Saint Justina of Padua

She had nothing of the child but simplicity and innocence. Her inclinations were animated by a grace so extraordinary that they led her only to the exercises of Christian piety. She withdrew from all the little amusements that occupy that age. She prayed to God with an attention and modesty that surpassed all that one sees in other children. Her parents applied all their care to raising her in the fear of the Lord and to having her instructed in the purest maxims of our religion. Saint Prosdocimus was her master, and he inspired in her such a perfect contempt for the world that, as soon as she was mistress of herself, she gave herself entirely to Jesus Christ through the vow of perpetual virginity. She was faithful to her promises; for neither the torments that nature fears nor the honors that flatter it could ever make her change her resolution.

Nero incited at that time the first persecution against the nascent Church, "and it is our glory," says Tertullian, "that he was at the head of our persecutors." This cruel man, attributing to the Christians the fire of Rome of which he himself was the author, had them tormented by shameful and inhuman tortures, without any distinction of age or rank. After having filled Rome with murders, he wished to carry his cruelty further. To this end, he sent orders to the governors of the provinces to seize all those who believed in the Crucified, to employ all sorts of means to draw them to the worship of the gods, and, in case of refusal, to proceed against them with pitiless rigor. Max imian, w Maximien Roman emperor associated with the persecutions. ho had succeeded Vitalian in the government of Padua, had no sooner received this mandate from the emperor than he exercised upon the Christians cruelties that the Busirises and the Mezentiuses had ignored. Some were torn with iron combs, others thrown into cauldrons of boiling oil; these were crushed under wine presses like the vintage, and those voluntarily shut themselves up in caves and pits so as not to be exposed to such unbearable torments. Justine found herself caught up in this bloody persecution; as she applied herself continually to the exercises of Christian charity, entering prisons to soften by her alms the needs of those who groaned there and to encourage them to suffer the tortures that were being prepared for them, Maximian gave orders to arrest her, resolved to take away her goods and to corrupt, if he could, her purity and her faith.

Cet ordre ne fut pas longtemps sans être exécuté, car, peu de jours après, elle revenait d'une maison de campagne où elle avait séjourné pour la consolation des fidèles qui s'y étaient retirés ; et comme elle passait par le détroit du Pont-Marin détroit du Pont-Marin Site of the arrest of Justine where the miracle of the marble occurred. , bâti de marbre, près de Padoue, elle tomba entre les mains des soldats qui la cherchaient. Ils lui accordèrent quelques moments pour implorer le secours du ciel dans les combats qu'on lui préparait, et elle le fit avec tant de ferveur et de succès, que le marbre où elle s'était agenouillée dépouilla la dureté qui lui est naturelle et s'amollit comme la cire sous ses genoux, de sorte qu'il s'y fit deux creux que l'on voit à Venise dans l'église appelée Sainte-Justine. Ce miracle n'empêcha pas qu'elle ne fût menée à Maximien pour être punie comme chrétienne ; mais ce tyran ne l'eut pas plus tôt aperçue qu'il fut charmé de sa beauté. D'abord, il la flatta, lui promit des honneurs, lui offrit des présents et, espérant en faire sa conquête, il employa contre elle tous les artifices propres à ébranler sa constance. Mais Justine, animée de cet esprit qui fait les forts, ne succomba point ; elle rejeta les présents de ce séducteur, et ne fut touchée ni de ses flatteries ni de ses promesses. Elle lui dit généreusement qu'ayant voué sa virginité au Fils de Dieu, le plus accompli de tous les époux, lui seul pouvait posséder ses inclinations, et que nul homme mortel ne partagerait jamais son cœur avec lui. Une réponse si peu attendue changea l'amour de Maximien en fureur. Il s'emporta contre Justine, la traita d'impie, de rebelle et d'opiniâtre, et la menaça des plus cruels supplices ; mais ni ses injures ni ses menaces ne firent aucune impression sur son esprit. C'était une jeune fille de seize ans, dont le courage était au-dessus de son âge et de son sexe. Elle confessa Jésus-Christ sans crainte, et témoigna avec une force incroyable qu'elle était prête à être la victime de Celui dont elle avait l'honneur d'être l'épouse. Le tyran, irrité de ses discours, la condamna sur-le-champ à la mort, et elle la reçut avec joie par un coup d'épée qui, lui perçant le cœur, la tira de son exil et la fit monter au ciel pour y régner éternellement avec son Bien-Aimé.

On la représente avec un glaive dans la poitrine, et tenant une palme et un livre.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The Christians took her sacred body, and Saint Prosdocimus buried it honorably near her parents, in a chapel he had erected in honor of the holy Virgin; this treasure remained hidden there until the year 1177. At that time, Gerard, Bishop of Padua, accompanied by his clergy and all the people, after a long search, fortunately found it and had it transported with great pomp to a church that today bears her name and which is one of the most magnificent in Europe. The most insensible creatures contributed to the glory of this translation, for the bells of the city rang at the same time by themselves to honor, by this miraculous concert, the relics of such an illustrious martyr. The Saint herself made her merit known by the miracles she performed; for she restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, movement to the paralyzed, health to all kinds of sick people, and she continued to grant the same graces and greater ones to those who implored her help with faith. She maintained in strict observance the religious of the Congregation of Monte Cassino, who fought under her name and were the guardians of her ashes; she preserved the city of Padua, which she had watered with her blood; she extended her protection over the whole country of Venice, which had chosen her as its patroness and which, attribut ing to Venise Final location of the transfer of relics in 1200. her all the victories it won over the enemy of the Christians, had these words engraved on its coinage as marks of its gratitude: *Memor ero tui, Justina virgo*: "Illustrious virgin Justine, I will never forget you"; as well as these: *Pax tibi, Marce, Evangelista meus*: "Peace to you, Mark, my evangelist," thus joining in the same cult the first of the martyrs of Italy with this holy Evangelist who is believed to have written his Gospel in Latin. Justine died in the year of Our Lord 63, under the empire of Nero, on the 7th of the month of October, a day famous in the Annals of the Church for the glorious victory that the arms of the Republic of Venice won over the Turks, under the leaders hip of their general Sebastiano Venier, at the Curzolaris Islands, near Lepa victoire que les armes de la République de Venise remportèrent sur les Turcs 1571 naval victory attributed to the intercession of the saint. nto, in the year 1571. The Roman Martyrology commemorates her martyrdom on this same day.

Her life was written by Montbettino and by Peter de Natalibus. It is also spoken of in the Acts of Saint Prosdocimus. Finally, the Reverend Father Dom Alexis de Rue, a Theatine religious, whose piety and erudition shine in his learned *Controversies*, drew it from the office of the patrons of the city of Padua and communicated it to us to create an abridgment.