Wisdom of Saints: St Cyprian of Carthage

Feast of Cyprian, Doctor, Bishop of Carthage, Martyr, 258

ALMIGHTY God, by whose grace and power thy Martyr Cyprian was enabled to witness to the truth and to be faithful unto death: Grant that we, who now remember him before thee, may likewise so bear witness unto thee in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of glory that fadeth not away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Like many of the early Christian saints, there are few details of St Cyprian’s childhood and early life prior to his conversion to Christianity, despite the fact that many of his written works remain. St Cyprian of Carthage was born around 200 AD to a wealthy pagan family in Carthage. He received a classical education at the school of Carthage which allowed him to become a lawyer and rhetor, a profession at which he excelled and would greatly aid him as a priest later in life.

Around 245 AD he was converted to Christianity under the influence of a local priest, and was baptised. Prior to his baptism, he donated half of his family’s wealth to the poor In his epistle To Donatus, he describes his baptism writing:

While I was still lying in darkness and gloomy night, wavering hither and thither, tossed about on the foam of this boastful age, and uncertain of my wandering steps, knowing nothing of my real life, and remote from truth and light, I used to regard it as a difficult matter, and especially as difficult in respect of my character at that time, that a man should be capable of being born again—a truth which the divine mercy had announced for my salvation,—and that a man quickened to a new life in the laver of saving water should be able to put off what he had previously been; and, although retaining all his bodily structure, should be himself changed in heart and soul.

His writings show how he quickly began to apply his keen mind towards the learning of Christian doctrine and theology, and was soon after ordained as a priest. He was greatly influenced by the writings of Tertullian. When Bishop Donatus of Carthage died in 248, St Cyprian was selected to replace him as bishop.

St Cyprian lived prior to the legalization of Christianity, and indeed became Bishop just prior to the start of the Decian persecution in January of 250, in which Christians were effectively forced to renounce Christ or be killed. It was during this same persecution that St Cyprian’s contemporary Origen was tortured, and died a few years after the persecution ended due to injuries suffered in his incarceration. St Cyprian himself avoided capture during the persecution by fleeing the city of Carthage, a decision which evoked some controversy. The Decian persecution did not last long, as persecutions ordered by Roman emperors ended upon their death, and Emperor Decius died in June of 251.

In the aftermath of the persecution there was great controversy. Emperor Decius had required everyone to sacrifice to him as a god or face torture. In doing so, the person would receive what was called a libellus to prove their sacrifice. Some Christians, out of fear or after torture, would sacrifice to the Emperor and received theirs. Others bribed officials in order to receive a libellus without making sacrifice. St Cyprian determined that such Christians who had lapsed during the persecution could be re-admitted to the Church, but only after performing penance, and in so doing recognizing their error, and with the permission of the bishop.

The controversy that arose over opposition to his rules led him to pen one of his most celebrated works, his treatise On the Unity of the Church. He addressed in this case the specific issue of priests and others rebelling against him, but provides sound advice for the necessity of unity of all Christians by first referring to unity of the Church in Holy Scripture and then writes:

Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church, when moreover the blessed Apostle Paul teaches the same thing, and 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?”
The Church also is one, which is spread abroad far and wide into a multitude by an increase of fruitfulness. As there are many rays of the sun, but one light; and many branches of a tree, but one strength based in its tenacious root; and since from one spring flow many streams, although the multiplicity seems diffused in the liberality of an overflowing abundance, yet the unity is still preserved in the source.  Separate a ray of the sun from its body of light, its unity does not allow a division of light; break a branch from a tree,—when broken, it will not be able to bud; cut off the stream from its fountain, and that which is cut off dries up. Thus also the Church, shone over with the light of the Lord, sheds forth her rays over the whole world, yet it is one light which is everywhere diffused, nor is the unity of the body separated. Her fruitful abundance spreads her branches over the whole world. She broadly expands her rivers, liberally flowing, yet her head is one, her source one; and she is one mother, plentiful in the results of fruitfulness: from her womb we are born, by her milk we are nourished, by her spirit we are animated.

This emphasis on the unity of the Church, throughout Scripture and through the traditions of the Church speaks to his status as an exegete and echoes a message through the centuries which remains ever relevant today in the age of countless schisms.

St Cyprian lived through the various plagues that hit Carthage, before Emperor Valerian came to the throne. Understanding that a new persecution was about to begin, he wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom which was meant to encourage Christians to stand firm in their faith. Again he emphasizes Holy Scripture in his writing, and writes from multiple perspectives and arguments on the virtues and benefits of holding firm in our faith. He concludes in the thirteenth chapter discussing suffering and the rewards for it, recalling St Paul’s statements on suffering before concluding:

Who, then, does not with all his powers labour to attain to such a glory that he may become the friend of God, that he may at once rejoice with Christ, that after earthly tortures and punishments he may receive divine rewards? If to soldiers of this world it is glorious to return in triumph to their country when the foe is vanquished, how much more excellent and greater is the glory, when the devil is overcome, to return in triumph to paradise, and to bring back victorious trophies to that place whence Adam was ejected as a sinner, after casting down him who formerly had cast him down; to offer to God the most acceptable gift—an uncorrupted faith, and an unyielding virtue of mind, an illustrious praise of devotion; to accompany Him when He shall come to receive vengeance from His enemies, to stand at His side when He shall sit to judge, to become co-heir of Christ, to be made equal to the angels; with the patriarchs, with the apostles, with the prophets, to rejoice in the possession of the heavenly kingdom!

In 257, Emperor Valerian began a new persecution ordering all Christian clergy to sacrifice to nobility or face exile. St Cyprian refused and was exiled from Carthage. In 258 the persecution was extended to all Christian nobility as well as clergy. Clergy faced execution while the nobility faced loss of titles, property and freedom. St Cyprian voluntarily returned to Carthage to confess his faith and face martyrdom. He was sentenced to death and beheaded in 258.

NB. The Feast of Cyprian is commemorated on 13 September, but as that fell on Sunday, the feast is transferred to a ferial day.