#pope cornelius

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINTS CORNELIUS AND CYPRIAN Feast Day: September 16

In the third century, the emperor Decius decided that all who would not give up their Christian faith should be killed. The pope, Fabian, was martyred along with many others. But there were apostates, Christians who did give up their faith. Emperor Decius thought that without a pope, the Church would die, so he prevented the election of another bishop of Rome. A council of priests secretly carried on the work. After a year, while the emperor was away at war, Cornelius was elected pope.

Cornelius found himself in the midst of problems. A priest named Novatian—who became an antipope—and his followers believed that apostates could not be accepted back into the Church even if they had repented. Cornelius called a council of bishops together to settle the dispute. The council reaffirmed Cornelius’s position as pope and condemned Novatian’s view. After two years as pope, Cornelius was arrested under the emperor's rule and sentenced to banishment. He died in exile in 253.

Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage in North Africa, was a friend and supporter of Cornelius's at this time. Cyprian was born in Carthage about 210, the son of pagan parents. Cyprian lived a virtuous life after being converted to Christianity as an adult. He was made a priest and then a bishop.

As bishop of Carthage for nearly 10 years, Cyprian had only one year of peace. After that, the persecutions under Decius began, as well as disagreements over what to do with apostates. Like Cornelius, Cyprian had to deal with Novatian. New persecutions broke out under Emperor Valerian. Cyprian was arrested and tried for being a Christian. When he was read his death sentence, he exclaimed: 'Blessed be God!' He was martyred in 258.

Cornelius and Cyprian encouraged each other to lead virtuous, self-sacrificing, and loving lives for God. There is no greater gift that one friend can offer to another. Today, let us think of ways to help our friends grow closer to God.

Source: Loyola Press

[5hrignold]

did this except instead of putting 9 i did basically all of my favourite characters ever. have at it

[portraitsofsaints]

 Happy Feast Day

Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian, pray for us! 

Early Church Fathers, instrumental in the Church’s understanding of the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance & the primacy of the Pope.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

{website}

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINTS OF THE DAY (September 16)

Saint Cornelius was elected Pope in 251 during the persecutions of Emperor Decius.

His first challenge, besides the ever present threat of the Roman authorities, was to bring an end to the schism brought on by his rival, the first anti-pope Novatian.

He convened a synod of bishops to confirm him as the rightful successor of Peter.

The great controversy that arose as a result of the Decian persecution was whether or not the Church could pardon and receive back into the Church those who had apostacized in the face of martyrdom.

Against both bishops who argued that the Church could not welcome back apostates, and those who argued that they should be welcomed back but did not demand a heavy penance of the penitent, Cornelius decreed that they must be welcomed back and insisted that they perform an adequate penance.

In 253, Cornelius was exiled by Emperor Gallus and died of the hardships he endured in exile. He is venerated as a martyr.

—

Saint Cyprian of Carthage is second in importance only to the great Saint Augustine as a figure and Father of the African church.

He was a close friend of Pope Cornelius. He supported him against the anti-pope Novatian and in his views concerning the re-admittance of apostates into the Church.

Saint Cyprian was born to wealthy pagans around the year 190. He was educated in the classics and in rhetoric.

He converted at the age of 56, was ordained a priest a year later, and made bishop two years after that.

His writings are of great importance, especially his treatise on ''The Unity of the Catholic Church'' in which he argues that unity is grounded in the authority of the bishop, and among the bishops, in the primacy of the See of Rome.

In "The Unity of the Catholic Church," St. Cyprian writes:

"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."

During the Decian persecutions, Cyprian considered it wiser to go into hiding and guide his flock covertly rather than seek the glorious crown of martyrdom, a decision that his enemies attacked him for.

On 14 September 258, however, he was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Valerian.

[catholic-saint-tournament]

I nominate Pope St Cornelius, and you can add my vote to Saints Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, John the Apostle, Julian of Norwich, Lucy, Mary Magdalene, Michael the Archangel, Nicholas of Myra and Teresa of Avila.

Pope St Cornelius added to the pre-schism list, and everyone else has got another vote!!

[myremnantarmy]

𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥

Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs

Lk 7:1-10

When Jesus had finished all his words to the people,

he entered Capernaum.

A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die,

and he was valuable to him.

When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him,

asking him to come and save the life of his slave.

They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying,

"He deserves to have you do this for him,

for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us."

And Jesus went with them,

but when he was only a short distance from the house,

the centurion sent friends to tell him,

"Lord, do not trouble yourself,

for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.

Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you;

but say the word and let my servant be healed.

For I too am a person subject to authority,

with soldiers subject to me.

And I say to one, Go, and he goes;

and to another, Come here, and he comes;

and to my slave, Do this, and he does it."

When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him

and, turning, said to the crowd following him,

"I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."

When the messengers returned to the house,

they found the slave in good health.

[catholicpriestmedia]

"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." - #Tertullian

September 16 is the #FeastDays of Saints Cornelius (Pope) and Cyprian (Bishop), Martyrs. #HolyMartyrs 

📷 Crown of Thorns / © AIPortraiture / #GettyImages. #Catholic_Priest #CatholicPriestMedia #CanvaPro

[indiesole]

THE 236 GREATEST PERSONALITIES IN THE ENTIRE KNOWN HISTORY/COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THIS WORLD! (@INDIES)

i.e. THE 236 GREATEST PERSONALITIES IN WORLD HISTORY! (@INDIES)

Rajesh Khanna

Lionel Messi

Leonardo Da Vinci

Muhammad Ali

Joan of Arc

William Shakespeare

Vincent Van Gogh

Online Indie

J. K. Rowling

David Lean

Nadia Comaneci

Diego Maradona

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Meena Kumari

Julius Caesar

Harrison Ford

Ludwig Van Beethoven

William W. Cargill

Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche

Samuel Curtis Johnson

Sam Walton

John D. Rockefeller

Andrew Carnegie

Roy Thomson

Tim Berners-Lee

Marie Curie

James J. Hill

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Roman Polanski

Samuel Slater

J. P. Morgan

Cary Grant

Dmitri Mendeleev

John Harvard

Alain Delon

Ramakrishna Paramhansa (Official God)

The Lumiere Brothers, Auguste & Louis

Carl Friedrich Benz

Michelangelo

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Ramana Maharishi

Mark Twain

Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri

Bruce Lee

Bhagwan Krishna (Official God)

Charlemagne

Rene Descartes

John F. Kennedy

Bhagwan Ganesha (Official God)

Walt Disney

Albert Einstein

Nikola Tesla

Alfred Hitchcock

Pythagoras

William Randolph Hearst

Cosimo de’ Medici

Johann Sebastian Bach

Alec Guinness

Nostradamus

Christopher Plummer

Archimedes

Jackie Chan

Guru Dutt

Amma Karunamayi/ Mata Parvati (Official God)

Peter Sellers

Gerard Depardieu

Joseph Safra

Robert Morris

Sean Connery

Petr Kellner

Aristotle Onassis

Usain Bolt

Jack Welch

Alfredo di Stefano

Elizabeth Taylor

Michael Jordan

Paul Muni

Steven Spielberg

Louis Pasteur

Ingrid Bergman

Norma Shearer

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

Ayn Rand

Jesus Christ (Official God)

Luciano Pavarotti

Alain Resnais

Frank Sinatra

Allah (Official God)

Richard Nixon

Charlie Chaplin

Thomas Alva Edison

Alexander Graham Bell

Wright Brothers

Arjun (of Bhagwan Krishna’s Gita)

Jim Simons

George Lucas

Swami Sri Lahiri Mahasaya

Carl Lewis

Brett Favre

Helen Keller

Bernard Mannes Baruch

Buddha (Official God)

Hugh Grant

K. L. Saigal

Roger Federer

Rash Behari Bose

Tiger Woods

William Blake

Jesse Owens

Claude Miller

Bernardo Bertolucci

Subhash Chandra Bose

Satyajit Ray

Hippocrates

Chiang Kai-Shek

John Logie Baird

Geeta Dutt

Raphael (painter)

Bhagwan Shiva (Official God)

Radha (Ancient Krishna devotee)

George Orwell

Jorge Paulo Lemann

Catherine Deneuve

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Bill Gates

Bhagwan Ram (Official God)

Michael Phelps

Michael Faraday

Audrey Hepburn

Dalai Lama

Grace Kelly

Mikhail Gorbachev

Vladimir Putin

Galileo Galilei

Gary Cooper

Roger Moore

John Huston

Blaise Pascal

Humphrey Bogart

Rudyard Kipling

Samuel Morse

Wayne Gretzky

Yogi Berra

Barry Levinson

Patrice Chereau (director)

Jerry Lewis

Louis Daguerre

James Watt

Henri Rousseau

Nikita Krushchev

Jack Dorsey

Dev Anand

Elia Kazan

Alexander Fleming

David Selznick

Frank Marshall

Viswanathan Anand

Major Dhyan Chand

Swami Vivekananda

Felix Rohatyn

Sam Spiegel

Anand Bakshi

Victor Hugo

Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Official God)

Steve Jobs

Srinivasa Ramanujam

Lord Hanuman

Stanley Kubrick

Giotto

Voltaire

Diego Velazquez

Ernest Hemingway

Francis Ford Coppola

Michael Douglas

Kirk Douglas

Mario Lemieux

Kishore Kumar

James Stewart

Douglas Fairbanks

Confucius

Babe Ruth

Raj Kapoor

Titian aka Tiziano Vecelli

El Greco

Francisco de Goya

Jim Carrey

Mohammad Rafi

Steffi Graf

Pele

Gustave Courbet

Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi

Milos Forman

Steve Wozniak

Georgia O’ Keeffe

Mala Sinha

Aryabhatta

Magic Johnson

Patanjali

Leo Tolstoy

Tansen

Henry Fonda

Albrecht Durer

Benazir Bhutto

Cal Ripken Jr

Samuel Goldwyn

Mumtaz (actress)

Panini

Nicolaus Copernicus

Pablo Picasso

George Clooney

Olivia de Havilland

Prem Chand

Imran Khan

Pete Sampras

Ratan Tata

Meerabai (16th c. Krishna devotee)

Queen Elizabeth II

Pope John Paul II

James Cameron

Jack Ma

Warren Buffett

Romy Schneider

C. V. Raman

Aung San Suu Kyi

Benjamin Netanyahu

Frank Capra

Michael Schumacher

Steve Forbes

Paramhansa Yogananda

Tom Hanks

Kamal Amrohi

Hans Holbein

Shammi Kapoor

Gerardus Mercator

Edith Piaf

Bhagwan Shirdi Sai Baba (Official God)

[aconitum-balfourii]

on the cross in front of the gross mob, pouring brass on the grass in the mass robe, neither christ nor a pope. cornelius or marcus, mark us, fight us, fuck us. on the cross bare-breasted, sedated, disgraced then celebrated, worshipped then violated, lifted up then pinned down to the bed wearing the heavy iron crown, bleeding out of the holes the spikes left in my head. on the cross, or rather at the stake, i imitate but never fake, i need to take a break before they hold a wake and put my bare body on display; glass casket, if you want to see it you don’t even have to ask it.

i am god in their eyes and a whore in their thoughts, they will suck on my flesh until the day that it rots, a meek heavenly creature won’t admit that it hurts, a masochistic martyr - it’s more fun when it’s forced

on the cross, i rise from the stage as they pull the ropes, and when the curtains close i’m up in the air, showering in applause, tossed down devil’s canyon, i’ll crawl til angel falls, when it feels good, i was taught to expect the worst

on the cross, i want to scream but i can only moan, always by myself but never left alone, like a canvas sack of old bones, i was thrown on a pedestal carved out of the rejected stone.

[tcbiasfms]

chris evans + him/he + cismale  –  have you seen tobias carrington around los angeles? the forty year old is usually jamming to a drop in the ocean by ron pope. word around the city is that they’re chivalrous, yet, they can also be lonesome, but you didn’t hear that from me. they’re currently an actor/director and also the ceo of carrington atlantic and are typically seen walking the streets of los angeles with their three year old daughter. when i think of them, i think of piercing oceanic hues , the aroma of invictus creed and the laughter of the toddler following behind . let’s hope the city treats them good!

tw : death , single father , depression , child labor

tobias carrington was born into a very priviliged life , something that a lot of people thought was a giving , a blessing even and even though he appreciated his status , there was things he would have rather have , for example a mother . . .

tobias's story doesn't start out happy , neither does it end with him drifting out into the sunset and living happily ever after. he wasn't even a day old when he started out his life without his mother , she had made his father promise that if it was between him and her , that he would choose tobias and that was exactly what his father did. growing up without his mother it wasn't impossible , but there are just thinks a boy needs his mother for , his father never spoke about her. every-time that tobias simply uttered her name , he would be shot down. until one day , he took a picture from his fathers and kept it in under his pillow , wishing that by some miracle she would come back, that she would return but he knew that wouldn't happen. life didn't result in wishing on stars because the thruth of it all was that his mother was dead and nothing would change that.

the older her grew , the more rebellious he became. he thrived into getting into trouble , hanging around the wrong crowd because he simply didn't want to be cornelius carringtons son , because that was all that everyone ever saw. the future CEO of CARRINGTON ATLANTIC. something that he never wanted , something that he never wishes for. it wasn't until his father became sick , that he realized he only had him . they only had each other and he needed to stop fighting it , he loved his father and maybe this is what really mattered , after all. on his 18th birthday , his father decided to name him COO of CARRINGTON ATLANTIC , it wasn't a shocker at all. it was expected and a few months down the road , he named him the CEO officially. tobias took the company in a new direction , made friends with a lot of powerful people. his last name definitely carried , a lot of weight and was known around the world , CARRINGTON ATLANTIC was a worldwide company , a company that had been in his family for generations.

it was in one of these events that he met the women of his dreams , the women that he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with . they dated for a few months and then shortly after they were married , now building a family was something that he was skeptical about , what if something happened to him ? what if something happened to her or their baby ? how would he be able to handle something like this ? it took some convincing from isabella but sooner rather than later she was pregnant , and everything went perfect. he had started his contract with palmwood studios , he was the male ambassador for GUCCI and everything was going down as planned , until the day that talia was born . his wife bled out during birth, it all happened so fast , they kicked him out of the room and worked on her, while he waited outside the double doors.

he knew it as soon as he saw the doctors face , it was happening again , how was he going to do this , raise a baby all by himself . the first year was hard but not impossible , his father helped him out so much , taught him everything that he learned and he helped , with talia everything seemed to be getting better. little by little he knew that he could do this. it was true that to raise a child it took a village but every village needed a queen , every heir needed a mother but that had passed for tobias - love was out of the picture no matter how much he would have wanted to share his life with someone. . . .he would not subject another person to a short life , simple as that.

[troybeecham]

Today the Church honors Pope St. Cornelius.

Ora pro nobis.

Pope Saint Cornelius was a Roman priest who was elected pope during the lull in the persecution of Christians under Emperor Decius (AD 249–251).

During the period of persecution under Emperor Decius, and after the martyrdom of Pope Saint Fabian, the Roman Church was unable to elect a new pope. During the persecution it proved impossible to elect a successor, and the papal seat remained vacant for over a year. In the fourteen months without a pope, the leading candidate, Moses, had died under the persecution. In AD June 251, Decius was killed in battle with the Goths, which provided a brief window for the election of a new bishop of Rome.

Although Novatian was the pre-eminent theologian in Rome, and the first Roman theologian who used the Latin language rather than Greek in his writings, and who had largely administered the Church of Rome during the period of persecution (for which he expected to be elected pope), the moderate Roman Cornelius was elected over Novatian and others as the twenty-first pope in AD March 251. Novatian then proclaimed himself pope, and the Church of Rome fell into schism.

Those who supported Novatian and his rigorist position, that the lapsed could not be re-admitted to the Church under any circumstances, had Novatian consecrated bishop and refused to recognize Cornelius as Bishop of Rome. Both sides sent out letters to other bishops seeking recognition and support. Cornelius had the support of Cyprian, Dionysius, and most African and Eastern bishops while Novatian had the support of a minority of clergy and laymen in Rome. Cornelius's next action was to convene a synod of 60 bishops to acknowledge him as the rightful pope. The synod excommunicated Novatian as well as all Novatianists. Also addressed in the synod was that Christians who stopped practising during Emperor Decius's persecution could be re-admitted into the Christian community only after doing penance.

The verdict of the synod was sent to the Christian bishops, most notably the bishop of Antioch, a fierce Novatian supporter, in order to convince him to accept Cornelius as bishop of Rome. The letters that Cornelius sent to surrounding bishops provide information of the size of the church in Rome at that time. Cornelius mentions that the Roman Church had, "forty six priests, seven deacons, seven sub-deacons, forty two acolytes, fifty two ostiarii, and over one thousand five hundred widows and persons in distress." His letters also inform that Cornelius had a staff of over 150 clergy members and the church fed over 1,500 people daily. From these numbers, it has been estimated that there were at least 50,000 Christians in Rome during the papacy of Pope Cornelius.

As a side note, all Christian worship throughout the world was originally offered in Greek (the language of the New Testament), the Scriptures were read in Greek, and all scholarly theological writing was in Greek. Translations of the Gospels began to appear in the 4th c. AD in regional languages, such as Syriac, Gothi, Ge’ez, Armenian, Coptic, and Georgian, which also shaped growing provincial changes in the liturgy. In the Western Church, translations of the Gospels into Latin began to be made piecemeal by various translators in the early 4th c. AD, which collectively are called the Vetus Latina. It was not until the Vulgate translation (vulgate meaning “vulgar”, the Latin word for “common”, referring to the common language of Rome, Latin) was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in AD 382 that a singular, authoritative Latin version of the Holy Scriptures that Latin began to replace Greek as the language of worship and scholarship in Western half of the Roman Empire. It is a sad note of history that in the 16th c. translations began to be made into regional languages because very few could read Latin, just as had been commissioned by Pope Damasus in AD 382. Latin was a dead language, and mostly only scholars could read or speak it. Even the average clergy not trained as scholars could barely read it, and in the liturgy the people were reciting prayers with little to no comprehension. The response of the Roman Church was regrettably intolerant and violent, and was no small part of what precipitated the Protestant Reformation. Today, no matter the language used in Western Christianity, during the liturgy we can still see the vestiges of the Greek liturgy, such as when we pray “Kyrie Eleison, Christie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison��. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in AD 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Vetus Latina Gospels used by the Roman Church. Later, on his own initiative, Jerome extended this work of revision and translation to include most of the books of the Bible. The Vulgate became progressively adopted as the Bible text within the Western Church.

The persecutions resumed in AD 251 under the new Emperor Trebonianus Gallus (AD June 251 to August 253). Cornelius was exiled to Centumcellae, Italy, where he died in AD June 253. The Liberian catalogue ascribes his death to the hardships of banishment; later sources say he was beheaded.

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Cornelius triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

[anastpaul]

Nuestra Señora de las Lajas / Our Lady of the Flagstones, Colombia (1754), Saints Cornelius and Cyprian and the Saints for 16 September

Nuestra Señora de las Lajas / Our Lady of the Flagstones, Potosí, Caldas, Colombia (1754) – 16 September:HERE:https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/16/nuestra-senora-de-las-lajas-our-lady-of-the-flagstones-potosi-caldas-colombia-1754-and-memorials-of-the-saints-16-september/ St Pope Cornelius (Martyred in 253) the 21st Pope during the persecutions of Papal Ascension:  251 until his death in 253.St…

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS Feast Day: July 30

Peter Chrysologus was born in Imola, Province of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, North-Central Italy in the year 380. In due time, Cornelius, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Imola, baptized him, educated him, and ordained him a deacon. He was made an archdeacon through the influence of Emperor Valentinian III.

In the year 424, the bishop of Ravenna died, and Cornelius of Imola, who was seen as the most qualified successor, went to Rome with his deacon Peter to obtain the papal confirmation.

The traditional account, as recorded in the Roman Breviary, Pope Sixtus III, who was inspired by a vision of St. Apollinaris, the first bishop of Ravenna, refused to ratify the election and appointed Peter in his place. Peter was nicknamed Chrysologus, which means 'golden-worded,' on account of his exceptional eloquence. The Emperor's mother, Galla Placidia, patronized many projects of Bishop Peter.

All his sermons were very simple and short, for he was afraid of fatiguing the attention of his hearers. In his extant homilies, Bishop Peter explained Biblical texts briefly and concisely.

He also condemned Arianism and Monophysitism as heresies and explained the Apostles' Creed, the mystery of the Incarnation, and other topics in simple and clear language. He dedicated a series of homilies to John the Baptist and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Peter advocated daily reception of Eucharist. He urged his listeners to confide in the forgiveness offered through Christ.

Peter died circa or after 450 during a visit to Imola, the town of his birth. Older reference books say he died on 2 December, but a more recent interpretation of the ninth-century 'Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis' indicated that he died on July 31. Peter is declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIII in 1729.

[portraitsofsaints]

Happy Feast Day

Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian, pray for us! 

 Early Church Fathers, were instrumental in the Church’s understanding of the Sacraments of Baptism, Penance & the primacy of the Pope.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINTS OF THE DAY (September 16)

Saint Cornelius was elected Pope in 251 during the persecutions of the Emperor Decius.

His first challenge, besides the ever present threat of the Roman authorities, was to bring an end to the schism brought on by his rival Novatian, the first anti-pope.

He convened a synod of bishops to confirm him as the rightful successor of Peter.

The great controversy that arose as a result of the Decian persecution was whether or not the Church could pardon and receive back into the Church those who had apostacized in the face of martyrdom.

Against both the bishops who argued that the Church could not welcome back apostates, and those who argued that they should be welcomed back but did not demand a heavy penance of the penitent, Cornelius decreed that they must be welcomed back and insisted that they perform an adequate penance.

In 253, Cornelius was exiled by Emperor Gallus and died of the hardships he endured in exile.

He is venerated as a martyr.

Saint Cyprian of Carthage is second in importance only to the great Saint Augustine as a figure and Father of the African Church.

He was a close friend of Pope Cornelius.

He supported him both against the anti-pope Novatian and in his views concerning the re-admittance of apostates into the Church.

Saint Cyprian was born to wealthy pagans around the year 190. He was educated in the classics and in rhetoric.

He converted at the age of 56, was ordained a priest a year later, and made bishop two years after that.

His writings are of great importance, especially his treatise on 'The Unity of the Catholic Church' in which he argues that unity is grounded in the authority of the bishop, and among the bishops, in the primacy of the See of Rome.

In 'The Unity of the Catholic Church,' St. Cyprian writes:

"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."

During the Decian persecutions, Cyprian considered it wiser to go into hiding and guide his flock covertly rather than seek the glorious crown of martyrdom, a decision that his enemies attacked him for.

On 14 September 258, however, he was martyred during the persecutions of Emperor Valerian.

[yhwhrulz]

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening" Devotional for October 31

Morning

“Through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

Acts 11:1-4 , Acts 11:18-30

Peter had baptized the Gentile household of Cornelius, and so novel an action could not pass unnoticed: the report soon reached the apostles at Jerusalem, and Peter was called upon to explain; he did so, and all were satisfied, and rejoiced in what the Lord had done.

Acts 11:1-3

It would seem that a number of Jewish Christians attached an undue importance to circumcision, and made a kind of party in the church. The Holy Spirit does not conceal the faults and mistakes of good men; no histories and biographies are so impartial as those written by inspiration. Peter was no pope, for the common disciples called him to account; but he did not become angry, or claim to be infallible.

Acts 11:4

See here a beautiful example of humility and patience. Peter had been directed by the Lord in what he did, and the act itself was most commendable, yet he rose and defended his conduct without anger, in a calm, loving manner, and not only exonerated himself, but won over those who had differed from him. So that we read

Acts 11:18

Would to God that all differences would end so sweetly. Probably they would, if all who are accused would defend themselves in as kindly a spirit as Peter did.

Acts 11:21

Getting into a new field they reaped large harvests. What a time it needed to teach these good men that Gentiles might be saved, and yet their Lord had told them expressly to preach the gospel to every creature.

Acts 11:22-24

This made him rejoice in the good which others had received, and also made him a fit medium for conveying good to many.

Acts 11:25 , Acts 11:26

They were named not after the word Jesus, for we cannot be joint saviours with him, but after Christ, the Anointed, for we also are anointed with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 11:29 , Acts 11:30

They not only wore the Christian name, but performed Christian actions: this act of true fellowship is one of the most beautiful things recorded in the Acts. The Jerusalem church sent a great teacher to Antioch, and the Antioch church, in return, showed its love by supplying the needs of their Judæan brethren. A munificent collection for a country suffering from famine would not astonish us now; but from men newly converted, while Christian love was yet a novelty, it was truly admirable. Let us be always ready to succour the Lord’s poor.

Evening

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Acts 12:1-19

Acts 12:1 , Acts 12:2

Herod the king the grandson of Herod the Great

Acts 12:1 , Acts 12:2

Troubles seldom come alone; first the famine, then persecution; the church can endure all things.

Acts 12:4

intending after Easter or rather after the Passover

Acts 12:5

What a blessed “but”! Constant guards were baffled by constant prayer. Some would have said, “what can prayer do?” but the early church was not afflicted with such scepticism; they prayed on, and Herod was foiled.

Acts 12:8

The Lord’s deliverances are complete ones; Peter must not leave a shoe or a garment in prison, he is to come out with all that he took in.

Acts 12:12

He knew where the brethren prayed, and expected to find them there, and so he did. If he were to come now would he find church members at prayer-meetings? Alas, many of them never go to what they wickedly call “only a prayer-meeting.”

Acts 12:13 , Acts 12:14

named Rhoda or Rose

Acts 12:15

If God wishes to surprise his people he has only to answer their prayer’s, such is their unbelief.

Acts 12:17

And he said, Go show these things unto James the Lord’s brother

Acts 12:17

This is a notable instance of the power of supplication, and those who will but try it will find prayer to be as mighty as ever.

Wrestling prayer can wonders do,

Bring relief in deepest straits,

Prayer can force a passage through

Iron bars and brazen gates.

For the wonders God has wrought,

Let us now our praises give:

And, by sweet experience taught,

Call upon him while we live.

Copyright Statement This resource was produced before 1923 and therefore is considered in the "Public Domain".