- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 -
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
made
perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for
Christ's
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hard****ps, in persecutions,
in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
_____________________________________________________________________
When we are strong in abilities or resources, we are tempted to do God's
work on
our own, and that can lead to pride. When we are weak, allowing God to
fill
us
with his power, then we are stronger than we could ever be on our own. God
does
not intend for us to seek to be weak, passive or ineffective - life
provides
enough hindrances and setbacks without us creating them. When those
obstacles
come, we must depend on God. Only his power will make us effective for him
and
will help us do work that has lasting value.
<<>><<>><<>>
July 21st - Saint Victor of Marseilles, Martyr
(d. 290)
The Emperor Maximian, reeking with the blood of the Theban legion and that
of
many other martyrs, arrived in person in the year 290 at Marseilles, where
the
Church flourished. The tyrant was breathing nothing but slaughter and
fury,
and
his coming filled the Christians with fear and alarm. In the general
consternation, Victor, a Christian officer in the emperor's troops, went
about
in the nighttime from house to house, visiting the faithful and inspiring
them
with contempt for tem****al death and love of eternal life.
He was arrested during these charitable offices and brought before the
tribunal
of the prefects Asterius and Eutychius, who exhorted him not to lose the
fruit
of his imperial service and the favor of his prince for the wor****p of a
dead
man. He answered that he renounced tem****al rewards, if he could not enjoy
them
without being unfaithful to Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who had
vouchsafed to become man for our salvation, and who after dying raised
Himself
from the dead, to reign perpetually with the Father, being God equally
with
Him.
The entire court received this witness with shouts of rage; and Victor was
bound
hand and foot and dragged through the streets of the city, exposed to the
blows
and insults of the populace.
He was brought back bruised and bloody to the tribunal of the prefects,
who,
thinking his resolution must have been weakened by his sufferings, pressed
him
again to adore their gods. However, the martyr, filled with the Holy
Spirit,
expressed his respect for the emperor but his contempt for the debauched
gods.
Saint Victor was hoisted on the rack and tortured a long time, until the
tormentors grew weary and the prefect ordered him to be taken down and
thrown
into a dark dungeon. At midnight God visited him by His Angels. The prison
was
filled with a light brighter than that of the sun, and the martyr sang
with
Angels the praises of God. Three soldiers who guarded the prison, seeing
this
light, cast themselves at the martyr's feet, asked his pardon, and
expressed
their desire for baptism. Victor instructed them as well as time would
permit,
and sent for a priest the same night. The five of them went to the
seashore,
and
the three converts were baptized, then all returned to the prison.
The next morning, when Maximian was informed of the conversion of the
guards, in
a trans****t of rage he sent officers to bring all four confessors before
him.
The three soldiers persevered in the confession of Jesus Christ, and by
the
emperor's orders were beheaded. Victor, set before almost the entire city
for a
final questioning, after having been exposed to its insults, was again
placed on
the rack, scourged, and carried back to prison, where he remained for
three
more
days, recommending to God his martyrdom with many tears. After that term
the
emperor called him before his tribunal, and commanded the martyr to offer
incense to a statue of Jupiter. Victor went up to the profane altar, and
with a
kick of his foot overthrew it. The emperor ordered his foot to be chopped
off.
The Saint suffered this mutilation with great joy, offering to God these
first-fruits of his body. His barbaric tormentor condemned him to be put
under
the grindstone of a hand-mill and crushed to death. The executioners
turned
the
wheel, and when part of his body was bruised and crushed, the mill broke
down.
The Saint still breathed a little; an order was given to behead him at
once.
His
body with those of the other three heroes of Christ, Alexander, Felician
and
Longinus, were thrown into the sea, but cast ashore on the opposite bank
by
a
current. They were buried by the Christians in a grotto hewn out of the
rock.
Very great miracles were wrought at Saint Victor's tomb or by his
intercession,
including the resurrection of a girl in her coffin, which occurred beside
her
open grave.
Sources: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin
(Bloud
et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 8; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a
compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints, and other sources by
John
Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
Saint Quote:
We exhort you in every respect, honorable brother, to heed obediently what
has
been written by the Most Blessed Pope of the City of Rome; for Blessed
Peter,
who lives and presides in his own see, provides the truth of faith to
those
who
seek it.
--Saint Peter Chrysologus, from a letter to Eutyches, 449
Bible Quote:
"Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful
hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you
belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can
completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think
and feel." - Philippians 4:6-7
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Four Prayers in Times of Weakness, Trial, Tribulation:
Thou makest a root below the soil flourish, O Lord; and Thou
can makest fruitful the darkness in which Thou dost keep me.
-Jean-Pierre de Caussade:
I adore all Thy purposes without knowing them; I am silent; I
offer myself in sacrifice; I yield myself to Thee; I would have
no other desire than to accomplish Thy will. Teach me to
pray; pray Thyself in me.
- Fenelon:
May I be patient! It is so difficult to realize what one
believes, and to make these trials, as they are intended, real
blessings.
-John Henry Cardinal Newman:
Mine own heart let me more have pity upon.
-Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ:
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