Victor

What a depth of faith!  What a concentration of belief!

Saint Victor of Marsilles (Icon)

I often like to read about the very old Saints.  Many of them are almost forgotten by time, but each of them is a valuable treasure for us to rely on to help us towards Salvation from their place in Heaven.

Some of the old Saints lived peaceful lives, but truly very few of them did.  Most of the ancient Saints were martyrs.  They were killed for their faith and for their beliefs.

One of the Saints who I have recently come to understand a little about is Saint Victor of Marseilles…

This Saint died in 290 AD and was a Christian soldier who was serving in the Roman Imperial Army in Marseilles in France.  Christianity was doing very well in France, until the day when Emperor Maximian decided that he would visit France to stamp our Christianity…  Saint Victor travelled between Christina households at night to encourage the Christians to stand firm and maintain their faith and it was during one of these nightly rounds that Saint Victor was arrested.

Despite attempts by the Roman soldiers to desert this “dead Man”, Saint Victor continued to preach Christianity.  He was bound and gagged and dragged through the streets as punishment.  And yet, Saint Victor continued to renounce Roman gods…  He was kept in a dungeon and while there, he was visited by angels, who converted his three guards to Christianity.  Following their conversion, the three guards were beheaded by the Emperor and Saint Victor was kept alive to prolong his torture.  Saint Victor kicked over the Roman altar instead of worshipping at it, and his foot was cut off in retaliation.  Finally, convinced that Saint Victor would never renounce his faith, the emperor had him crushed to death with a grindstone and his body thrown into the sea.

The early Christians retrieved his body from the sea and it was buried.  Saint Victor’s tomb is revered today His body was thrown into the sea before being recovered and buried by Christians. His tomb is a place where many miracles have occurred.

And I have been thinking about this early Saint.  Considering the distance of time – almost twenty centuries, it is easy to romanticise this martyrdom.  And yet, I wonder what was in this Saint’s mind.  There he was having lived peacefully as a Christian for some time.  And everything seemed to be going okay and he seemed to be doing as God wished and then suddenly – out of nowhere – things fell apart.  He was tortured and tormented.  His earthly life was destroyed.  Everything that he a=had done in his life was undone.  And there he was – watching his earthly life fall apart – and yet continuing to trust in God to the death.

What a depth of faith!  What a concentration of belief!

Today, I pray for the intercession of Saint Victor to ask for me the Grace of such a conviction of faith…

Saint Victor pray for me, who has recourse to thee…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.