Heavenly Father, today we entrust to You the child You first entrusted to us. We remember the baby we carried home, the little hands we held, and the years of school and play and growing up. Now our son (or daughter) sets out on a new road, and our hearts are full of both pride and ache…

O glorious St. Christopher, who didst bear the Christ Child on thy shoulders, protect all travelers from danger and accident. Watch over our journey today, bring us safely to our destination, and help us always to carry Christ to others. Amen.

I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me. My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee. Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel…

O almighty and merciful God, Who hast commissioned Thy angels to guide and protect us, command them to accompany Thy servants on their journey; that they may be preserved from all dangers of soul and body, and, having reached their destination, may return in safety to their homes…

O glorious Archangel Saint Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, illustrious by thy gifts of wisdom and grace, guide of travelers by land and sea, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners…

Feast day: July 25 (commemorated in the Roman Martyrology; not on the General Roman Calendar) Patron of: Travelers, drivers, and those who carry others. About St. Christopher St. Christopher was an early Christian martyr, probably in Asia Minor in the third century, whose veneration is very ancient, although the details of his life are known only through later legends. A church in his honor was dedicated in Bithynia as early as the fifth century, and he became one of the most