The Church commemorates Martyr Justin the Philosopher and Martyrs Justus, Chariton, Charita.
St. Justin was born in Naples, Palestine in AD 100. His parents were Greek pagans, who cared about Justin’s theological and philosophical education.
Rich education, however, was not enough to give answers to questions raised by his anxious soul.
Seeing the sincere intention of Justin’s search, God responded miraculously.
Once when he was walking by the sea, he met an old man, who knew the truth of the Holy Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church, and revealed to Justin the Christian teaching, thus becoming a great author.
During the reign of Antoninus Pius, Justin traveled to Rome and handed to the emperor an apology, in which he set out the basic teachings of Christianity and presented the fallacy of idolatry, using arguments from the Holy Scriptures, both the Old and New Testament.
Thanks to this, he was also called the Apologist of the Orthodox Faith.
Justin’s courageous action infuriated the pagans, as well as his reference to the evidence from the true word of God in the texts of ancient Greek authors and philosophers.
Therefore, he was arrested and, after being tortured, was beheaded in AD 165, becoming not only an Apologist for the Orthodox faith, but also as a Martyr of the Church.