De-canonized just because he probably
>didn't exist, Christopher is still widely popular as the patron
>saint
>of travelers and, the last time I was there, you could still buy St.
>Christopher medallions in the Vatican Gift Shop. If he existed,
>Christopher died in Lycia.
Well, not quite. Christopher was removed from the Roman Calendar (universal obligatory feast days) in 1969, when the Vatican II directive to bring historical-critical attitudes to bear on saints' stories was implemented.
However, he wasn't 'de-canonised', and this is almost unknown. The only such case I know is Philomena (I won't go into the details here!), and that was by special decree. Vatican II simply advised that the number of universal feasts be slimmed down, as with about 15,000 saints in circulation the feast days were becoming overwhelming.
Saints removed from universal celebration were still retained for local 'use', by dioceses, individuals, Orders, etc. Christopher was included in this number, which is why his icon is still widely sold - he is one of the most popular patron saints. If you check the most recent Roman Martyrology (2001) you'll see his name still there, confirming his status as a bona fide saint.
Interestingly, though his vita is considered to be legend, it's on a historical basis that Christopher is retained. The early date of his popular cultus suggests that he must have been an important figure, if not a dog-headed one: the first church built in his name was in Chalcedon in 450 AD. He's supposed these days to have been a 3rd century martyr of Asia Minor.
Christopher has in fact two separate feasts for each of his incarnations: in the West we celebrate the giant who carried the infant Christ on 25 July; it is the Eastern Church where he is known as ‘Cynephorus’, which celebrates him with a feast of May 9. The Menology of the Emperor Basil states that:. ‘many monstrous and paradoxical things are related – that he had a dog’s head, and ate men; but that when he believed in Christ, he was transformed.’
The Eastern story describes Cynephorus as being born among the Greek race of ‘Cynocephali’, dog-headed men of monstrous size, and utterly unable to talk until he received divine assistance to speak Greek. He then preached the gospel of Christ, was baptised by St. Babylas, and later beheaded by the emperor Decius in modern-day Turkey.
Christopher’s incarnation as the holy greyhound St. Guinefort (recorded by Etienne de Bourbon in the well-known tale), in medieval France, is connected to these Greek Orthodox legends.
A Cypriot story, still told in Russia and Finland, offers another explanation. Christopher’s dog-head was given him by God in answer to his baptismal prayer: that his extraordinary handsomeness cease to trouble women.
All the best,
Rebecca
