Saint Justina of Padua

Justina of Padua (Italian: Santa Giustina di Padova; Venetian: Santa Justina de Pàdoa) is a Christian saint and a patroness of the city of Padua. Her feast day is October 7. She was devoted to religion from her earliest years and took the vow of perpetual virginity. When she was brought before Maximian the prefect, she remained firm against all attacks. The prefect caused her to be slain with the sword. Justina was a virgin of noble birth in the city which claims her patronage, i.e. Padua who lived some time between the 1st and 3rd centuries. Her father Vitalian was a rich nobleman and prefect of Padua. Her parents were reportedly converted to Christianity by the preaching of Saint Prosdocimus, the first bishop of Padua, and not having been blessed with children up to that time, they received Justina in answer to their prayer. A forged document from 1117 made the claim that Justina's relics had been found in Padua and that she had been baptized by Prosdocimus (d. c. 100 CE), an impossibility given that she died during the Christian persecutions of Roman emperor Maximian. She was devoted to religion from her earliest years and ultimately she took the vow of perpetual virginity. At this time arose the persecutions of the Christians by Diocletian and Maximian the prefect who had succeeded Vitalian, proved himself particularly brutal. As Justina would visit the prisons to comfort and encourage the Christians there, Maximian ordered her arrest. While she was passing by the Pont Marin near Padua she was seized by the soldiers. When she was brought before Maximian he was struck by her beauty and endeavoured by every means to shake her constancy. However, she remained firm against all attacks and the prefect caused her to be slain with the sword. St. Justina is a patron saint of Padua. After St. Mark, she is also a second patroness of Venice. Her feast day is October 7 and coincided with the end of the grape harvest and the time for settling agricultural contracts.