Feast of Ss. Cornelius and Cyprian
St. Cyprian of Carthage converted to the Catholic faith at around the age of 25. To the great surprise of the Christians there in Carthage, he pledged a vow of celibacy before his baptism - but he remained true to his vow, later becoming a priest and a bishop (in the year 251 AD).
Just three years prior, in a very much troubled Rome that was suffering under the persecutions of Emperor Decius, the Holy Catholic Church was placing Her 21st pope on the throne of St. Peter - a man who would later be known to history as Pope St. Cornelius.
Pope St. Cornelius was incredibly brave, accepting the papacy even though it surely meant martyrdom - the Church was being persecuted fiercly, and St. Cornelius was about to accept the role as Universae Ecclesiae Pastor, which would natural bump him up to the top of the Emperor's "hit-list."
St. Cyprian, over in Carthage, quickly became one of the pope's greatest supporters and sources of encouragement. He wrote letters to Pope St. Cornelius, encouraging him to keep the faith and not falter in the face of possible death.
St. Cyprian emphasized the importance of remaining in union with the Holy Catholic Church and with the pope. In response to the Novatian schism, he wrote his famous treatise entitled De Unitate Ecclesiae, "On the Unity of the Church."
He speaks of the pope as a principle of unity, saying, "And although [Jesus] gives an equal power to all the apostles, after His resurrection ... yet, He arranged by His authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one, that He might set forth unity. Assuredly the rest of the apostles were also the same as was Peter, endowed with a like partnership both of honour and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity." (De Unit. Ecc., 4)
Speaking of the necessity of union with the Holy Church, he says, "Why does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Why does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church, when moreover the blessed Apostle Paul ... sets forth the sacrament of unity, saying, 'There is one body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God?'" (ibid., 4)
St. Cyprian also made use of an analogy that has become well-known today, comparing the Holy Church to Noah's Ark: "Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother. If any one could escape who was outside the ark of Noah, then he also may escape who shall be outside of the Church. ... He who breaks the peace and the concord of Christ, does so in opposition to Christ; he who gathereth elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ." (ibid., 6)
Together, Ss. Cornelius and Cyprian carried the Church through these difficult times of both persecution and schism; St. Cornelius, as the pope and principle of unity, and St. Cyprian, as an ardent defender of the pope and the unity of the Church.
Although Pope St. Cornelius is celebrated today as a martyr, his martyrdom was long and dry, rather than immediate and bloody. He was not beheaded, nor burned, nor stoned, nor drowned - he was simply exiled, eventually dying in September of 253.
It was only 5 years later - again in September - that St. Cyprian was captured and beheaded. A plague had broken out in Carthage, and the superstitious pagans of Carthage took this as a sign that their gods were angry about the spread of the Catholic Church in Carthage - the great bishop was to be a sort of appeasing sacrifice to the gods.
Pontius the Deacon has left us with an account of St. Cyprian's martyrdom. I quote here a few exerpts:
"... the judge read from his tablet the sentence ... a sentence worthy of such a bishop and such a witness; a glorious sentence, in which he was called 'a standard-bearer of the sect,' and 'an enemy of the gods,' and one who was to be 'an example to his people;' and that with his blood 'discipline would begin to be established.' Nothing could be more complete, nothing more true, than this sentence. For all the things which were said, although said by a heathen, are divine.
...
And now, having bound his eyes with his own hands, he tried to hasten the hesitant executioner, whose office was to wield the sword, and who clasped the blade in his failing right hand with difficulty, with trembling fingers, until the hour of glorification strengthened the hand of the centurion with power granted from above ... O blessed people of the Church, who ... suffered with such a bishop as theirs; and, as they had ever heard him in his own discourses, were crowned by God the Judge!
...
His passion being thus accomplished, it resulted that Cyprian ... was also the first who in Africa imbued his priestly crown with blood of martyrdom, because he was the first who began to be such after the apostles. For from the time at which the episcopal order was founded at Carthage, not one is ever recorded ... to have come to suffering.
Although devotion surrendered to God is always considered and counted as a kind of martyrdom, yet Cyprian attained even to the perfect crown by the consummation of the Lord; so that ... he also was the first to decorate the insignia of his heavenly priesthood with glorious gore.
What shall I do now? Between joy at his passion, and grief at still remaining, my mind is divided in different directions ... Shall I grieve that I was not his associate? But yet I must triumph in his victory. Shall I triumph at his victory? Still I grieve that I am not his companion. ... Much and excessively I exult at his glory; but still more do I grieve that I remained behind." (Pontius the Deacon, The Life and Passion of Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr, 17-19)
It is quite fitting that these two saints be commemorated on the same day: as St. Cyprian was insistent upon being united to his pontiff during his life, so also in his commemoration he is united to Pope St. Cornelius, the 21st pope. They remain for us today a reminder that the Church enjoys perfect unity, and that we must ever remain united to the Holy Father.
"May the feast of the blessed martyrs and bishops, Cornelius and Cyprian, protect us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and their august prayers commend us to Thee Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, forever and ever. Amen." (Collect, Mass of Sept. 16)
Justórum ánimæ in mane Dei sunt, et non tanget illos torméntum mortis ... et æstimáta est afflíctio exitus illórum ... illi autem sunt in pace.
("The souls of the Just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them ... and their departure was taken for misery ... but they are in peace." [Epistle, Wis. 3:1-8, Mass of Sept. 16])
Just three years prior, in a very much troubled Rome that was suffering under the persecutions of Emperor Decius, the Holy Catholic Church was placing Her 21st pope on the throne of St. Peter - a man who would later be known to history as Pope St. Cornelius.
Pope St. Cornelius was incredibly brave, accepting the papacy even though it surely meant martyrdom - the Church was being persecuted fiercly, and St. Cornelius was about to accept the role as Universae Ecclesiae Pastor, which would natural bump him up to the top of the Emperor's "hit-list."
St. Cyprian, over in Carthage, quickly became one of the pope's greatest supporters and sources of encouragement. He wrote letters to Pope St. Cornelius, encouraging him to keep the faith and not falter in the face of possible death.
St. Cyprian emphasized the importance of remaining in union with the Holy Catholic Church and with the pope. In response to the Novatian schism, he wrote his famous treatise entitled De Unitate Ecclesiae, "On the Unity of the Church."
He speaks of the pope as a principle of unity, saying, "And although [Jesus] gives an equal power to all the apostles, after His resurrection ... yet, He arranged by His authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one, that He might set forth unity. Assuredly the rest of the apostles were also the same as was Peter, endowed with a like partnership both of honour and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity." (De Unit. Ecc., 4)
Speaking of the necessity of union with the Holy Church, he says, "Why does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Why does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church, when moreover the blessed Apostle Paul ... sets forth the sacrament of unity, saying, 'There is one body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God?'" (ibid., 4)
St. Cyprian also made use of an analogy that has become well-known today, comparing the Holy Church to Noah's Ark: "Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother. If any one could escape who was outside the ark of Noah, then he also may escape who shall be outside of the Church. ... He who breaks the peace and the concord of Christ, does so in opposition to Christ; he who gathereth elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ." (ibid., 6)
Together, Ss. Cornelius and Cyprian carried the Church through these difficult times of both persecution and schism; St. Cornelius, as the pope and principle of unity, and St. Cyprian, as an ardent defender of the pope and the unity of the Church.
Although Pope St. Cornelius is celebrated today as a martyr, his martyrdom was long and dry, rather than immediate and bloody. He was not beheaded, nor burned, nor stoned, nor drowned - he was simply exiled, eventually dying in September of 253.
It was only 5 years later - again in September - that St. Cyprian was captured and beheaded. A plague had broken out in Carthage, and the superstitious pagans of Carthage took this as a sign that their gods were angry about the spread of the Catholic Church in Carthage - the great bishop was to be a sort of appeasing sacrifice to the gods.
Pontius the Deacon has left us with an account of St. Cyprian's martyrdom. I quote here a few exerpts:
"... the judge read from his tablet the sentence ... a sentence worthy of such a bishop and such a witness; a glorious sentence, in which he was called 'a standard-bearer of the sect,' and 'an enemy of the gods,' and one who was to be 'an example to his people;' and that with his blood 'discipline would begin to be established.' Nothing could be more complete, nothing more true, than this sentence. For all the things which were said, although said by a heathen, are divine.
...
And now, having bound his eyes with his own hands, he tried to hasten the hesitant executioner, whose office was to wield the sword, and who clasped the blade in his failing right hand with difficulty, with trembling fingers, until the hour of glorification strengthened the hand of the centurion with power granted from above ... O blessed people of the Church, who ... suffered with such a bishop as theirs; and, as they had ever heard him in his own discourses, were crowned by God the Judge!
...
His passion being thus accomplished, it resulted that Cyprian ... was also the first who in Africa imbued his priestly crown with blood of martyrdom, because he was the first who began to be such after the apostles. For from the time at which the episcopal order was founded at Carthage, not one is ever recorded ... to have come to suffering.
Although devotion surrendered to God is always considered and counted as a kind of martyrdom, yet Cyprian attained even to the perfect crown by the consummation of the Lord; so that ... he also was the first to decorate the insignia of his heavenly priesthood with glorious gore.
What shall I do now? Between joy at his passion, and grief at still remaining, my mind is divided in different directions ... Shall I grieve that I was not his associate? But yet I must triumph in his victory. Shall I triumph at his victory? Still I grieve that I am not his companion. ... Much and excessively I exult at his glory; but still more do I grieve that I remained behind." (Pontius the Deacon, The Life and Passion of Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr, 17-19)
It is quite fitting that these two saints be commemorated on the same day: as St. Cyprian was insistent upon being united to his pontiff during his life, so also in his commemoration he is united to Pope St. Cornelius, the 21st pope. They remain for us today a reminder that the Church enjoys perfect unity, and that we must ever remain united to the Holy Father.
"May the feast of the blessed martyrs and bishops, Cornelius and Cyprian, protect us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and their august prayers commend us to Thee Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, forever and ever. Amen." (Collect, Mass of Sept. 16)
Justórum ánimæ in mane Dei sunt, et non tanget illos torméntum mortis ... et æstimáta est afflíctio exitus illórum ... illi autem sunt in pace.
("The souls of the Just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them ... and their departure was taken for misery ... but they are in peace." [Epistle, Wis. 3:1-8, Mass of Sept. 16])
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