JUNE 1, 2025 – ST. JUSTIN, MARTYR. & ST. PAMPHILUS, MARTYR.
- St. Angela Merici (1540). Founder or Foundress, Virgin. Patroness of founded the Ursulines. (Traditional)
- St. Justin (165). Martyr, Patron or Patroness. Patron of lecturers. (Current)
ST. JUSTIN was born of heathen parents at Neapolis in Samaria, about the year 103. He was well educated, and gave himself to the study of philosophy, but always with one object, that he might learn the knowledge of God. He sought this knowledge among the contending schools of philosophy, but always in vain, till at last God himself appeased the thirst which he had created. One day, while Justin was walking by the seashore, meditating on the thought of God, an old man met him and questioned him on the subject of his doubts; and when he had made Justin confess that the philosophers taught nothing certain about God, he told him of the writings of the inspired prophets and of Jesus Christ whom they announced, and bade him seek light and understanding through prayer. The Scriptures and the constancy of the Christian martyrs led Justin from the darkness of human reason to the light of faith. In his zeal for the faith he travelled to Greece, Egypt, and Italy, gaining many to Christ. At Rome he sealed his testimony with his blood, surrounded by his disciples. “Do you think, ,” the prefect said to Justin, “that by dying you will enter heaven and be rewarded by God?” “I do not think, was the Saint’s answer; “I know.” Then, as now, there were many religious opinions, but only one certainty—the certainty of the Catholic faith. This certainty should be the measure of our confidence and our zeal.
REFLECTION: We have received the gift of faith with little labor of our own. Let us learn how to value it from those who reached it after long search, and lived in the misery of a world which did not know God. Let us fear, as St. Justin did, the account we shall have to render for the gift of God.
WORD OF THE DAY
FORTUNE-TELLING. The art of manifesting to another the fortune (luck), good or bad, that the future has in store for him or her. The real objective in fortune-telling is the disclosure of future events. Quite often, though, to inspire confidence, the fortune-teller will communicate bits of information about a person’s past that would be naturally unknown to anyone else. As a presumed help in peering into the world of secret events they employ, for example, tea leaves, a crystal sphere, or a small pool of blood.
The Church considers it gravely wrong to consult a fortune-teller who is known to seriously claim access to the knowledge of future events. It would be a sin of formal co-operation. It is likewise wrong to consult a person who may not actually make such claims, but whom the client believes to be a fortune-teller with powers of divination. The gravity of the sin would depend on how seriously one takes the fortune-teller. If neither party takes the thing seriously and someone has a fortune told as a pastime, there is no sin. But even in this case the danger is that if what was predicted actually takes place, one’s faith in fortune-telling is (or may be) aroused and there is danger that what began as amusement may become a temptation to learn about the future through forbidden means.
Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)
June, Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Sacred Heart of Jesus – Short Meditations for June. June 1 — The Claims of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This article, JUNE 1, 2025 – ST. JUSTIN, MARTYR. & ST. PAMPHILUS, MARTYR. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/june-1-2025-st-justin-martyr-st-pamphilus-martyr/
Do not repost the entire article without written permission. Reasonable excerpts may be reposted so long as it is linked to this page.
