Víctor Rodriguez was born on April 12, 1925 in Quintanadiez de la Vega (Palencia, Spain), into a solidly Christian family. At the age of two he had an experience of grace that marked his whole life. For the rest, his childhood passed normally and his youth was that of a responsible and hardworking boy. Family circumstances, in particular the death of his brother Natalio during the civil war, led him to help his father from the age of 14 in the agricultural work typical of adults.
On July 24, 1948, he married María Asunción. To get ahead with his new home, he continued to work with his father, but at the same time, to increase his income, he began to raise laying hens with excellent results. The business was so profitable that he was soon able to expand the warehouses, opening a feed and egg shop in Medina del Campo and another in Madrid. At the height of the abundance, in 1966, there was a national crisis in the poultry industry that hit it brutally. So he lost everything and had to auction off his assets to satisfy his debts to creditors. He understood then that everything could fail except God and that was the key moment of his conversion.
He moved with his family from Medina del Campo to Madrid, where he found a job as a worker in the Pepsi-Cola bottling factory, quickly gaining the trust of his colleagues, to the point of being soon chosen as their «representative» before the company. On the other hand, he also took advantage of the influence he had on his companions, to bring many closer to the Lord, especially through the Cursillos of Christianity. His words about the Lord and his behaviour earned him the nickname «Father Victor.»
In 1986 he was granted temporary disability for ischemic heart disease and in April 1988 there was talk of permanent disability for "possible Alzheimer's disease". He decided to go and live in Velillas del Duque (Palencia) where his wife had inherited her parents' house. There, he found a quieter and more serene environment, conducive to physical recovery. Thus he spent the most serene 12 years of his life, dedicating himself intensely and totally to prayer and the apostolate. But Alzheimer's disease progressed and the family decided to return to Medina del Campo in search of the medical care that could not be had in Velillas del Duque. A year and a half before his death, when the disease was very advanced and his parents could no longer sustain the care he needed, they decided to take him to the Red Cross Day Centre, where he died at dawn on February 21, 2012.
Throughout his life Victor loved Carmel, making his profession as a secular Discalced Carmelite. Following its founders St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, he distinguished himself for being a man of prayer, through a profound experience of God and a special love for Mary. In his great love for the Eucharist, he also decided to enrol in nocturnal Adoration, without ever missing the appointment, on the evening of the 21st of each month. In addition, he was a secular member of the Congregation of St. Philip Neri. Finally, he belonged to the Cursillos de Cristiandad.
