Career
She is said to have been martyred in the year 304 AD. Justina was said to have been a young woman who took private vows of chastity and was killed during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. She is a patron saint of Padua. Her feast day is October 7.
Medieval histories describe her as a disciple of Saint Peter the Apostle.
Thus, Saint Prosdocimus, the first bishop of Padua, is said to have been Justina"s spiritual father. His histories state that he was sent from Antioch by Peter.
This however is physically impossible as Justina being a young woman in 304 AD could not have known Prosdocimus as he died in approximately 100 AD. She is mentioned in Foxe"s Book of Martyrs. lieutenant was under the 10th Persecution in 303 AD while Diocletian was Emperor of Rome.
lieutenant says:
"Cyprian, known by the title of the magician, to distinguish him from Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, was a native of Antioch.
He received a liberal education in his youth, and particularly applied himself to astrology. After which he traveled for improvement through Greece, Egypt, India, et cetera The Paduan Basilica and Abbey of Santa Giustina houses art dedicated to the saint, including the Martyrdom of Saint Justine by Paolo Veronese.
The Abbey complex was founded in the 5th century on Justine"s tomb, and in the 15th century became one of the most important monasteries in the area, until it was suppressed by Napoleon in 1810.
In 1919 it was reopened. The tombs of several saints are housed in the interior, including those of Justina, Prosdocimus, Saint Maximus, Saint Urius, Saint Felicitas, Saint Julian, as well as relics of the Apostle Saint Matthias and the Evangelist Saint Luke.
Saint Justina"s remains rest in the Church of Saint Anthony, in Lisbon, after being transferred from Saint Lawrence"s Cemetery in Rome by Pope Pius VI in 1777. Saint Justina is, after Saint Mark, the patroness of Venice.
