A saint's day
Sts Cyprian and Justina
Cyprian of Antioch was dedicated to the pagan gods from childhood and studied sorcery until he could command demons. A young pagan asked him to win the Christian maiden Justina by magic, but she overcame every demon he sent with prayer, fasting and the Sign of the Cross; seeing the devil powerless before Christ, Cyprian renounced him, burned his books of magic and was baptized. He became a bishop and Justina an abbess, and under Diocletian both were beheaded at Nicomedia, with the soldier Theoctistus, who came to faith on seeing their courage.
The dates
- Kept on
- 2 October (15 October on the Old Calendar)
- Next, New Calendar
- Next, Old Calendar
The New Calendar (the Greek, Antiochian, Romanian and Bulgarian churches, the OCA and most converts) keeps fixed feasts on the church date; the Old Calendar (the Russian, Serbian and Georgian churches, Jerusalem and Mount Athos) keeps them 13 days later. Pascha and the feasts that follow it are kept on the same day by both.
How the day is kept
Orthodox Christians pray to them for protection from sorcery, the evil eye and every power of darkness; in Russia they are invoked chiefly against spells.
In Greek practice a priest reads the Prayer of St Cyprian over those troubled by the evil eye. Church writers warn that such prayers are not charms, and that the chief defense is turning to God.
He is a different saint from St Cyprian of Carthage.
Name days
These names keep their name day on this feast: