Saints Victor and Corona, Photo: Wikimedia Commons
As the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread around the globe, many articles and posts featuring St Corona started to spread on the internet attributing her to be a “patron saint of epidemics”. It is ironic that she shared the same name with the outbreak.
According to Catholic News Agency, St Corona is revered in Germany’s southern state of Bavaria and in Austria. A chapel is dedicated to her in Sauerlach, near Munich. In the Bavarian Diocese of Passau, two churches recall her name, while in the province of Lower Austria and outside of Vienna there are two towns named “Sankt Corona.” In the cathedral of Munster in northwestern Germany, there is a St. Corona statue, currently decorated with flowers placed at its base. Some relics of the martyr were taken to the Prague cathedral in the 14th century.
According to many sources, Saints Victor and Corona were martyred in Roman Syria during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (170s AD). Various hagiographical texts disagree about the site of their martyrdom.
Some scholars noted that St. Edmund or St. Roch is the proper saints instead of epidemics.
Victor and Corona's memorial day is 24 November (11 November in the Orthodox church calendar). Their feast day is 14 May.
Saints Victor and Corona, pray for us.
