Saint Cyprian of Carthage - Bishop, Martyr, and Early Church Father

Saint Cyprian of Carthage (also called Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus) is a Latin Father of the Church.

Cyprian's writings are of great importance and following Tertullian, he was the second great Christian Latin writer. Of his numerous writings, Saint Jerome said “it is unnecessary to make a catalog of the works of his genius, since they are more conspicuous than the sun”.

The persecution of the Church by the Roman Emperor Decius began around 250, and Saint Cyprian lived in hiding. He secretly ministered to his flock and his enemies condemned him for being a coward and not standing up for his faith. Because the persecutions of Decius had been so severe many Christians fell away from the faith. The question of the reconciliation of lapsed Christians with the Church had given rise to the custom of admitting them to Communion if a martyr requested this favor for them. Cyprian at first opposed the practice, but the sincerity of their contrition caused him to relent.

This gave rise to the schism of the deacon Felicissimus who opposed readmitting any who had apostatized. Upon returning to Carthage in 251 Cyprian excommunicated the leaders who opposed reconciliation for those returning to the Church. He supported Pope Cornelius against the anti-pope Novatian.

In the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Valerian, he was exiled to Curubis in 257, then brought back to Carthage and was martyred by beheading in 258. His name occurs in the Communicantes in the Canon of the Mass.

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The following is from Saint Jerome's "Lives of Illustrious Men" in regard to Saint Cyprian:

"Cyprian the Bishop - Cyprian of Africa, at first was famous as a teacher of rhetoric, and afterwards on, the persuasion of the presbyter Caecilius, from whom he received his surname, he became a Christian, and gave all his substance to the poor. Not long after he was inducted into the presbytery, and was also made bishop of Carthage. It is unnecessary to make a catalogue of the works of his genius, since they are more conspicuous than the sun.

He was put to death under the Emperors Valerian and Gallienus, in the eighth persecution, on the same day that Cornelius was put to death at Rome, but not in the same year."

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The following are a few quotations from some writings, a letter, and a sermon by Saint Cyprian of Carthage:

You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body.... If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace.

Saint Cyprian, from The Unity of the Catholic Church

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Whatever a man prefers to God, that he makes a god to himself.

Saint Cyprian

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Let us remember one another in concord and unanimity. Let us on both sides of death always pray for one another. Let us relieve burdens and afflictions by mutual love, that if one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go hence the first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brethren and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father's mercy.

Saint Cyprian from Letters, 253

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You who are envious, let me tell you that however often you may seek for the opportunity of injuring him whom you hate, you will never be able to do him so much harm as you do harm to yourselves.

He whom you would punish through the malice of your envy, may probably escape, but you will never be able to fly from yourselves. Wherever you may be your adversary is with you, your sin rankles within. It must be a self-willed evil to persecute a person whom God has taken under the protection of His grace; it becomes an irremedial sin to hate a man whom God wishes to make happy.

Envy is as prolific as it is hurtful; it is the root of all evil, the source of endless disorder and misery, the cause of most sins that are committed. Envy gives birth to hatred and animosity. From it avarice is begotten, for it sees with an evil eye honors and emoluments heaped upon a stranger, and thinks that such honors should have been, by right, bestowed upon himself. From envy comes contempt of God, and of the salutary precepts of our Savior.

The envious man is cruel, proud, unfaithful, impatient, and quarrelsome; and, what is strange, when this vice gains the mastery, he is no longer master of himself, and he is unable to correct his many faults. If the bond of peace is broken, if the rights of fraternal charity are violated, if truth is altered or disguised, it is often envy that hurries him on to crime.

What happiness can such a man enjoy in this world? To be envious or jealous of another, because such a one is virtuous and happy, is to hate in him the graces and blessings God has showered down upon him.

Does he not punish himself when he sees the success and welfare of others? Does he not draw down upon himself tortures from which there is no respite? Are not his thoughts, his mind, constantly on the rack?

He pitilessly punishes himself, and, in his heart, performs the same cruel office which Divine Justice reserves for the chastisement of the greatest criminal.

Saint Cyprian

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Lastly, the following is from the "Acts of the Martyrdom of Saint Cyprian" by Saint Pontius:

On the morning of the 14th of September, a great crowd gathered at the Villa Sexti, in accordance with the order of the governor Galerius Maximus. That same day the governor commanded Bishop Cyprian to be brought before him for trial. After Cyprian was brought in, the governor asked him, "Are you Thascius Cyprian?"

The bishop replied, "Yes, I am."

The governor Galerius Maximus said, "You have set yourself up as an enemy of the gods of Rome and our religious practices. You have been discovered as the author and leader of these heinous crimes, and will consequently be held forth as an example for all those who have followed you in your crime. By your blood the law shall be confirmed." Next he read the sentence from a tablet. "It is decided that Cyprian should die by the sword."

Cyprian responded, "Thanks be to God!"

After the sentence was passed, a crowd of his fellow Christians said, "We should also be killed with him!" There arose an uproar among the Christians, and a great mob followed after him. Cyrprian was then brought out to the grounds of the Villa Sexti, where, taking off his outer cloak and kneeling on the ground, he fell before the Lord in prayer. He removed his dalmatic and gave it to the deacons, and then stood erect while waiting for the executioner. When the executioner arrived, Cyprian told his friends to give the man 25 gold pieces.

The most blessed martyr Cyprian suffered on the 14th of September under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus, in the reign of our true Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belong honor and glory for ever. Amen.

Saint Melito of Sardis: Early Church Father, Bishop, and Martyr

"Come, then, all you nations of men, receive forgiveness for the sins that defile you. I am your forgiveness. I am the Passover that brings salvation. I am the lamb who was immolated for you. I am your ransom, your life, your resurrection, your light, I am your salvation and your king. I will bring you to the heights of heaven. With my own right hand I will raise you up, and I will show you the eternal Father."
--From a letter by Saint Melito of Sardis

Saint Melito of Sardis was Bishop of the Church in Sardis, and a prominent ecclesiastical writer in the latter half of the second century. Indications are that he was the second Bishop of Sardis, and was successor to “the angel of the Church of Sardis” (the apostle of that Church) to whom was addressed one of the apocalyptic messages. Very little is known of his life, and the majority of his writings exist only in fragments, and quotations from Eusebius, Polycrates, Tertullian, and others. A letter of Polycrates of Ephesus to Pope Victor about 194 states that "Melito the eunuch (this is interpreted "the virgin" by Rufinus in his translation of Eusebius), whose whole walk was in the Holy Spirit", was interred at Sardis, and had been one of the great authorities in the Church of Asia who held the Quartodeciman theory (this was those Churches, primarily in Asia Minor, who celebrated Easter according to the Jewish calendar for Passover).

Saint Melito gave us the earliest indications of the Canon of the Old Testament in his writings, and Saint Jerome, speaking of this canon, quotes Tertullian that Melito was esteemed as a prophet by many of the faithful. Saint Melito, also wrote an apology to the emperor Marcus Aurelius, in which he defended the Christians against accusations made against them, urged the emperor to end the persecutions of the Christians, and even urged Aurelius to proclaim Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire!

Saint Melito was also one of the earliest writers to have written on the dual natures of Christ: "For there is no need, to persons of intelligence, to attempt to prove, from the deeds of Christ subsequent to His baptism, that His soul and His body, His human nature like ours, were real, and no phantom of the imagination. For the deeds done by Christ after His baptism, and especially His miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the Deity hidden in His flesh. For, being at once both God and perfect man likewise, He gave us sure indications of His two natures: of His Deity, by His miracles during the three years that elapsed after His baptism; of His humanity, during the thirty similar periods which preceded His baptism, in which, by reason of His low estate as regards the flesh, He concealed the signs of His Deity, although He was the true God existing before all ages."

In the early 20th century, there was great excitement among Christian scholars when a homily by Saint Melito on Easter, “Peri Pascha”, was discovered. This homily shows how the early Christians saw Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection foreshadowed throughout The Old Testament. Indeed, in the writings attributed to Saint Melito by Eusebius, the prolific writer Melito gave a listing of the books of The Old Testament, which Saint Melito referred to as “The Old Books”, which indicates to many scholars that the Church of Melito's time may well have had a New Testament as well. There is also a strong indication from the fragments of Melito's writing that exist in references by Tertullian, Eusebius, Polycrates, and others, that Saint Melito made extensive use of the Gospel of Saint John, and he may have been acquainted with Saint Polycarp, Saint Ignatius of Antioch, and other Early Church Fathers of his day. His writings influenced the thinking of Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian.

One always gets a great insight to the beliefs and workings of the early Church by reading the writings of those great men, who lived and died for the truth, which is Christ Jesus, was Christ Jesus, and will be Christ Jesus, now and forever. You may read some of those writings (fragments and a homily) online by clicking the titles to go to the sites. You can read Melito the Philosopher, also Easter Praise of Christ by Melito of Sardis, Lamb That Was Slain by Melito, and On The Passover by Melito. Saint Melito is believed to have been martyred around the time he wrote his apology to Marcus Aurelius circa 180 A.D.

The following was written by Saint Jerome, in his book, Lives of Illustrious Men :

Melito the Bishop

Melito of Asia, bishop of Sardis, addressed a book to the emperor Marcus Antoninus Verus, a disciple of Fronto the orator, in behalf of the Christian doctrine. He wrote other things also, among which are the following: On the passover, two books, one book On the lives of the prophets, one book On the church, one book On the Lord's day, one book On faith, one book On the psalms, one On the senses, one On the soul and body, one On baptism, one On truth, one On the generation of Christ, On His prophecy, one On hospitality and another which is called the Key, one On the devil, one On the Apocalypse of John, one On the corporeality of God, and six books of Eclogues. Of his fine oratorical genius, Tertullian, in the seven books which he wrote against the church on behalf of Montanus, satirically says that he was considered a prophet by many of us.

A prayer written by Saint Melito of Sardis

Prayer in Praise of Christ

Born as a son,
led forth as a lamb,
sacrificed as a sheep,
buried as a man,
he rose from the dead as a God,
for he was by nature God and man.

He is all things:
he judges, and so he is Law;
he teaches, and so he is Wisdom;
he saves, and so he is Grace;
he begets, and so he is Father;
he is begotten, and so he is Son;
he suffers, and so he is Sacrifice;
he is buried, and so he is man;
he rises again, and so he is God.
This is Jesus Christ,
to whom belongs glory for all ages.
Quotes from the writings of Saint Melito of Sardis:


"God has suffered from the right hand of Israel. Head of the Lord--His simple Divinity; because He is the Beginning and Creator of all things". --From “The Oration on Our Lord's Passion”.

"God who is from God; the Son who is from the Father; Jesus Christ the King for evermore...He that bore up the earth was borne up on a tree. The Lord was subjected to ignominy with naked body--God put to death, the King of Israel slain!" --From “The Discourse On The Cross”.

"We have collected together extracts from the Law and the Prophets relating to those things which have Been declared concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may prove to your love that this Being is perfect reason, the Word of God; He who was begotten before the light; He who is Creator together with the Father; He who is the Fashioner of man; He who is all in all; He who among the patriarchs is Patriarch; He who in the law is the Law; among the priests, Chief Priest; among kings, the Ruler; among prophets, the Prophet; among the angels, Archangel; in the voice of the preacher, the Word; among spirits, the Spirit; in the Father, the Son; in God, God; King for ever and ever." --From “The Discourse On Faith”

“The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of whose who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: "Who will contend with me? Let him confront me." I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ.” --From a letter by Saint Melito.

Copyright © 2005 Steve Smith. All Rights Reserved

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons

Bishop of Lyons and Defender of Catholic Orthodoxy

Saint Irenaeus was born somewhere around 115 to 125 AD in Asia Minor, where the memory of the Apostles was still cherished, and where there were numerous Christians already. As young man, along with Saint Ignatius of Antioch, he was a disciple of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, who himself had been a disciple of Saint John the Apostle. Saint Irenaeus once remarked to a friend that all through his life, he could recall every detail of Polycarp's appearance, his voice, and the very words he used when telling what he had heard from John the Evangelist and others who had seen Jesus, because Irenaeus said, they were written on his heart.

There was a vibrant trade between Asia Minor and ancient Gaul, particularly so in Marseilles. With this trade, there also began the arrival of Christian missionaries from Asia Minor who worked to convert the Pagans of Gaul. Saint Polycarp sent Saint Pothinus to Gaul, who established his See at Lyons. Still a young man, Irenaeus joined Pothinus as a priest., and in 177 AD, after having shown himself to be an exceptional priest, he was sent on a peace mission to Rome, bearing a letter to Pope Eleutherius in reference to the Montanists (some sources say it was to deal firmly with the Montanists and others say it was to encourage leniency towards them) in Phrygia, as this heresy was rampant in the East.

During his trip to Rome, there was a persecution of the Church in Gaul in 177 under the pagan “philosopher emperor”, Marcus Aurelius, and Saint Pothinus, as well as several priests in Gaul were martyred. Saint Irenaeus was ordained as bishop of Lyons upon his return. That brief period of persecutions was over, and the next twenty or so years of his episcopate were fairly peaceful. In addition to his pastoral duties, Irenaeus is said to have increased the sphere of Christian influence in other towns of Gaul by sending Saint Felix, Saint Fortunatus, and Saint Achilleus to Valence, and sending Saint Ferrutius and Saint Ferreolus to Besancon. Saint Irenaeus is said to have identified with his flock so completely, that he spoke to them in their native tongue instead of in Latin or Greek, and he encouraged all priests to do the same.

In later years, he encouraged Pope Victor I to lift his excommunication of Churches in the East because of disagreement over the correct date of Easter. The Eastern Churches tended to follow the Jewish calendar in their observance of Easter instead of the date followed by Rome. In his letter to Pope Victor I, Irenaeus pointed out that the Eastern Churches were following their Apostolic tradition, and that this point, had not prevented Saint Polycarp and many other Eastern bishops from staying in communion. It must have been a fruitful letter, because in the 4th century, Saint Jerome wrote that many of the Eastern bishops still followed the ancient Jewish calendar.

Yet, the thing that Saint Irenaeus is best remembered for, is his defense of the Catholic Faith against the heresy of Gnosticism, which was spreading rapidly throughout Gaul, and even into Rome. This led Irenaeus to make a careful study of the tenets of Gnosticism, which was quite a task in itself, because each Gnostic teacher was inclined to introduce ideas of their own. He then wrote a five book exposition, “Against the Heresies”, which set forth the doctrines of Gnosticism, and then contrasted them with Scripture, and the teaching of the Apostles preserved not only in the sacred writings, but, also the oral tradition in the churches which the Apostles founded. Saint Irenaeus successfully defended the belief that the Old Testament God and the New Testament God are one and the same.

Interestingly, Irenaeus apologized for his writing style and ability at the beginning of his piece. He wrote in part, “thou wilt not expect from me, who am resident among the Keltæ, and am accustomed for the most part to use a barbarous dialect, any display of rhetoric, which I have never learned, or any excellence of composition, which I have never practised, or any beauty and persuasiveness of style, to which I make no pretensions. But thou wilt accept in a kindly spirit what I in a like spirit write to thee simply, truthfully, and in my own homely way...so that thou wilt expand those ideas of which I send thee...so as to set with power before thy companions those things which I have uttered in weakness”. What Saint Irenaeus didn't realize, is that his writing of “Against the Heresies”, was so thorough and complete, that it would deal such a severe blow to Gnosticism, that it would never again be seen as a serious major threat to the tenets of Christianity.

Saint Irenaeus felt that most of the attraction of Gnosticism came from a veil of mystery which surrounded it, and he was determined to “strip the fox” as he called it. He effectively used Scripture, and particularly the writings and teachings of Paul, Peter, and John to effectively refute the tenets of Gnosticism and destroyed it's influence on Christianity. Saint Irenaeus was the first early writer to effectively utilize the Gospel of Saint John in his writings. He recognized the warnings from Our Lord, Saint Paul, Saint Peter, Saint Jude, and Saint John about false teachers, and wolves in sheep's clothing. He recognized that the false claims of special or secret knowledge claimed by Gnosticism was a serious threat to Christianity, and was an attempt at the revival of Paganism. He was also the first person to cite reasons for admitting or rejecting books into the canon. He emphasized the unity of the Old and New Testaments, and Christ's having both a divine and a human nature.

He wrote his treatise in Greek, and it was quickly translated into Latin, and rapidly spread throughout the Church. Irenaeus' main point was the unity of God, in opposition to Gnosticism's view of a division of God into 30 divine “Aeons” and their heretical perception of a “high God” and a wicked “Demiurge” that they said created the world. Irenaeus spoke of the Son and the Holy Spirit as the hands of God, and showed that Jesus Christ is the invisible Father made visible. He showed that God was not indifferent to His creation, but, that He has taken an active role in the salvation of man. Everything that has happened to man since the fall of Adam and Eve, has been planned by God to help man overcome their fall. Irenaeus shows in his writings, that Christ is the new Adam, who corrected everything wrong that Adam did. Irenaeus is the first to contrast the differences between Eve and Mary, showing how Mary's faithfulness was in opposition to Eve's faithlessness.

In essence, what Irenaeus did through “Against Heresies”, was layout the truth of Catholic Christian theology, and then in his later writing, "Proof of the Apostolic Preaching", he confirms the faithful by explaining Christian doctrine to them, and also by demonstrating the truth of the Gospel through explaining and clarifying the Old Testament prophecies. Saint Irenaeus was one of the first Christian writers to use the principle of apostolic succession to refute his opponents.

Saint Irenaeus is believed to have been martyred by some sources, others saying there is little evidence to support his martyrdom. The exact date of his death is unknown, but, it's believed to have been around 202 AD. His remains were buried in a crypt under the altar of what was then called the church of Saint John, but, was later known as the church of Saint Irenaeus, himself. This tomb or shrine was destroyed by the Calvinists in 1562, and all trace of his relics seems to have perished, but, the head is said by some sources to be in Saint John's church, Lyons, France.

You can read “Against Heresies” online, and there is a book, “Scandal of the Incarnation: Irenaeus against the Heresies” by Saint Irenaeus, John Saward (translator), Hans U. Von Balthasar (introduction).

Below are some quotes from Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, and at the bottom, a writing about him from Saint Jerome's “Lives of Illustrious Men”:

1. For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.

2. God is the source of all activity throughout creation. He cannot be seen or described in his own nature and in all his greatness by any of his creatures. Yet he is certainly not unknown. Through his Word the whole creation learns that there is one God the Father, who holds all things together and gives them their being. As it is written in the Gospel, "No man has ever seen God, except the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father; he has revealed him."

3. This is the course followed by the barbarian peoples[the Gallic provincials where Irenaeus lived] who believe in Christ and have salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit without paper or ink, but who guard carefully the ancient tradition. For they believe in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth and of all things therein through Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who for his surpassing love towards his creation underwent birth from a virgin, uniting man through himself to God, and who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again and was received up in splendor, and who shall come in glory, the Saviour of those who are saved and the Judge of those who are judged, to send into eternal fire those who pervert the truth and despise his Father and his coming.

4. Error, indeed is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced more true than truth itself.

Saint Jerome: Lives of Illustrious Men
Irenaeus the bishop

Irenaeus, a presbyter trader Pothinus the bishop who ruled the church of Lyons in Gaul, being sent to Rome as legate by the martyrs of Ibis place, on account of certain ecclesiastical questions, presented to Bishop Eleutherius certain letters under his own name which are worthy of honour. Afterwards when Pothinus, nearly ninety years of age, received the crown of martyrdom for Christ, he was put in his place. It is certain too that he was a disciple of Polycarp, the priest and martyr, whom we mentioned above. He wrote five books Against heresies and a short volume, Against the nations and another On discipline, a letter to Marcianus his brother On apostolical preaching, a book of Various treatises; also to Blastus, On schism, to Florinus On monarchy or That God is not the author of evil, also an excellent Commentary on the Ogdoad at the end of which indicating that he was near the apostolic period he wrote:

"I adjure thee whosoever shall transcribe this book, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by his glorious advent at which He shall judge the quick and the dead, that you diligently compare, after you have transcribed, and amend it according to the copy from which you have transcribed it and also that you shall similarly transcribe this adjuration as you find it in your pattern."

Other works of his are in circulation to wit: to Victor the Roman bishop On the Paschal controversy in which he warns him not lightly to break the unity of the fraternity, if indeed Victor believed that the many bishops of Asia and the East, who with the Jews celebrated the passover, on the fourteenth day of the new moon, were to be condemned. But even those who differed from them did not support Victor in his opinion. He flourished chiefly in the reign of the Emperor Commodus, who succeeded Marcus Antoninus Verus in power.

Copyright © 2005 Steve Smith. All Rights Reserved

Saint Justin Martyr- Apologist and Martyr

Justin Martyr was born circa 100 AD at at Nablus, Palestine (Samaria) of pagan parents. He was an early Christian Apologist (defender of the faith), and although he was most certainly not the first apologist, his writings which are still existent, are the earliest surviving apologies. Most of what we know of his life come from his writings, three of which the majority of scholars agree are attributable to him, and some later writings mentioning him and his writings from Eusebius, Saint Irenaeus, and Saint Jerome. There are some other works in which Saint Justin is identified as the author, but, most scholars attribute these to having been written by unknown sources one to three centuries or more after his death. The works most definitely agreed upon as being his are (the titles are clickable links to read the works) :

1. The Apology addressed to Antoninus Pius, his sons, and the senate;
2. a Second Apology addressed to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus; and
3. the Dialogue with Trypho.

Justin calls himself a Samaritan, but, his father and grandfather were most likely Greek or Roman, and he was raised a pagan. He began searching for God, and he began studying philosophy as a means to help him understand God, and to bring him closer to God, as he felt that only philosophy could bring him true knowledge and understanding of God.

In the beginning of “The Dialogue with Trypho”, Justin relates his story of his vain search for the knowledge of God among the Stoics ( an originally Greek school of philosophy, founded by Zeno about 308 B.C., believing that God determined everything for the best and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. Its later Roman form advocated the calm acceptance of all occurrences as the unavoidable result of divine will or of the natural order), Peripatetics (followers of the philosophy of Aristotle), and Pythagoreans (philosophy expounded by Pythagoras, distinguished chiefly by its description of reality in terms of arithmetical relationships).

Among the Stoics, he found he had learned nothing about God,and that his teacher had nothing to teach him on God. The Peripatetic teacher welcomed him at first, yet later demanded a fee, proving to Justin that this “teacher” was not a philosopher. The Pythagorean teacher refused to accept him until he had learned music, astronomy, and geometry. He found what he thought was the most helpful philosophy for him in the ideas of Plato, yet even still he was not quite satisfied, not quite happy with what he was finding.

He was still infatuated with Platonist philosophy, when he went for a walk alone along the seashore one day, as he had done many times before, in an area where he never saw anyone else, and where he could think and consider what he had learned from the Platonist school of thought. This day however, he unexpectedly met an old man who was searching “for members of his household”. They began a discussion, and the old man convinced him, that there could be no understanding of God through human knowledge, and that only through the Prophets and the guidance of the Holy Spirit could man know God. He showed to Justin, how the Prophets told of the coming of Jesus Christ, and that Christ was the fulfillment of all that the Prophets had said, taught, and written. He convinced Justin, that Christianity was a far nobler philosophy than anything he had yet studied. Justin was never to see this man again, and he felt the urge to learn more about these Prophets and these Christians. He became convinced, that Christianity, was the true philosophy, and he converted and was baptized at the age of 30. Later in his “Second Apology”, he would write, "When I was a disciple of Plato, hearing the accusations made against the Christians and seeing them intrepid in the face of death and of all that men fear, I said to myself that it was impossible that they should be living in evil and in the love of pleasure" (Second Apology, Chapter 18).

Saint Justin continued to wear his philosophers gown, to indicate that he had attained to the truth. For Saint Justin knew he had now attained the true philosophy, and traveled widely where he would contend with pagans, and use his philosophical skills to explain and defend the Faith. He eventually made his way to Rome where he opened a school of public debate. In the year 165 AD, along with six others, Saint Justin Martyr (during the persecutions of the emperor Marcus Aurelius) was tried before the Roman Prefect Rusticus, and they were all condemned and were beheaded.

The account of the trial still exists (read it in entirety here: Martyrdom of Saint Justin), and some excerpts are included below. Along with six others (Chariton, Charito, Euelpistus, Hierax, Paeon, and Liberianus) he was brought before the Roman prefect, Rusticus:

And when they had been brought before his judgment-seat, said to Justin, “Obey the gods at once, and submit to the kings.” Justin said, “To obey the commandments of our Saviour Jesus Christ is worthy neither of blame nor of condemnation.” Rusticus the prefect said, “What kind of doctrines do you profess?” Justin said, “I have endeavoured to learn all doctrines; but I have acquiesced at last in the true doctrines, those namely of the Christians, even though they do not please those who hold false opinions.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Are those the doctrines that please you, you utterly wretched man?” Justin said, “Yes, since I adhere to them with right dogma.” Rusticus the prefect said, “What is the dogma?” Justin said, “That according to which we worship the God of the Christians, whom we reckon to be one from the beginning, the maker and fashioner of the whole creation, visible and invisible; and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who had also been preached beforehand by the prophets as about to be present with the race of men, the herald of salvation and teacher of good disciples. And I, being a man, think that what I can say is insignificant in comparison with His boundless divinity, acknowledging a certain prophetic power, since it was prophesied concerning Him of whom now I say that He is the Son of God. For I know that of old the prophets foretold His appearance among men.”

...Rusticus the prefect said, “Tell me where you assemble, or into what place do you collect your followers?” Justin said, “I live above one Martinus, at the Timiotinian Bath; and during the whole time (and I am now living in Rome for the second time) I am unaware of any other meeting than his. And if any one wished to come to me, I communicated to him the doctrines of truth.” Rusticus said, “Are you not, then, a Christian?” Justin said, “Yes, I am a Christian.”

The prefect says to Justin, “Hearken, you who are called learned, and think that you know true doctrines; if you are scourged and beheaded, do you believe you will ascend into heaven?” Justin said, “I hope that, if I endure these things, I shall have His gifts. For I know that, to all who have thus lived, there abides the divine favour until the completion of the whole world.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Do you suppose, then, that you will ascend into heaven to receive some recompense?” Justin said, “I do not suppose it, but I know and am fully persuaded of it.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Let us, then, now come to the matter in hand, and which presses. Having come together, offer sacrifice with one accord to the gods.” Justin said, “No right-thinking person falls away from piety to impiety.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Unless ye obey, ye shall be mercilessly punished.” Justin said, “Through prayer we can be saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we have been punished, because this shall become to us salvation and confidence at the more fearful and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and Saviour.” Thus also said the other martyrs: “Do what you will, for we are Christians, and do not sacrifice to idols.”

Rusticus the prefect pronounced sentence, saying, “Let those who have refused to sacrifice to the gods and to yield to the command of the emperor be scourged, and led away to suffer the punishment of decapitation, according to the laws.” The holy martyrs having glorified God, and having gone forth to the accustomed place, were beheaded, and perfected their testimony in the confession of the Saviour. And some of the faithful having secretly removed their bodies, laid them in a suitable place, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ having wrought along with them, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

ADDENDUM

This is from Saint Jerome's work, "Lives of Illustrious Men":

Justin the philosopher

Justin, a philosopher, and wearing the garb of philosopher, a citizen of Neapolis, a city of Palestine, and the son of Priscus Bacchius, laboured strenuously in behalf of the religion of Christ, insomuch that he delivered to Antoninus Pius and his sons and the senate, a work written Against the nations, and did not shun the ignominy of the cross. He addressed another book also to the successors of this Antoninus, Marcus Antoninus Verus and Lucius Aurelius Com-modus. Another volume of his Against the nations, is also extant, where he discusses the nature of demons, and a fourth against the nations which he entitled, Refutation and yet another On the sovereignty of God, and another book which be entitled, Psaltes, and another On the Soul, the Dialogue against the Jews, which he held against Trypho, the leader of the Jews, and also notable volumes Against Marcion, which Irenaeus also mentions in the fourth book Against heresies, also another book Against all heresies which he mentions in the Apology which is addressed to Antoninus Pius. He, when he had held diatribae in the city of Rome, and had convicted Crescens the cynic, who said many blasphemous things against the Christians, of gluttony and fear of death, and bad proved him devoted to luxury and lusts, at last, accused of being a Christian, through the efforts and wiles of Crescens, he shed his blood for Christ.

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