Saints Cyprian & Justina, Martyrs
Ss. Cypriani et Iustinae Virginis Martyrum
Saints Cyprian and Justina are venerated among the early martyrs, a man and a consecrated virgin who, by ancient tradition, laid down their lives together for the faith of Christ.
On this day the Church keeps the memory of Saints Cyprian and Justina, who are honoured among the martyrs of the early centuries. Justina is venerated as a holy virgin who gave herself wholly to Christ, and Cyprian as one who, having known the ways of the world, was won to the faith and at the last bore witness to it by his blood. Their names have been joined in the veneration of the Church from ancient times, and both are commemorated together in the Roman Martyrology.
What is known and what is legend
A celebrated story long told of these saints relates that Cyprian had been a pagan magician who sought by his arts to turn the virgin Justina from her purity and her faith, but that, overcome by the power of her prayers and the sign of the Cross, he was himself converted, became a Christian, and in the end suffered martyrdom at her side. This narrative was widely loved in the early Church and has inspired much in Christian art and letters. Yet the Church and careful historians treat its particulars with caution, for the account belongs to the kind of pious legend that grew up around certain early martyrs, and the details cannot be established with the certainty of history.
Where the story cannot be confirmed, it is fitting to honour soberly what the Church proposes: that Cyprian and Justina are numbered among the martyrs, that they bore witness to Christ in an age of persecution, and that their memory has been kept with reverence for many centuries. The communion of saints does not depend upon the fullness of our records; these two are commended to us as having loved Christ more than their own lives.
Their veneration
The feast of Saints Cyprian and Justina is kept on the twenty-sixth of September as a commemoration. In honouring them the Church remembers the multitude of early Christians, known and unknown, who in the time of persecution chose to suffer rather than to deny their Lord, and she sets before the faithful the example of a virgin’s constancy and of a soul drawn out of darkness into the light of Christ.
The Collect
Patronage
They are venerated among the early martyrs; the virgin Justina is honoured as a model of purity and steadfast faith.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar this commemoration is no longer kept on the universal calendar.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saints Cyprian and Justina?
Their commemoration is kept on 26 September in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Fourth Class feast.
Who were Saints Cyprian and Justina?
They are venerated as early martyrs — Justina as a consecrated virgin and Cyprian as a convert to the faith — who by ancient tradition suffered death for Christ together. Their names have long been joined in the veneration of the Church.
Is the story of Cyprian the magician historically certain?
No. The well-known account of Cyprian as a pagan magician converted through the prayers of the virgin Justina is a pious legend long beloved in the Church, but its particulars cannot be established as history. The Church honours soberly what is sure — that they are numbered among the martyrs — without vouching for the details of the legend.
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