‘It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.’ (John 6:63)

The above words from the Gospel of Saint John were Br. Victor's favourite words from Scripture. He used to say,  “When I die, I want to die repeating these words.”

Br. O. J. Victor (baptised Francis Victor) was born on 30th August 1936 in the city of Cochin, the diocese of Alleppey, South India. He was a lawyer by profession. He and his wife Clara, a doctor, were blessed with two children. In 1986, Br. Victor encountered the Risen Lord during a retreat. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was filled with deep repentance and was completely converted from his worldly ways. From then on, he left behind everything to follow Christ without reserve. 

He spent about 18 months in secluded prayer at his home, fasting and meditating on the Scriptures. During this time God gave him a unique gift of treasuring the entire Bible in his heart (Luke 2:19) and also the wisdom to understand many spiritual mysteries (Ephesians 3:5). He matured in the virtues of humility and holiness and received the gifts of discernment of spirits (1Corinthians 12:10) and deliverance(Luke 11:20). He attributed his conversion and his charism to the intercession of Blessed Pope John XXIII, who was shown to him in a heavenly vision as praying for him and opening the Sacred Scriptures to the Catholic Church.

After this period of intense personal prayer, Br. Victor emerged from his secluded life filled with power and apostolic zeal and immediately set about to evangelise in the company of a few associates. Initially they would visit hospitals to pray for the sick and the dying, conduct small prayer gatherings among the rural folk and visit houses to pray and share the Scripture with families. For all his apostolic activities, Br. Victor took as his rule the instructions of Christ to His disciples as mentioned in these Gospel passages: Luke 9:1-6; Luke 10:1-20; Matthew 10:1-42.

Inspired by his patron saint Francis of Assisi, he and his associates joined the Third Order of St Francis. He started his missionary work by holding a small prayer gathering in his house every Sunday to celebrate the Lord’s Day in prayer and meditation on the Scriptures. As time passed, the numbers grew and eventually thousands of people would attend the prayer gatherings. He also opened his home to people plagued by doubts, fears, anxieties and various physical and spiritual ills – all of whom he led to the Sacrament of Reconciliation through spiritual counselling sessions.

Br. Victor travelled extensively throughout India and drew large numbers of people to repentance and the Catholic Faith by his zealous preaching of the Sacred Scriptures. He continually encouraged everyone to lead holy and upright lives. Many prayer communities were formed in several cities to help people to remain faithful to the Church. On 27th June 1997, having completed 10 years of tireless missionary work, Br. Victor passed away while he was in the city of Hyderabad after conducting a parish retreat in St. Mary’s Cathedral.

Click here to view the statement regarding the transfer of remains of Br. O. J. Victor (26 November 2019)