October 15, the Church commemorates the holy martyrs Cyprian and Justina. The once ardent faith of the maiden Justina turned the magician Cyprian from black magic to Christianity. Today, the lives of these saints remind everyone who believes in "evil eyes", "love spells" and the like, that faith in Christ protects a person much more than worship of dubious powers.
In the rich province of the Roman Empire, Antioch, in Asia Minor, a priest named Cyprian lived in the 3rd century. Originally from Carthage, at the age of eight the boy was given away by his parents to teach all the pagan wisdom. However, his education was not limited to the then philosophy and other sciences. The young man paid much more attention to the comprehension of secret knowledge, turning for them to the most different centers of the then magic - Mesopotamia, Egypt, Babylon. By the age of 30, he fully completed his studies - and became the most famous wizards, possessing incredible power. Cyprian could, by his sorcery, give people the ability to fly through the air, walk on water, and performed other similar miracles.
However, he was much better at what in modern terminology is called black magic - necromancy, targeting damage, causing disease and epidemics, inciting enmity, love spells. The magician boasted that he was a personal friend of Satan, who promised after his death to make him one of the main princes in the Underworld, and during his lifetime gave a whole squad of demons to serve.
At this time in Antioch, his young daughter named Justina lived in the family of the idol priest Edesias. Once accidentally hearing from the deacon a few words from the Gospel, the girl was inflamed in heart - and believed in Christ. After a while, she brought her parents to church - so, her father even became a Christian presbyter. She herself took a vow of virginity, deciding to devote herself to the Heavenly Bridegroom.
However, soon in Justina, captivated by her beauty, he fell in love without memory, as they would say now, the major - the son of rich and noble parents named Aglaid. Having received a decisive refusal from his chosen one, he first tried to seduce her with money, then - to take by force. But neither money nor glory deceived the girl devoted to Christ, and her neighbors stopped the attempt of violence by the unfortunate groom. And then Aglaid decided to take a roundabout way - and turned to Cyprian for help, giving him a considerable amount of money. The latter assured the client that such a job for a wizard of his level was a trifling matter, and sent a demon to Justina's house, who specialized in inciting lust.
But the chaste girl, feeling the “rebellion of the flesh” growing in her body, immediately began to pray - and the demon fled in shame. Cyprian sent a stronger demon to her - but Justina, strengthening her prayer by fasting, defeated him too.
The sorcerer gave Aglaid the appearance of a bird so that he could penetrate the object of his passion through the window - but just one glance of the bride of Christ was enough for the demon carrying the lust to evaporate without a trace. And the unfortunate "pilot" himself, having fallen from a height, could have crashed to death - however, he made a soft landing to the prayers of a merciful girl.
In the end, the sorcerer and his hellish henchmen, disappointed in their attempts to defeat the fragile girl, decided to deceive their "customer". In order to preserve the authority of the great and invincible magician, Cyprian ordered one of the demons to take the form of a rebellious Christian woman so that the “major”, distraught with passion, could satisfy her lust, taking deception at face value. But when, at the sight of the false Justina, Aglaid turned to her, he dematerialized, unable to bear even the name of the girl.
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Then the enraged magician began to force the invincible adversary to surrender by other, more harsh methods. He began to send diseases to people and cattle - not only Justina and her family suffered from them, but also other residents of Antioch, who, in fear of Cyprian, asked the girl to agree to become the bride of a stubborn young man. But it was enough for a Christian woman to strengthen her prayer - and the evil spell dissipated like smoke.
And then hard times came for the former idol of local pagans - people began to laugh openly at his impotence. And the magician himself was thinking hard: what is his mistake? Finally, he remembered how some time ago one of the demons explained the impossibility of approaching Justina by the fact that she "bears some sign" - a cross. And suddenly he received his sight - and with anger said to the devil: "If you are so afraid of the Cross, then how much more would you tremble before the One who was crucified on it ?!" Unable to endure just reproof, the devil pounced on Cyprian and began to strangle him. The half-strangled wizard, on a whim, made the sign of the cross over himself - and that was enough to make his formidable opponent retreat.
The next day, the former thunderstorm of all Antioch humbly came to the Christian church and asked the bishop to baptize him. He, not believing in the sincerity of a neophyte with such a dubious fame, at first ordered Cyprian to stay for a long time among the "catechumens" - candidates for Christians. But the repentant sorcerer did not want to wait and declared that he would not leave the temple until his wish was fulfilled. The bishop reluctantly performed the rite of Baptism. And after some time, the torch of pagan wisdom and magic, well-known throughout the ancient world, burned all his books on magic with a large crowd of people.
However, Cyprian's church career went no less quickly than his magical one. A bright head and a warm heart, even if at first their efforts were aimed at evil, after turning to God are valued no less than those who have always been righteous. And they are valued much more than "lukewarmness", when a person has neither great sins, nor noticeable virtues. It is not for nothing that in the Apocalypse, the Lord says to the would-be believers of the sample “neither fish nor flesh”: “Oh, if you were cold or hot … but since you are warm, I will vomit you out of my mouth! (Apoc. 3: 15-16).
And Cyprian's heat was in no way inferior to his former "icy cold." A week later, the newly converted believer was made a reader, a month later he was ordained a priest, and a year later he was ordained a bishop. Having perfectly mastered Christian wisdom, but not forgetting pagan knowledge, the new bishop quickly converted almost all local pagans to the faith of Christ, smashing all their arguments to smithereens, and at the same time confirming his preaching by personal example. And it’s true: if the greatest magician was disappointed in paganism, what was the point of holding on to it for ordinary "lukewarm" idolaters? And Justina, after the death of her parents, built a monastery with the money left to her as an inheritance - and, having gathered there virgins wishing to consecrate themselves to Christ, she was elected abbess by them.
The years passed. After a short "thaw" in the pagan persecutions of Christianity, the last, most terrible, unleashed emperor Diocletian began. It also reached Antioch. Appearing before the court in 304 AD, both Cyprian and Justina firmly confessed their faith in Christ, not wanting to renounce it even under the threat of death. After that, they were beheaded with a sword.
And so they went down in history: a fragile girl, by the power of faith and hope in the mercy of God, who defeated the demonic spells - and the great sorcerer who was amazed by this power and repented of his previous atrocities, who became the bishop of Christ. This pair seems to symbolize the two sides of Christianity - faith and knowledge. Since then, Cyprian and Justina have been deservedly revered by the Church as one of the most powerful helpers in the fight against evil witchcraft.
Even now, 17 centuries after their martyrdom, the Lives of these saints are still more than relevant. More than others - for those who, after reading occult literature, everywhere fancies "corruption", "evil eye" and the like, for protection from which, again, they go to sorcerers and magicians. People cannot understand that much stronger than all these dubious practices is a sincere faith in the One who conquered hell and all its servants, dying and resurrected on the third day.
The life of Cyprian and Justina is also relevant to those who hope to gain unthinkable power in the study of secret knowledge, not realizing that it is only a short-term appearance, in comparison with the immeasurable power of the Creator and Creator of the world. And to pay for this appearance you have to pay the most expensive - with your immortal soul and hope for a blissful life in Eternity.
In conclusion, let us turn with a short prayer: "Hieromartyr Cyprian with the blessed martyr Justinia - pray to God for us!"
YURI NOSOVSKY
