A heathen king and queen were childless.  The queen prayed to the Blessed Virgin and had a son whose name was Offerus.  He was dedicated to the gods Machmet and Apollo.  Offerus grew to an extraordinary size and was very strong.  He resolved to serve only the strongest and bravest and thus dedicated himself to a mighty king and to Satan.  He was sadly disappointed in both as the king greatly feared the devil and Satan was frightened even by a cross on the roadside.  He began searching for a new master and met up with a hermit who suggested he offer allegiance to Christ.  The hermit instructed Offerus in Christianity and baptized him.  

Offerus changed his name to Christopher.  He would not, however, fast or pray.  Instead, because of his immense size, he accepted the task of transporting people across a raging  stream.  Once, as Christopher was carrying a child across the stream, the child became so heavy that Christopher could barely move.  The child was Christ, carrying the weight of the world.  He told Christopher to fix his staff in the ground.  Christopher did so and the next morning it had grown into a fruit bearing palm tree.  This miracle converted many pagans to Christianity and drew much attention to Christopher.  The king ordered Christopher to be put in prison.  He was tortured and then beheaded.

Because of his help to travelers he is considered the patron saint  of safe travel.  His emblems are the tree, the Christ Child and the staff.

The Roman Catholic Church dropped St. Christopher from the official liturgical calendar in 1969 due to the lack of historical data that he actually existed.  The fact that a martyr by the name of Christopher existed is held to be true, but little else is known other than the legends which can be traced back to the sixth century.