SS. JUSTUS, ORONTIUS AND FORTUNATUS, MARTYRS - 26 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 26th of August

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

SAINTS JUSTUS, ORONTIUS AND FORTUNATUS, MARTYRS 

The three martyrs Justus, Orontius and Fortunatus are patrons of Lecce (Lycium, Aletium), situated between Otranto and Brindisi. According to an ancient tradition of the city of Lecce, St Justus was sent to Rome by the Apostle St Paul during the latter's stay in Corinth and landed on the coast of Lecce. 

There he stayed as a guest with a certain Orontius, whom he, along with Fortunatus and several relatives of the same, converted to the Catholic Faith and baptised. 

HE HAD BAPTISED MANY WHO HAD MEANWHILE BEEN INSTRUCTED 

From here he went to Rome, and when he got his orders there, went back to Lecce and had baptised many who had meanwhile been instructed by Orontius. He travelled back to Corinth with Orontius and Fortunatus, where St Paul consecrated Orontius Bishop of Lecce and sent Justus to help him in preaching the Gospel. 

When they arrived at Lecce, they spread the Catholic faith throughout the province, until at last Justus and Orontius were crowned with martyrdom in the Neronian persecution on August 26, 68 after various torments. 

HIS SUCCESSOR WAS FORTUNATUS

Fortunatus followed Orontius in the episcopal chair and also died a martyr. - Such is the age-old tradition of the city of Lecce, where these three saints have been highly venerated since time immemorial (with the exception of a few years). 

The Congregation of Rites on July 13, 1658, allowed them to be venerated as the main patron saints of Lecce, but did not allow the above-mentioned life story of the saints to be included in the lections of the breviary because, as the Bollandist Pinius proves , could not be recognised as completely reliable. Furthermore, their names do not appear in the Roman Martyrology.

A GREAT MANY SICK PEOPLE WERE CURED

The bodies of these saints were later hidden and never found again. But relics of them exist in several places, and in Lecce they are still venerated as the main patrons. In the case of the Bollandists, a great many miracles are cited which relate to those saints, especially to St Orontius' intercession, through whose prayers a great many sick people were cured. 

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - 📷 St Orontius)