Justinus

ON ST. JUSTINUS, PRESBYTER AND MARTYR,

AT ROME,

About the year CCLIX.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Justinus, presbyter and martyr, at Rome. (S.)

BHL Number: 0271

BY J. S.

§ I. The Saint's memory on various days in the Martyrologies, and his cult.

[ ] Very many Martyrologies announce St. Justinus the presbyter on various days with some diversity: The Saint announced on this day by various writers as a confessor, for some make him a martyr, others a confessor. The first of all those which have commemorated Justinus on this XVII of September is the Little Roman, published by Rosweyde, in which it stands thus: At Rome, of Justinus the presbyter, to whom blessed Laurence came by night in the quarter of Patricius. Ado on the same day wove a longer elogium, writing thus: Likewise at Rome on the Tiburtine Way, at St. Laurence's, the birthday of blessed Justinus the presbyter, whom blessed Sixtus ordained. To whom blessed Laurence came by night in the quarter of Patricius, in the Nepotian crypt, that he might distribute to the poor the treasures committed to him by holy Sixtus. And he said to him: Fulfil my desire, that the feet of the Saints and yours may be washed by my hands. Blessed Justinus answered: This is the Lord's precept: let the will of our Lord Jesus Christ be done. And a basin being set down, he poured water and washed the feet of all the men. But coming to blessed Justinus, he began first to kiss his feet and to wash them. And when he had washed the feet of all, he commended himself to blessed Justinus. This man honorably buried the body of the same martyr in the estate of Cyriaca the widow, whom the same martyr, having made the sign of Christ and placed upon her head the linen cloth with which he had wiped the feet of the Saints, healed of infirmities of the head. This man laid in burial holy Hippolytus and Concordia, Irenæus, Abundius, Cyrilla the daughter of Decius Cæsar, martyrs, and very many others. And in the persecution of Decius, Gallus, and Volusianus he was most illustrious in the glory of confession. Thus far Ado, who had before his eyes the Acts of St. Laurence, from which everything is taken, as I shall show below: and that is the reason why he is silent about his martyrdom. Usuard inserted St. Justinus in his Martyrology on the same day as a confessor, as also did Notker, but both much more briefly. There is added the ancient Martyrology which Martène published from a Trier codex in tom. 6 of the Collectio Ampl., where on this day one reads most briefly: And of Justinus the confessor.

[2] Likewise in many ancient Martyrologies the memory of the same holy Justinus is recalled on the IV of August. by others on the IV of August, partly as a confessor, partly as a martyr, Rabanus has this: Of holy Justinus, confessor of Christ, of whom it is related in the Passion of Sixtus and Laurence that he converted many to the faith of Christ, and likewise buried the (bodies) of the holy martyrs. Notker: Likewise of Justinus the presbyter, of whom it is related in the Passion of holy Laurence that he converted many to the faith of Christ, and buried the bodies of very many martyrs. The Hieronymian transcripts more obscurely mention Justinus on the same day; other Martyrologies, presently to be praised, more clearly announce the same man as a martyr. For this reason our Sollerius in the Prætermissi on the IV of August doubted whether he is the same Justinus who in the Hieronymian copies is sometimes called Justinus, at other times Justus, and he observed that he is certainly the same who on that day is praised by Rabanus and Notker without the title of martyr, but by Wandelbert and others as a martyr. Wandelbert's words are these:

Justinus on the day before is celebrated with his own honor, a presbyter in the number of the Saints, cut off by a cruel slaughter, who seeking out tombs adorned them.

Very many supplements of the Usuardine Martyrology agree with Wandelbert about the martyrdom of St. Justinus. This is asserted by the manuscript codices praised by us — the largest Antwerp, the Utrecht, the Leyden, the Louvain, the Centula, the Brussels, the Anchin, one of the Queen of Sweden — to which are added the editions of Greven, Belinus, and Molanus: but the kind of martyrdom is not explained by these.

[3] he is venerated at Rome in various churches as a martyr; The Hagenau codex sets forth the manner of his death, and has the following: Likewise at Rome on the Tiburtine Way, the birthday of St. Justinus, presbyter and martyr, who under the persecution of the emperors Decius and Gallus and Volusianus was most illustrious in the glory of confession, and buried many martyrs, and hiding many Christians in his own house and supplying them with food, at last, being cast headlong from the bridge into the Tiber, completed his martyrdom. Whence the author took this, that St. Justinus was destroyed by that death, is quite hidden from me, since I find neither in the Acts nor in other ancient writers that the Saint died in that manner. Yet about the martyrdom most of the more recent writers agree, partly on the IV of August, partly on this XVII of September. Of these Baronius in the Roman Martyrology praises the Saint in the following words: At Rome on the Tiburtine Way, the birthday of holy Justinus the presbyter, who in the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus was illustrious in the glory of confession. He buried the bodies of blessed Sixtus the Pontiff, of Laurence, of Hippolytus, and of very many other Saints, and at length under Claudius consummated his martyrdom. Piazza in his Hemerologio sacro on the XVII

of September testifies that St. Justinus is venerated as a martyr in the church of St. Laurence outside the walls, where, he says, he lies buried in the corner of the confession. He adds that his head and one arm are there exposed to the veneration of the faithful, and that there is an altar dedicated to St. Justinus. He affirms that the same is venerated in the church of St. Praxedes, where another part of the body is preserved; and in the church of St. Laurence in Lucina, where an arm is exposed. He also attributes some relics to the churches of St. Mary Major, of St. Clement, and of St. Laurence in Panisperna. He adds that formerly in the atrium of St. Peter's there was a church dedicated to St. Justinus, and a tower named from him. That St. Justinus is venerated in other regions also on account of relics translated thither, we shall see below.

[4] Baronius in his Annotations on the Roman Martyrology writes thus concerning the Acts of St. Justinus: and his martyrdom is made known from the Acts. His deeds are interwoven in the Acts of St. Laurence the martyr: but we have them set down separately, and more fully written out, in our library, where it is read that he was not only illustrious in the glory of confession in the times of Valerian and Gallienus, but also survived to the times of the emperor Claudius, and was then crowned with martyrdom. Certainly indeed Wandelbert and the more ancient monuments call the same man a martyr. Thus Baronius in that place; but in the Annals, under the emperor Claudius II, he makes no mention of the martyrdom of St. Justinus, although in the same place, at the year 269, he treats of the many martyrs committed to burial by Justinus. For the same cause by which other martyrologists commemorated St. Justinus as a confessor, others as a martyr, brought it about that Baronius, while he was elaborating the second volume of the Annals, seems to have been ignorant of his martyrdom; but that he came to know it when he illustrated the Martyrology with Annotations. Ado, namely, and others following him, had seen nothing but the Acts of St. Laurence, in which nothing is read about the martyrdom of St. Justinus, and on that occasion they seem to have held him for a confessor. But Wandelbert either saw the very Acts of Justinus, as Baronius afterwards saw them, or learned of his martyrdom from elsewhere. And so the silence of certain martyrologists about the martyrdom cannot prevent us from holding the martyrdom of St. Justinus the presbyter as certain and undoubted.

[5] For indeed in the Acts which Baronius saw, and which I have in hand, these Acts, though less authentic, are to be published below. the martyrdom is not only asserted, but also broadly described. Our transcript is noted as copied from a Vallicellan manuscript codex, and it is added that it is also had in a Lateran codex. I cannot doubt that these are the same Acts which Baronius saw, both because he says we have them in our Library, that is, in the Vallicellan; and because everything Baronius says agrees with ours. Those Acts, moreover, are neither by a contemporary author, nor written by a skilled man, nor can they have much authority, since they are not free from several errors. Nevertheless they are not so openly fabulous, or such that the chief facts which are narrated of St. Justinus cannot be held for true. Wherefore I have judged that those Acts, illustrated with the due annotations, should be published below. But since many things about St. Justinus are also read in the Acts of St. Laurence, published in Surius on the X of August, which our Pinius was unwilling to publish because they are at least defiled with fables; from these I shall bring over hither the things pertaining to Justinus: for most of these are such that we can believe them true, just as many other things true and confirmed by the authority of the holy Fathers are read in the same acts.

[6] And so, first, the praised Acts of St. Laurence in Surius have this concerning the things done between Laurence and Justinus: The deeds between St. Laurence and St. Justinus, who perhaps buried St. Sixtus. Blessed Laurence heard that in the quarter of Patricius many Christians were gathered in the Nepotian crypt. Going thither with the things that were necessary for the Saints, he found there persons of both sexes, nearly seventy-three, and entering with tears, he imparted peace to all. There was there Justinus the presbyter, ordained by blessed Sixtus, at whose feet blessed Laurence cast himself, and both rolled upon the pavement, and kissed one another's feet. And blessed Laurence said to most blessed Justinus: Fulfil my desire, and let the feet of the Saints and yours be washed by my hands. Justinus the presbyter said: This is the Lord's precept: let the will of our Lord Jesus Christ be done. And taking a basin, he poured water into it, and washed the feet of all the men: and coming to blessed Justinus, he first kissed his feet, then washed them. The feet of all being washed, he commended himself to blessed Justinus. These things are said to have been done after St. Sixtus the Pope had foretold to St. Laurence his approaching martyrdom. A little later, the martyrdom of St. Sixtus being related, clerics, presbyters and deacons, and very many of the Christian people are said to have come, who buried St. Sixtus and his fellow martyrs. But none of these is named, so that it is uncertain whether St. Justinus was among them.

[7] as he buried SS. Romanus, Laurence, Hippolytus and their companions, But after the martyrdom of St. Romanus the soldier has been related — who was converted in the contest of St. Laurence, and crowned before him, as may be seen in us on the IX of August in St. Romanus — presently this is subjoined concerning our St. Justinus: But Justinus the presbyter came by night, and having gathered up his body, buried it in a crypt in the Veranian field. Again, the death of St. Laurence being related, the tyrants are said to have gone away, leaving his body on the gridiron. And it is added: Then at earliest dawn Hippolytus snatched it away, and from his own means embalmed it with spices and linens, and gave notice to Justinus the presbyter… And so blessed Justinus the presbyter and Hippolytus, weeping and much saddened, took up his body, and coming to the estate of Cyriaca the widow on the Tiburtine Way, … kept it there until evening, and laid it in a crypt on the Tiburtine Way in the same estate of Cyriaca the widow, in the Veranian field, on the fourth of the Ides of August, and fasting they kept the vigils of the night for three days with a great throng of Christians, nor did they cease from mourning and tears. But blessed Justinus the presbyter offered the Sacrifice of praise, and all were made partakers of it. Of St. Cyriaca, widow and martyr, of whom there is mention here, we have treated on the XXI of August. But the martyrdom of Hippolytus, likewise mentioned, together with Concordia and all his household — of whom we treat on the XIII of August — immediately follows in the praised Acts of St. Laurence, and, the death of all being related, this is subjoined: And the bodies of the Saints were left in the field beside the Nympha, at the side of the Veranian field, on the Ides of August. The same night Justinus the presbyter came, and having gathered their bodies, buried them in the same place.

[8] St. Concordia, long sought, But he began carefully for many days to seek out the body of blessed Concordia the martyr, and when he did not find it, being stricken with grief, he did not cease to pour forth tears. But on the thirteenth day from the passion of Hippolytus, Porphyrius the soldier came to a certain sewerman, hoping that he would find gold, silver, and gems in the garments of blessed Concordia, and said to the sewerman: If you can keep it silent with you, I would point out to you something not a little profitable to your trade. The sewerman answered: The secret will be safe with me: only do you speak the truth. Porphyrius said: Some days ago Valerian the prefect ordered a certain Concordia, of the household of Hippolytus the Christian, to be killed before him with leaded scourges, and her dead body to be cast into the sewer. I think she has pearls and gold in her garments. But since that sewerman was faithful, and secretly a Christian, he said to Porphyrius: Show me the place, and I will seek her by night: and when I have found her, I will tell you. Now that sewerman was called Irenæus: and he came to Justinus the presbyter, and told him all that he had done, and what Porphyrius had disclosed. Blessed Justinus the presbyter, giving thanks to Almighty God and the Lord Jesus Christ on bended knees, said with tears: Let us go by night, my son, to the sewer. Irenæus answered: Allow me first to go to Porphyrius. Blessed Justinus the presbyter said: See, my son, that you keep the secret entrusted to you. Irenæus went off to Porphyrius, and he showed him the place, and came with him by night, and found the sacred body undefiled: but searching in her garments, they found nothing. Porphyrius therefore fled. But Irenæus called to himself Abundius, a Christian, and with him brought the body of blessed Concordia to Justinus the presbyter. And he, receiving it, gave thanks to God, and buried it near the bodies of holy Hippolytus and the rest.

[9] On the next day Valerian, hearing of this, had Irenæus and Abundius seized, SS. Irenæus and Abundius. He converts many, and ordered them to be plunged alive into the sewer: and so they were slain on the VII Kalends of September. Their bodies blessed Justinus the presbyter drew out thence and committed to burial beside the body of blessed Laurence in a crypt in the Veranian field. Of SS. Irenæus and Abundius we have treated on the XXVI of August. But the praised Acts of St. Laurence are not yet silent about St. Justinus. For, the death of the emperor Decius being related in an improbable manner, they go on thus about Tryphonia, whom they make the wife of Decius: But his wife Tryphonia came to blessed Justinus the presbyter, and with Cirilla the daughter of Decius cast herself with tears at his feet, praying that they might be baptized. Blessed Justinus the presbyter received them with joy, and enjoined upon them a fast of seven days. The seventh day being completed, he baptized them: which thing was divulged through the whole world. On the next day Tryphonia, praying, gave up her spirit; and blessed Justinus the presbyter buried her body in that crypt in which St. Hippolytus was interred, on the fifteenth of the Kalends of November. What is to be thought of these things, which certainly seem to have little probability, may be examined more accurately on the XVIII of October: on which day the name of St. Tryphonia is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology. Meanwhile the Acts go on thus: From that day blessed Justinus carefully searched out where the bodies of the Saints might be hidden, and promised a reward to the soldiers. But the soldiers, hearing that Tryphonia the wife of Decius with her daughter Cyrilla had given their name to Christ, came, to the number of forty-six, to blessed Justinus the presbyter with their wives: and prostrating themselves at his feet they asked to be baptized.

[10] Then blessed Justinus, having gathered all the clergy, inquired and afterwards buries them, crowned with martyrdom. who should be substituted and ordained in the place of blessed Sixtus. And they ordained the venerable man Dionysius, and Maximus bishop of Ostia consecrated him. And Justinus the presbyter presented to him for baptism forty-six soldiers, and they were baptized by him in the name of the Trinity. These things being heard, Claudius the prince ordered Cyrilla, the daughter of Decius Cæsar, and the soldiers to be seized… Then, the martyrdom of Cyrilla being narrated, there follows: But blessed Justinus the presbyter gathered up her body, and buried it with her mother, where he had already before laid the body of blessed Laurence, on the fifth of the Kalends of November. Of St. Cyrilla there will be a fuller treatment on the XXVIII

of October, on which she is venerated. But the martyrdom of the soldiers who are said to have been seized with her — to be examined more fully on the XXV of October, on which they are read in the Roman Martyrology — is likewise subjoined, and about their burial it is added: Their bodies Justinus the presbyter and John gathered by night, and buried in a crypt, many Christians being present, on the Salarian Way, on the slope of Cucumer, on the eighth of the Kalends of November. Of the cemetery at the slope of Cucumer, which was on the old Salarian Way, and where these last martyrs were buried, Aringhi treats at length in his Roma subterranea, book 4, chapter 35. The same author in book 4, chapter 16, treats fully of the cemetery of St. Cyriaca, which was in the Veranian field beside the Tiburtine Way, and in which all the martyrs mentioned above were buried. In the same cemetery also St. Justinus was at last buried, famous for the burial of so many Saints, as the Acts to be given below have it.

§ II. On the translation of the relics to Freising: and on the relics in other cities.

[ ] The Saint's relics, together with the relics of St. Alexander the Pope, How long the body of St. Justinus remained in its first sepulcher, I do not find for certain. Yet this is undoubted to me, that it was either elevated in the ninth century, or earlier. For in the year 834 the relics of St. Justinus the presbyter, together with the relics of St. Alexander the Pope, seem to have been translated to Freising. This certainly is read in the proper Offices of the church of Freising on the IV of August, on which the festivity of the Saint is prescribed to be celebrated with a double rite. The words of the sixth lesson are these: Whose venerable relics, in the year eight hundred and thirty-four after the birth of Christ, on the Kalends of July, Hitto bishop of Freising obtained at Rome from Pope Gregory IV after most insistent prayers, and brought them together with those of St. Alexander to Freising. Which relics shone forth on the journey with many and great miracles at the mere touch of the bier. For those laboring with tertian and quartan fever were healed. A certain man also, out of his mind, was made whole. A blind man too, led by the hand to the bier, received his sight. These things are abundantly confirmed from the very Acts of the translation, which we received long ago from a manuscript codex of the library of the university of Ingolstadt, transmitted by John Gamans, frequently praised in this Work. A compendium of the Life is prefixed, put together from the Acts of St. Laurence, by which we are made certain that it is our present Justinus who is treated of, even though at Freising he is venerated as a confessor, and on the IV day of August, on which the present Justinus the presbyter was in truth crowned with martyrdom. But I should think there is no other cause why the people of Freising began to venerate Justinus the presbyter as a confessor, than that they saw only the Acts of St. Laurence, and the compendium about St. Justinus extracted from them.

[12] obtained by Bishop Hitto, and, some miracles having been done on the way, And so, dismissing that useless compendium of the Life, I transfer hither the brief Acts of the translation, at least for the greater part: In the year from the Lord's Incarnation DCCCXXXIV, on the XII Kalends of July [], Icto, the venerable prelate of Freising, arrived at Rome. Him Pope Gregory, receiving honorably on the day of Pentecost, admitted his petitions, though unwilling. For he had come for the holy Alexander and Justinus. After addresses therefore and most insistent prayers the heart of the Apostolic [] of God was softened, and he handed over that treasure to the bishop. We carry therefore a noble burden of precious weight. The citizens, marveling, suddenly run together. The fame of the Saint stirs the whole city, chiefly on account of holy Alexander, who, holding the pontifical chair fifth [] after blessed Peter, was crowned with martyrdom. Holy Justinus the presbyter also, of whom the Passion of Laurence the levite makes mention, they grieved vehemently to have taken away from them out of Rome. But on the following day so great a multitude came, as you would scarcely believe the whole city could hold. We go out briskly, but a sudden and excessive shower [] … was not able to hinder our going forth. A certain Gerold, long vexed with a tertian fever, having touched the bier, and Engelbold, laboring with a quartan fever, were healed. A certain cook, Giak by name, was out of his mind: who, being led to the tabernacle, was there made whole by the merits of the Saints. A certain Anemunt of our company had lost his sight: but being led by the hand, he received his sight through the bier. Then also very many other things, which, being strengthened by witnesses, … [] he who is piously wise will not deny.*

[13] The report of graces of this kind being learned, etc. Here the author begins to narrate how great was the concourse of the people in the towns and villages through which they passed with the sacred relics. translated to Freising. But I am compelled to omit some things, since several words could not be read in the Ms., and thus the diction would be rendered altogether imperfect. And so, those things being omitted which are of small moment, I go on with the Ms.: And it was now sanctioned as by a kind of law, … that by the crowding troops of companies the Saints should be escorted for nearly eight or more spaces of miles, until the peoples of other villages too should hasten to meet them with crosses. Each cluster of the troops bore its own standards. As these went before, the very great multitude was mingled in confusion. But sometimes either deep marshes, or the roughest channels of waters, or slips, or narrow paths, or steep gorges, hindered those who followed; … but love conquers all things. It is a verse of Terence: Nothing is so difficult but that it becomes easy which you do willingly. Who else but thou, good Jesus, hadst given them this ardor? For thou alone even conquerest, when thou art judged. And therefore thou also makest thine own always invincible, as that soldier of thy camps and most unconquered athlete says: Who shall separate us from the charity of Christ, tribulation or distress? No. Likewise: but "We overcome all things for him who loved us." Wretched me! I confess that I trembled so often in my very limbs, as often as either I put my hand to the carrying, or approached to supplicate. For something above human nature was felt to be present, at least by those who approached faithfully. Thus far the author, who everywhere suggests that he was present at the events. But he adds nothing about the reception of the relics in the city of Freising, and thence I conjecture that he wrote these things to the people of Freising before the relics had been brought into the city.

[14] Further, I have already warned that at the beginning, for July, June is to be read, In the year 834, because Hitto came to Rome before Pentecost; but the twelfth day before the Kalends of July, that is, the twentieth day of the month of June, never comes before Pentecost. Now in the year 834 Easter fell on the fifth of April, and consequently Pentecost on the XXIV of May; and since the day XII Kalends of June is the twenty-first of May, it must be judged that Hitto came to Rome three days before Pentecost, which fits aptly with what follows. Yet the donation of the relics could have been made on the very Kalends of July, as the Office has it: for it is not likely that Bishop Hitto came to Rome to remain there only a few days. Charles Meichelbeck in his History of Freising, book 2, chapter 1, §4, praises for the translation of the said relics a writer of the eleventh century, or at the most of the twelfth, who on the IV Ides of December added the following about Bishop Hitto to the Martyrology of the venerable Bede: Who also brought hither St. Alexander and St. Justinus from Rome. Then Meichelbeck himself subjoins: But we see the translation of the bodies of the holy Alexander, Pope and martyr, and of St. Justinus the presbyter, referred to the year of Christ DCCCXXXIV, in which they write that Hitto came to Rome, and was kindly received by Pope Gregory IV, and was presented with those sacred and other relics on the feast of Pentecost. But that the donation was accomplished on the feast of Pentecost is not established from the Acts.

[15] afterwards translated in the same place to the cathedral. The praised writer presently adds: Those sacred remains of the holy Alexander and Justinus were thereafter translated into the cathedral church, and the Saints themselves hold a place to this day among the chief patrons of this diocese, and each is even now venerated with an annual office. It is nevertheless uncertain under what bishop that later translation took place. We read somewhere that our brethren of Weihenstephan formerly preserved with reverence an arm of St. Alexander; whatever Bartholomew Piazza on the III day of May and the XVII of September may think otherwise about the relics of these Saints. Thus far he, at first attributing those relics to the monastery of his own Benedictine Order, which is situated at Freising on the mount of St. Stephen, and is called Weihenstephan. But this opinion he afterwards confirms in chapter 2, §3, by the instrument of donation of the year 838, in which these words are read: At Freising on the mount of St. Stephen, in the church where rest the bodies of the holy Alexander the Pope and of Justinus the confessor. Another instrument of a grant he alleges to this end in chapter 3, §3, and he published it in part 2 among the instruments, page 353. Now in this the following is read: This was done in a public [] synod on the mount of holy Stephen, where the bones with the dust of holy Alexander and holy Justinus are seen honorably interred, on the day on which it was done, that is, of October, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation DCCCLX, in the VIII Indiction. To these things the author adds this annotation: That those sacred remains were in later times translated into the cathedral church, we learn from the Chronicle of Weihenstephan, in which after the year of Christ DCCCLX we read this: "At no long interval of time thereafter those venerable relics of SS. Alexander, Pope and martyr, and of St. Justinus the presbyter, were translated to the cathedral of Freising… But by what bishop, or in what year, that precious treasure of relics was carried off from the church of St. Stephen, is not sufficiently established."*

[16] His relics also at Rome: the people of Mainz too All these things seem to rest upon sufficiently firm foundations, and can easily be reconciled with the assertions of Bartholomew Piazza about the relics still preserved at Rome; provided we explain both writers according to the almost ordinary custom of speaking about the relics of Saints. For the people of Freising will not contend, I suppose, that all the bones of SS. Alexander and Justinus were handed over to them, nor were the Romans wont to hand over whole bodies of Saints to others, as has frequently been said in our Work after Baronius. Yet those who had received a notable part of a body were wont to call their part the body, just as the Romans called the part retained the body. That so it was done also with the body of St. Justinus, I can scarcely doubt. But the people of Mainz also come forward, and likewise believe that they have relics of St. Justinus the presbyter. Certainly Serarius in his Moguntiaca, book 1, chapter 17, where he enumerates the relics preserved at Mainz, reckons among them the relics of our St. Justinus, since he has it thus in that catalogue: Holy Justinus the presbyter, who buried St. Laurence and other martyrs, of whom the Roman Martyrology on the XVII day of September, and Baronius in the same place. But it may be doubted whether the people of Mainz know well enough whose Justinus the relics are which they possess.

[17] For in the ancient Breviary of Mainz, which is noted as printed in the year 1495, believe that they have some, as do certain others. on the IV of August the Office of Justinus the confessor is prescribed to be celebrated solemnly, as of a confessor bishop. Certainly our Justinus is not a bishop. The name of Justinus is common to many Saints, so that the people of Mainz might have the relics of some other. Nevertheless the day

IV of August, on which the festivity of St. Justinus was assigned among the people of Mainz in the Breviary already mentioned, favors the opinion of Serarius, since on that very day the Saint is said in the Acts to have been crowned with martyrdom, and since on the same day he was venerated by the people of Freising, so that a part of the relics perhaps came to the people of Mainz either from Freising or from Rome. Gabriel Bucelin in his Sacrarium Benedictinum on this day assigns the relics of St. Justinus the presbyter to altogether other places, writing this about them: His notable relics are held at Hersfeld: the remainder of the body is preserved in the monastery of St. Mary the New at Rome. But among the bodies and relics of Saints of the church of St. Mary the New, of which Martinelli treats on page 230, I do not find mention of St. Justinus. How certain, moreover, is what Bucelin asserts about the relics preserved at Hersfeld, I plainly do not know. For the rest, Hersfeld is a town of Hesse, which grew up beside a Benedictine abbey. John Tamayo in the Martyrologium Hispanicum on this day attributes the body of the present St. Justinus the martyr to the monastery of Antequera of the Discalced Fathers of the most holy Trinity. Those Fathers did indeed receive the body of some holy Martyr, whom they named Justinus, dug out in the year 1641 from the cemetery of St. Callistus together with several others. But that is not the body of the St. Justinus of whom we now treat, but of some unknown Saint. One may see the Chronicle of the Order of the Discalced of the Most Holy Trinity, which Alexander of the Mother of God wrote in Spanish, part 3, page 112, where he narrates in what manner those bodies were obtained at Rome and given to various monasteries of Spain.

* read June.

supply virtute* (power)

* rather Sixth

* wind, whirlwind, or something similar

* some words are wanting

* public.

ACTS

From a Vallicellan Ms.

Justinus, presbyter and martyr, at Rome. (S.)

BHL Number: 4584

FROM A MS.

Claudius II persecuting the Christians, After the death of Decius Cæsar and of Valerian the prefect ^a the holy men of God began to have great joy: whence many of the pagans, coming to them, were baptized in the name of the holy Trinity. Then King Claudius ^b, wishing himself also to exalt the name of his empire, persisting in the hardness of his mind, and taking to himself authority against the Christians, sent soldiers, that they should search carefully and diligently where those Christians might be. Then the soldiers, zealously scrutinizing where the faithful of Christ were staying, killed whomever they could find who were unwilling to give offerings to the gods. These Justinus the presbyter took away secretly and buried with tears. But Claudius, having heard about blessed Justinus that he too had care of the Saints, and that he comforted and strengthened the Saints, lest they should dread the punishments of the tyrants, being moved with anger sent forth his authority, that whoever might be able to find him should seize him and present him to his presence. When this had been reported to Justinus the presbyter, he began to fear for the faithful of Christ who were hidden with him from the persecutions of the impious, lest, if he himself, who had been their guardian and preacher, should fail in martyrdom, the flock and throng of the faithful, who had thus far lain hidden with him, terrified with dread of martyrdom, should forsake the way of salvation, and, what would be worse, being compelled by the executioners, should burn offerings to images made with hands.

[2] Justinus is anxious for their constancy: Then blessed Justinus, having gathered the multitude of Christians, stretching out his hands over them all, looking up to heaven prayed with tears, saying: Lord God almighty, king of heaven and earth, by whose power angels and men are nourished, look upon thy Church: give her strength, furnish fortitude, grace, constancy: drive away fear, put aside softness, remove dread, take away inconstancy: ground these thy faithful Christians in thy love, make them solid in thy affection, bind them in the fidelity of thy faith, make firm the heart and mind of these, lest the crafty enemy, our adversary the devil, who goes about as a lion, seeking whom he may devour, be able to overthrow them and turn them aside from the path of truth: furnish them the aid of thy grace, grant them escape from death, in such wise that they may both love thee with their whole heart, and obtain what they worthily ask, through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who lives and reigns with thee through all ages of ages: and when all had answered with tears and sighs, Amen, straightway there came a voice from heaven to blessed Justinus, saying: Be constant, Justinus, with the people of the faithful, since for thee and for these faithful a crown is prepared: for many contests are owed to you.

[3] Some of them, being taken, are crowned with martyrdom: At this voice therefore the martyrs, terrified, prostrate on the ground because of the splendor of the light, lay as though dead. And so blessed Justinus, seeing that the Lord had heard the prayer which he had poured forth to the Lord for himself and for the Saints, kindly rousing them, consoled them, exhorting and comforting them concerning the visitation, in that the Lord had deigned to visit them, and to give them hope and endurance to bear through martyrdom for the glory of his kingdom and for eternal life, which he promised to those who love him. Then the soldiers seized certain persons whom they had found on the Salarian Way, who were coming from the Christians: and they led them to Claudius. To whom Claudius said: Wretches and without heart, why do you not adore the immortal gods, the liberators of the world and the preservers of the commonwealth? And they answering said with one mind: We adore the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, who is in the heavens, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them: him we confess, him we beseech, who is able to snatch us from thy hands, and to bestow on us everlasting life: for to images made with hands we are never humbled, nor ought we to burn incense to statues of dead men, who cannot deliver not only us, but even themselves, from eternal destruction. Hearing this, the emperor Claudius commanded them to be beaten with leaded scourges: and while they were long beaten, they all cried out as with one mouth, saying: We give thee thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, since we have deserved to enter the gates of thy kingdom, and to attain to the glory of thy vision: and saying these things, they rendered up their spirit to God.

[4] burying these, the Saint is taken; and by torments, Then Justinus the presbyter came by night, and taking away their bodies with other Christians, very sad and mourning, he buried them. Then the soldiers of Claudius, finding them, seized blessed Justinus alone (the others, leaving him, fled), and bound him and led him to Claudius. Then Claudius ordered a tribunal to be prepared for himself in his palace, and Justinus to be presented to him bound with chains: whom he thus interrogates, saying: Are you that sacrilegious Justinus, who neither venerate the gods nor keep the institutions of the princes? Blessed Justinus said to him: I am not sacrilegious, but I am the servant of my Lord Jesus Christ, whom you, wretch, do not fear to blaspheme. Then Claudius, angered, ordered his mouth to be beaten with stones. And while he was being beaten, he was giving thanks to God. At the same hour the chains fell from his neck and from his hands: whom Claudius again assails thus, saying: Why, fool, do you desire to perish through diverse kinds of torments? Behold, I admonish you: sacrifice to the immortal gods. Justinus the presbyter answered and said: Wretch, do you compel me to humble myself to idols made with hands? Unhappy man, you ought rather to humble yourself to Christ the Creator of all, and not to vain idols made with hands: for you and your gods will alike perish, whom you unjustly adore. And at the same hour Claudius ordered him to be raised on the rack: and while he was being stretched in his sinews, he began to give thanks to God. Then the emperor Claudius ordered burning plates to be set about his sides, and that he be torn with scraping girdles.

[5] At the same hour Claudius ordered blessed Justinus to be taken down from the rack, and tried in other ways, and handed him over to a certain officer of the service in custody. But after forty days Claudius, sitting on the tribunal, commanded blessed Justinus to be presented to him. And when he had been presented, Claudius says to him: So you too have been made a fool, sacrilegious Justinus? Or do you think that we are ignorant of your sacrileges, which you have now for a long time committed with your profane fellows? Have you not dared with nefarious rashness to act against the gods, and against the precepts of the most unconquered emperors, since you are said to have buried that sacrilegious Laurence ^c: and you are detected to have carried off in secret Romanus, that most abandoned soldier: and you are cried out against as having kept very many of this nefarious sect of yours hidden together with you. Or remember this, that not venerating the gods you have been handed into our hands. Unhappy man, I thought you would return to your senses, and take counsel for yourself as a wise man: therefore I spoke to you with sweet and gentle speech, and set forth to you, who are almost nothing, the honor and power of the most eminent empire. And you trust in the magic art, and do not honor the gods, nor keep the precepts of the princes. At the same hour blessed Justinus said to Claudius: Your torments, wretch, I do not dread, but desire: for I fear the eternal torments, which are to torture you and your father the devil.

[6] Then Claudius, moved with anger, ordered that he be long beaten with scorpions. he shows himself constant, And while most blessed Justinus was being beaten a very long while, with a cheerful countenance he rendered thanks to God, saying: Glory to thee, Lord Jesus Christ, for thou art the God of all things. At the same hour Claudius said to Justinus the presbyter: Wretch, consider your age, lest you too perish. Blessed Justinus answered, saying: I rather desire to die chastely than to live unchastely. Then the emperor Claudius said: Apply cudgels to him also. But he reckoned the torments as nothing. At the same hour Claudius, angered, said to blessed Justinus: Sacrifice to the immortal gods. Blessed Justinus said: I have offered myself a sacrifice to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, for a sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit. Then Claudius, angered, ordered him to be stripped in his sight, and scourged a very long while, saying with the herald's voice, Do not blaspheme the gods. Blessed Justinus said: I give thanks to my Lord Jesus Christ, who has deigned to number me among his servants; but you, wretch, are tortured in your madness and in your fury. Then Claudius, filled with the zeal of the devil, commanded him to be strongly gripped with cords, and iron beds to be brought. And Claudius said to blessed Justinus: Come to your senses, wretch, from your folly, and adore the gods whom we adore: and if you do not, you shall be slaughtered upon this most burning bed. Blessed Justinus said: Unhappy man, these banquets I have always coveted: for these temporal torments are to me for glory; but for you they prepare eternal destruction.

[7] and is crowned with martyrdom. Then Claudius said: I see in you the magic art: and I certainly know that you make sport of the torments: yet you do not make me rave. And Claudius said to his officers: Stretch him out, and afflict him, beating him with scorpions. At the same hour Justinus, laid out upon the most burning bed, smiling, giving thanks, said: Blessed art thou, Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ, who hast granted thy mercy to me thy servant, which I did not deserve. But the officers, vigorously tossing the Martyr with iron forks as he lay upon the most burning bed, began to fail. At the same hour the most blessed martyr of Christ Justinus with a brisk countenance said against Claudius: Learn, wretch, learn how great is the mercy of my Lord Jesus Christ: for the torments which you now inflict upon me prepare refreshment for me, and eternal punishment for you. For all who were present marveled at the constancy of the holy Martyr. Claudius, hearing this, ordered him to undergo the sentence of beheading: and, being lifted from the bed on which he had lain, he was there beheaded before Claudius. Then the Christians, coming by night, lifted up his venerable body with tears, and fasting and keeping the vigils of the night, buried it in a crypt in the Veranian field ^d on the day before the Nones of August: where his prayers flourish unto this present day, to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be honor and dominion for ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.