Patron saint of travellers, couriers, tour guides and airline staff

[Colin]

29th May - Saint Bona of Pisa

Pilgrim. St Bona was born in Pisa in 1156. From an early age she experienced visions, particularly of St James. By the age of ten she had decided to dedicate herself to the Augustinian rule and by 14 had set off on her first journey to see her father, who was fighting in the Crusades near Jerusalem. On her way home she was captured by Muslim pirates in the Mediterranean, wounded and imprisoned. Some fellow Pisans rescued her and brought her home.

Bona wasn't put off by those experiences. She soon set out again on a thousand mile pilgrimage to Compostella - this time leading a large group of pilgrims under the auspices of the Knights of St James.

She was to make the journey a further nine times, travelling mainly on foot. Bona was cheerful and adventurous: 'full of energy, helpful and unselfish, ready to reassure with her smile those who were sick' - according to a contemporary account.

She became ill while setting out on her tenth pilgrimage. Bona managed to reach her little room near the church of San Martino, and died on this day in 1207, aged 51.

She is a patron saint of travellers, couriers, tour guides and airline staff and has been adopted as a patron by several airlines.

Source:ICN

 

[Fish and Bread]

Isn't St. Christopher the Patron Saint of Travelers? Or is his title slightly different?

 

[Anhelyna]

St Nicholas is also regarded as a patron Saint of travellers

 

[Colin]

There are several patron saints of travellers ......

http://st-christopher-medal.com/who-is-the-patron-saint-of-travelers.htm
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/patrons.aspx

 

[Fish and Bread]

There are several patron saints of travellers ......

http://st-christopher-medal.com/who-is-the-patron-saint-of-travelers.htm
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/patrons.aspx

Thank you. One can never have too many intercessors!

Some interesting reading material.

I would, however, note that whether or not St. Christopher existed as described in legend is of surprisingly little concern to me. My general impression is, theologically speaking, if the actual legend doesn't describe anyone, that the Church has always said that there is someone up there hearing those prayers, perhaps in this case just a generally Saintly guy named Christopher who God thought would be a good fit with the type of prayers St. Christoper would get- or a forgotten Saint worthy of veneration. And, if nothing else, God hears all prayer and is getting the message.

Besides, I've always thought that even myths have a life of a sort long as people remember them and inbue them with importance, whether its a religious one like Apollo, Thor, or possibly St. Christopher (Who may or may not be a myth in the sense of the description of his life), or just cultural myths like Santa Claus or Superman.

Its an entirely figurative life in some cases, nothing literal about it, but its real in the sense that it says something about real people and what they value and passes those values down to other generations who in turn reflect their values back at the myth. Its of great cultural importance- and sometimes the myth outlives the culture and provides a link to exotic people on exotic times and places!

Now, if you went over to the traditionalist forum, I think, depending on just how conservativw things are there (I haven't checked, I'm happy here ), some folks might not like the way I described poor old St. Christopher, or who I lumped him in with, but, truth be told, its a fairly progressive version of a defense of St. Chistopher, which isn't something one sees often.

One of the big fights coming out of Vatican II was that progressives had removed beloved Saints like Stm Christopher and St. Valentine off the calendar off the calendar on the basis that they probably didn't exist as commonly described and that they made the Church look less than reality-based to scholars and the outside world. Conservative traditionalists fired back that these Saints were absolutely 100% literally real, and that if you had a time machine, you could travel back and snap a picture of St. Christopher carrying the baby across the water or St. Valentine conducting his forbidden secret weddings.

To be honest, I think that type of fight misses the point. Sometimes people are real as long as we remember them, whether they ever literally walked the earth or not.

I am not one to wear a cross or a scapular around my neck, but I strongly considered getting a St. Christopher medal for many years. The prices were a bit high, I was looking for something simple and inexpensive, not jewel encrusted. I did, however, find an inexpensive St. Christopher coin, which sat in my glove box in my car for many years, possibly protecting me on my travels. I don't think its there anymore, but I liked having it.

Conservatives talk about Catholic culture a lot, and often their version is kind of regressive, conservative, and exclusionary, but I do think there is a more moderate version of Catholic culture that is worth preserving. And things like St. Christopher medals or burying statues of S Joesph upside down in your front yard when trying to sell a house are among the things I like. The things that don't make you feel guilty, tell you how to live your life, tell you to look down on or condemn people (Or make them think you do), or separate you from your neighbors, but that instead just bring a connection with your ancestors and an element of mysticism and spirtuality to your life. The things that provide a little bit of magic on a Wednesday morning.