Victor of Corinth

Holy Martyr Victor of Corinth was one of the disciples of Saint Quadratus and suffered at Corinth in the persecution of Decius (249-251), by being crushed in a mortar.

Quadratus had been born in the mountains, where his mother, Rufina, had fled from Corinth before the persecution and died soon after his birth. The child was wonderfully fed by a cloud that came down over him with sweet dew. He grew up in the wilderness, learned the faith from some Christians, learned to read and then medicine, but loved above all the stillness. Friends and followers came to him, among them Cyprian, Dionysius, Anectus, Paul, Crescens, Victorinus, Victor, Nicephorus, Claudius, Diodorus, Serapion, Papias, Leonides and several women.

Under Decius the military commander Jason came to Corinth. Quadratus was seized with his friends, imprisoned and tortured, yet he strengthened the others not to fear. The martyrs were cast to the beasts, which did not touch them, then bound to chariots and dragged through the city while the crowd struck them with stones, and in the end they were condemned to be beheaded. At the place of execution they asked a little time for prayer, then approached the executioner one by one. Others died in other ways: a Dionysius was stabbed, Victorinus, Victor and Nicephorus were crushed alive in a huge stone mortar, Claudius had his hands and feet cut off, Diodorus threw himself into the fire prepared for him, Serapion was beheaded, and Papias and Leonides were drowned in the sea. Many women, among them Charissa, Nunechia, Basilissa, Nike, Galina and Theodora, also went willingly to the torments.

Victor is commemorated on 13 February and on 23 March, in the new style, together with Quadratus and the others.