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Born c. 110 in Samaria, Justin became a Christian as an adult, in Ephesus after a stranger told him of Christ while they walked along a beach. He was martyed after more than a decade of teaching and writing spirtied defenses of Christianity in otherwise pagan Rome. Rusticus gave him an opporutunity to renounce his faith, and Justin refused. He was put to death c. 167.

Among Justin's works: First Apology, Second Apology, and Dialogue with Trypho.

Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst find thy martyr Justin wandering from teacher to teacher, seeking the true God, and didst reveal to him the sublime wisdom of thine eternal Word:  Grant that all who seek thee, or a deeper knowledge of thee, may find and be found by thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blandina and her companions were martyred in 177 at Lyons. Blandina, a slave, would not back down even as her companions were tortured and marytred, saying "I am a Christian, and nothing vile is done among us." For her faith, she was beaten, burned and then wrapped in a net and tossed to a bull in front of spectators in an ampitheater.

Collect:

Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we who keep the feast of the holy martyrs Blandina and her companions may be rooted and grounded in love of thee, and may endure the sufferings of this life for the glory that shall be revealed in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The first Christian missionaries came to Uganda in the 1880s. By 1886, thirty-two young men, all members of the court of the Ugandan king, were burned to death when they refused to renounce their faith. Accepting their fates, the martyrs went to their deaths with prayers for their tormenters on their lips, which so impacted and impressed observers and onlookers that interest in Christianity rose as a result of the public martyrdom. By the time of the Uganda Census of 2002, approximately 85% of Ugandans were Christian (about half of whom Anglican), making Uganda the most Christian nation in Africa.

At Saint Thomas, Uganda is third (after South Africa and Nigeria) in the number of visitors to our website from countries in Africa.

Collect:

O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: Grant that we who remember before thee the blessed martyrs of Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom they gave obedience even unto death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.