Justin the Confessor (died 269 in
Rome) was a
Christian martyr in the
Roman Empire. He is honoured as a
saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
by the
Roman Catholic Church.
Life
Justin the Confessor lived in the city of
Rome at the time of the
persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire
The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire occurred, sporadically and usually locally, throughout the Roman Empire, beginning in the 1st century CE and ending in the 4th century CE. Originally a polytheistic empire in the traditions of Ro ...
. It is believed that Justin was
martyred, either under Emperor
Claudius II or under Emperor
Valerian, the latter being more likely.
Justin was
ordained as a priest by Pope
Sixtus II. As a
presbyter he led the Christian community of
Rome, coming to know personally many important early
Christians who were later
canonized, and over whose
burials he presided as a priest. Among these were:
Lawrence of Rome,
Hippolytus of Rome,
Cyrilla of Rome,
Romanus of Rome and even Pope Sixtus II. Justin conducted the funerals of murdered Christians with the participation of the
Church of Rome, for example, on the
Via Salaria or
Via Tiburtina.
When Emperor Valerian heard that Justin worked fearlessly as a leader of the Christians in the community, encouraging them to stand up for their Christian faith in spite of the state's
tyranny, the emperor had him arrested at a funeral and brought to him. Justin was interrogated but would not forswear his Christian faith. Emperor Valerian then ordered Justin to be
beheaded. After his execution, Justin was buried on the Via Tributina by his community in a
coemeterium of St.
Cyriaca.
The first
relics of Saint Justin were first taken from Rome by Bishop
Hitto of Freising, with the consent of
Pope Gregory IV, and brought to be venerated into what is, today, the
Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, where they are kept in
Freising Cathedral. Other relics of St. Justin are to be found in
Mainz.
The
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
of Saint Justin is celebrated in the
Catholic Church on 4 or 7 August.
Literature
* {{BBKL, j/justinus_crescentius, autor=Ekkart Sauser, band=21, spalte=739
External links
Biography(German)
3rd-century Christian saints
2nd-century births
3rd-century births
269 deaths
Clergy from Rome
3rd-century Christian clergy
3rd-century Christian martyrs