Great Cause, Creator of all

"St. Justin was born about the beginning of the second century....Having gone through the usual elementary course of studies, he found himself inspired with a great desire to know something concerning the Great Cause, or Creator of all. Having in vain sought for truth among the Stoics, Peripatetics, Pythagoreans, and those of the Platonic school, God was pleased to satisfy his yearnings after a wonderful manner. Having wandered one day into a solitary place in order that he might with more quietude enjoy his meditations, he met with an old man of very venerable appearance, who told him that if he wished to arrive at the knowledge of the true God, he should leave the study of philosophy, and begin to read the prophets, who in their writings had manifested to man the mysteries of God, and announced Jesus Christ His Son, through whom alone we can arrive at the knowledge of the true God. "But," continued this venerable personage, "above all things, pray to the Lord to illuminate thy mind; because these things are not to be understood except by those unto whom God hath given the knowledge of them." Having pronounced these words, he disappeared.

"After this interview, Justin applied himself continually to the reading of the Holy Scriptures, from which he derived that blessed knowledge which made him embrace the faith and receive the sacrament of regeneration....The constancy and fortitude of the martyrs, in suffering tortures, and laying down their lives for Jesus Christ, as he himself confesses, contributed much to his conversion, from which time he dedicated himself entirely to the love of Jesus Christ, and the advancement of his religion.