Saint-Christophe-sur-le-Nais

SAINT CHRISTOPHER'S CHURCH

SAINT-CHRISTOPHE-SUR-LE-NAIS

Part of the church dates back to the 12^th century, the rest was built in the 16^th century. On entering the church, a colossal statue of Saint Christopher greets the visitor as it formerly welcomed travellers and pilgrims, whom the saint protected against the risk of sudden death. If nowadays a sudden death is sometimes considered as a "peaceful death", for our ancestors it was the worst possible way of dying. Unable to repent their sins and receive the Last Rites, those who died suddenly were doomed to Hell and could not be buried in consecrated ground. This is why, in many churches, Saint Christopher was represented larger than life, most of the time in the form of a mural painting on the northern wall of the nave. You probably remember that, according to legend, Saint Christopher was a giant who wished to serve the greatest king on earth and finished by being converted to Chritianity by a hermit. The hermit told him to live by a deep and dangerous river. Thanks to his huge stature he would be able to carry travellers and pilgrims across the river. One night, a child asked him to be carried across. Halfway across the river, the child seemed to become heavier and heavier, the current stronger and stronger and even with his tree-staff Saint Christopher could only just manage to reach the opposite bank. The child - he was the Christ-Child - explained to him that the burden he had just carried was the weight of the whole world and its creator. He told him to plant the staff in the ground and the next morning it had bloomed and bore dates.

THE MURAL PAINTINGS

1) Calendar:

Painted on the archstones of an arcade opening onto the choir, it illustrates the Labours of the Month (see Sargé-sur-Braye). The months of November and December are missing.