Saint Justin Martyr

Justin was born around 100 to a pagan family in Flavia Neapolis, today's Nablus in Samaria. He studied the Stoics, the Pythagoreans and Plato, looking for the truth about God. According to his own account, an old man he met by the sea pointed him to the Hebrew prophets and to Christ, and he was baptized around 130.

Justin kept wearing the philosopher's cloak and opened a Christian school in Rome. His First Apology, addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius, defends Christians against slander and contains the oldest detailed description of the Sunday Mass. He also wrote the Dialogue with Trypho, a conversation with a Jewish teacher. Around 165, under the prefect Junius Rusticus, he and six companions refused to sacrifice to the gods and were beheaded. The record of their trial survives.

Justin is the patron of philosophers and Christian apologists, and his feast is often kept by Catholic colleges and campus ministries. Priests read his description of the early Sunday Eucharist in the Office of Readings during the Easter season.

Many Latin American families named Justino or Justina celebrate their name day today.