Rev. Justin (Popovich) is one of the prominent defenders of Orthodoxy of the 20th century. He comes from Serbia, from the southern city of Vranje, where he was born on April 6, 1894 in the pious family of Spiridon and Anastasia, and then became a seventh generation priest. In honor of the Feast of the Annunciation, his parents christened it with the name Good, which means "evangelist." Their family had eight children, but only three survived - the daughter of Stoyan and two sons - Stoyadin and Blagoe. In childhood, the future saint witnessed the miraculous recovery of his mother. And when the time came for her to retreat to another world, he understood from her pacified face that there was physical death, but there was no spiritual death. Throughout his life, he will be an expression of unshakable faith in Jesus Christ - the true Savior, who gave mankind a victory over death.
Childhood
Pr Justin (Popovich), as a child, loved to visit the monastery of Prokhor Pchinsky with his parents. He worshiped the holy fathers and read the scriptures a lot.
After graduating from school, he went to study at the Belgrade Seminary of St. Sava. The Good was especially influenced by Bishop Nikolai (Velimirovich), who quickly noticed in his youth a great love of theology and extraordinary literary talents.
After graduating from seminary in the early summer of 1914, Blagoye had determined intentions to become a monk, but his parents sharply opposed this and even wrote a letter to the Belgrade Metropolitanate.
War
In World War I, Popovich was drafted into the army. He began to serve as a military orderly at the Chele Kula hospital in the city of Nis. Soon typhus began, Blagoe was ill with them, like many others. During a short vacation I visited my parents. Since January 1915, he already held the position of paramedic. The Serbian army suffered losses and retreated through Kosovo to Albania.
Having gone through all the horrors of war, the Good began to strive for deification even more. And on New Year's Eve on December 31, 1915, Archimandrite Veniamin (Taushanovich) sheared him as a monk with a name in honor of the holy martyr Justin the Philosopher.
Russia
In January 1916, especially gifted theologians, among whom was Justin, the Serbian government, with the filing of the Serbian Metropolitan Dimitri (Pavlovich), sent to Russia - to the Petrograd Theological Academy, so that they could continue to study theology there. Saint Justin was impressed by the piety of the Russian people. He reverence for such great Russian associates as Seraphim of Sarov, Sergius of Radonezh and John of Kronstadt. A little later, tears flowed from the eyes of St. Justin at the mention of the Russian New Martyrs, especially if it came to the Russian Patriarch Tikhon.
However, because of the disasters of martial law, he did not have to stay there for long. In the summer of 1916, Justin Popovich entered the University of Oxford in England and studied there until 1919. Then he begins to write a doctoral dissertation on the work of Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich. In this work, he outlined the critical attitude of the great classic of Russian literature to Western humanism and anthropocentrism. But the scientific advisers of Father Justin insisted that he make some changes to the text, and for him this was unacceptable, since these amendments were contrary to the truth. And then, without receiving a doctorate, he left England.
Teaching activities
Since 1921, Justin Popovich in Sremsky Karlovtsy became a teacher of the seminary. From there, he goes to the Athens University of Theology, where he again works on a doctoral dissertation on the theme “The Problem of Personality and Cognition of St. Macarius of Egypt”. He will protect her a little later, in 1926.
Returning to his homeland in Serbia, he closely draws close to the Russian bishops who have found refuge in his country , this is the Metropolitan of Kiev Anthony (Khrapovitsky) and the Archbishop of Chisinau, Anastasius.
In 1922, Justin Popovich was ordained a hieromonk. Then, in 1930, he was appointed Assistant Bishop Joseph of Bitola. From this moment, his missionary work begins in the cities of Transcarpathia - Uzhgorod, Mukachevo and Khust. They wanted to appoint him the bishop of the newly created Mukachevo diocese, but he refused.
Justin Popovich, “Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church”
Since 1932, St. Justin has published his first volume of “Dogmatics” - “On the Divine-Human Path”, for which he received the title of professor in 1935, and begins to teach dogmatic theology in the Bitola Theological Seminary.
In 1934, he was already an assistant professor of Belgrade University in dogmatic theology. Justin Popovich became one of the founders of the Serbian Philosophical Society (1938).
The Second World War, when the Germans invaded Serbia, entailed the closure of the theological faculty. Father Justin was forced to live in various monasteries, where he was engaged in translating the traditions of the Holy Fathers of the Church. Justin did not sit idle Justin Popovich. Interpretation and commentary on the Holy Scriptures, “The Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church” (the second volume is “God in Himself. The attitude of God towards the creature”, the third is “Soteriology. Ecclesiology”), “The Life of the Saints” in 12 volumes were the results of his works. Some of them were published only at the end of life. Father Justin believed that only with the saints can the mystery of the Lord Christ be known. The lives of the saints, in his opinion, are dogmas implemented that created the necessary and true “Encyclopedia of Orthodoxy”.
Arrests and interrogations
Deprived of all rights, he wandered around the monasteries. Then he lived almost as a prisoner in a convent. But here, he was not left alone and was periodically summoned for interrogations. When they didn’t let him out for a long time, the sisters, together with the abbess, went to Valevo and stood silently in front of the police building. The Communists were afraid of the unrest of local residents and immediately released Father Justin. During these long years, not only countrymen, but also spiritual brethren from other countries came to the holy confessor for advice. The unity of Orthodoxy was central to him, and it stood above any national division. He sent his best students to study in Greece, at the end of his life he gave them his instructions: “Love the Greeks, because they are our faithful teachers and enlighteners.”
In 1945, under communist rule, Saint Justin (Popovich), along with other teachers, was expelled from the university. Then he was arrested in one of the monasteries and imprisoned in Belgrade prison. He was almost shot as an enemy of the people, but Patriarch Gabriel stood up for him.
Saint Justin (Popovich): books
In recent years, the conditions for the imprisonment of St. Justin have softened a little, and the patriarchy invited him to teach at the faculty, but he refused, wishing them to work for the good of the unity of the Church. At the end of his life, he reacted with great joy to the publication of “The Life of the Saints” and the last, fourth volume of “Dogmatics” - “Pneumatology. Eschatology". Altogether, 40 volumes have been written by Father Justin, 30 have been published to date. His works cover the entire area of ​​church life. One of his best works was a book entitled Comments on the New Testament, written with a passionate love for Christ in a real poetic language, comparable only to the language of Bishop Nikolai Ohridsky (Velimirovich), his teacher.
Canonization
In May 1948, he became the confessor of the Celie Nunnery, located near the city of Valevo. There he will spend the rest of his life and will die on the Annunciation in 1979. His body will be buried in the monastery of Celie.
The canonization of St. Justin took place on April 29, 2010. This event occurred by decision of the Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
On June 12, 2014, his holy relics were found in the Celie Monastery and for some time placed in the monastery church of the Archangel Michael until the Church of Savva of Serbia was completed, which they began to build at the expense of St. Justin.
After the death of St. Justin, clerics of various nationalities came from all over Serbia, Greece and Europe and performed a burial. One of his students said of him that his main sorrow was the unity of the Church, which suddenly took place at his funeral. From that time, streams of Orthodox pilgrims flowed to the saint’s grave, through the prayers of which miracles began to be performed at the resting place of the saint.