Dear Paul Mclachian,

Not to long ago I asked for info regarding an ousted Saint, which you inturn responded, was St. Christopher, and I thank you very much. I now have just two questions, simple ones for you I hope. Is the ousted St. Christopher, the same one that they have today? And what year was he ousted and if it is the same one why did they bring him back? I know thats three questions. But I thought of another one,SORRY.

I just wanted to know these things and I've never found a Catholic that could answer me. I'm AOG, and know more then they seem to and I didnt think I knew anything.

I do want to thank you very much for your time and effort, it meant a lot to me.

Thanks again and God Bless you.

-- Anonymous, June 01, 1998

Answers

"Whatever happened to St. Christopher?"

Before the 1969 reform of the Roman calendar, Christopher was listed as a martyr who died under Decius. Nothing else is known about him. There are several legends about him including the one in which he was crossing a river when a child asked to carried across. When Christopher put the child on his shoulders he found the child was unbelievably heavy. The child, according to the legend, was Christ carrying the weight of the whole world. This was what made Christopher patron saint of travelers and is invoked against storms, plagues, etc.. His former feast day is July 25.

Before the formal canonization process began in the fifteenth century, many saints were proclaimed by popular approval. This was a much faster process but unfortunately many of the saints so named were based on legends, pagan mythology, or even other religions -- for example, the story of the Buddha traveled west to Europe and he was "converted" into a Catholic saint! In 1969, the Church took a long look at all the saints on its calendar to see if there was historical evidence that that saint existed and lived a life of holiness. In taking that long look, the Church discovered that there was little proof that many "saints", including some very popular ones, ever lived. Christopher was one of the names that was determined to have a basis mostly in legend. Therefore Christopher (and others) were dropped from the universal calendar.

Some saints were considered so legendary that their cult was completely repressed (including St. Ursula). Christopher's cult was not suppressed but it is confined to local calendars (those for a diocese, country, or so forth). His name Christopher, means Christ-bearer. He died a martyr during the reign of Decius in the third century.

So St. Christopher wasn't really ousted, he is still considered a saint, but his feast day and the celebration was confined to local calenders instead of the Church Calander.

-- Anonymous, June 02, 1998