Victor: Name Day and Patron Saint

St Victor was a soldier in the Roman army in the second century, in the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. When the emperor began to persecute the Christians, soldiers were ordered to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods as a test of their loyalty to the gods, the emperor and the state. Victor was a Christian, and he refused. He was handed over to cruel tortures, but he came through them unharmed. A sorcerer was brought against him, and through Victor’s prayer the sorcerer was overcome, gave up his sorcery and became a Christian. Through the saint’s prayers some blind soldiers also received their sight. Watching all this was Stephanida, the young wife of one of his tormentors, a girl of about fifteen. Seeing Victor’s endurance and the miracle, she openly glorified Christ before everyone. For this she was condemned to a terrible death: she was tied to two bent palm trees, and when they were let go they tore her apart. After her, Victor was beheaded. The two martyrs suffered at Damascus, and their holy relics were laid to rest there. Her name, Stephanida, means a crown, and both received the crown of the martyrs. The Church remembers them together on 11 November (24 November on the Old Calendar). The faithful ask St Victor’s prayers for courage and steadfastness, and they ask St Stephanida’s prayers for the boldness to stand with those who suffer for Christ.

What the faithful pray for

• soldiers and all who serve under orders
• steadfastness under pressure to deny Christ
• courage to speak the truth openly
• the healing of the blind
• young people and young wives