Justus

Saint Justus was a Christian of Corinth in the days of the Holy Apostle Paul, in whose house the Apostle preached after leaving the synagogue of the city. He is commemorated on 15 February, and at Ancient Corinth his memory is kept on the first Sunday after 13 February, together with the Apostle's other fellow workers at Corinth: Titius, Chloe and Crispus.

All that is known of him comes from the Acts of the Apostles. Paul came to Corinth on his second missionary journey, around the year 50, and first spoke in the synagogue every sabbath. When the Jews opposed and reviled him, the Apostle left and went into the house of a man named Justus, a worshipper of God, that is, a gentile who had drawn close to faith in the God of Israel. His house stood right next to the synagogue (Acts 18:7).

The house of Justus thus became one of the first meeting places of the Church of Corinth. At the same time Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. Paul stayed in the city a year and six months, teaching the word of God.

In the Byzantine text of Acts he is called simply Justus, while other manuscripts call him Titius Justus or Titus Justus. This is why the commemoration at Corinth remembers Titius and Justus as two of the Apostle's helpers. Some scholars identify Justus with Gaius, the host of the Apostle and of the whole Church of Corinth (Romans 16:23), but this remains a conjecture.

Saint Justus is honoured by the Church of Greece, especially at Ancient Corinth, as one of the first Christians of the city, who opened his house for the preaching of the Gospel.