Homily for the Commemoration of the
Holy Hieromartyr Cyprian and the Holy Martyr Justina
October 2
By Fr. Daniel Sysoev
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
I congratulate you on the feast day of the Holy Hieromartyr Cyprian and the Holy Martyr Justina! The Holy Hieromartyr Cyprian was once a prominent magician and sorcerer. He was personally acquainted with Satan and received from him many demons to serve. But Cyprian proved powerless against the newly converted Christian, who had been baptized only five years earlier. He could do nothing before her prayer and ascetic struggles. The devil fears the sign of the cross and can do nothing to harm Christians. This so astonished Cyprian that he abandoned his demonic arts, declaring that he would serve the God of Justina. He converted to Christ, was baptized, and was later awarded the episcopacy and a martyr's crown alongside Saint Justina.
It's crucial for us to remember the realities of the spiritual world. During the communist era, we were brainwashed into believing that the subtle, spiritual world didn't exist, leading to a widespread fascination with the occult in the early 1990s, when statistics showed that there was one sorcerer for every three hundred people. As Gumilev so aptly said, the door to the spirit world isn't locked, and the key hasn't been turned. People went to the opposite extreme, exaggerating the power of evil, seeing curses and the evil eye everywhere, and becoming terrified of everything. And it's worth acknowledging that their fears were not unfounded, for anyone who doesn't believe in God, doesn't worship Him, and doesn't live by His commandments is open to the influence of evil spirits. But we must also remember that with God, we fear nothing. As Saint Justina showed, even the prince of demons cannot do anything to someone who is faithful to God, so we must remember that if we live according to God and participate in Holy Communion, then evil spirits cannot harm us in any way, neither our mind nor our soul.
There are known cases of demons attacking saints, for example, when Anthony the Great was attacked by demons, but when we are with God, they can never defeat a person. And if we call upon God, He will hear us. This is precisely why Christians do not look to the world of darkness. There is some very harmful literature: about Satanists, Masonic conspiracies, and sects. It is harmful not because this literature tells lies; on the contrary, it very often shows the truth, but this is harmful because people begin to overestimate the evil power and attribute too much power to it. Interestingly, we have very little literature about the actions of God, although He is far more powerful than the dark forces. This is because the devil is an advertiser who can inflate the most insignificant victory into something great. But God doesn't need advertising; He has no need of it. The entire universe and everything in it belongs to Him, so He has no need to praise Himself.
He is already praised by the angels, archangels, heaven, stars, and all the powers of heaven: “Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light. Praise Him, heaven of heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens" (Ps. 148:2-4 ). "Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all the depths; fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens; old men and children” (Ps. 148:7-12).
God does not need praise, which is why He acts in ways that seem obvious to people. The devil, on the other hand, loves to boast about himself until even the most ordinary Christian crosses themselves, and all that evil power swiftly scatters. In our time, there have been many known cases occurring during various occult activities and at Kashpirovsky sessions, where sorcerers were powerless if there was a praying person in the room. This raises the question: who is stronger — any of us or the devil? With God, we are stronger. Even the smallest girl, making the sign of the cross, can frighten the prince of darkness so that he turns and flees. For before the power of the sign of the cross and the faith of Christians, he is nothing. We can never overcome evil on our own strength, but with the help of God's power, it is possible.
As the Lord said: “I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:19).
Therefore, you and I should not be afraid of anything, we must learn to live according to the Gospel, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and then the enemy of the human race will fear us as much as he still fears the names of Cyprian and Justinia.
Let's pray to them and ask them for help! May the Lord save you!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
He is already praised by the angels, archangels, heaven, stars, and all the powers of heaven: “Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light. Praise Him, heaven of heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens" (Ps. 148:2-4 ). "Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all the depths; fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens; old men and children” (Ps. 148:7-12).
God does not need praise, which is why He acts in ways that seem obvious to people. The devil, on the other hand, loves to boast about himself until even the most ordinary Christian crosses themselves, and all that evil power swiftly scatters. In our time, there have been many known cases occurring during various occult activities and at Kashpirovsky sessions, where sorcerers were powerless if there was a praying person in the room. This raises the question: who is stronger — any of us or the devil? With God, we are stronger. Even the smallest girl, making the sign of the cross, can frighten the prince of darkness so that he turns and flees. For before the power of the sign of the cross and the faith of Christians, he is nothing. We can never overcome evil on our own strength, but with the help of God's power, it is possible.
As the Lord said: “I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:19).
Therefore, you and I should not be afraid of anything, we must learn to live according to the Gospel, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and then the enemy of the human race will fear us as much as he still fears the names of Cyprian and Justinia.
Let's pray to them and ask them for help! May the Lord save you!
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
