Hieromartyr
Hieromartyr Cyprian of Antioch
† 304
Hieromartyr Cyprian of Antioch — a former pagan sorcerer who three times unsuccessfully tried to seduce the virgin Justina through demonic power, converted by her prayer, who became a bishop and was beheaded together with Justina at Nicomedia in 304.
Saint Cyprian was born in Antioch to pagan parents and dedicated from age seven to the service of idols; he studied sorcery in Athens, Argos, Taurople, Lacedaemon, and Memphis in Egypt, becoming so renowned a magician that pagans came to him from far and wide seeking demonic aid.
At the instigation of a jealous young man named Aglaides, Cyprian used his magical arts three times to try to seduce the devout virgin Justina into sin, but each time her prayer and the sign of the Cross put the demons to flight. Recognizing that the power of Christ was greater than all the darkness he served, Cyprian burned his books of magic, went to Bishop Anthimus in tears of repentance, and was baptized, afterward rising through the ranks of the clergy to become a bishop himself.
During the persecution of Diocletian, Cyprian and Justina were arrested, tortured, and cast into a boiling cauldron from which they emerged unharmed; the soldier Theoctistus, witnessing this miracle, confessed Christ and was martyred alongside them. All three were beheaded at Nicomedia in 304.
Their feast is kept on October 2/15.