Victricius, St

Victricius, St.

Tradition make's him to have been a soldier who became a Christian and wished to leave the army, for which reason he was condemned to undergo severe tortures, but escaped, because the lector who had him in charge became blind, and the prisoner's fetters refused to hold him bound. After being liberated, Victricius became bishop of Rouen (A.D. 380-390), and an active missionary. He sustained intimate relations with Martin of Tours and Paulinus of Nola. About 393 he visited England for the purpose of restoring peace to the Church, into which the Pelagian faction had brought discord; but was himself suspected of heresy and compelled to visit Rome (403), in order to prove his orthodoxy. Pope Innocent I thereupon gave him a paper intended to be a guide in the administration of ecclesiastical discipline, and also for the deportment of believers generally. He died, probably, in 407 or 408, and left a work, entitled De Laude Sanctorum, which was published by Lebeuf (Paris, 1739). His day is Aug. 7. — Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s.v.