Although tradition often imagines Viator as a young man when he left for Egypt, historical facts do not allow us to pinpoint his exact age. While he was undoubtedly in the prime of life when he left Lyon for the desert of Scetis, he remains an adult of uncertain age.
After more than 1600 years, it is remarkable that we know so much about a man whose life was exceptional through his holiness alone. This biographical sketch follows the traces Viateur left in history. To bring him to life, we must meditate on his fidelity, his sense of service, and his spirit of prayer—values as essential in the 4th century as they are in the 21st for any disciple of Christ.
The life of Viateur is inseparable from that of his bishop. Saint Justus, successor to Verissimus around 343, was a gentle, learned, and respected man. In 381, a tragic event upset his life: a man, driven mad, after committing murders in the public square, took refuge in the cathedral. Despite the bishop's intervention to guarantee a fair trial, the crowd seized the culprit and lynched him.
Profoundly marked by this spilled blood, Just felt unworthy of his charge and decided to join the desert of Scetis, in Egypt.
Learning of his bishop's secret departure for Marseille, Viateur decided to join him. Together, they set sail for Alexandria, then ventured into the Libyan desert to join the community of Saint Macarius of Egypt.
Their life there was marked by rigorous asceticism:
Bishop Justus died around 390, and Viator followed him to the grave shortly thereafter. Their bodies were brought back to Lyon around 399, arriving in the city on August 4th. On September 2nd, their relics were solemnly transferred to the church of the Maccabees.
The cult of Saint Just and his lector Viator became so important that it eclipsed that of the earliest martyrs of Lyon. In the 5th century, four feasts were dedicated to them:
In 1287, an official inspection led to the discovery of the two bodies in the same tomb. Despite the church's destruction by Calvinists in 1562 and the desecrations of the French Revolution in 1793, the relics were saved each time and rest today in the new Saint-Just church.
