Cyprian and Justina

The Holy Hieromartyr Cyprian and the Holy Martyr Justina suffered at Nicomedia in the persecution of Diocletian, in the most widely accepted dating in the year 304. Their story, of a sorcerer of Antioch turned to Christ by a virgin, has been known to the Church since the fourth century, and they are commemorated on 2 October in the calendar of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Traditionalist Catholics honour them on 26 September.

Cyprian the sorcerer

According to tradition, Cyprian received a liberal education in his youth, applied himself especially to astrology and travelled through Greece, Egypt, India and other lands. He became a famous sorcerer in Antioch, respected and feared by the pagans, and served demonic powers. To distinguish him from Saint Cyprian of Carthage he is also called Cyprian the Magician.

Justina

Justina was a young woman of Antioch, in some sources the daughter of a pagan priest, who heard of Christ, was baptized and brought her parents to the faith. She took a private vow of chastity. A young pagan, called Aglaidas in some sources, fell in love with her and, failing to win her, asked Cyprian for help. The sorcerer sent demons against her, and then the chief of the demons himself, to seduce her and break her will. Justina overcame every attack by prayer, fasting and the sign of the Cross.

Cyprian's conversion

Astonished at Justina's strength and seeing the helplessness of the demons before the true God, Cyprian repented and made the sign of the Cross himself, by which he was freed from the snares of the devil. He burned his books of spells before the bishop and the faithful and received Baptism. According to the Ukrainian account, he desired Baptism so much that at the Divine Liturgy he would not leave the church at the deacon's cry that the catechumens should depart, and said he would not be driven out until he was fully a Christian. He became in turn deacon, priest and bishop, succeeding Anthimus in the see of Antioch, and Justina became abbess of a convent. Catholics note, however, that no bishop of Antioch bore the name Cyprian.

Martyrdom

During the persecution of Diocletian, Cyprian and Justina were seized and taken to Damascus, where they were tortured. Since their faith did not waver, they were brought before the emperor at Nicomedia and there beheaded, in some sources on the bank of the river Gallus. The same fate befell Theoctistus, who, seeing Cyprian's constancy, declared himself a Christian. The bodies of the saints lay unburied six days, and then Christian sailors carried them secretly to Rome, where they were laid on the estate of a noble lady named Rufina and later in the basilica of Constantine. The Ukrainian account says that the governor who condemned them was Prince Eutolmius, that they were cast into a cauldron of boiling pitch without harm, and then sent to the Emperor Claudius at Nicomedia.

Historical doubt and veneration

The sources do not agree on the time: the Romanian synaxaria place them in the time of Decius (249 to 251) but also mention an Emperor Claudius, and the Eastern tradition gives 2 October 268. The Roman Catholic tradition gives 26 September 304, under Diocletian. All sources agree on the place, Nicomedia, now Izmit in Turkey. He is not to be confused with Saint Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, martyred on 14 September 258.

Gregory the Theologian and Prudentius mention the story as early as the fourth century, but both confused Cyprian with the bishop of Carthage. The legend was told in verse by the Empress Eudocia and later inspired a drama by Calderón de la Barca. The Roman Catholic calendar removed their feast in 1969 for lack of historical evidence, and their names were removed from the Roman Martyrology in 2001. In the Orthodox Church they are honoured especially as protectors against sorcery and evil influences; in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church their akathist, called the Prayers of Cyprian, is read for deliverance from charms.