St. Justina Of Padua
St. Justina Of Padua [1]
patroness of Padua, and, together with St. Mark, of Venice also. According to the hagiographers she was a native of the former city, and suffered martyrdom there in 304, under Diocletian, and according to others under Nero. We have no details on the event, however. Her relics, which were lost, were recovered (?) in 1177, and are preserved in a church of Padua which bears her name. In 1417 a convent of Benedictines in the neighborhood reformed their rules, taking the name of Congregation of St. Justina of Padua. This reform was followed by another in 1498, under the care of Luigi Barbo, a Venetian senator, whom pope Alexander VI created first abbot of the order. The congregation spread, and the monastery of Mount Cassin, having joined it in 1504, was made its headquarters by Julius II. Moreri considers the legend of this saint's miracles as fabulous, yet the Roman Church commemorates her on the 7th of October. See Tillemont, Hist. de la Persecution de Diocletian, art. 55; Baillet, Vies des Saints, Oct. 7th. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gener. 27, 310.
