Saints Cyprian & Justina

Nov. 1, 2019

Last night, we said an Akathist to Saints Cyprian & Justina.

Father Justin wrote in an email: "(They are especially invoked for those under demonic influence, very important for us to pray for the world on this night)." I am not sure whether this was a Vespers? I guess I need to find out what an Akathist is. Spelling it correctly would be a good start-- I was omitting the end "t." An Akathist is a hymn dedicated to a saint, holy event, or one of the members of the Trinity. I guess it can still be considered Vespers, though, because of the time of the day (we go to Vespers on Saturday nights because in Orthodox time, the liturgical day starts the evening before).


The prayers themselves tell the story of the saints. To paraphrase from the link above, Cyprian was a powerful Wiccan in 249AD, in Antioch. He was trained by sorcerers from a very young age, and dabbled in the Dark Arts, as we say in the 21st century. He commanded demons, and people often sought out his powers.

"Already he was entirely in the depths of hell and in the jaws of the devil; he was a son of gehenna, a partaker of the demonic inheritance and of their eternal perdition. But the Lord, who does not desire the death of a sinner, in His unutterable goodness and His mercy which is not conquered by the sins of men, deigned to seek out this lost man, to draw out of the abyss one who was mired in the filth of the depths of hell, and to save him in order to show to all men His mercy; for there is no sin which can conquer His love of mankind."

Justina was a young woman who also lived in Antioch, and she started to hear about Christ.

"Once, sitting at the window of her house, this maiden, who had then already reached womanhood, by chance heard the words of salvation out of the mouth of a deacon who was passing by, whose name was Praylius. He spoke of our Lord Jesus Christ's becoming man, that He had been born of the Most Pure Virgin and, having performed many miracles, had deigned to suffer for the sake of our salvation, had risen from the dead with glory, ascended into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father and reigns eternally. This preaching of the deacon fell on good soil, into the heart of Justina, and began quickly to bring forth fruit, uprooting in her the thorns of unbelief. Justina wished to be instructed in the Faith by this deacon better and more completely, but she did not dare to seek him out, being restrained by a maiden's modesty. However, she secretly went to the church of Christ, and often hearing the word of God, with the Holy Spirit acting in her heart, she came to believe in Christ."

Her parents, who had been pagans, were also converted after a time. After her conversion, Justina had no wish to marry a mortal man. She wanted to devote her life to Christ. But a young, wealthy man named Aglaias saw Justina and wanted her. He tried to court her, but she would have none of it. 

So, Aglaias sought the help of the great Wiccan Cyprian, which is how Cyprian came to be saved. 

Aglaias asked Cyprian for a spell to make Justina fall in love with him. Aglaias sprinkled a powder over her house, and Justina was afflicted with lust for Aglaias. However, Justina recognized herself to be under evil influence, and she prayed fervently made the sign of the cross and overcame the spell. 

The demon who had been sent to tempt and overtake Justina went back and told Cyprian that Justina had used a weapon that had caused the demon to flee. 

Cyprian figured he better just use a better demon. 

He sent several more demons to try to tempt her, and one by one, she defeated all of them with her faith and the sign of the cross. 

Finally, Cyprian, unable to understand how one simple virgin could overpower all of these powerful demons, asked a demon what the weapon was that Justina had used against them. 

"In great disturbance, the proud prince of the demons returned to Cyprian, who, finding out that he had not managed to do anything, said to him: "Can it be that even you, a prince powerful and more skillful than others in such matters, could not conquer the maiden? Who then among you can do anything with this unconquerable maiden's heart? Tell me by what weapon she battles with you, and how she makes powerless your mighty power?"Being conquered by the power of God, the devil unwillingly acknowledged: "We cannot behold the sign of the Cross, but flee from it, because it scorches us like fire and banishes us far away."
Cyprian became angry at the devil because he had put him to shame, and reproaching the demon, he said: "Such is your power that even a weak virgin conquers you!"

Cyprian was furious, so he rained down hell on Justina, her family, and he entire village. However, Justina assured the villagers that God would heal them and remove their trials. She prayed, and what she said came to pass.

People began to mock Cyprian because his power was not greater than Christ's.

Cyprian repented and asked the villagers for mercy. Cyprian told the devil:

"For if you fear even the shadow of the cross and tremble at the name of Christ, then what will you do when Christ Himself comes to you? If you cannot conquer those who sign themselves with the sign of the cross, then whom will you tear away from the hands of Christ?"

The devil attacked Cyprian, who cried out for the God of Justina to save him. He made the sign of the cross, and the devil departed.

Cyprian then gathered up all of his books and took them to the local bishop and burned them. He begged the bishop to baptize him. He was made Catechumen. There is a part of the liturgy that says, "Depart, Catechumen, depart!" and in the old days, indeed, the Catechumen had to leave the church before the Eucharist was brought out. But Cyprian refused to leave until they baptized him.

Cyprian became a reader, then a deacon, and then a priest, and finally a bishop. Justina became one of his primary helpers, and he made her a deaconess and then an abbess at a convent.

The pagans, however, who had relied on Cyprian to help them, were not happy. They complained to the governor that these Christians were trying to overthrow the government.

The governor asked Cyprian why he had given up his life of wealth and power. Cyprian told the governor about what had happened, and the governor threw Cyprian and Justina into prison and tortured them. They withstood every torture, praising God the whole time.

They were eventually condemned to be beheaded. Cyprian was afraid that Justina would be frightened if she saw him beheaded first, so he asked for extra time to pray, but she joyfully stretched out her neck when it was time.



They were both martyred for their faith. Their bodies were unburied for six days, until strangers stole them away to Rome and a pious woman, Rufina, who was related to Claudius Caesar, buried them with honor. Many who have come to their graves in faith have been healed.

We said the Akathist to these saints on Halloween because praying to them helps people who are afflicted with demons-- which we all are, to some degree.