Victor of Solothurn

Saint Victor of Solothurn was born in Thebes, Egypt, and served as a soldier in the famed Theban Legion under Saint Maurice. Sent with his comrades across the Alps toward Gaul, Victor belonged to a band of Christian soldiers whose loyalty to Christ was tested by imperial commands. When ordered to harass local Christians and to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods, the legion refused, choosing fidelity to the one true God over safety and advancement. In the ensuing persecution, many were executed, while others fled and were later captured. Victor escaped as far as Solothurn, near present-day Bern in Switzerland, but Roman authorities overtook him there. He sealed his witness with martyrdom, being beheaded for the faith he would not deny. His veneration spread widely: in 480 his body was brought to Geneva by the Burgundian Queen Theudelinde, and he was laid to rest in the former Basilica of Saint Victor. Honored as patron of Geneva and of Challand-Saint-Victor, he is remembered on September 30.