October 21
According to tradition, Viator was a lector or a catechist at the cathedral of Lyons, France. The local bishop, Justus, decided to live as a hermit in Egypt. Viator decided to follow his spiritual leader. They boarded a ship at Marseilles for Egypt. They both died in Egypt, at the monastery of Scetes, in 389. Their remains were later transferred to the church of Saint-Just in Lyons. The Clerics of Saint Viator (the Viatorians) take their name from him. The founder of this community of men, Venerable Louis Querbes, was inspired by Saint Viator’s role as a catechist and thus named his community of teachers after this saint. (Father Querbes was also born in Lyons so was familiar with Saint Viator.) The Viatorians conduct a coeducational college-preparatory high school, Saint Viator High School, in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
(Image © public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)