Justina of Padua | |
---|---|
Virgin, Martyr | |
Died | c. 304 |
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
Major shrine | Abbey of Santa Giustina |
Feast | October 7 |
Attributes | young woman setting a cross on the head of the devil while holding a lily in her hand; young woman with a crown, palm, and sword; young woman with a palm, book, and a sword in her breast; young woman with a unicorn, symbolizing virginity, and palm; young woman with Saint Prosdocimus |
Patronage | Padua, Palmanova, Venice |
Justina of Padua (Italian : Santa Giustina di Padova) is a Christian saint and a patroness of Padua. Her feast day is October 7. She is often confused with Justina of Antioch. She was devoted to religion from her earliest years and took the vow of perpetual virginity. When she was brought before Maximian the prefect, she remained firm against all attacks. The prefect caused her to be slain with the sword.
St. Justina of Padua (October 7) was a virgin of noble birth in the city which claims her patronage. Born in Padua about the middle of the first century, her father Vitalian was a rich nobleman and prefect of Padua. Her parents were converted to Christianity by the preaching of Saint Prosdocimo, and not having been blessed with children up to that time, they received Justina in answer to their prayer. [1]
She was devoted to religion from her earliest years and ultimately she took the vow of perpetual virginity. At this time arose the persecutions of the Christians by Nero, and Maximian the prefect who had succeeded Vitalian, proved himself particularly brutal. As Justina would visit the prisons to comfort and encourage the Christians there, Maximian ordered her arrest. While she was passing by the Pont Marin near Padua she was seized by the soldiers. When she was brought before Maximian he was struck by her beauty and endeavoured by every means to shake her constancy. However, she remained firm against all attacks and the prefect caused her to be slain with the sword. [1]
Medieval texts describe her as a disciple of Saint Peter the Apostle since Saint Prosdocimus, the first bishop of Padua, is said to have been Justina's teacher; his hagiography states that he was sent from Antioch by Peter. This however is chronologically impossible as Justina being a young woman in 304 AD could not have known Prosdocimus as he died in approximately 100 AD.
St. Justina is a patron saint of Padua. After St. Mark, she is also a second patroness of Venice. [2] Her feast day is October 7 and coincided with the end of the grape harvest and the time for settling agricultural contracts. [3]
In the 6th century the Paduans dedicated a church to her and she was among the virgin martyrs portrayed in the presbytery arch in the Euphrasian Basilica (at left) and in the procession of virgins in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. In the 7th century, Venantius Fortunatus, writing in Gaul, urged travellers to Padua to visit her relics there. [4]
The Paduan Basilica and Abbey of Santa Giustina house the Martyrdom of St. Justine by Paolo Veronese. The Abbey complex was founded in the 5th century on Justine's tomb, and in the 15th century became one of the most important monasteries in the area, until it was suppressed by Napoleon in 1810. In 1919 it was reopened. The tombs of several saints are housed in the interior, including those of Justina, Prosdocimus, St. Maximus, St. Urius, St. Felicitas, St. Julian, as well as relics of the Apostle St. Matthias and the Evangelist St. Luke.
Justina is represented in Christian Art crowned as a princess, and with a sword transfixing her bosom, in accordance with her martyrdom, AD. 303. [5]
Agnes of Rome is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. She is one of several virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.
Padua is a city and commune in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 214,000. The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE) which has a population of around 2,600,000.
Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early fourth century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred around the age of eighteen. More than 1,100 years after Catherine's martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to and counselled her.
Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in Western Christianity, on 17 July by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on Epip 23 and Hathor 23 in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Erasmus of Formia, also known as Saint Elmo, was a Christian saint and martyr. He is venerated as the patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. Erasmus or Elmo is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, saintly figures of Christian religion who are venerated especially as intercessors.
Saint Cecilia, also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the patroness of music and musicians, it being written that, as the musicians played at her wedding, Cecilia "sang in her heart to the Lord". Musical compositions are dedicated to her, and her feast, on 22 November, is the occasion of concerts and musical festivals. She is also known as Cecilia of Rome.
Saint Bibiana is a Roman Virgin martyr. The earliest mention in an authentic historical authority occurs in the Liber Pontificalis, where the biography of Pope Simplicius (468–483) states that this pope "consecrated a basilica of the holy martyr Bibiana, which contained her body, near the 'palatium Licinianum'". The Basilica of Santa Bibiana is dedicated to her.
Victor of Marseilles was an Egyptian Christian martyr. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Eulalia, co-patron saint of Barcelona, was a 13-year-old Roman Christian virgin who was martyred in Barcelona during the persecution of Christians in the reign of emperor Diocletian. There is some dispute as to whether she is the same person as Eulalia of Mérida, whose story is similar.
Antonio Balestra was an Italian painter of the Rococo period.
Saints Cyprian and Justina are honored in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy as Christians of Antioch, who in 304, during the Diocletianic Persecution, suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia on September 26. According to Roman Catholic sources, no Bishop of Antioch bore the name of Cyprian.
Saint Prosdocimus (Prosdecimus) of Padua is venerated as the first bishop of Padua. Tradition holds that, being of Greek origin, he was sent from Antioch by Saint Peter the Apostle. He is thus often depicted in art with this Apostle. The cathedral at Feltre is dedicated to him and Saint Peter the Apostle, and the artist Il Pordenone created a work depicting Prosdocimus with Peter.
Maurice was an Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that martyred group. He is the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms.
Piacenza Cathedral, fully the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta e Santa Giustina, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Piacenza, Italy. The current structure was built between 1122 and 1233 and is one of the most valuable examples of a Romanesque cathedral in northern Italy. The dedication is to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and to Saint Justina. It is the seat of the diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio.
The title Virgin is an honorific bestowed on female saints and blesseds in some Christian traditions, including the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.
Dorothea of Caesarea is a 4th-century virgin martyr who was executed at Caesarea Mazaca. Evidence for her actual historical existence or acta is very sparse. She is called a martyr of the late Diocletianic Persecution, although her death occurred after the resignation of Diocletian himself.
The Abbey of Santa Giustina is a 10th-century Benedictine abbey complex located in front of the Prato della Valle in central Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. Adjacent to the former monastery is the basilica church of Santa Giustina, initially built in the 6th century, but whose present form derives from a 17th-century reconstruction.
Praglia Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the frazione of Bresseo in Teolo, Province of Padua, Italy. It is located at the foot of the Euganean Hills, some 12 kilometers southwest of Padua, and four kilometers from Abano Terme.
The Martyrdom of Saint Justina is a c.1570–1575 oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian painter Paolo Veronese with assistance from his younger brother, originally produced for Santa Giustina Basilica in Padua and now in the Uffizi in Florence. It shows the martyrdom of Justina of Padua.