Saint Victoria of Tivoli

Lord Aurelius, who had an extreme passion for her, employed various means to resolve her; but seeing that he could not succeed, he begged Victoria, as she was betrothed to his friend Eugenius, to undertake this matter and persuade Anatolia not to delay her wedding any longer. Victoria could not refuse him this service; she went to see Anatolia and spoke to her thus: "You know, my sister, that I am a Christian like you, and that in this capacity I am far from wishing to give you bad advice; however, if you will believe me, you will consent to your marriage as soon as possible. God has not condemned marriage; we see on the contrary in the Scripture that the Patriarchs and the Prophets, His friends and faithful servants, had wives and that God blessed their posterity. Moreover, the one whom your parents have destined for you is a man of honor; he will not accuse you as a Christian, he will not prevent you from performing all the exercises of your religion; there is even hope that, through the conjugal love he will have for you, he will embrace the worship of the true God whom you profess." Anatolia listened patiently to this speech, but when Victoria had finished, she spoke and said to her: "O my dear Victoria, triumph over the malice of the demon and be Victoria in effect as you are in name! When it was necessary to populate the world, God said to men: 'Increase, multiply, and fill the earth'; but now that the universe does not lack inhabitants, the Son of God, having descended from heaven to earth to give us a heavenly doctrine, does not cease to cry: 'Increase in faith, grow in charity, and fill heaven, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'." She told her other very pressing things, and, to persuade her further, she added: "My dear sister, the day I distributed the price of my jewels to the poor, I had a vision in which a young man appeared to me with a golden diadem on his head, dressed in purple and covered with precious stones, and said to me with a pleasant air and a face full of cheerfulness: 'O virginity, which is always in the light and never in the works of darkness!' At these words, I awoke very sad not to have heard the rest and I threw myself to the ground, tears in my eyes, praying Jesus Christ that he who had said these few words would continue to instruct me. As I was thus prostrate, the same young man added: 'Virginity is a royal purple that raises those who are clothed in it above all others. Virginity is a stone of inestimable price; virginity is the immense treasure of the King of kings. Thieves try to steal it from those who possess it; keep it with all possible diligence, and be all the more on your guard to preserve it, as you possess it in a more eminent degree'." Such a powerful and pathetic discourse deeply touched Victoria; she was happily defeated by the one she had undertaken to defeat, and, having taken the resolution to remain a virgin, she sold, like Anatolia, her rings and other vain ornaments and gave all the money to the poor.

As soon as the lords Eugenius and Aurelius learned of the resolution of these two generous maidens, they spared nothing to force them into marriage. To this end, they appealed to the emperor himself: they obtained permission to abduct them and take them to their country estates, to try to win them over, either through gentleness, or through threats and even mistreatment. Saint Anatolia distinguished herself by her constancy and suffered martyrdom, as we have stated on July 9th. As for Saint Victoria, she was proof against all the solicitations and outrages of Eugenius. He kept her for several years in his castle, during which time he had her given nothing for food but a piece of brown bread in the evening. He also made her endure many other indignities unworthy of her birth and virtue, to reduce her to marrying him or worshipping idols, but in vain; Victoria remained invincible in the midst of so many torments. She even had the skill, in the little freedom she had, to win several spouses for Jesus Christ, by persuading young ladies who came to see her to consecrate their virginal purity to Him.

Aldhel Adelme Bishop of the West Saxons and hagiographical author. m, Bishop of the West Saxons in England, who composed her history in heroic verse, as reported by Surius on this day, says that she gathered up to sixty women who led an angelic life and who sang hymns and psalms day and night in honor of the true God. He adds that she performed several miracles, and that, among others, she drove away a horrible dragon that was infecting the whole country, after having made the people promise that they would embrace the Christian religion. Finally, Eugenius, weary of her perseverance, obtained from Julian, pontiff of the Capitol and count of the temples, an executioner named Tiliarque to put her to death. The latter struck her with a sword in the heart, and made her a glorious martyr of Jesus Christ. Thi s was under the per persécution de Dèce Period of anti-Christian repression in 250. secution of Decius on December 23 of the year 253. The wretch who had dealt her the death blow immediately became a leper, and after six days he died, eaten by worms. The body of the Saint was buried where she had been executed. Her memory is marked in the four martyrologies, and principally in that of Ado.

This account is by Father Père Giry French hagiographer, author of the version of the narrative presented. Giry.