St. Victor the Hermit

Victor was born in northern France and exhibited remarkable piety at a very early age.  His greatest loves, even as a youth were prayer, fasting, and serving the poor. He was ordained a priest but knew that God was calling him to a life of solitary devotion, and accordingly retired to a lonely outpost in the region of his birth, where he passed the rest of his life (no one knows exactly how old he was when he died).  God rewarded him with special graces of mystical contemplation and with the power to perform miracles, but the most amazing thing about this holy hermit was the power of his example. Like ripples in a pond, conversions and growth in devotion emanated from his hermit’s cell throughout the entire region. He wrote no books, he did not preach, he held no influential office, and yet God brought countless souls into the state of grace through his fidelity to his life’s mission. He is remembered on February 26.