Today, the Church celebrates the Memorial of two holy men who lived during the third century.
Life has always been difficult for those who choose to follow Christ. Evidence of this is abundant especially during the first centuries of the Christian era. The Roman emperors, who exercised temporal power at the time did not take kindly to anyone who would not submit to their orders. We see evidence of this in the stories of today's heroes.
During the third century, the Roman emperor Decius decreed that all those who would not renounce their Christian faith should be killed. Fabian, who was Pope at the time, was killed, along with many others, but there were some who denounced their faith and were spared. This was yet another attempt to defeat the Church. The thought was that without a pope, the Church would die away. Emperor Decius even went so far as to prevent the election of a successor to Fabian, but some priests managed to secretly carry out an election. While the emperor was at war, Cornelius was elected to succeed Fabian as Bishop of Rome.
There were added complications too. A priest named Novatian and his followers believed that those who had renounced their Christian faith could never return to the Church, even if they had repented, so Cornelius assembled a council of bishops to settle the dispute. The council affirmed Cornelius' belief and condemned Novatian's theory. Cornelius spent two years as Pope before he was arrested under the emperor's command and banished. He died in exile in 253.
Cyprian - who was Bishop of Carthage in North Africa - was a supporter and a friend of Cornelius. Cyprian was a native of Carthage, born in 210. He served as Bishop of Carthage for almost 10 years, but only really experienced peace for the first year of that term. The persecutions that were carried out under the emperor Decius began around 211, and like Cornelius, Cyprian too had to address the challenges voiced by Novatian. Persecutions also continued after Decius' death and eventually, Cyprian was arrested and tried for being a Christian. When he was read his death sentence, he replied by exclaiming: Blessed be God! He was martyred in 258.
Cornelius and Cyprian were friends. Like the disciples, they helped each other to live faith-filled, self-sacrificing and loving lives. We too are called to help our friends to live lives of faith so that we can all remain close to God, and we can be reassured by the words of Jesus' prayer for the disciples: Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one (Jn 17:19). These are words that Jesus continues to pray for all of us.
Have a great day.
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