Jul 31, 2018

β›ͺ Saint Giustino de Jacobis - Bishop and Missionary

Saint Justin de Jacobis was born on October 9, 1800, in Saint Felix, Italy, the seventh of fourteen children of John Baptist de Jacobis and Josephine Muccia. Guided by his mother, young Justin displayed such wisdom that his family called him "the old man." She encouraged his devotion, rewarding him with small gifts for meditating on the Lord’s Passion for half an hour. He studied in Naples, where his father, a fallen nobleman, had settled the family. To grow in virtue, Justin chose a Carmelite priest as his spiritual director.

At eighteen, he discerned a religious calling and joined the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists). During his novitiate, he impressed others with his disciplined life, humility, and kindness, aspiring to serve humbly as a coadjutor brother despite his perceived intellectual limitations.

Priestly Ministry

Ordained a priest in Brindisi on June 12, 1824, with an age dispensation, Justin began preaching missions across Apulia. In 1829, his superiors sent him to Monopoli to establish a new house for the Congregation. There, he balanced administrative duties with pastoral care, hearing confessions, tending to the sick, and reportedly performing healings through the sign of the cross.

In 1834, he was appointed superior of the Lecce house but rejected the title, preferring to serve his confreres humbly. Transferred to Naples in 1836 to lead the novitiate, he served tirelessly during the cholera epidemic, comforting the dying until the crisis ended. He was then named superior of the House of the Virgins, the central house of the Neapolitan province.

Mission to Ethiopia

In 1839, Cardinal James Philip Fransoni, Prefect of Propaganda Fide, invited Justin to serve as Apostolic Prefect in Ethiopia, a call he accepted due to the great need for evangelization. After a challenging four-month journey, he arrived in Massawa with Father Louis Montuori, welcomed by Father Joseph Sapeto, who had settled in Abyssinia teaching Arabic to explorer Anthony d’Abbadie. Justin began his work in Adwa with the permission of King UbiΓ© of Tigray.

His first year in Abyssinia was dedicated to studying three Ethiopian languages. To evangelize the Abyssinians, who followed Eutychian Monophysitism, he adopted their customs, wearing white like a local monk, sleeping on the ground, and eating simple foods like rice, polenta, legumes, and occasionally goat meat. He began giving lectures in his home, which were well-received by Adwa’s priests.

King UbiΓ©, impressed by Justin’s piety and meekness, chose him to lead a delegation to Cairo to secure a new Monophysite Coptic Abuna after the previous one’s death in 1828. Justin hesitated but agreed on the condition that the delegation, including the scholar monk Blessed Ghebre-Michael, could also visit Rome and Jerusalem. In Cairo, Abba Andreas, a young Methodist student, was chosen as Salama II, a figure known for greed and inflexibility. Justin’s return to Adwa was triumphant, leading to the conversion of many Monophysites, including Blessed Ghebre-Michael.

Apostolic Vicariate

The Apostolic Prefecture of Ethiopia was vast, and with limited missionaries, the Congregation of Propaganda Fide appointed Father William Massaia, O.F.M. Cap., as Apostolic Vicar of the Galla region in 1846. The two missions faced challenges due to regional conflicts and opposition from Abuna Salama II. In Guala, Massaia conducted spiritual exercises with Justin before ordaining young men for the priesthood. Massaia described Justin as:

A man both serious and joyful, frugal in diet, simple and modest in dress, courteous and charitable in manner, always ready with an edifying word, inseparable from his students, whom he treated with a father’s gentle authority and a brother’s affection, sharing in their work, meals, and prayers.

Recognizing the need for an Apostolic Vicar in northern Ethiopia, Massaia proposed Justin to Rome, citing his suitability and respect among schismatics. On July 6, 1847, Pope Pius IX appointed him titular bishop of Nilopolis and Apostolic Vicar of Abyssinia. Justin, feeling unworthy, accepted only after six months of persuasion. His episcopal ordination occurred on January 7, 1849, in Massawa during a persecution, using a makeshift altar of stacked boxes, with two Abyssinian priests

System: as witnesses.

Persecution and Final Years

In 1854, Kasa, lord of Guarah, exploited Abyssinia’s anarchy to defeat rivals and proclaim himself Emperor Theodore II in Gondar. Justin boldly went to the imperial court to advocate for persecuted Catholics, facing an edict from Abuna Salama II that demanded conversion to Monophysitism under threat of severe punishment. In Gondar, Justin was imprisoned with several Catholics, including Blessed Ghebre-Michael, who later died from his sufferings. Salama II spared Justin’s life, writing to Theodore II:

Expel Abuna Jacob, but do not kill him: he is a saint, and no one observes the Lord’s law better than he.

Expelled to Sennar, Justin won over his escort and took refuge in Halai, where the mission’s college had relocated. He supported the rebellion of Negusie, Ubié’s nephew, against Theodore II and attempted to guide Napoleon III’s envoy, Count Russell, to Negusie, but was forced to flee to Massawa. Justin died on July 31, 1860, at 3:00 PM, as he had predicted, in Eidale, AlighedΓ© Valley (Eritrea), with his head resting on a stone, surrounded by faithful disciples. He urged them:

I urge you to have great hope, be strong in faith, grow in charity, and avoid slander. Be the light of Ethiopia.

His relics are venerated in Hebo, where he was buried.

Veneration

The beatification process began on July 13, 1904, under Pope Pius X and concluded on July 25, 1939, under Pope Pius XII. Justin was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI. His tomb in Hebo is visited by Christians and Muslims alike. In Saint Felix, his hometown, his feast is celebrated on July 30 and 31.

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