Patron of Travelers, Truck Drivers, Ferryboat Men; Invoked against Nightmares, Water Perils and Plague.

San Cristobal was born in Palestine. It was his desire to serve in the army of the most powerful lord. He began by serving the Devil. The Devil and his army came across an old hermit who was ferrying people across the stream. The Devil ran from this man. Seeing how much power this hermit had over the Devil, Cristobal asked to serve the hermit, helping to ferry the people across the water. One day a child came to be carried. A storm came up while Cristobal was carrying the child in the water. The child became heavier and heavier. Cristobal thought he would sink. When he reached the other side the child turned into the grown Christ who said, "You have now carried the weight of the world upon your shoulders."

"Holy San Cristobal, as you carried the Christ child and thus the weight of the world upon your shoulders, across turbulent water to arrive safely on the other shore, I ask that you be with me on my journey, that I may find benefit to my body and soul and that I may return home to find that all has been well in my absence."

Pocket - 1 1/2" x 2 3/4"

About the Artist

Lynn Garlick started carving, painting, and producing her retablos in 1993. Her workshop is located in the high desert town of Taos, New Mexico, a landscape richly steeped in religious iconography and history. The retablo, or ʻboard behind the alterʼ, was originally created in New Mexico in the 1800ʼs in response to the lack of Bibles and Icons being sent from the church in Rome. The Santero (saint maker) painted retablos from pigment collected and ground from the local surroundings. The boards were hand hewed usually of ponderosa pine or tin. The practice has carried down through the generations and is still done this way today. Lynn paints her originals retablos on traditional pine boards carving and then paints them. To create her production work the images are mounted on baltic birch.