RASOAMANARIVO, VICTORIA, BL.

Lay woman; b. 1848, Tamanarive, Madagascar (now Malagasy Republic); d. there Aug. 21, 1894. Born into a leading family headed by her maternal grandfather who was prime minister, Victoria was educated by the Jesuits and St. Joseph Sisters. Victoria was baptized on March 1, 1863, and the following year (March 13, 1864) married her first cousin, a debauched alcoholic who abused her. Despite her unhappy marriage, Victoria refused divorce in the hope of influencing her husband to conversion. She baptized him herself on his deathbed following an accident (c. 1888).

Victoria is revered as the mother of the Malagasy Church for her role in preserving and spreading Catholicism in the absence of priests and missionaries, who had been banished following the overthrow of King Radama II (1883) and the first Franco-Malagasy war. She encouraged young lay Catholics through the Catholic Union, kept Catholic schools open, supported liturgical practice in the absence of pastors, defended imprisoned Catholics, and cared for the poor and lepers. When missionaries returned in 1886, they found the Church still vibrant.

Victoria was declared venerable in 1983 and beatified at Antanarivo, Madagascar by John Paul II, April 30, 1989. Patron of abused spouses.

Feast: Aug. 21.

Bibliography: k. l. woodward, Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't, and Why (New York 1990): 210. Acta Apostolica Sedis (1989): 536–39.

[k. i. rabenstein]