He came from Carthage to Antioch, where Edesius served as a pagan priest. Edesius’s daughter, Justina, embraced the Christian faith and subsequently converted both her father and her mother, Cleodonia. Cyprian was a sorcerer who practiced divination and consorted with unclean spirits. A young man named Aglaides, determined to seduce the virgin Justina, sought Cyprian’s help. Cyprian dispatched evil spirits against Justina to inflame her with passion for Aglaides, but the holy virgin drove the demons away through the Sign of the Cross and prayer to God. Thus, Cyprian recognized the power of the Cross; he was baptized himself and, in time, became a priest and a bishop. Pagans brought both Cyprian and Justina before a tribunal in Damascus. They were subsequently tortured and beheaded in Nicomedia at the end of the 3rd century.

Saint Andrew, Fool-for-Christ. Holy Martyrs David and Constantine.