Cyprian

Who they were

Cyprian was bishop of Carthage in the time of the persecutions of Decius, Gallus and Valerian, when many Christians gave way and returned to paganism, and some later repented. His welcoming line towards the lapsed angered the rigorists; he fought the priest Novatus, a supporter of the antipope Novatian, and the deacon Felicissimus, who had set up an antibishop, and in 252 condemned them at a council in Carthage, as Pope Cornelius confirmed in Rome.

In hiding during Valerian's persecution, he returned to Carthage to bear witness and was beheaded as a martyr.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Cyprian has been honoured as a martyr since the third century. He shares his memorial with Pope St Cornelius on 16 September.

Why that counted as sanctity

Cyprian held the Church together in persecution and schism, showed mercy to the fallen, stood with the Pope, and at the end gave his own life for Christ.