Saint Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, son of a noble educated family from North Africa, born in the year 200 AD and departed in the year 258 AD. He was baptized late in his life when he was forty-six, then quickly built up his faith and distributed his wealth to the poor.

His formation and episcopal role
He studied eloquence, philosophy and rhetoric and was among the intellectuals of his era, then became a priest and was consecrated bishop of Carthage in 248 AD. He contributed writings that clarify the bishop’s duties and the order of the Church, and represented the concept of the Church as the place of salvation (like Noah’s ark) from the viewpoint of piety and the presence of the sacraments.

Persecution, disappearance and letters
He lived in the time of the widespread Decian persecution and was forced to disappear temporarily to protect the Church, sending letters to strengthen the faithful. During his period of disappearance he composed about thirty-nine letters that he sent to the clergy of Rome and the clergy of Carthage and exchanged with the bishop of Rome Cornelius.

Addressing the lapsed and organizing return
After the persecution eased he wrote about the lapsed and set laws and criteria for accepting those who had fallen away from the faith (distinguishing kinds of falling: by severe torture or by light fear or cowardice), and he sought to restore the erring to the bosom of the Church by disciplinary and spiritual means.

Council work and the baptism of heretics issue
He convened a council in Carthage and decided not to accept the baptism of heretics, considering it a false baptism; this decision remained a subject of study and time for its consolidation in the Church.

Spiritual and theological writings
He has many works: on the unity of the Church, on the dress of virgins and consecrated women, on the Lord’s Prayer, on patience and endurance in tribulations, on envy and jealousy, three books against the Jews, and three books urging martyrdom. He also wrote a defense of Christians to the civil governors and answered the pagans’ accusations that Christians were the cause of disasters.

Martyrdom and death
Later he faced persecution in the time of Valerian and was exiled to Corinth, then returned and surrendered to the death of martyrdom for Christ; he prayed a long prayer and his head was cut off and the people were blessed by his blood. He left a great legacy of letters and books that organized the Church’s being and spirituality in his era.

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