#Bishop Cyprian of Carthage

[minnesotafollower]

The Prayer Jesus Taught: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”

On March 5, 2023, Rev. Dr. Tim Hart-Andersen, the Senior Pastor at Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church, delivered the second of his five sermons on different passages of the Lord’s Prayer.[1] This sermon was on the second sentence (in bold) of that Prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this…

[orthodoxadventure]

Saint Cyprian of Carthage’s Prayer for peace.

We beg and beseech the God whom the enemies of the Church are forever provoking and irritating that He would tame their wild hearts. May their rage subside and calm return to their hearts; may their minds clouded by the darkness their sins produce, repent and see the light; may they seek the bishop’s prayers and not his blood.

[eternal-echoes]

“The early Church also institutionalized the care of widows and orphans and saw after the needs of the sick, especially during epidemics. During the pestilences that struck Carthage and Alexandria, the Christians earned respect and admiration for the bravery with which they consoled the dying and buried the dead, at a time when the pagans abandoned even their friends to their terrible fate."1 In the North African city of Carthage, the third-century bishop and Church father Saint Cyprian rebuked the pagan population for not helping victims of the plague, preferring instead to plunder them: "No compassion is shown by you to the sick, only covetousness and plunder open their jaws over the dead; they who are too fearful for the work of mercy, are bold for guilty profits. They who shun to bury the dead, are greedy for what they have left behind them." Saint Cyprian summoned followers of Christ to action, calling on them to nurse the sick and bury the dead. Recall that this was still the age of intermittent persecution of Christians, so the great bishop was asking his followers to help the very people who had at times persecuted them. But, he said, "If we only do good to those who do good to us, what do we more than the heathens and publicans? If we are the children of God, who makes His sun to shine upon good and bad, and sends rain on the just and the unjust, let us prove it by our acts, by blessing those who curse us, and doing good to those who persecute us.”2”

- Thomas E. Woods Jr., Ph.D., “How Catholic Charity Changed the World,” How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization

—

1. Lecky, History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne, vol. 1 (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1870), 87; Baluffi, The Charity of the Church, trans. Denis Gargan (Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, 1885), 14-15; Schmidt, Social Results of Early Christianity, 328.

2. Gerhard Uhlhorn, Christian Charity in the Ancient Church (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1883), 187-188.

[whencyclopedia]

The Roman Empire and the Crisis of the Third Century, c. 270 CE

A map illustrating the state of affairs in the lands of the Roman Empire following the violent death of Emperor Severus Alexander in 235 CE during a period known as the Crisis of the Third Century, as multiple pretenders staked a claim to the imperial throne (in 50 years, fifty-one individuals received the title of the Roman Emperor predominantly through military coups and most of them never reached Rome). The time of the "Crisis" was the most disruptive in Roman history as the Empire struggled not only with issues of succession, devaluation of the currency, and an inflationary economy but also with existential threats from breakaway states (the Gallic and the Palmyrene empires), the Persian Sassanid monarchy and countless barbarian invasions across the imperial frontier. On top of these, there was also the "Plague of Cyprian" (most probably smallpox or pandemic influenza, named after a chronicle by the Bishop of Carthage) which caused significant shortages of manpower for the army and the production of food. The crisis gradually came to an end as the Empire was stabilized through the military success of Aurelian (c. 270 CE) and the implementation of wide-ranging reform by Diocletian in 284 CE.

Image by Simeon Netchev

[tinyshe]

More Saints of the Day September 16

St. Cornelius

St. Abundius

St. Curcodomus

St. Cyprian

St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage

St. DulcissimaSt. Edith of Wilton

St. Eugenia

St. Euphemia

St. Lucy & Geminian

Bl. Michael Fimonaya

St. Ninian

Bl. Paul Fimonaya

St. Rogellus

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINTS OF THE DAY (September 16)

Saint Cornelius was elected Pope in 251 during the persecutions of Emperor Decius.

His first challenge, besides the ever present threat of the Roman authorities, was to bring an end to the schism brought on by his rival, the first anti-pope Novatian.

He convened a synod of bishops to confirm him as the rightful successor of Peter.

The great controversy that arose as a result of the Decian persecution was whether or not the Church could pardon and receive back into the Church those who had apostacized in the face of martyrdom.

Against both bishops who argued that the Church could not welcome back apostates, and those who argued that they should be welcomed back but did not demand a heavy penance of the penitent, Cornelius decreed that they must be welcomed back and insisted that they perform an adequate penance.

In 253, Cornelius was exiled by Emperor Gallus and died of the hardships he endured in exile. He is venerated as a martyr.

—

Saint Cyprian of Carthage is second in importance only to the great Saint Augustine as a figure and Father of the African church.

He was a close friend of Pope Cornelius. He supported him against the anti-pope Novatian and in his views concerning the re-admittance of apostates into the Church.

Saint Cyprian was born to wealthy pagans around the year 190. He was educated in the classics and in rhetoric.

He converted at the age of 56, was ordained a priest a year later, and made bishop two years after that.

His writings are of great importance, especially his treatise on ''The Unity of the Catholic Church'' in which he argues that unity is grounded in the authority of the bishop, and among the bishops, in the primacy of the See of Rome.

In "The Unity of the Catholic Church," St. Cyprian writes:

"You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother....

God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body....

If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace."

During the Decian persecutions, Cyprian considered it wiser to go into hiding and guide his flock covertly rather than seek the glorious crown of martyrdom, a decision that his enemies attacked him for.

On 14 September 258, however, he was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Valerian.

[anastpaul]

Our Morning Offering – 26 April – May We Confess Your Name to the End

Our Morning Offering – 26 April – “The Month of the Resurrection” May We Confess Your Name to the EndBy St Cyprian of Carthage (200-258)Bishop and MartyrApostolic Father of the Church Good God,may we confess Your Name to the end.May we emerge unmarkedand glorious from the trapsand darkness of this world.As You have bound us together,by charity and peaceand as together,we have persevered under…

[troybeecham]

Today the Church remembers St. Cyprian of Carthage, Bishop and Martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

Cyprian (Thaschus Cæcilius Cyprianus; c. 200 – September 14, 258 AD) was bishop of Carthage and a notable Early Christian writer of Berber descent, many of whose Latin works are extant. He is also recognised as a saint in the Christian churches. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century AD in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education. Soon after converting to Christianity, he became a bishop in AD 249. A controversial figure during his lifetime, his strong pastoral skills, firm conduct during the Novatianist heresy and outbreak of the Plague of Cyprian (named after him due to his description of it), and eventual martyrdom at Carthage established his reputation and proved his sanctity in the eyes of the Church. His skillful Latin rhetoric led to his being considered the pre-eminent Latin writer of Western Christianity until Jerome and Augustine.

Cyprian was born into a rich, pagan, Berber (Roman African), Carthage family sometime during the early third century. His original name was Thascius; he took the additional name Caecilius in memory of the priest to whom he owed his conversion. Before his conversion, he was a leading member of a legal fraternity in Carthage, an orator, a "pleader in the courts", and a teacher of rhetoric. After a "dissipated youth", Cyprian was baptised when he was thirty-five years old, c. 245 AD. After his baptism, he gave away a portion of his wealth to the poor of Carthage, as befitted a man of his status.

In the early days of his conversion he wrote an Epistola ad Donatum de gratia Dei and the Testimoniorum Libri III that adhere closely to the models of Tertullian, who influenced his style and thinking. Cyprian described his own conversion and baptism in the following words:

“When I was still lying in darkness and gloomy night, I used to regard it as extremely difficult and demanding to do what God's mercy was suggesting to me... I myself was held in bonds by the innumerable errors of my previous life, from which I did not believe I could possibly be delivered, so I was disposed to acquiesce in my clinging vices and to indulge my sins... But after that, by the help of the water of new birth, the stain of my former life was washed away, and a light from above, serene and pure, was infused into my reconciled heart... a second birth restored me to a new man. Then, in a wondrous manner every doubt began to fade.... I clearly understood that what had first lived within me, enslaved by the vices of the flesh, was earthly and that what, instead, the Holy Spirit had wrought within me was divine and heavenly.”

Contested election as bishop of Carthage

Not long after his baptism he was ordained a deacon, and soon afterwards a priest. Some time between AD July 248 and April 249 he was elected bishop of Carthage, a popular choice among the poor who remembered his patronage as demonstrating good equestrian style. However his rapid rise did not meet with the approval of senior members of the clergy in Carthage, an opposition which did not disappear during his episcopate.

Not long afterward, the entire community was put to an unwanted test. Christians in North Africa had not suffered persecution for many years; the Church was assured and lax. Early in AD 250 the "Decian persecution" began. The Emperor Decius issued an edict, the text of which is lost, ordering sacrifices to the gods to be made throughout the Empire. Jews were specifically exempted from this requirement. Cyprian chose to go into hiding rather than face potential execution. While some clergy saw this decision as a sign of cowardice, Cyprian defended himself saying he had fled in order not to leave the faithful without a shepherd during the persecution, and that his decision to continue to lead them, although from a distance, was in accordance with divine will. Moreover, he pointed to the actions of the Apostles and Jesus himself: "And therefore the Lord commanded us in the persecution to depart and to flee; and both taught that this should be done, and Himself did it. For as the crown is given by the condescension of God, and cannot be received unless the hour comes for accepting it, whoever abiding in Christ departs for a while does not deny his faith, but waits for the time..."

Persecution under Valerian

At the end of AD 256 a new persecution of the Christians broke out under Emperor Valerian, and Pope Sixtus II was executed in Rome.

In Africa, Cyprian prepared his people for the expected edict of persecution by his De exhortatione martyrii, and himself set an example when he was brought before the Roman proconsul Aspasius Paternus (AD August 30, 257). He refused to sacrifice to the pagan deities and firmly professed Christ.

The proconsul banished him to Curubis, modern Korba, whence, to the best of his ability, he comforted his flock and his banished clergy. In a vision he believed he saw his approaching fate. When a year had passed he was recalled and kept practically a prisoner in his own villa, in expectation of severe measures after a new and more stringent imperial edict arrived, and which Christian writers subsequently claimed demanded the execution of all Christian clerics.

On AD September 13, 258, Cyprian was imprisoned on the orders of the new proconsul, Galerius Maximus. The public examination of Cyprian by Galerius Maximus, on AD 14 September 258 has been preserved:

Galerius Maximus: "Are you Thascius Cyprianus?" Cyprian: "I am." Galerius: "The most sacred Emperors have commanded you to conform to the Roman rites." Cyprian: "I refuse." Galerius: "Take heed for yourself." Cyprian: "Do as you are bid; in so clear a case I may not take heed." Galerius, after briefly conferring with his judicial council, with much reluctance pronounced the following sentence: "You have long lived an irreligious life, and have drawn together a number of men bound by an unlawful association, and professed yourself an open enemy to the gods and the religion of Rome; and the pious, most sacred and august Emperors ... have endeavoured in vain to bring you back to conformity with their religious observances; whereas therefore you have been apprehended as principal and ringleader in these infamous crimes, you shall be made an example to those whom you have wickedly associated with you; the authority of law shall be ratified in your blood." He then read the sentence of the court from a written tablet: "It is the sentence of this court that Thascius Cyprianus be executed with the sword." Cyprian: "Thanks be to God.”

The execution was carried out at once in an open place near the city. A vast multitude followed Cyprian on his last journey. He removed his garments without assistance, knelt down, and prayed. After he blindfolded himself, he was beheaded by the sword. The body was interred by Christians near the place of execution.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Cyprian boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

[hieromonkcharbel]

Saint Cyprian of Carthage (Feast Oct. 2nd) is second in importance only to the great Saint Augustine as a figure and Father of the African church. He was a close friend of Pope Cornelius and supported him both against the anti-pope Novatian, and in his views concerning the re-admittance of apostates into the Church.

Saint Cyprian was born to wealthy pagans about the year 190 and educated in the classics and rhetoric. He converted at the age of 56, was ordained a priest a year later and a bishop two years after that.

His writings are of great importance, especially his treatise on The Unity of the Catholic Church in which he argues that unity is grounded in the authority of the bishop, and among the bishops, in the primacy of the See of Rome.

During the Decian persecutions Cyprian considered it wiser to go into hiding and guide his flock covertly rather than seek the glorious crown of martyrdom, a decision that his enemies attacked him for.

On September 14, 258, however, he was martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Valerian.

In, "The Unity of the Catholic Church," St. Cyprian writes, "You cannot have God for your Father if youdo not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ isone, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the peoplecemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body.... If weare the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we arethe sons of God, let us be lovers of peace."

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINTS CORNELIUS AND CYPRIAN Feast Day: September 16

In the third century, the emperor Decius decided that all who would not give up their Christian faith should be killed. The pope, Fabian, was martyred along with many others. But there were apostates, Christians who did give up their faith. Emperor Decius thought that without a pope, the Church would die, so he prevented the election of another bishop of Rome. A council of priests secretly carried on the work. After a year, while the emperor was away at war, Cornelius was elected pope.

Cornelius found himself in the midst of problems. A priest named Novatian—who became an antipope—and his followers believed that apostates could not be accepted back into the Church even if they had repented. Cornelius called a council of bishops together to settle the dispute. The council reaffirmed Cornelius’s position as pope and condemned Novatian’s view. After two years as pope, Cornelius was arrested under the emperor's rule and sentenced to banishment. He died in exile in 253.

Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage in North Africa, was a friend and supporter of Cornelius's at this time. Cyprian was born in Carthage about 210, the son of pagan parents. Cyprian lived a virtuous life after being converted to Christianity as an adult. He was made a priest and then a bishop.

As bishop of Carthage for nearly 10 years, Cyprian had only one year of peace. After that, the persecutions under Decius began, as well as disagreements over what to do with apostates. Like Cornelius, Cyprian had to deal with Novatian. New persecutions broke out under Emperor Valerian. Cyprian was arrested and tried for being a Christian. When he was read his death sentence, he exclaimed: 'Blessed be God!' He was martyred in 258.

Cornelius and Cyprian encouraged each other to lead virtuous, self-sacrificing, and loving lives for God. There is no greater gift that one friend can offer to another. Today, let us think of ways to help our friends grow closer to God.

Source: Loyola Press

[andijaart]

+++🙏🏻God Bless🕊️+++

Hieromartyr Cyprian of Carthage, Bishop

MEMORIAL DAY SEPTEMBER 13

💫International Orthodox Art Corporation Andcross May the blessing of the Lord be upon you!

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Wednesday, August 14, 2024

august 1_august 14

Beginning of the Dormition Fast.

Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord (1164) (First of the three "Feasts of the Saviour" in August_ blessing of honey and poppy seeds).

THE SEVEN HOLY MACCABEAN MARTYRS: HABIM, ANTONIN, GURIAH, ELEAZAR, EUSEBON, HADIM (HALIM) AND MARCELLUS, THEIR MOTHER SOLOMONIA AND THEIR TEACHER ELEAZAR (166 BC)

The seven holy Maccabee martyrs Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus, their mother Solomonia and their teacher Eleazar suffered in the year 166 before Christ under the impious Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This foolish ruler loved pagan and Hellenistic customs, and held Jewish customs in contempt. He did everything possible to turn people from the Law of Moses and from their covenant with God. He desecrated the Temple of the Lord, placed a statue of the pagan god Zeus there, and forced the Jews to worship it. Many people abandoned the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but there were also those who continued to believe that the Savior would come.

A ninety-year-old elder, the scribe and teacher Eleazar, was brought to trial for his faithfulness to the Mosaic Law. He suffered tortures and died at Jerusalem.

The disciples of Saint Eleazar, the seven Maccabee brothers and their mother Solomonia, also displayed great courage. They were brought to trial in Antioch by King Antiochus Epiphanes. They fearlessly acknowledged themselves as followers of the True God, and refused to eat pig’s flesh, which was forbidden by the Law.

The eldest brother acted as spokesman for the rest, saying that they preferred to die rather than break the Law. He was subjected to fierce tortures in sight of his brothers and their mother. His tongue was cut out, he was scalped, and his hands and feet were cut off. Then a cauldron and a large frying pan were heated, and the first brother was thrown into the frying pan, and he died.

The next five brothers were tortured one after the other. The seventh and youngest brother was the last one left alive. Antiochus suggested to Saint Solomonia to persuade the boy to obey him, so that her last son at least would be spared. Instead, the brave mother told him to imitate the courage of his brothers.

The child upbraided the king and was tortured even more cruelly than his brothers had been. After all her seven children had died, Saint Solomonia, stood over their bodies, raised up her hands in prayer to God and died.

The martyric death of the Maccabee brothers inspired Judas Maccabeus, and he led a revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes. With God’s help, he gained the victory, and then purified the Temple at Jerusalem. He also threw down the altars which the pagans had set up in the streets. All these events are related in the Second Book of Maccabees (Ch. 8-10).

Various Fathers of the Church preached sermons on the seven Maccabees, including Saint Cyprian of Carthage, Saint Ambrose of Milan, Saint Gregory Nazianzus and Saint John Chrysostom.

ST. NICHOLAS (KASSATKIN), ENLIGHTENER OF JAPAN (1912)

Saint Nicholas (Kasatkin) Equal of the Apostles, Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. Missionary, Founder of the Orthodox Church in Japan, honorary member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. (Name Day: May 9).

Saint Nicholas (in the world John Kasatkin) was born on August 1,1836 in the village of Berezovsky Pogost, Belsky District, Smolensk Province into the family of a deacon. He graduated from the Belsk Theological School and the Smolensk Theological Seminary (1857). Among the best students he was recommended for the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he studied until 1860, when, at the personal request of Metropolitan Gregory (Postnikov) of St. Petersburg, he was given the post of rector of the church at the Russian consulate in the city of Hakodate (Japan), and was also awarded a Ph.D in Theology without having to submit an appropriate qualifying essay.

On June 23, 1860, he was tonsured by the rector of the Academy, Bishop Nektarios (Nadezhdin), and named for Saint Nicholas of Myra. On June 30 he was ordained a Hieromonk.

He arrived at Hakodate on July 2, 1861. During the first years of his stay in Japan, on his own he studied the Japanese language, culture and way of life.

The first Japanese person to convert to Orthodoxy, despite the fact that conversion to Christianity was forbidden by law, was the adopted son of a Shinto cleric, Takuma Sawabe, a former samurai who was baptized with two other Japanese in the spring of 1868.

During his half-century of service in Japan, Father Nicholas left only twice: in 1869-1870 and in 1879-1880. In 1870, through his intercession, a Russian ecclesiastical mission was opened in Japan with its center in Tokyo. On March 17, 1880, by the decision of the Holy Synod, he was assigned as vicar of Reval, then vicar of the Diocese of Riga. He was consecrated as a Bishop on March 30, 1880, in Holy Trinity Cathedral at Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

In the course of his missionary work, Father Nicholas translated the Holy Scriptures and other liturgical books into Japanese; he established a theological seminary, six theological schools for girls and boys, a library, a shelter and other institutions. He published the Orthodox journal Church Herald in Japanese. According to his report to the Holy Synod, by the end of 1890 the Orthodox Church in Japan numbered 216 communities with 18,625 Christians in them.

On March 8, 1891, the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Tokyo, called Nikorai-do (ニコライ堂) by the Japanese, was consecrated. During the Russo-Japanese War, he remained with his flock in Japan, but did not take part in any public services. because according to the rite of worship (and the blessing of Japanese Christians to pray for their country's victory over Russia. Bishop Nicholas said: "Today, according to custom, I serve in the cathedral, but from now on I will no longer take part in the public services of our church... Hitherto I have prayed for the prosperity and peace of the Empire of Japan. Now, since war has been declared between Japan and my country, I, as a Russian subject, cannot pray for Japan's victory over my own homeland. I also have obligations to my country, and that is why I will be happy to see that you fulfill your duty in relation to your country."

When Russian prisoners of war began to arrive in Japan (their total number reached 73,000 people), Bishop Nicholas, with the consent of the Japanese government, formed the Society for the Spiritual Consolation of Prisoners of War. For their spiritual guidance, he selected five priests who spoke Russian. The prisoners were provided with icons and books. Vladyka repeatedly addressed them in writing (he himself was not allowed to see the prisoners).

On March 24, 1906, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop of Tokyo and All Japan. In the same year, the Kyoto Vicariate was founded. In 1911, when half a century of Saint Nicholas' s missionary work was completed, there were already 266 communities of the Japanese Orthodox Church, which included 33,017 Orthodox laymen.

Archbishop Nicholas, the Enlightener of Japan, fell asleep in the Lord on February 3, 1912 at the age of 76, After the Hierarch's repose, the Japanese Emperor Meiji personally gave permission for him to be buried within the city, at the Yanaka cemetery. In Japan, Saint Nicholas is revered as a great righteous man and a special intercessor before the Lord.

He was canonized on April 10, 1970, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate. A Service was composed for him by Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad and Novgorod, and published in 1978.

Saint Nicholas is also commemorated on the Sunday before July 28 (Synaxis of the Smolensk Saints).

Source all text: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-2

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 Fo it is written: 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

JOHN 5:1-4

1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4

For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Saturday, 28th October

Welcome, Willkommen, 你好, नमस्ते 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 28th October through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

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Image by By photographer:Maurice Seymour, Chicago. (eBay item photo front photo back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

28th October 2018 🗓️ : Event - Jair Bolsonaro Jair Bolsonaro is elected president of Brazil with 57 million votes, with Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad as the runner-up. It is the first time in 16 years that a Workers' Party candidate is not elected president. "Jair Messias Bolsonaro (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʒaˈiʁ meˈsi.ɐz bowsoˈnaɾu]; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2022. He previously served in the Brazil Chamber of Deputies from 1991 to 2018. Bolsonaro..."

Image licensed under CC BY 2.0? by Isac Nóbrega/PR

28th October 2013 🗓️ : Event - Turkistan Islamic Party The first terrorist attack in Beijing's recent history took place when members of the Turkistan Islamic Party drove a vehicle into a crowd, killing five people and injuring thirty-eight others. "The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Pakistan by Hasan Mahsum. Its stated goals are to establish an Islamic state in Xinjiang and Central Asia, and eventually a caliphate.The Chinese government asserts that the TIP is the same organization as the..."

Image by Turkistan Islamic Party

28th October 1973 🗓️ : Death - Taha Hussein Taha Hussein, Egyptian historian, author, and academic (b. 1889) "Taha Hussein (Egyptian Arabic: [ˈtˤɑːhɑ ħ(e)ˈseːn], Arabic: طه حسين; November 15, 1889 – October 28, 1973) was one of the most influential 20th-century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a figurehead for the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab world. His sobriquet was "The..."

Image by Van Leo

28th October 1923 🗓️ : Birth - John Connell (actor) John Connell, American actor (d. 2015) "John P. Connell (October 28, 1923 – September 10, 2015) was an American stage, television, film and voice actor. Born in Philadelphia, Connell served aboard a B-24 Liberator during World War II, for which he received a Purple Heart. He attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism upon..."

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28th October 1818 🗓️ : Death - Abigail Adams Abigail Adams, American writer and second First Lady of the United States (b. 1744) "Abigail Adams (née Smith; November 22, [O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She was a founder of the United States, and was both the first second lady and second first lady of the United States,..."

Image by Gilbert Stuart

28th October 🗓️ : Holiday - Christian feast day: Firmilian "Firmilian (Greek: Φιρμιλιανός, Latin: Firmilianus, died c. 269 AD), Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca from c. 232, was a disciple of Origen. He had a contemporary reputation comparable to that of Dionysius of Alexandria or Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. He took an active part in the mid-3rd century..."

[whencyclopedia]

The Roman Empire and the Crisis of the Third Century, c. 270 CE

A map illustrating the state of affairs in the lands of the Roman Empire following the violent death of Emperor Severus Alexander in 235 CE during a period known as the Crisis of the Third Century, as multiple pretenders staked a claim to the imperial throne (in 50 years, fifty-one individuals received the title of the Roman Emperor predominantly through military coups and most of them never reached Rome). The time of the "Crisis" was the most disruptive in Roman history as the Empire struggled not only with issues of succession, devaluation of the currency, and an inflationary economy but also with existential threats from breakaway states (the Gallic and the Palmyrene empires), the Persian Sassanid monarchy and countless barbarian invasions across the imperial frontier. On top of these, there was also the "Plague of Cyprian" (most probably smallpox or pandemic influenza, named after a chronicle by the Bishop of Carthage) which caused significant shortages of manpower for the army and the production of food. The crisis gradually came to an end as the Empire was stabilized through the military success of Aurelian (c. 270 CE) and the implementation of wide-ranging reform by Diocletian in 284 CE.

Image by Simeon Netchev

[traumacatholic]

Saint Cyprian of Carthage’s Prayer for peace.

We beg and beseech the God whom the enemies of the Church are forever provoking and irritating that He would tame their wild hearts. May their rage subside and calm return to their hearts; may their minds clouded by the darkness their sins produce, repent and see the light; may they seek the bishop’s prayers and not his blood.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINTS OF THE DAY (September 16)

Saint Cornelius was elected Pope in 251 during the persecutions of the Emperor Decius.

His first challenge, besides the ever present threat of the Roman authorities, was to bring an end to the schism brought on by his rival Novatian, the first anti-pope.

He convened a synod of bishops to confirm him as the rightful successor of Peter.

The great controversy that arose as a result of the Decian persecution was whether or not the Church could pardon and receive back into the Church those who had apostacized in the face of martyrdom.

Against both the bishops who argued that the Church could not welcome back apostates, and those who argued that they should be welcomed back but did not demand a heavy penance of the penitent, Cornelius decreed that they must be welcomed back and insisted that they perform an adequate penance.

In 253, Cornelius was exiled by Emperor Gallus and died of the hardships he endured in exile.

He is venerated as a martyr.

Saint Cyprian of Carthage is second in importance only to the great Saint Augustine as a figure and Father of the African Church.

He was a close friend of Pope Cornelius.

He supported him both against the anti-pope Novatian and in his views concerning the re-admittance of apostates into the Church.

Saint Cyprian was born to wealthy pagans around the year 190. He was educated in the classics and in rhetoric.

He converted at the age of 56, was ordained a priest a year later, and made bishop two years after that.

His writings are of great importance, especially his treatise on 'The Unity of the Catholic Church' in which he argues that unity is grounded in the authority of the bishop, and among the bishops, in the primacy of the See of Rome.

In 'The Unity of the Catholic Church,' St. Cyprian writes:

"You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body....

If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace."

During the Decian persecutions, Cyprian considered it wiser to go into hiding and guide his flock covertly rather than seek the glorious crown of martyrdom, a decision that his enemies attacked him for.

On 14 September 258, however, he was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Valerian.