Regarding St. Justus (or St. Just), I just thought that I would note a few
things. The early (8th c) passio of St. Just is among the earliest
instances of cephalophory (post-decapitation auto-ambulation) and
cephalology (post-decapitation speach)in any hagiographic source that I know
of. (Coens has even suggested that it pre-dates the cephalophory of St.
Denis. I suggest that the motif of St. Just giving his head to his father
and uncle to bring to his mother so that she may kiss it is actually a trope
by which the saint institutes the cult of his own relics. Given the
practice of osculatory veneration and the display of the head of St. Just,
particularly in the late Medieval reliquary bust from Flums, Switzerland,
this would be "acted out" during the feast of St. Just, when the passio was
read aloud, the relics were displayed on the altar (inside the reliquary
bust) and the faithful were allowed to kiss the relic/reliquary bust. It
strikes me that much of the purpose of the trope of cephalophory is to
assert the ongoing potentia of the saint in his/her relics. This is even
more explicitly asserted in the passio of St. Just, as he clearly institutes
his own relic cult. (does anyone else have any thoughts on cephalophory? I
am working on this theme and would love to hear the input of my esteemed
colleagues.)
I have found the particular centers of veneration of St. Just to be: Flums
and Auxerre - both claiming possession of the head of St. Just (Einseideln
had one too).
Those interested might wish to examine the following sources:
Scott B. Montgomery, "Mittite capud meum...ad matrem meum ut osculeteur eum:
The Form and Meaning of the Reliquary Bust of St. Just", Gesta, XXXVI/1,
1997, 48-64.
Maurice Coens, "Aux origines de la cephalophorie. Un fragment retrouve d'une
ancienne passion de S. Just, martyr de Beauvais", Analecta Bollandiana,
LXXIV, 1956, 86-114.
And a happy feast day of St. Just to all - enjoy!
Scott B. Montgomery
University of North Texas
>
> Justus of Beauvais, martyr (?): Beheaded as a youth; after the
> execution, his headless body stood up and proclaimed, '... I am
> sinless'; holding his head in his hands, he directed his father and
> brother to bury his body in a cave, and to take the head home to his
> mother (a conversation piece?) - widespread medieval cult in
> northwestern Europe.
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