[5] The most famous legend connected to the saint recounts that after converting to Christianity, he devoted his life to carrying travelers across a river.

In the iconography of the Western Church, the saint is often depicted as a giant with a staff carrying the infant Jesus across a river on his shoulders.

The hermit then suggested that because of his size and strength Christopher could serve Christ by assisting people to cross a dangerous river, where they were perishing in the attempt.

During the crossing, the river became swollen and the child seemed as heavy as lead, so much that Christopher could scarcely carry him and found himself in great difficulty.

It is formed from the word elements Χριστός (Christós, 'Christ'), and φέρειν (phérein, 'to bear'), together signifying, "Christ bearer".

Widely dispersed into other languages and cultures from the Greek, many native forms of Christopher are used both to refer to the saint and as a personal name.

The liturgical reading and hymns refer to his imprisonment by Decius who tempts Christopher with prostitutes before ordering his beheading.

By 1954 his commemoration had been extended to all Masses, but it was dropped in 1970 as part of the general reorganization of the calendar of the Roman rite as mandated by the motu proprio, Mysterii Paschalis.

The inscription bears witness to the laying of the foundation stone, the construction and the consecration of a church in the name of "Saint Christopher's Martyrdom".

[19] The Museum of Sacred Art at Saint Justine's Church (Sveta Justina) in Rab, Croatia claims a gold-plated reliquary holds the skull of St. Christopher.

He holds patronage of things related to travel and travelers—against lightning and pestilence—and patronage for archers; bachelors; boatmen; soldiers; bookbinders; epilepsy; floods; fruit dealers; fullers; gardeners; a holy death; mariners; market carriers; motorists and drivers; sailors; storms; surfers;[24] toothache; mountaineering; and transportation workers.

Christopher is the patron saint of many places, including: Baden, Germany;[6] Barga, Italy; Brunswick, Germany;[6] Mecklenburg, Germany;[6] Rab, Croatia; Roermond, the Netherlands; Saint Christopher's Island (Saint Kitts); Toses, Catalonia, Spain; Mondim de Basto, Portugal; Agrinio, Greece; Vilnius, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia; Havana, Cuba; San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic; Paete, Laguna, Philippines; and Tivim, Goa, India.

Because St. Christopher offered protection to travelers and against sudden death, many churches placed images or statues of him, usually opposite the south door, so he could be easily seen.

[27] The roots of that iconography lie in a hagiographic narrative set during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, which tells of a man named Reprebus, (also, Rebrebus or Reprobus; 'the reprobate' or 'scoundrel').

This was in line with the cultural beliefs of the time, which held that typical Marmaritae were tall, strong, and rascally; being a cynocephalus was also consistent with this image.

Pliny notes that these "dog-headed men" resided in "Ethiopia"—a name used to encapsulate areas of Africa West and South of Alexandrian Egypt by contemporary Romans.

The Greek tradition interpreted this literally, which led to Byzantine icons often depicting St. Christopher with a dog's head.

The Latin tradition moved in the opposite direction away from a literal translation of the original Greek term "dog-headed" (kunokephalos).

The German bishop and poet Walter of Speyer portrayed St. Christopher as a giant of a cynocephalic species in the land of the Chananeans who ate human flesh and barked.

He, too, was rewarded with a human appearance, whereupon he devoted his life to Christian service and became an athlete of God, one of the soldier saints.