St. Victor of Marseilles (? to c.290)

   Personally, I'm not fond of Facebook because many people use it to contact exes or to make themselves look intriguing when in actuality, it's not who they are. I've found the only positive thing about it is connecting with family or friends who I haven't seen in years.
   So, this summer when I was contacted by a high school classmate, "Karen," who married my cousin, "Jeff," I became "friends" with them right away. But, when I started looking at photos of Jeff, I noticed that he looked sick. Like perhaps he had been through treatment for cancer.
  This week, I found out that Jeff is terminally ill, although he's not the one who told me. When I got home, I had a Facebook message from him asking me what I'd been up to and to say "Happy Thanksgiving." I would love to see him and rather than think about how sad it would be for me, I should think about how Jeff feels.
We are in our forties, which is very young in today's world.
  I want to tell him that miracles do happen and that's what helps canonize saints. I will when I see him.
  The feast day of today's saint is July 21, Jeff's birthday. St. Victor of Marseilles was born in France in the third century. He was thought to be a Roman army officer. Because he was against idol worship, he was eventually brought before Emperor Maximian.
  St. Victor of Marseilles was beaten, dragged through the streets, and thrown in prison. He converted three prisoners to Christianity who later became saints. When St. Victor of Marseilles refused to offer incense to the Roman god, Jupiter, (Emperor Maximian is pictured doing so in the painting above) he was crushed in a millstone and beheaded. He died c.290. Today, on the site where he died in the south of  France, is the Abbey of St. Victor
  St. Victor of Marseilles is a patron saint of torture victims, sick children, and cabinetmakers.

 (This is an update. I found out on Nov. 26, that it's not Jeff who is terminal, but his brother Jim. It's still upsetting and I will leave this blog entry as is because it will document what it's like to hear that someone is dying and it ends up being someone else.)