Cornelius, Pope and Saint Cyprian, bishop, martyrs

Biography

CORNELIUS, Pope, Roman and cradle Christian. CYPRIAN, the son of a wealthy pagan family, was destined by God to become the leader of young African Christianity. He was a famous professor and orator and a man with positions and merits, when God sent him the old priest Cecilio, who taught him the spiritual path of the Gospel and the cross. His conversion was radical. Cyprian abandoned the belief in the gods of his ancestors; He left his noble career, gave his entire fortune to the poor and was baptized at the age of forty-six. He retired to solitude to read the Sgda. Scripture, to pray and meditate. He returned to Carthage two years later as a priest and became an evangelizer of his country, and according to the custom of that time, he was elected Bishop by acclamation of the people. He always defended the union with Rome, with the following chair of Peter: "he who does not have the Church as his Mother cannot have God as his Father." In the middle of the 3rd century both came to the fore, CYPRIAN as Bishop of Carthage and CORNELIUS as Bishop of Rome, and collaborated in solving the drama of the apostates. The persecutions had weakened thousands of believers, and after the storm it was necessary to decide what was the right attitude towards the apostates. The party led by the Novatian clergyman maintained that his sin was an unforgivable sin, and that the Church had no power to absolve and reconcile those who, after having renounced their faith, said they were repentant. Harsh sentence, are there unforgivable sins? Pope Cornelius, interpreting the spirit of the Gospel, opposed such a decision, and from Carthage, Cyprian supported him with all his authority and with his Ciceronian eloquence as an ancient rhetorician. And so, thanks to them, Novatian's doctrine was condemned, and charity towards all was saved without loss of faith. Misunderstood figures of the two, generous men of charity without distinction. Both in the test had the fortitude of the strong: Cyprian was beheaded and ordered to give twenty-five gold coins to his executioner for his work and Pope Cornelius died inflexible in exile.