Justin the Confessor

Justin the Confessor († 269 (?) In Rome ) was a Christian martyr in the Roman Empire . He is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

Justin the Confessor lived in the capital Rome at the time of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire . It is believed that Justin either under Emperor Claudius Gothicus or - under Emperor - widely believed Valerian the martyrdom endured.

Justin was ordained a priest by Pope Sixtus II . As a presbyter he led the Christian community of Rome , under whose members he many later canonized Christians knew personally and as a priest Christian buried . Among these are Laurentius of Rome , Hippolytus of Rome , Cyrilla of Rome , Romanus of Rome and Pope Sixtus II himself.

When Emperor Valerian heard that Justin was acting fearlessly for the Christians as head of the community and encouraged them to stand up for the Christian faith despite the state tyranny , the Emperor had him arrested at a funeral and brought to him. Justin was interrogated and did not renounce his Christian faith. Valerian then ordered Justin to be executed by beheading . After the execution, Justin was buried by his community in the coemeterium of St. Cyriaca on Via Tiburtina.

Some of Justin's relics were allegedly brought to today's Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in 834 by Bishop Hitto von Freising with the permission of Pope Gregory IV , where they are kept in Freising Cathedral .

The feast day of St. Justin is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church on August 4th and 7th.

literature

• Ekkart Sauser :  Justinus and Crescentius. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 21, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-110-3 , Sp. 739.
• Albrecht Weiland : Justinus zu Rome . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 5 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1996, Sp. 1113-1114 .

Web links

• Joachim Schäfer: Justinus in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints (accessed on March 22, 2020)