CrucisSt. Justin Martyr
St. Justin Martyr was born around the year 100 at Flavia Neapolis in Samaria (modern Nablus), and died a martyr around 165 at Rome. A seeker after truth, he studied the various schools of Greek philosophy — Stoic, Platonic, and others — before an encounter with an old man by the sea led him to the Scriptures and to Christ, whom he came to regard as the fulfillment of all that philosophy had sought. He continued to wear the philosopher's cloak, now as a Christian teacher, opening a school at Rome.
He is the foremost of the early Christian apologists, writing reasoned defenses of the faith addressed to the pagan emperors and to the Jewish people. His First and Second Apology and Dialogue with Trypho are precious witnesses to the beliefs and worship of the second-century Church, including one of the earliest descriptions of the Eucharist. Denounced as a Christian, he was scourged and beheaded under the prefect Rusticus, and is honored as patron of philosophers.
Selected quotes
“The Christian who lives virtuously in the world is a greater apology for the faith than any written treatise — life argues better than language.”
“The blood of martyrs is not wasted — it is seed, and from it the Church has always grown more abundantly than before the persecution began.”
“We seek not the death of those who persecute us but their conversion — for the same grace that found us can find them, and we were not always what we are now.”