The Christ-Bearer and the Weight of the World

Christopher is among the most beloved and least documented of saints, so much so that his cult was quietly demoted in the twentieth-century Roman calendar for lack of historical evidence, a demotion that did nothing to diminish his popularity. His legend is a parable in narrative form. A giant seeking to serve the greatest king, he takes up the work of carrying travellers across a dangerous river.

One day a child asks to be carried, and grows unbearably heavy midstream; the giant staggers across and learns that he has borne the Christ-child, and with him the weight of the whole world. His name, Christophoros, "Christ-bearer," is thus enacted in the story. From this he became the patron of travellers, and his medal is still carried by drivers and pilgrims. The tale is transparently allegorical, the burden of Christ that is also the burden of the world, and its endurance illustrates how a legend can outlive the demand for historical proof by saying something people continue to find true.