Information provided here may be useful as
October 31 approaches...
Many Christians
recognize the darkness that casts itself 'round about on the celebration of
halloween each year. Some choose to ignore the festivities, some opt for
alternative activities, some see it as purely harmless fun. In recent
years, I have come to view it as an opportunity for prayer and
education. Here below is a short life of Saints Cyprian & Justina;
Cyprian who was once a sorcerer and converted to Orthodox Christianity in the
third century.
By reading the life
of the Saints below, parents and young people can reckon that the phenomenon of
sorcerers is not something that is pure fantasy found in fiction books
only. It is real power energized by demonic forces, but not power that is
greater than that offered by God Himself, to Whom the demons are subject and
tremble. Note the power of the making of the sign of the Cross in this
account...
LIVES OF SAINTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Ss. Cyprian and Justina
In the reign of the pagan emperor
Decius (249-251), there lived in the city of Antioch inAsia Minor a famous
philosopher and magician whose name was Cyprian. His parents were pagan
and when he was still a child, they sent him to study sorcery and demonic
wisdom. Cyprian learned all sorts of evil tricks which hewas able to perform
with the help of demons. He could send diseases upon people, produce
thunder, cause damage to crops, and finally he even learned howto call forth
the dead from the graves and force them to speak by means of various magic spells.
He became a great sorcerer, magician and destroyer of souls. God had
given him a good mind, but Cyprian used all his knowledge to serve evil.
He became the faithful slave of the prince of darkness.
Returning to Antioch, it was not long before
Cyprian was teaching others how to perform evil tricks: some he taught to fly
in the air, others to sail in boats on the clouds, still others to walk on
water. By the pagans he was greatly honored as a chief priest and most
wise servant of their horrid gods. The prince of darkness himself, as
Cyprian later related, spoke with him face toface and praised him for his
obedience, promising to help him in everything during his earthly life.
Cyprian described how he saw the prince of darkness sitting on a throne and
surrounded by a countless number of evil spirits.
Through his wicked way of life, Cyprian had
already placed himself in the jaws of the devil. But the Lord Who, in His
great love for mankind, desires that all men be saved, wished also to save
Cyprian. And He did this in the following way...
There lived in Antioch at that time a certain
maiden named Justina who had chosen Christ as her bridegroom. She served
Him with her whole heart, with fervent prayer and a pure life. Seeing her
virtuous life, the devil, the hater of mankind, became angry and began to do
her harm.
In the same city there lived a young man
named Aglaias who was very rich and led a very worldly life of pleasure.
Once it happened that he saw Justina as she was going to church and he was
struck by her beauty.
By evil trickery, the evil one planted in his
heart shameful feelings towards the maiden. Aglaias, burning with
passion, tried by every means to win the love of Justina and thereby deceive
her into falling into sin with him. But Justina firmly resisted for she had
already chosen Christ as her bridegroom. Finally, unable to deceive her
himself, Aglalas asked Cyprianto help him, promising him much gold and silver
if he should succeed.
Cyprian called on one of the evil spirits who
proudly said that he should have no trouble implanting the same impure thoughts
into the heart of Justina. The next night, when Justina was praying, she
noticed that some wicked thoughts had entered her head and she felt as though
her body were possessed by a sinful attraction for Aglaias. Recognizing
that this was caused by the evil schemes of the devil, she only increased her
prayers. This put the demon to shame and he was forced to flee. The
inward battle stopped and Justina glorified God and sang a song of victory.
Then Cyprian sent a more powerful
demon. But, he, too, was unable to overcome the maiden. Finally the
prince of darkness himself, disguised as a woman, came to Justina and tried to
deceive her using words of Scripture. But Justina saw that this, too, was
the work of the devil. She protected herself with the sign of the Cross
and the wicked one immediately vanished in great shame.
Seeing how powerless even the prince of
darkness was against Justina, Cyprian became angryand demanded to know what
weapon the maiden used against them. The devil admitted: "We cannot
behold the sign of the Cross, but flee from it,because it scorches us like fire
and banishes us far away."
Having become convinced that nothing could
conquer the power of the sign of the cross and the name of Christ, Cyprian came
to his senses and said to the devil, "O destroyer and deceiver of
all. Now I have discovered your true weakness; woe is me.
For, I, too, have been deceived. Get away from me, you wretched
one." Angered by these words, the devil threw himself at Cyprian in
order to kill him. But Cyprian protected himself with the sign of the Cross and
the devil immediately leaped away from him like an arrow shot from a bow.
Fully realizing his sins, Cyprian went to the
Christian bishop and begged him to give him holy baptism. He then gave him all
his books of magic to be burned. Seeing his genuine repentance, the bishop
baptized him and burned his books in front of all the believing people.
Cyprian completely changed his life and began to work not only for his own
salvation, but also to help others. Soon he was made a bishop and Justina
became the abbess of a convent.
The devil was angry at this betrayal of one
of his former servants. He inspired the pagan rulers with the idea that
Cyprian and Justina were their enemies because they were leading people away
from the pagan gods to the worship of Christ. Many deceived pagans went
to the governor and demanded that Cyprian and Justina be put to death.
After they had bravely withstood many tortures, these two servants of the true
God were beheaded with a sword. The devil had thought to destroy Cyprian
and Justina, but instead, they had gained crowns of martyrdom and eternal life
with Christ our God, to Whom be glory and honor forever. Amen.
(Adapted from the Life
of Ss. Cyprian and Justina, The Orthodox Word , Vol.XII, 5)
Here's
a thought--the lives of these Saints can make an interesting great Sunday
School reading and opening for discussion in classes held close to Oct. 31.
I decorate our front
door on halloween night with a sign that an artistic Orthodox friend
created at my request--it has a circle with a line through it (like the old
"ghostbusters" symbol) superimposed over the word Halloween, i.e.,
"No" Halloween. Under it that it says, "Come back on St.
Nicholas Day, December 6, for a sweet treat!" Any kid who shows up
on December 6 will get a bag of gold wrapped foil coins from our house and
receives an awareness of the "real" St. Nicholas of Myra.
Orthodox churches might
consider offering this positive alternative on halloween night--an akathist
prayer service to St. Cyprian. The Book of Akathists, Vol. 2 published by
Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY, contains the Akathist to St.
Cyprian. St. Isaac of Syria Skete has two beautiful mounted icons of the
Saint--one of Ss. Cyprian & Justina together(http://skete.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=671) and one of St. Cyprian
alone: http://skete.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=401
These are just a few
thoughts of ways that one can give glory to God and wise teaching through the
lives of His Saints in contrast to traditional halloween fare.
Pres. Candace
