The holy Virgin Martyr Justina suffered for Christ in Nicomedia with the Hieromartyr Cyprian and the Martyr Theoctistus in 304.
At
first St Cyprian was a pagan sorcerer, and tried to corrupt Juliana
through his magic spells. The holy virgin Justina lived in Antioch.
After turning her own father and mother away from pagan error and
leading them to the true faith in Christ, she dedicated herself to the
Heavenly Bridegroom and spent her time in fasting and prayer. When the
youth Aglaides proposed marriage to her, the saint refused, for she
wished to remain a virgin. Agalides sought Cyprian’s help and asked for a
magic spell to charm Justina into marriage. But no matter what Cyprian
tried, he could accomplish nothing, since the saint overcame all the
wiles of the devil through her prayers and fasting.
Cyrian sent
demons to attack the holy virgin, trying to arouse fleshly passions in
her, but she dispelled them by the power of the Sign of the Cross and by
fervent prayer to the Lord.
Even though one of the demonic princes and Cyprian himself, assumed various
guises by the power of sorcery, they were not able to sway St Justina,
who was guarded by her firm faith in Christ. All the spells dissipated,
and the demons fled at the mere mention of the saint’s name.
Cyprian,
in a rage, sent down pestilence and plague upon Justina’s family and
upon all the city, but this was thwarted by her prayer. Cyprian’s soul,
corrupted by its domination over people and by his incantations, was
shown in all the depth of his downfall, and also the abyss of
nothingness of the evil that he served.
Once he realized
the powerlessness of the demons, St Cyprian rejected them and became a
Christian. He was baptized, and after a time, he was consecrated as a
bishop. The Hieromartyr Cyprian converted so many pagans to Christ that
in his diocese there was no one left to offer sacrifice to idols, and
the pagan temples fell Into disuse. St Justina withdrew to a monastery
and was chosen Abbess.
During the persecution against Christians
under the emperor Diocletian, Bishop Cyprian and Abbess Justina were
arrested and brought to Nicomedia, where after fierce tortures they were
beheaded with the sword. St Cyprian, fearful that the holy virgin’s
courage might falter if she saw him put to death, asked for time to
pray. St Justina joyfully inclined her neck and was beheaded first.
The
soldier Theoctistus, seeing the guiltless sufferings of St Justina,
fell at Cyprian’s feet and declared himself a Christian, and was
beheaded with them.
Source-Oca.org
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