl he had murdered. When he was released from prison in 1930, the first thing he did was beg Maria Goretti’s mother for forgiveness.

      The story of Maria Goretti’s forgiving words became world famous. Soon after her death people began to pray to her for strength and guidance. Many, along with Serenelli, attested to her positive intervention. He cult became so popular that there were 250,00 people crowded into Vatican Square on the day of her canonization. Saint Maria Goretti is depicted with the martyr’s palms and her bouquet of lilies.

 Saint Maria Goretti is the Patron Saint of: Young Girls, Rape Victims

She is invoked against: Peer Pressure

 Feast Day: July 6

NOVENA TO SAINT MARIA GORETTI

Saint Maria Goretti, strengthened by God’s grace, you did not hesitate, even at the age of eleven, to sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity. Look graciously on the unhappy human race that has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation. Teach us all, and especially our youth, the courage and promptness that will help us avoid anything that could offend Jesus. Obtain for me a great horror of sin, so that I may live a holy life on earth and win eternal glory in heaven. Please intercede for me in obtaining the favor I now ask. Amen.

(Mention your request).

(Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory Be).

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

Excerpted from the book “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua.

SAINT ANN AND SAINT JOACHIM

 First Century, BC

            Novenas to saints Joachim and Ann, as the parents of the Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus Christ, are known for their intense power. Having suffered almost every trial a couple on earth may experience, they are approachable for the solving of any family crisis. Shamed by infertility, they were married for twenty years before they had their only child. They faced their daughter’s unexpected pregnancy and her near-desertion by her fiancé with great faith and tolerance. After Saint Joachim died, Saint Ann, in the throes of widowhood, watched as her beloved grandson became a prisoner and was crucified. Saints Joachim and Ann offer the loving acceptance and wisdom of grandparents, and one should never be ashamed to turn to them for any reason.

            Very little factual information is available about the parents of the Virgin Mary. Saint Ann is said to have been twenty years old when she married the forty-nine-year-old Joachim. Comfortable financially, they lived in Nazareth and were faithful followers of the Jewish religion. Each year they divided their income into thirds, offering the first part to the temple for the worship of God, distributing the second to the poor, and keeping the third to maintain their moderate lifestyle. Their great misfortune was their barrenness. At the time, this was considered a divine punishment, and it led ultimately to Joachim’s offering being refused at the temple. Their community began to snub them, considering them inferior. Both Ann and Joachim made a vow to the Lord that if they did have a child, they would consecrate it to his service. After twenty years of marriage and no children, and once again humiliated when his offering to the temple was rejected, Joachim, too ashamed to return home, went to live among his shepherds. There, an angel came to him, ordered him to return to his wife, and told him that she was pregnant, saying, “Delayed conceptions and infertile childbearing are all the more wonderful! Your wife will bear you a daughter and you will call her Mary. As you have vowed, she will be consecrated to the Lord from infancy and filled with the Holy Spirit from her mother’s womb.”  Simultaneously, Saint Ann had been given the same news. She gave birth to the Virgin Mary at the age of forty. Saint Joachim was sixty-nine. Devoted to God, they raised Mary accordingly. True to their promise, they sent her to live in the temple to serve God when she was three years old. This was an extremely difficult act of faith on their part, surrendering the one thing they cherished most to God. So it was that Mary never lived among common people. She was given extraordinary parents and a sheltered, religious life in the service of God.

            Saint Ann is the better known of the two saints and her cult goes back to the beginning of the church. She is the patroness of housewives and women in labor. Because she kept her home in perfect order, she is the patron of cabinetmakers. In Brittany, Saint Ann has an exalted place. There were many sightings of her there in the 1600s. She is also the patroness of Canada.

Saint Ann is the patron Saint of : Housewives, Pregnancy, Family Crisis, Cabinetmakers, Brittany and Canada. She is invoked against: Infertility.

Together, Saints Ann and Joachim are the Patron Saints of Parents and Grandparents.

Their Feast Day is July 26.

Novena to Saints Joachim and Ann

Saints Joachim and Ann, grandparents of Jesus and parents of Mary, we seek your intercession. We beg you to direct all our actions to the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls. Strengthen us when we are tempted, console us during our trials, help us when we are in need, be with us in life and in death.

O divine Savior, we thank you for having chosen Saints Joachim and Ann to be parents of our Blessed Mother Mary and so to be your own beloved grandparents. We place ourselves under their patronage this day. We recommend to them our families, our children, and our grandchildren. Keep them from all spiritual and physical harm. Grant that they may ever grow in greater love of God and others.

Saint Joachim and Ann, we have many great needs. We beg you to intercede for us before the throne of your divine Grandson. All of us here have our own special intentions, our own special needs, and we pray that through your intercession, our prayers may be granted. Amen.

(Mention your request here).

Say this novena nine times in a row for nine days in a row.

 Excerpted from the book “Novena: The Power of Prayer” by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

             In this novena, we are offered the protection afforded us from being a member of a family.  The more extensive our family, the more safely we are able to walk through the world. Our Lady of Mount Carmel represents the role of Mary as mother of the family of man and honors Mary’s protection of the ancient sect of contemplatives who settled Mount Carmel, as well as the symbol of this protection, the scapula. Those who wear this religious picture in present day declare their commitment to Jesus. Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is extremely widespread throughout the world. This novena is particularly effective when we are feeling vulnerable and in need of protection. All are welcome to recite it. In saying this novena, one accepts a role in the extended spiritual family of the Carmelites.

             The spiritual legacy of Mount Carmel goes back to 800 BC, when the prophet Elijah ascended the holy mountain of Carmel in Israel and began a life of contemplation and prayer. In his prophetic visions, Elijah became aware of the coming of the Mother of God. He and his followers mystically dedicated themselves to her, and it was the descendants of the followers of Elijah who were the first to be baptized by the Apsotles.  Upon meeting Mary, they were overcome with her majesty and sanctity and they returned to the mountain of Carmel to build the first chapel ever dedicated to the Madonna.

             Mount Carmel continued to be a place of pilgrimage and spiritual retreat, housing many hermits who devoted themselves to prayer and contemplation.  These hermits became the first order of Carmelite friars. During the Crusades, the Saracens began making it difficult for these monks to continue these holy practices. A young English pilgrim, Saint Simon Stock, had joined the group while on a visit to Jerusalem. This ultimately resulted in the order’s move to England in the year 1241. The Baron de Grey gave the monks a manor house in the town of Aylesford. In England, the Carmelites developed from a loose-knit group of monks into a traveling society of mendicant friars, opening schools and mission houses in the major capitals of Europe.  In 1251, Saint Simon Stock had a vision of Mary in the house in Aylesford. She handed him the first scapular and said, “This shall be the privilege for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire.”  This scapular consisted of two brown wool panels joined by strings, to be worn over the shoulders. On one panel was a woven image of Mary holding the baby Jesus. Today, the scapular has this image on one panel and an image of Mary handing the scapular to Saint Simon Stock on the other. The word “scapular” comes from a form of clothing worn over the shoulders as an apron; it is part of the religious habit of monks, nuns and friars.

             Through the years the scapular given to Saint Simon Stock became the symbol of a way of life and an expression of being open to God and his will. It also honors Mary by asking her for her protection, and it establishes a bond between us and the original saints of Mount Carmel.

 Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: July 16

 Our Lady of Mount Carmel is invoked for: Protection, Universal Family

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

O most holy mother of Mount Carmel, when asked by a saint to grant privileges to the family of Carmel, you gave assurance of your motherly love and help to those faithful to you and to your Son. Behold us, your children. We glory in wearing your holy habit, which makes us members of your family of Carmel, through which we shall have your powerful protection in life, at death, and even after death. Look down with love, O Gate of Heaven, on all those now in their last agony! Look down graciously, O Virgin, Flower of Carmel, on all those in need of help! Look down mercifully, O Mother of Our Saviour, on all those who do not know that they are numbered among your children! Look down tenderly, O Queen of All Saints, on the poor souls!

(Pause and mention your request).

(Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, one Glory Be).

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

Excerpted from the book “Novena: The Power of Prayer”  by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua

SAINT MARY MAGDALENE 

Apostle to the Apostles 

First Century

Feast Day: July 22

Patronage: Provence, contemplatives, converts, druggists, gardeners, glove makers, hairdressers, penitents, perfumers, pharmacists, prisoners, reformed prostitutes

Invoked against: sexual temptation

Symbols: alabaster jar, long hair, skull

 “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, “I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”“

            Christ to Mary Magdalenee according to John 20:17

             The subject of much debate about her true identity, there is one aspect of Mary Magdalene that all ecclesiastical writers agree upon: she never left Christ during His crucifixion and she was the first person to see Him after His resurrection. Because He chose her as His first witness and because He told her to go and tell the others what she saw, she is known as the “Apostle to the Apostles.” But it the example she sets as a penitent and reformed sinner that she is most well known and honored.

            According to ancient Jewish texts, the seaside town of Magdala was known as a place of loose morals. Mary had the surname of this town instead of a  man’s, signifying her unmarried state. It was said that Mary had wealth and took great pride in her appearance enjoying luxuries and lapsing into promiscuity. Many shunned her because of her reputation for lewdness and it is as this sinner that we are first introduced to her. After Jesus had raised the son of a widow from the dead, a man named Simon invited him to be guest of honor at a dinner.  While they were at the table a notorious woman walked into the room carrying an alabaster box. Weeping, she threw herself down and wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair then anointed them with the oil. Simon was outraged that Jesus would accept such tribute from someone so disgraceful.  Instead of judging the woman Jesus rebuked Simon, “Does thou see this woman? I entered into thy house – thou gave me no water for my feet. But she with tears has washed my feet,, and with her hair has wiped them. Thou gave me no kiss. But she, since she came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou did not anoint but she with ointment has anointed my feet. Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loves less.” He then told the penitent woman to go in peace, all her sins were forgiven.

            In the next chapter of Luke he mentions the travels of Christ and his followers in Galiliee, among them is “Mary Magdalene, out of whom seven devils had gone forth.” Though other Christian sects disagree, Catholics believe the penitent woman is Mary Magdalene, who after being exorcized by Christ became one of his greatest and most loyal followers. The day before Christ’s entry into Jerusalem he dined with Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. Because she too wipes his feet with her hair and anoints them with oil in the same manner as the penitent woman, it is thought that Lazarus’ sister is Mary Magdalene. When Judas objects to the use of such expensive oil he is rebuked by Christ for being so self-righteous. “…For the poor you have always with you….but me you have not always…”

            When Christ was crucified, Mary Magdalene followed His passion on Calvary. Unlike His other disciples, she never renounced Him or ran from Him. She stood with His mother until He was dead, helped take Him down from the cross  and wept outside of His tomb. On Easter morning it is Mary Magdalene who returns at dawn to keep a vigil. When she found the great stone covering the tomb rolled away, she ran back to tell Peter and the others that someone had taken Jesus’ body. They ran a head of her, saw that this was true, and not knowing what to do about it, they left. It was Mary Magdalene who stayed behind, searching the tomb and weeping. Two angels dressed in white appeared and ask why she was weeping. “They have taken my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.” Another man, a gardener asked her the same question and she begged the man to tell her where he might have put Christ’s body.  “Mary,” said the man and she knew who this was. When she went to embrace him he told her “Touch me not!” ( The phrase Noli me tangere in the Latin bible). After she went off to tell the others the good news, the gospels have nothing more to say about Mary Magdalene.

            The rest of her life story was written in the early Middle Ages.  It says that after the resurrection of Christ, political leaders in Israel tried to quash the cult that was rapidly growing around belief in Him. In hopes that they would perish at sea, Mary Magdalene, her sister Martha, their brother Lazarus and other followers  were set out in a rudderless boat. Divine Providence brought them to the coast of Marseilles, France.  There they had much success converting the local people to Christianity. Mary took her apostolic mission to Provence and was greeted with equal enthusiasm. After converting the king and helping to install a bishop, she retired to a cave to live out the last thirty years of her life as a penitent. Existing without food or clothing, her hair grew long to cover her body and she repented for her previous deeds as a sinner. Once a day angels would carry her to heaven where she received her “daily sustenance”. Knowing her death was at hand, she sent for Maximinus, the bishop she had installed, received the eucharist and died in tears.

              Since each of the 12 original apostles of Christ had areas of the world where they evangelized, and Mary Magdalene and her family were favorites of Christ, early French ecclesiastical writers claimed them as their evangelists. This divine favoritism then extended to France and the French people. Miraculous discoveries of her relics abounded from Provence to Burgundy. The Cathedral at Vezely was dedicated to her in the 12^th century and became the center of her cult and an important stop on the pilgrimage to Campostela. Her feast, falling in the heart of summer was happily celebrated throughout France. 

            To the people of the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene was a wildly glamorous figure, a beautiful woman with long, red hair. As towns grew into cities, they began to face an onslaught of urban problems such as prostitution. Though there is no mention in the bible of Mary Magdalene ever being a prostitute, preachers invented lurid tales of her youthful sexual indiscretions. The fact that God could extend forgiveness to such a willful, wayward creature gave hope to everyone for their own forgiveness. Homes for reformed prostitutes took her as their patron and the word “magdalene” became a description for a fallen woman. It was not until the 20^th century that Mary Magadelene’s role as a penitent and devoted follower of Christ was stressed.

             Always a popular subject for artists, Mary Magdalene is  depicted as a beautiful, sorrowful woman with long hair. In some images she carries the alabaster unguent jar and in others a skull is present, the symbol of the penitent to remind us of how we are all going to end up. The English word “maudlin” is a derivative of Magdalene. Oxford University has a famous college named for her.  Because she loved luxury before her conversion, and bought expensive unguents after it, she is the patron of such trades as glove makers, hairdressers and perfumers. Since devils were cast out of her she is the patron of prisoners who cast off their chains.  Because Christ appeared to her as a gardener she is the patron of that profession. Her knowledge and use of unguents makes her the patron of pharmicists.

                                                     Prayer to Saint Mary Magdalene

                                            Saint Mary Magdalene, woman of many sins,

                                         Who by conversion became the beloved of Jesus,

                                            Thank you for your witness that Jesus forgives

                                                          through the miracle of love.

                                              You, who already possess eternal happiness

                                                            in His glorious presence,

                                               please intercede for me, so that someday

                                                 I may share in the same everlasting joy.

                                                                           Amen

From the  book “Saints: Ancient and Modern” , Viking Studio, by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua                       

SAINT CHRISTOPHER

 One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers

 Third Century

Feast Day: July 25

Patron of: athletes, couriers, gardeners, ferrymen, fruit growers, fruit venders, motorists, pilgrims, porters, postal workers, railway workers, taxi drivers, travelers,

Invoked against: sudden death, plague, floods, hurricanes, hail

Symbols: carrying the Child Jesus, flowering staff

“You were not only carrying the whole world, you had Him who created the world on your shoulders!”

            The Christ Child to Christopher

             A standard image in automobiles and taxi cabs, Saint Christopher is an unavoidable presence in modern society. He is the first saint that many nonCatholics come in contact with and his cult has faded and been resurrected over a span of 2,000 years. The stories of Saint Christopher are unique and fantastic. In the West, the story begins with a fearsome giant named Rebrobus.

            Born to a tribe in North Africa, Reprobus  was so proud of his great physical prowess that he vowed to serve only the greatest king in the world. He put himself in service to a ruler whom he believed to be supreme, but soon noticed that this king trembled and crossed himself at the mention of the devil. Witnessing the king’s fear  he realized that a more powerful leader yet reigned. He left the king’s court, found the devil and put himself in his service. One day, while traveling with the devil and his army they saw a cross on the road. The devil abruptly left this path and led them through the desert. When Reprobus saw that the devil was frightened, he demanded to know the reason. “There was a man named Christ who was nailed to a cross,” he was told. “And when I see the sign of his cross, I am filled with terror and I run away!”             Reprobus left  in disgust and set out to find this Jesus Christ who could make the devil quake in fear. In his travels he came across a hermit who lived besides a dangerous river. This hermit was a known Christian who spent his days guiding travelers over the rushing water. When Reprobus asked the hermit how he could join Christ’s service, the hermit  suggested that the mighty giant take on the task of carrying travelers across the dangerous river currents.  Reprobus gladly accepted this simple solution. He set up camp near the river and found a long pole to act as his steadying staff in the raging water.

          For a few days he carried travelers on his back through the currents. It came to pass that one day he heard the voice of a small child requesting to be carried across the river. He left his shelter but found no one there. He heard the voice a second time and still saw no one. The third time the child called, Reprobus again stepped outside and to his surprise saw a child standing on the riverbank. When the boy again requested to be carried over, the giant easily picked the child up, put him on his shoulders and began walking across the river. To his astonishment, as he neared the heavy current, the child’s weight seemed to increase. As the water grew rougher, the child grew heavy as lead. Engulfed in rapids and struggling to remain upright, Reprobus was sure they would both drown. When he finally reached the other shore, Reprobus put the boy down and admonished him, “My boy, you put me in great danger, and you weighed so much that if I had the whole world on my back I could not have felt it a heavier burden!” To his amazement, the child replied, “You were not only carrying the whole world, you had him who created the world upon your shoulders! I am Christ your king, to whom you render service by doing the work you do here.” The child then baptized him with the water from the river and told him that when Reprobus returned home, he was to plant his staff in the earth. “The next day you will find it bearing fruit as a form of proof of my identity.”  The child then vanished. Reprobus returned home and did what he was told. As promised, the next day he found his staff bearing the leaves and fruit of a palm tree. From that day on he took the name Christopher, which means “Christ bearer”.  

            The story continues, and the powerful message that Christopher’s flowering staff represented converted many to Christianity. The king, threatened by Christopher’s powers to relate to the common people had the humble servant brought before him. The king said that Christopher was a fool to take the name of a crucified man as his leader. If he would denounce Christ, Christopher would be granted entrance into the king’s service, and his life would be spared.. When Christopher refused, the king ordered him tortured and shot with arrows. As four hundred archers aimed at the giant, one stray arrows turned in midair and went through the king’s eye. Christopher told him not to worry. He said that upon his death, the king should rub some of the shed blood into his eye. Vision would be restored. Upon these words, Christopher was beheaded and the tyrant took some of the blood, rubbing it into the injured eye, saying, “In the name of God and Saint Christopher.” When his vision was restored, the king immediately converted to Christinaity, along with those who had witnessed these events.

            In the West the story of Saint Christopher is taken as a fable for Christians to teach them to figuratively  “bear Christ” in every aspect of their lives.  In the East, however, the story differs. There, Christopher was known as a member of a warrior tribe of dog- headed cannibals and traditional Orthodox iconography depicts him as a man with a dog’s head. This is thought to be a literal interpretation of the Greco/Roman tradition of describing all foreigners from outside f the empire as “cannibals” or “dog-headed.”  In truth, the historic Christopher was most likely from Berber tribes that resided in Libya. Many speculate he is the same person as the Saint known as Menas who always carried a picture of Christ near his heart. This holy man was martyred in Antioch and then taken to Alexandria to be honored by the Coptic Christians.

            Despite the different tales of his origin, Saint Christopher is best-known for his Western roots. His act of healing toward the king, his murderer, and his protection of travelers, led to his adoption both as an intercessor for the sick and for those who are responsible for the safety of others.

            Saint Christoper is often grouped with other saints thought to offer intercession of healing Collectively known as the Fourteen Holy Helpers, each of these saints specializes in curing different parts of the body. He was added to this group during the Middle Ages when the Black Plague raged through Europe. At this time paintings of Saint Christopher appeared on the outside of many churches and village public walls because it was thought that anyone who saw his image would be safe from death that day. After the plague had run its course these images became welcome sights to religious pilgrims who found assurance in his protection of them along the road.

            In the twentieth century, the cult of Saint Christopher saw great resurgence. As the patron saint of travelers and those who transport people, medallions bearing his image became prevalen, especially with the advent of the automobile.. In the United States this tradition was introduced by European immigrants and became so popular that even manynonCatholics have a Saint Christopher medallion in their vehicle for protection.

             Because of his flowering staff Saint Christopher is also the patron saint of gardeners and those who buy and sell fruit. Since he carried and delivered many to safety he is the patron of ferrymen and postal workers. Because he worked in such violent currents, he is invoked against the violence of water such as floods and hail. Being endowed with great strength and physical perfection he is also the patron of athletes. In art, Saint Christopher is always depicted carrying the Christ Child, his staff at his side.

                                                  Traveler’s Prayer to Saint Christopher

                         O Saint Christopher, hear our prayer,

                        Keep me in your loving care.

                        Whatever the perils of the way,

                        Let me not add to them this day.

                        So to our caution and attention,

                        We add a prayer for your protection,

                        And beg God’s blessing on this journey,

                        That we may travel safely near and far.

 From the book “Saints: Ancient and Modern”, Viking Studio, by Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua