Martyr
Martyr Justus of Rome
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Martyr Justus of Rome — a pagan soldier of the 1st century who was converted to Christ after a vision in the sky of the Lord's Life-Giving Cross; for confessing his faith he was tortured by the official Magnesius and cast into a fire, where he suffered martyrdom.
Martyr Justus was a pagan Roman soldier. Returning from a military campaign, he saw in the sky an appearance of the Lord's Life-Giving Cross and heard the voice of God, which became the cause of his conversion to Christ. He distributed his property to the poor and openly confessed the Christian faith.
His commanding officer denounced him to the official Magnesius, who subjected Justus to brutal torture for refusing to renounce Christ. In the end the martyr was thrown into a fire, where he met his death — according to tradition, the flames miraculously did not touch his body. No companions in his suffering are mentioned in the primary account.
IMPORTANT DISTINCTION FROM OTHER SAINTS OF SIMILAR NAME: the 1st-century Martyr Justus of Rome is an independent, separate figure, not to be confused either with St. Justin the Philosopher (Justin ≠ Justus — a 2nd-century apologist and martyr, beheaded c. 165 under prefect Quintus Junius Rusticus, feast June 1/14), or with Joseph called Justus (Barsabbas) — one of the two candidates to replace Judas Iscariot in the apostolic office (Acts 1:23), an Apostle of the Seventy who died peacefully (feast October 30/January 4, in the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles).