September 2nd - St. Justus of Lyons
- From: "Traudel" <richarra@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 12:12:51 -0500
September 2nd - St. Justus of Lyons, Bishop and recluse
At Lyons in France, the translation of St. Justus, bishop and confessor, and
Viator, his servant, whose birthdays occur on the 14th of October and the
21st
of October.
Justus was born in the Vivarais, and whilst he served the church of Vienne
as
deacon he was advanced to the see of Lyons. His zeal made him severe in
reproving everything that deserved reproof, and his attachment to discipline
and
good order was displayed at the Synod of Valence in the year 374. A council
being assembled at Aquileia in 381, St Justus with two other bishops from
Gaul
assisted at it. The chief affairs there debated regarded the Arians, and St
Ambrose, who was present, procured the deposition of two Arian bishops. He
had a
particular respect for St Justus, as appears from two letters which he
addressed
to him concerning certain biblical questions.
It happened that at Lyons a man, who had stabbed some persons in the street,
took sanctuary in the church; and St Justus delivered him into the hands of
the
magistrate's officer upon a promise that the prisoner's life should be
spared.
Notwithstanding this he was dispatched by the populace. The good bishop was
apprehensive that he had been accessory to his death and was by that
disqualified for the ministry of the altar. Having long desired to serve God
in
retirement, it is said that he made use of this as a pretext to resign the
pastoral charge. The opposition of his flock seemed an obstacle, but his
journey
to Aquileia afforded him an opportunity. On his return he stole from his
friends
in the night, and at Marseilles took ship with a lector of his church, named
Viator, and sailed to Alexandria. He lived unknown in a monastery in Egypt,
until he was discovered by one who came from Gaul to visit the monasteries
in
the Thebaid, and the church of Lyons sent a priest called Antiochus to urge
him
to return but he was not to be prevailed upon. Antiochus (who succeeded
Justus
in his see and is himself venerated as a saint, on October 15) determined to
bear him company in his solitude, and the saint shortly after died in his
arms
about the year 390. His body was soon after translated to Lyons and buried
in
the church of the Macchabees which afterwards bore his name. His minister St
Viator survived him only a few weeks, and is named in the Roman Martyrology
on
October 21, and the translation of their bodies together on September 2.
Alban Butler states that the village of Saint Just in Cornwall takes its
name
from Justus of Lyons. This seems to be a guess, and a poor one-there are two
Cornish Saint Justs, in Roseland and in Penwith, but their eponyms have not
been
identified.
An early Latin life of St Justus is printed in the Acts Sanctorum,
September,
vol. i (under September 2), and there seems no reason to doubt that it is in
the
main reliable. The fact that Justus is mentioned on five different days in
the
Hieronymianum (see CMH., pp. 566- 567) may be taken as satisfactory proof of
the
interest which his cultus inspired. Sidonius Apollinaris in a letter gives a
description of the enthusiasm with which crowds flocked to the shrine on his
feast-day. Consult also Duchesne, Pastes Episcopaux, vol. ii, p. i6z
Coville,
Recherches sur l'histoire d Lyon (1928), pp. 441-445 and Leclercq, DAC.,
vol. X,
Cc. 191-193.
He was born in Vivarais in Gaul and was made bishop of Lyons in 350. When a
prisoner who had sought sanctuary in Justus' cathedral was put to death,
Justus
left the Council of Aquileia and went to Alexandria, Egypt, with a deacon,
Viator. He became a hermit there and refused to return to Lyons.
Saint Quote:
He who communicates most frequently will be freest from sin, and will make
farthest progress in Divine Love.
-Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Bible Quote:
42. Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone
which
the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the
Lord
this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes. 43. Therefore I say to
you,
that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a
nation
yielding the fruits thereof. 44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone,
shall
be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.
(Matthew 21:42-44)
<><><><>
During this month of September which gives us the exaltation
of the Holy Cross on the fourteenth, it traditionally is a month
devoted to that sacred tree. The following are three prayers in
honor of the Cross of Christ:
The Cross is my sure salvation. The Cross it is that I worship
evermore. The Cross of our Lord is with me. The Cross is my
refuge.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
Assist us, O Lord our God; and defend us evermore by the
might of Thy holy Cross, in whose honor Thou makest us to
rejoice. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
- from the Roman Missal
O God, Who didst will to hallow the standard of the life-giving
Cross by the Precious Blood of Thine only-begotten Son; grant,
we beseech Thee, that they who rejoice in honoring the same
holy Cross, may rejoice also in Thine ever-present protection.
Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
-Also from the Roman Missal
Imprimatur: + Francis Spellman, Archbp. of New York, May 30, 1951.
.
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