Saint Christopher

The origins of the St. Christopher story are obscure and stretch back to the period when Christianity began to replace paganism in the European countryside. Tradition tells us that a large man, or a perhaps a large hominid of some sort, converted to Christianity and decided to dedicate his life to Jesus Christ. The man retreated to the countryside to live as a contemplative, and one day a small child appeared and asked the man to carry him across a fast-flowing river nearby. The further the man waded into the river with the small child on his back, the heavier the child grew, nearly drowning him when he reached the middle of the river. Thoroughly perplexed and mystified, the man inquired who he was. The child responded that he was Jesus Christ carrying the weight of humanity and the whole world. The Christ-child gave the man the Greek name Christopher, meaning "Christ-bearer," and ever after Christians have venerated St. Christopher as the patron saint of travelers.

Sources: “Catholic Online.” http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=36