Seek Above
← All Saints
Portrait of St. Justin Martyr

St. Justin Martyr

A restless philosopher who tried every school of Greek thought hunting for God — until a stranger on the shore pointed him past reason to Christ, the 'true philosophy' he would defend before emperors and die for in Rome.

Feast: June 1 c. 100–c. 165 (65 years) Philosopher Apologist Church Father
Patron Of
Philosophers Apologists Lecturers

Quotes & Sayings of St. Justin Martyr

  • “Straightway a flame was kindled in my soul, and a love of the prophets and of those who are friends of Christ possessed me.”

    — Dialogue with Trypho

  • “Whatever things were rightly said among all men are the property of us Christians.”

    — Second Apology

  • “We confess that we are atheists, so far as gods of this sort are concerned — but not with respect to the most true God.”

    — First Apology

  • “That is our desire — to be tortured for our Lord Jesus Christ, and so to be saved.”

    — The Martyrdom of Justin
Report this story

More Saints

View all →
Portrait of St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony of Padua

Doctor of the ChurchJune 13

A gifted Portuguese scholar who hid his learning by washing dishes in a Franciscan hermitage — until one surprise sermon gave him away, and he spent the last nine years of his short life as the most powerful preacher in Europe.

Portrait of St. Germaine Cousin

St. Germaine Cousin

Shepherdess of PibracJune 15

A sickly shepherd girl despised by her own household, who slept under the stairs, prayed in the fields, and shared her scraps with beggars — and whom heaven, and eventually all of France, refused to overlook.

Portrait of St. Boniface

St. Boniface

Apostle of GermanyJune 5

An English monk who walked away from a quiet life of books to spend forty years preaching in the German forests — felling a god's oak with an axe, building a church across half a continent, and dying with a book raised over his head.