E00886: Gregory of Nazianzus composes his Oration 24 in 379/380, which he delivers during a service held on the feast of *Cyprian (bishop and martyr of Carthage, S00411) in Constantinople. The author recounts the saint’s life using a version of the hagiographical legend of *Kyprianos and Ioustina (martyrs of Antioch, S00461). Composed in Greek at Constantinople.

Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 24, On Cyprian (CPG 3010.24; BHG 0457)

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΚΔʹ.
Εἰς Κυπριανὸν

1. Μικροῦ Κυπριανὸς διέφυγεν ἡμᾶς· ὢ τῆς ζημίας! καὶ ὑμεῖς ἠνέσχεσθε, οἱ πάντων μᾶλλον τὸν ἄνδρα θαυμάζοντες, καὶ ταῖς δι’ ἔτους τιμῶντες ἐκεῖνον τιμαῖς τε καὶ πανηγύρεσι Κυπριανὸν, οὗ, καὶ τοῖς τἄλλα ἐπιλήσμοσι, μεμνῆσθαι τῶν ἀναγκαίων εἴπερ τῶν ἀρίστων μάλιστα μνημονευτέον καὶ ὧν τὸ μεμνῆσθαι ὅσιόν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ ὠφέλιμον. (……)


‘Oration 24, On Kyprianos

1. We nearly missed Kyprianos! What a loss! And you allowed it to pass, though you admire the man more than anyone and honour him by memorials and gatherings every year: Kyprianos who needs to be remembered even by those inclined to forget everything else! We should indeed specially honour the memory of the greatest of men, and their commemoration is both the right thing to do and beneficial (……)’


Gregory has just returned from a journey and expresses his joy at seeing his congregation again. He was particularly concerned not to miss the martyr’s feast and expresses his gratitude for being able to attend it:

3. (...) Δεύτερον δέ, ὃ καὶ μέγιστον, τὸ μὴ κατόπιν ἑορτῆς δραμεῖν, μηδὲ μαρτύρων μυσταγωγίας ἀπολειφθῆναι, καὶ τῆς ἐντεῦθεν ἐγγινομένης ἡμῖν τρυφῆς τε καὶ ἀναψύξεως. (………) 4. Πᾶσι μὲν δὴ μάρτυσι πανηγυριστέον καὶ πᾶσιν ἀνοικτέον ἑτοίμως καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ ἀκοὴν καὶ διάνοιαν καὶ λέγοντάς τι προθύμως περὶ αὐτῶν καὶ ἀκούοντας καὶ πάντα ἐλάττω νομίζοντας τῆς ἐκείνων ἀθλήσεως. Καὶ γὰρ οὕτως ἔχει, πολλῶν ὄντων ἡμῖν εἰς ὁδηγίαν τοῦ κρείττονος καὶ πολλῶν τῶν πρὸς ἀρετὴν παιδευμάτων, λόγου, νόμου, προφητῶν, ἀποστόλων, αὐτῶν τῶν Χριστοῦ παθημάτων, τοῦ πρώτου μάρτυρος (……)· τοσούτων ὄντων ἡμῖν καὶ τοιούτων, οὐδὲν ἔλαττον ἡμῖν εἰς παιδαγωγίαν οἱ μάρτυρες, ὁλοκαυτώματα λογικὰ, θύματα τέλεια, προσφοραὶ δεκταὶ, τῆς ἀληθείας κηρύγματα, τοῦ ψεύδους στηλιτεύματα, νόμου συμπλήρωσις, τοῦ γε πνευματικῶς νοουμένου, πλάνης κατάλυσις, κακίας διωγμὸς, ἁμαρτίας κατακλυσμὸς, κόσμου καθάρσιον. 5. Σὺ δέ μοι, Κυπριανὲ, τὸ τιμιώτατόν μοι καὶ πρᾶγμα καὶ ὄνομα, πλέον ἢ κατὰ τοὺς ἄλλους μάρτυρας – φθόνος γὰρ οὐδεὶς παρὰ μαρτύρων μάρτυσιν – καὶ σοῦ διαφερόντως ἥττημαί τε τῆς ἀρετῆς, καὶ τῇ μνήμῃ κουφίζομαι, καὶ ὥσπερ ἔνθους ὑφ’ ἡδονῆς γίνομαι καί τινα τρόπον σύνειμί τε τῇ μαρτυρίᾳ καὶ κοινωνῶ τῆς ἀθλήσεως καὶ ὅλος πρὸς σὲ μετανίσταμαι (……) 6. Οὗτος Κυπριανὸς, ὦ ἄνδρες – ἵνα οἱ μὲν εἰδότες ἡδίους γένησθε τῇ ὑπομνήσει, οἱ δ’ ἀγνοοῦντες μάθητε τὸ κάλλιστον τῶν ἡμετέρων διηγημάτων, καὶ τὴν κοινὴν Χριστιανῶν φιλοτιμίαν –, οὗτος ἐκεῖνος, τὸ μέγα ποτὲ Καρχηδονίων ὄνομα, νῦν δὲ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης (……)

‘3. (…) And the second reason, which is the most important one, is that we have not arrived too late for the feast, nor have we missed the service for the martyrs (μαρτύρων μυσταγωγία/martyrōn mystagōgia) and the joy and exhilaration it fills us with (……). 4. We should hold festival for every martyr and readily keep our mouths and ears and thoughts open for all of them, by talking about them, hearing about them, and regarding everything as inferior to their feats. It is indeed so, even though there are many things to guide us towards betterment and many things to instruct us in virtue: the Word, the Law, the Prophets, the Apostles, the very passion of Christ, the first martyr (……). Even though we have so many and such good stories, no less do we have for our edification the martyrs, these spiritual sacrifices, perfect victims, acceptable offerings, proclamations of the truth, denunciations of falsehood, fulfilment of the Law in its spiritual sense, abolition of error, persecution of evil, inundation of sin, purification of the world! 5. I have you, Kyprianos, my most precious subject and title, above the other martyrs - after all, there is no jealousy among martyrs! I am completely taken over by your virtue and elated by your memory, and get, as it were, into a trance of pleasure: I am somehow present at your martyrdom, participating in your struggle, and am totally transferred to you (……). This is Kyprianos, gentlemen: those of you who are already familiar with him, rejoice even more in his reminder; those who are not, hear the finest of our stories, which is the pride of all Christians! This is he, once the great name of the Carthaginians, now of the whole world (…)’

Gregory continues with a long account of Kyprianos’ life, martyrdom and miracles. (6) Kyprianos is an important young man of senatorial rank, distinguished by his good looks and great erudition. (7.) He has left many written works. (8.) Gregory does not hesitate to talk of Kyprianos’ life prior to his conversion, when he was a magician. (9.) There is a virgin of noble birth, great beauty and admirable virtue, and Kyprianos falls in love with her. (10.) He employs demons in order to seduce her, performing sacrifices and libations. As she realises the threat, she resorts to prayer to Christ and (11.) to the Virgin Mary, fasting and sleeping on the floor (see $E00887). The devil is defeated and returns to the sorcerer Kyprianos, admitting his defeat. Kyprianos derides him, but the devil possesses him. (12.) Kyprianos resorts to Christ and is liberated. His repentance is initially faced with disbelief and rejected by the bishop, until he publicly burns his books of magic and joins the church. Out of humility, he initially serves as a verger, and later is ordained. He becomes a famous bishop not only for Carthage, but for the entire world. (13.) He rises to great spiritual perfection, living a life of poverty and asceticism, and excels in teaching accurately the Christian doctrines. He writes on moral, dogmatic and biographical subjects, and on the Trinity. (14.) Decius conducts a ferocious persecution against Christians, and seeks out Kyprianos, so that the most eloquent teacher of the Church may be silenced. Kyprianos defends himself, and is exiled. However, he is not content with being safe, but is worried about the community he leaves under persecution. (15.) He, therefore, writes letters of exhortation, which encourage many to suffer martyrdom, by advising them to ignore every worldly good for the sake of salvation. (16.) After having trained many martyrs by his letters, Kyprianos becomes a martyr himself, being decapitated by the sword. (17.) Although his name becomes famous both among Christians and their enemies, the whereabouts of his body remains unknown for a long time. It is kept secret by a pious woman, until God reveals it miraculously to another woman. The keeper of the relic willingly gives it up (see $E00966). (18.) Gregory calls upon his audience to take up the praise of the martyrs, by recounting miracles they have experienced themselves. Miraculous exorcisms, healings and prophecies by the power of Kyprianos’s dust are reported by Gregory’s source (see $E00887). The people must undertake a superior way of honouring the martyr by imitating his virtue and example, because Kyprianos’s story contains edifying elements for everyone, i.e. virgins, women, youths, the elderly, officials, leaders, scholars, priests, the lay, the mourning, the prosperous, the rich and the poor. (19.) Gregory invites his audience to fight against sin, in order to win the eternal kingdom Kyprianos is now enjoying.

Text: Mossay and Lafontaine 1981.
Translation and Summary: E. Rizos.