A faith that is ready
From a Letter to Pope Cornelius, exiled in persecution by Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr (c. 210-258)
A faith that is ready and unshaken
Cyprian sends greetings to his brother Cornelius. My very dear brother, we have heard of the glorious witness given by your courageous faith. On learning of the honor you had won by your witness, we were filled with such joy that we felt ourselves sharers and companions in your praiseworthy achievements. After all, we have the same Church, the same mind, the same unbroken harmony. Why then should a priest not take pride in the praise given to a fellow priest as though it were given to him? What brotherhood fails to rejoice i the happiness of its brothers wherever they are?
Words cannot express how great was the exultation and delight here when we heard of your good fortune and brave deeds: how you stood out as a leader of your brothers in their declaration of their faith. You led the way to glory, but you gained many companions in that glory; being foremost in your readiness to bear witness on behalf of all, you prevailed on your people to become a single witness. We cannot decide which we ought to praise, your own ready and unshaken faith or the love of your brothers who would not leave you. While the courage of the bishop who thus led the way has been demonstrated, at the same time the unity of the brotherhood who followed has been manifested. Since you have one heart and one voice, it is the Roman Church as a whole that has thus borne witness.
Dearest brother, bright and shining is the faith which the blessed Apostle praised in your community. He foresaw in the spirit the praise your courage deserves and the strength that could not be broken; he was heralding the future when he testified to your achievements; his praise of the fathers was a challenge to the sons. You unity, your strength have become shining examples of these virtues to the rest of the brethren.
Divine providence has now prepared us. God’s merciful design has warned us that the day of our own struggle, our own contest, is at hand. By that shared love which binds us closely together, we are doing all we can to exhort our congregation, to give ourselves unceasingly to fasting, vigils and prayers in common. These are the heavenly weapons which give us the strength to stand firm and endure; they are the spiritual defenses, the God-given armaments that protect us.
Let us then remember one another, united in mind and heart. Let us pray without ceasing, you for us, we for you; by the love we share we shall thus relieve the strain of these great trials.
From the proconsular Acts of the martyrdom of Saint Cyprian, bishop (Acta, 3-6: CSEL 3, 112-114)
In such a just cause there is no need for deliberation
On the morning of the fourteenth of September a great crowd gathered at the Villa Sexti, in accordance with the order of the governor Galerius Maximus. That same day the governor commanded Bishop Cyprian to be brought before him for trial in the court of Sauciolum. After Cyprian was brought in, the governor asked him: “Are you Thascius Cyprian?” And the bishop replied: “Yes, I am.” The governor Galerius Maximus said: “Have you posed as the pontiff of a sacrilegious group?” The bishop answered: “I have,” Then the governor said: “Our most venerable emperors have commanded you to perform the religious rites.” Bishop Cyprian replied: “I will not do so.” Galerius Maximus said: “Consider your position.” Cyprian replied: “Follow your orders. In such a just cause there is no need for deliberation.”
Then Galerius Maximus, after consulting with his council, reluctantly issued the following judgment: “You have long lived with your sacrilegious convictions, and you have gathered about yourself many others in a vicious conspiracy. You have set yourself up as an enemy of the gods of Rome and our religious practices. The pious and venerable emperors, the Augusti, Valerian and Gallienus, and Valerian the most noble of Caesars, have been unable to draw you back to the observance of their holy ceremonies. You have been discovered as the author and leader of these heinous crimes, and will consequently be held forth as an example for all those who have follow you in your crime. By your blood the law shall be confirmed.” Next he read the sentence from a tablet: “It is decided that Thascius Cyprian should die by the sword.” Cyprian responded: “Thanks be to God!”
After the sentence was passed, a crowd of his fellow Christians said: “We should also be killed with him!” There arose an uproar among the Christians, and a great mob followed after him. Cyprian was then brought out to the grounds of the Villa Sexti, where, taking off his outer cloak and kneeling on the ground, he fell before the Lord in prayer. He removed his dalmatic and gave it to the deacons, and then stood erect while waiting for the executioner. When the executioner arrived, Cyprian told his friends to give the man twenty-five gold pieces. Cloths and napkins were being spread out in front of him by the brethren. Then the blessed Cyprian covered his eyes with his own hands, but when he was unable to tie the ends of the linen himself, the priest Julian and the sub-deacon Julian fastened them for him.
In this way the blessed Cyprian suffered, and his body was laid out at a nearby place to satisfy the curiosity of the pagans. During the night Cyprian’s body was triumphantly borne away in a procession of Christians who, praying and bearing tapers and torches, carried the body to the cemetery of the governor Macrobius Candidianus which lies on the Mappalian Way near the fish ponds. Not many days later the governor Galerius Maximus died.
The most blessed martyr Cyprian suffered on the fourteenth of September under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus, in the reign of our true Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belong honor and glory for ever. Amen.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
Saint Cyprian (c. 210-258) was born of pagan parents in Carthage around the year 210. He was converted to Christianity in 246 and became a profound scholar of the Bible and the great religious authors, especially Tertullian. He was ordained and in 248 and made bishop of Carthage.
Cyprian convened a council at Carthage in 251, which would settle serious pending matters including (the lapsi) the terms under which the faithful who had apostatized during the persecution of Decius could be received back into the Church; dealing with the excommunication of schismatic leaders, and asserting the supremacy of the Pope.
In 252-54 Carthage was stricken with a terrible plague. Christians were blamed for the plague, and hatred for Cyprian and the Christians intensified, paving the way for the terrible persecutions to follow under Valerian. During these difficult times, Cyprian wrote numerous theological treatises on the Church, ministry, the Bible, virginity, the lapsi, and other spiritual works making him a pioneer of Latin Christian literature.
In 258, an imperial decree from Valerian was issued forbidding any assemblage of Christians and requiring all bishops, priests, and deacons to participate in the official state religion ushered in the persecution of Christians. Cyprian was arrested, and when he refused to participate, he was exiled to a small town fifty miles from Carthage. But the following year another imperial decree ordered that all bishops, priests, and deacons were to be put to death. Cyprian was arraigned before a new proconsul, and when he refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, he was beheaded on September 14, 258. At the beginning of 252 a persecution suddenly broke out. Pope Cornelius, successor to Pope Fabian was exiled to Centumcellæ during that persecution. Above is the letter Cyprian wrote to St. Cornelius.