Justus of Lyons

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St. Justus takes off his bishop's insignia to go to Egypt as a hermit; Altarpiece in the Saint-Just church in Lyon (19th century)

Justus von Lyon , French Saint Just , was Bishop of Lyon in the second half of the 4th century. He is venerated as a saint . The martyrologies know Observances for him on August 4, September 2, 14 and 21 October.

Life and legend

Justus took part in the Synods of Valence (374) and Aquileia (381). Then he resigned his episcopate and went to the Egyptian desert as a hermit with the lecturer Viator . There he died. His body was brought to Lyon and buried in the Maccabees' Church, which later received his name.

The hagiographic tradition justifies Justus' resignation from office with an incident in Lyon. A mentally confused gunman had sought asylum in the bishop's church . The angry crowd threatened to set fire to the church. Bishop Justus made the people promise to bring the accused to an ordinary court and handed over the man to them. The man was then lynched on the spot .

A critical analysis of the sometimes contradicting sources suggests that Justus had the Maccabees built as a burial place for himself and his successors and that, after a few years in Egypt, he returned alive to his episcopal city to die there.

Web links

Commons : Justus von Lyon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Jean Marilier (santiebeati.it)
  2. It was given the name of the holy bishop in the early Middle Ages, was destroyed in the turmoil of the Reformation and later replaced by the eponymous Renaissance church elsewhere.