Two Saints Remembered on Their Day

 You know I'm short of ideas for blog posts if I get out the Saints Days book!

St Christopher and St James were both celebrated today 25th July.

Not much is known about St Christopher, he was probably first called Reprobus and was martyred in the third century. The  well known story is of him transporting travellers across a river and finding a child getting heavier and the river faster until the child said" I am Jesus Christ, the king who you serve in this work and on my shoulders I bear the burdens of the world" So Reprobus took the name Christopher which means 'Christ- bearer'.  He became the patron saint of  wayfarers and his image with child was often painted on the walls of churches in the middle ages.

From the book A Calendar of Saints this is part of a triptych by Dieric Bouts in a Munich museum.

Way back in history in London this would have been heard today, St James Day.............

Please to Remember the grotto,

It's only once a year.

Father's gone to sea,

Mother's gone to fetch him home,

So please remember me.

Children would make little grottoes, mainly using shells, pieces of broken glass and pottery and anything decorative they could find. Sitting by these they would chant the rhyme. The shells were used because the Scallop shell was the emblem of St James - one of the Disciples who later took Christianity to Spain.. Legend says when he was put to death by Herod Agrippa his remains were taken to Spain for burial. The site, Santiago de Compostela became the most important place of pilgrimage for Christians after Jerusalem and in the Middle Ages they would return wearing a scallop- shell emblem. 

It is just as popular today

The Camino de Santiago (Latin: Peregrinatio Compostellana, lit. 'Pilgrimage of Compostela'; Galician: O Camiño de Santiago),^[1] or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried. Pilgrims follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. It is also popular with hikers, cyclists, and organized tour groups.

On the latest series, which has just finished,  of the  Radio 4 programme Clare Balding presents, called "Ramblings" , she has been  walking and talking to people with connections to the pilgrimage walk. There is a link HERE if you are in this country. I'm not sure if it works elsewhere. I often listen if I'm awake early on Saturday mornings.

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