Orthodox Icon of St. Justin Martyr

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June 1st
Troparion (Tone 4)
O Justin, teacher of divine knowledge, thou didst shine with the rays of true philosophy and wast wisely armed against the enemy. Confessing the truth thou didst contend with the martyrs: with them ever entreat Christ our God to save our souls.

Justin was born in the town of Nablus on the west bank of the Jordan River. He was always thirsty for knowledge and studied various philosophies until settling on Platonism. An old man in the area sabotaged his Platonic belief by preaching the revelation of God through the Scriptures. So Justin began to read the Scriptures and became totally convinced of the truth of Christianity. He would not be baptised, however, until he had become convinced of the falseness of pagan accusations against Christians. He was in Rome for a philosophical conference and witnessed the martyrdom of St. Ptolemy and St. Lucian. So he wrote a defense, Apologia, for Christians & their teachings and gave it to the Emperor Antoninus & the Senate. It persuaded the Emperor to stop the persecution of Christians. St. Justin took a copy of the decree to Asia and saved the lives of many Christians thereby. Another persecution arose under Marcus Aurelius, so Justin went to Rome and wrote a second Apologia. The Cynic Crescens denounced Justin as a Christian, motivated by jealousy, since he was losing to him in every public debate. Justin was imprisoned, but Crescens was afraid that he would be released, so he poisoned him in prison. St. Justin reposed in the Lord in the year 166. His scroll reads: "Through Christ we receive new life and we consecrate ourselves to God."

This icon is by the hand of Nicholas Papas.

Order # inp-63