SAINT CHRISTOPHER

SAINT CHRISTOPHER
PROTECTOR OF FERRYMEN
Piacenza river land

 

by UMBERTO BATTINI
historical popularizer 

fresco of Saint Christopher in the cathedral of Piacenza 

The feast of Saint Christopher, patron saint of travelers, pilgrims, boatmen, and ferrymen, falls on July 25th.In short, he is the Saint par excellence to whom over the centuries those who had to pass waterways were entrusted: in fact, he represents himself as a strong and powerful man who fords a waterway with the little Jesus carried on his shoulders.

You can find his life and history on the web, but here it is nice to remember that not only is the land of Piacenza a "Francigene and pilgrimage land", but little and nothing is remembered of this Saint.
In the centuries spent in Piacenza, boatmen took him into consideration, in fact in the cathedral you can admire the large fresco from around 1280 which depicts him in the typical moment: the ford of the river, with the little Jesus on his shoulders and other important symbols such as the drone, the sun and the moon and his fame as the patron saint with a beautiful halo around his head! And there is also a small but artistic oratory dedicated to him used for cultural events at certain times of the year.

Indeed, he is not a saint celebrated in these parts of Piacenza, but the modern fact of the Francigen pilgrimage should bring him back into the open and to the fore: but so much so that neither pilgrims nor modern boatmen nor even religious and civic and cultural authorities linked to the pilgrimage feel the call and even less the patronage of this Saint.

Perhaps after these lines, glanced at by someone furtively, the idea of talking about it and giving it the right and proper memory it deserves precisely for the facts cited above will be reborn. 
If this happens we can only underline our joy and foresight in having re-greened this illustrious Saint who is Christopher: the bearer of Christ!

 

by UMBERTO BATTINI
historical popularizer