Sept. 16th is the memorial of Ss. Cornelius and Cyprian of Carthage. These two men had a great impact on the early Church. They lived in the Third Century, a time of severe persecution, but their faith and courage helped them led people to God and the Church. Cornelius served as pope – pretty much a death sentence in those days – while Cyprian served as a bishop in Africa. Both were martyred, and both are mentioned in the Eucharistic Prayer (1).
Cyprian wrote, The Unity of the Catholic Church, in it he declared we must be united with God and His Church if you claim to be a faithful follower of Christ. “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.”
