Tag: Ss. Cornelius & Cyprian

Many of us probably can remember building sand castles in our youth. We learned pretty quickly that there was always a price to pay for laying the foundation of it too near the water. It might go well for a while, but one good wave, and all our hard work would be washed away.  Well, the same is true for our spiritual lives.  Perhaps for a while we are offering our prayers on the run, not really taking time to be with the Lord.  That might work okay for a while, but all it takes is the wave of one good trial or crisis, and everything we think we’ve built up is gone.  We find ourselves lost, scattered by the disarray of our spiritual lives.  Building that firm foundation is extremely important, and it’s something we can never fake.

St. Cornelius knew that well.  He was elected pope after a 14 month vacancy in the office, because of all the infighting in the Church at the time.  He had to mediate many crises, most especially the heresy of Novationism, which denied that anyone who sinned could be reconciled.  Because of his stand, his detractors elected the first anti-pope, and had Cornelius exiled to Civitavecchia, where he died as a result of his exile.  His friend, St. Cyprian, a bishop, was also involved in the Novation controversy.  He too was exiled in the persecution of Valerian, and martyred on September 14, 258.

We honor Saints Cornelius and Cyprian today, two men who built their faith on solid foundation.  With that foundation, they were able to work for Church unity, withstand heresies, persecution, exile and martyrdom, and come at last to the heavenly kingdom.  May we, like them, build our spiritual lives on firm foundation so that we may withstand whatever persecutions life may bring our way.

Today’s readings

Saint Cornelius was ordained as the Bishop of Rome in 251. His major contribution was to defend the faith against the Novatian schismatics, a group who denied the readmission into the Church of those who had lapsed in the faith when they performed a ritual sacrifice to pagan gods, under the threat of death by the Roman Emperor. Cornelius argued that being coerced did not sufficiently demonstrate a denial of the faith, and those who fell into it should be readmitted after performing penance. Saint Cyprian was a brother bishop who helped him in this struggle. Both men were subsequently martyred for the faith. Cornelius died in exile in 253, and Cyprian was beheaded in 258.

The focus of both men was to preserve church unity during a time when there was much oppression against the church. Cyprian wrote to Cornelius, “Dearest brother, bright and shining is the faith which the blessed Apostle (that is, St. Paul) praised in your community. He foresaw in the spirit the praise your courage deserves and the strength that could not be broken; he was heralding the future when he testified to your achievements; his praise of the fathers was a challenge to the sons. Your unity, your strength have become shining examples of these virtues to the rest of the brethren.”

The unity of the Church is one of the four marks of the Church, along with holy, catholic and apostolic. So preserving our unity is one of our primary duties, even now. That’s a challenge to us in these days of so many people not really living their faith; being “spiritual but not religious,” whatever that means, and so many little splinter churches starting up. This was not how Christ intended it to be and it’s up to all of us to be open to the return of our brothers and sisters.

So what will our own efforts at unity look like today?

St. Cornelius was ordained as the Bishop of Rome in 251.  His major contribution was to defend the faith against the Novatian schismatics, a group who denied the readmission of those who had lapsed in the faith by being made to perform a ritual sacrifice to pagan gods, under the threat of death by the Roman Emperor.  St. Cyprian was a brother bishop who helped him in this struggle.  Both men were subsequently martyred for the faith.  Cornelius died in exile in 253, and Cyprian was beheaded in 258.

The focus of both men was to preserve church unity during a time when there was much oppression against the church.  Cyprian wrote to Cornelius, “Dearest brother, bright and shining is the faith which the blessed Apostle (that is, St. Paul) praised in your community.  He foresaw in the spirit the praise your courage deserves and the strength that could not be broken; he was heralding the future when he testified to your achievements; his praise of the fathers was a challenge to the sons.  Your unity, your strength have become shining examples of these virtues to the rest of the brethren.”

The unity of the Church is one of the four marks of the Church, along with holy, catholic and apostolic.  So preserving our unity is one of our primary duties, even now.  That’s a challenge to us in these days of so many people not really living their faith; being “spiritual but not religious,” whatever that means, and so many little splinter churches starting up.  This was not how Christ intended it to be and it’s up to all of us to be open to the return of our brothers and sisters.

So what will our own efforts at unity look like today?

Today’s readings

The sin of the Pharisees as portrayed in today’s Gospel was the sin of believing only certain people were destined for salvation.  They denied that sinners could be loved by God, and they mocked Jesus for apparently not knowing this basic fact.  Oddly enough, less than three centuries later, Saints Cornelius and Cyprian had to deal with much the same controversy.

St. Cornelius was elected pope after a fourteen month vacancy in the office, because of all the infighting in the Church at the time. He had to mediate many crises, most especially the heresy of Novationism, which denied that anyone who sinned could be reconciled – sound familiar? Because of his stand, his detractors elected the first anti-pope, and had Cornelius exiled to Civitavecchia, where he died as a result of his exile. His friend, St. Cyprian, a bishop, was also involved in the Novation controversy. He too was exiled in the persecution of Valerian, and martyred on September 14, 258.

We honor Saints Cornelius and Cyprian today, two men who gave their lives witnessing to the salvation that Jesus Christ came to bring. They believed in the Gospel and because of that, they were able to withstand heresies, persecution, exile and martyrdom, and come at last to the heavenly kingdom. May we, like them, build our spiritual lives on the firm foundation of God’s love and mercy so that we may withstand whatever persecutions life may bring our way.