IFTTT Autopost 
Victoire Rasoamanarivo was born sometime in 1848 in Antananarivo, Madagascar, daughter of Rainiandriantsilavo and Rambahinoro. Her family was one of the most powerful in the country at the time, and they taught their daughter the indigenous beliefs of her ancestors.
In 1861, French Catholic missionaries came to Madagascar and opened a mission school. Victoire enrolled in the school and was attracted to the Catholic faith. On November 1, 1863, she was baptized in the Catholic faith and took Victoire as her new name.
Victoire’s parents were furious at their daughter’s conversion, so they enrolled her in a Protestant school, for at that time, the government was becoming not only anti-French but also anti-Catholic. Her parents also threatened to make her an outcast if she remained a Catholic. Victoire, however, remained firm in her new faith.
The next move her parents did was arranged a marriage between Victoire and her cousin, a high-ranking officer, Ratsimatahodriaka. Unfortunately, the husband was an alcoholic who was not only violent at times, but he was also a womanizer. Victoire’s friends encouraged her to divorce him, but she would not hear of it, for she believed that marriage was a sacrament, and it would be wrong of her to divorce. She prayed that one day, he would be converted to the faith.
By 1883, the government banned Catholic gatherings and closed Catholic churches and other institutions. Victoire, however, did not let these new laws stop her. In fact, she was a leader in the movement to get such anti-Catholic laws removed, and at times, she would be the first to open the doors of a church and lead the people in prayer. In 1885, these negative laws were revoked.
Victoire’s husband died on March 14, 1888. Before he died, however, he asked Victoire for forgiveness and was baptized.
As a widow, Victoire spent the rest of her life caring for the sick, poor, and imprisoned, and she was known for being a woman of extraordinary devotion to prayer. Victoire died peacefully on August 21, 1894, in the place of her birth, Antananarivo, Madagascar. She is buried inside the Andohalo Cathedral chapel.
Victoire was beatified on April 30, 1989. Blessed Victoire’s feast day is August 21.
