Cyprian (; ; to 14 September 258 AD) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berber descent, many of whose Latin works are extant. He is recognized as a saint in the Western and Eastern churches.

He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education. Soon after converting to Christianity, he became a bishop in 249. A controversial figure during his lifetime, his strong pastoral skills, firm conduct during the Novatianist controversy and outbreak of the Plague of Cyprian (named for his description of it), and eventual martyrdom at Carthage established his reputation and proved his sanctity in the eyes of the Church.

His skilful Latin rhetoric led to his being considered the pre-eminent Latin writer of Western Christianity until Jerome and Augustine.

Early life

Cyprian was born into a rich pagan Roman African Before his conversion, he was a leading member of a legal fraternity in Carthage, an orator, a "pleader in the courts", and a teacher of rhetoric. After a "dissipated youth", Cyprian was baptized when he was thirty-five years old, . After his baptism, he gave away a portion of his wealth to the poor of Carthage, as befitted a man of his status.

In the early days of his conversion, he wrote an Epistola ad Donatum de gratia Dei and the Testimoniorum Libri III that adhere closely to the models of Tertullian, who influenced his style and thinking. Cyprian described his own conversion and baptism in the following words:

Contested election as bishop of Carthage

Not long after his baptism, he was ordained a deacon and soon afterwards a priest. Sometime between July 248 and April 249, he was elected bishop of Carthage, a popular choice among the poor who remembered his patronage as demonstrating good equestrian style. However, his rapid rise did not meet with the approval of senior members of the clergy in Carthage, an opposition that did not disappear during his episcopate.

Not long afterwards, the entire community was put to an unwanted test. Christians in North Africa had not suffered persecution for many years; the Church was assured and lax. In early 250, the Decian persecution began. Emperor Decius issued an edict, the text of which is lost, ordering sacrifices to the gods to be made throughout the Empire. Jews were specifically exempted from that requirement. Cyprian chose to go into hiding, rather than face potential execution. While some clergy saw that decision as a sign of cowardice, Cyprian defended himself by saying that he had fled in order not to leave the faithful without a shepherd during the persecution and that his decision to continue to lead them, although from a distance, was in accordance with divine will. Moreover, he pointed to the actions of the Apostles and Jesus himself: "And therefore the Lord commanded us in the persecution to depart and to flee; and both taught that this should be done, and Himself did it. For as the crown is given by the condescension of God, and cannot be received unless the hour comes for accepting it, whoever abiding in Christ departs for a while does not deny his faith, but waits for the time..."

Controversy over the lapsed

The persecution was especially severe at Carthage, according to Church sources. Many Christians fell away and were thereafter referred to as "Lapsi" (fallen). The majority had obtained signed statements (libelli) certifying that they had sacrificed to the Roman gods to avoid persecution or confiscation of property. In some cases, Christians had actually sacrificed, whether under torture or otherwise. Cyprian found those libellatici especially cowardly and demanded that they and the rest of the lapsi undergo public penance before being readmitted to the Church.

thumb|120px|Mosaic of Saint Cyprian of Carthage in the [[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna]]

However, in Cyprian's absence, some priests disregarded his wishes by readmitting the lapsed to communion with little or no public penance. Some of the lapsi presented a second libellus purported to bear the signature of some martyr or confessor who, it was held, had the spiritual prestige to reaffirm individual Christians. That system was not limited to Carthage, but on a wider front by its charismatic nature, it clearly constituted a challenge to institutional authority in the Church, in particular to that of the bishop. Hundreds or even thousands of lapsi were readmitted that way against the express wishes of Cyprian and the majority of the Carthaginian clergy, who insisted upon earnest repentance. The council in the main sided with Cyprian and condemned Felicissimus though no acts of that council survive.

The schism continued as the laxists elected a certain Fortunatus as bishop in opposition to Cyprian. At the same time, the rigorist party in Rome, who refused reconciliation to any of the lapsed, elected Novatian as bishop of Rome in opposition to Pope Cornelius. The Novatianists also secured the election of a certain Maximus as a rival bishop of their own at Carthage. Cyprian now found himself wedged between laxists and rigorists, but the polarisation highlighted the firm but moderate position adopted by Cyprian and strengthened his influence by wearing down the numbers of his opponents. Moreover, his dedication during the time of a great plague and famine gained him still further popular support. Cyprian, however, spoke against the efficacy of baptism performed by heretics and insisted on their rebaptism, and he believed that the Eucharist cannot be properly consecrated outside the Church.

Cyprian was one of the earliest of the Church Fathers to enunciate clearly and unambiguously the doctrine of baptismal regeneration ("the idea that salvation happens at and by water baptism duly administered"): "While he attributed all the saving energy to the grace of God, he considered the 'laver of saving water' the instrument of God that makes a person 'born again,' receiving a new life and putting off what he had previously been. The 'water of new birth' animated him to new life by the Spirit of holiness working through it."

Church

Cyprian believed that the lapsed could be re-admitted to the Church after penance and he opposed the Novatians.

Cyprian believed the see of Peter (Rome) is the direct heir of Peter. While Cyprian believed that all the apostles were equal and that all the bishops followed the Apostles in succession, Cyprian emphasized the unity of the Church under a single cathedra (chair): "he [Jesus Christ] assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord."

Other

Cyprian was amillennial. Augustine argued that Cyprian taught the gift of perseverance. Cyprian argued that each day of the Genesis creation account consisted of 1,000 years.

Veneration

Churches were erected over his tomb and over the place of his death. In later centuries, however, these churches were destroyed by the Vandals. The graves of such saints as Cyprian and Martin of Tours came to be regarded as "contact points between Heaven and Earth", and they became the centres of new, redefined, Christian urban communities. A surviving homily from Augustine on Cyprian's feast day indicates that his following was fairly widespread throughout Africa by the fourth century.

Charlemagne is said to have had the bones transferred to France; and Lyon, Arles, Venice, Compiègne, and Roenay in Flanders all have claimed to possess part of the martyr's relics.

The Catholic Church celebrates his feast day together with that of his good friend Pope Cornelius on 16 September, Lutherans now commemorate him on 16 September, while Anglicans celebrate his feast usually either on 13 September (e.g. the Anglican Church of Australia) or 15 September (the present-day Church of England Calendar of saints) remembers him with a Lesser Festival.

References

Sources

English Translations of Works by St. Cyprian

  • St. Cyprian. The lapsed. The unity of the Catholic Church, translated and annotated by Maurice Bévenot, SJ), 1957 (Ancient Christian Writers, 25)
  • The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage, translated and annotated by ), 4 vols., 1984-89 (Ancient Christian Writers, 43–44, 46–47)
  • Brent, Allen, editor and translator, "St Cyprian of Carthage: Selected Treatises," St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2007,
  • Brent, Allen, editor and translator, "St Cyprian of Carthage: Selected Letters," St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2007,
  • Campbell, Phillip, editor, "The Complete works of Saint Cyprian" Evolution Publishing, 2013,
  • Christian Classics Ethereal Library: Cyprian texts

Others

  • Daniel, Robin, "This Holy Seed: Faith, Hope and Love in the Early Churches of North Africa", (Chester, Tamarisk Publications, 2010: from www.opaltrust.org)
  • J.M. Tebes, "Cyprian of Carthage: Christianity and Social World in the 3rd. century", Cuadernos de Teología 19, (2000)
  • Pontius the Deacon (Pontius Diaconis), "The Life and Passion of Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr"
  • "The Plague of AD 251"
  • Works by Cyprian at the IntraText Digital Library, with concordance and frequency lists
  • Acta proconsularia S. Cypriani
  • Multilanguage Opera Omnia
  • Pope, Charles. "The Life of Saint Cyprian of Carthage"
  • https://www.patheos.com/blogs/nightowlmeditations/2019/04/saints-and-witchcraft-the-patron-saints-of-witches/