Tradition places in Lycia St. Christopher, a popular giantess and martyr of Asia Minor. It was a common belief that it was enough to look at his image for the traveler to be free from danger during the day. Many drivers wear a medal of St. Christopher next to the steering wheel. Here can see a thought-provoking story, when one day he crosses the stream loaded with an "insignificant" child.
The martyrology attributed to St. Jerome states that the memory of St. Christopher is on July 25, a feast that the Roman Martyrology preserves. Although it has been moved in practice to July 10, to coincide with St. James the Apostle on the 25th.
It is said that St. Christopher was baptized in Antioch. He went without delay to preach in Lycia and Samos. There he was imprisoned by King Dagon, who was under the orders of Emperor Decius. He resisted Dagon's blandishments to recant. After several attempts at torture, he was beheaded. According to Gualterius of Speyer, the Syrian nation and Dagon himself converted to Christ. His effigy, always gigantic, decorates numerous cathedrals, such as that of Toledo.
Vietnamese and Damascus martyrs
The liturgy of the day also commemorates Saints Anthony Nguyen Hûu (Nam) Quynh and Peter Nguyen Khac TU, Vietnamese lay catechists, who were martyred in Dong Hoi (Vietnam) on July 10, 1840 during the reign of Emperor Minh Mang.
Blessed Manuel Ruiz and companions, eight Franciscans, all Spaniards except one, and three native lay people, were martyred in Damascus for not renouncing Christianity and converting to Islam. They were members of the Custody of the Holy Land and formed the community of Damascus.
