Saint Victricius (french: Victrice; it, Vittricio) also known as Victricius of Rouen ( 330 – c. 407 AD) was a

bishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...

(393–407),

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

, and author. His feast day is August 7.

Life

Victricius was Gallic by birth, the son of a Roman

legionnaire The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

. He also became a soldier and was posted to various locations around Gaul.Villazala, David Natal. "Symbolic Territories: Relic Translation and Aristocratic Competition in Victricius of Rouen", Society for Classical Studies
/ref> However, when he became a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, he refused to remain in the army. He was

flogged Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging ...

and sentenced to death, but managed to avoid

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

. He proselytized amongst the tribes of

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, Hainault, and

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

. He became bishop of Rouen around 386 or 393. He was accused of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

but was defended by

Pope Innocent I Pope Innocent I ( la, Innocentius I) was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the ...

and received from Innocent the important

decretal Decretals ( la, litterae decretales) are letters of a pope that formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church.McGurk. ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms''. p. 10 They are generally given in answer to consultations but are sometimes ...

of the ''Liber Regularum''.

''De Laude Sanctorum''

In 396,

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...

of Milan sent Victricius (as well as

Paulinus of Nola Paulinus of Nola (; la, Paulinus Nolanus; also Anglicized as Pauline of Nola; – 22 June 431) born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman poet, writer, and senator who attained the ranks of suffect consul () and governor of Campania ...

and others) some relics of

Vitalis and Agricola Saints Vitalis and Agricola ( it, Santi Vitale e Agricola) are venerated as martyrs, who are considered to have died at Bologna about 304, during the persecution ordered by Roman Emperor Diocletian. Legend Agricola was a Christian citizen of Bo ...

. Victricius wrote a sermon, ''De Laude Sanctorum'' (''On the Praise of the Saints''), celebrating the arrival of the relics from Italy.Victricius, Saint, and Gillian Clark. "Victricius of Rouen: Praising the Saints." ''Journal of Early Christian Studies'', vol. 7 no. 3, 1999, p. 365-399. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/earl.1999.0071
/ref> He mentions that he had been away from Rouen (396), as he had been requested to travel to Britain to help resolve some doctrinal issues. Victricius describes Britain as a wild and hostile place dealing with paganism and heresy in contrast with Italy with its abundance of holy sites and relics of martyrs.

References

Bibliography

* Gillian Clark, "Victricius of Rouen: Praising the Saints (Introduction and annotated translation)," ''Journal of Early Christian Studies'', 7 (1999), 365–399; = in Eadem, ''Body and Gender, Soul and Reason in Late Antiquity'' (Farnham; Burlington, VT, Ashgate, 2011) (Variorum collected studies series, CS978), art. XII. * Gillian Clark, "Translating relics: Victricius of Rouen and fourth-century debate," ''Early Medieval Europe'', 10 (2001), 161–176; in Eadem, ''Body and Gender, Soul and Reason in Late Antiquity'' (Farnham; Burlington, VT, Ashgate, 2011) (Variorum collected studies series, CS978), art. XIII.

External links

Catholic Online: St. Victricius
*

{{Authority control Bishops of Rouen 330s births 407 deaths 4th-century Gallo-Roman people 5th-century Gallo-Roman people 5th-century Christian saints Gallo-Roman saints Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain