Cyprian of Carthage, Saint

CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE, Saint - De catholicae Ecclesiae unitate, ch. 4, in the two recensions, both due to Cyprian himself. From left to right: 1) the Séguier manuscript (seguierianus) of the 6th century, short recension - Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. lat. 10592, f. 34; 2) the Troyes manuscript of the 8th-9th century, long recension - Troyes, Library, ms. 281. As for the priority of the two recensions, the critics are not agreed: some hold that the short one comes first, others instead give precedence to the longer one, directed against the Novatianist party of Rome (251).

to that of the manuscript tradition, and perhaps to letter 76 and the catalogue discovered by Mommsen in the library of Philipp of Cheltenham, going back to an archetype of 359, in which 12 treatises and a good number of letters are listed.

The treatises are the following: 1) Ad Donatum (246), a short work of a partly autobiographical and partly polemical character, with a strong rhetorical colouring, in which the author, recently converted, extols the benefits that Christianity brings to man by making him be reborn to a new life, to which he contrasts the corruption of the pagan world. 2) De habitu virginum (249), addressed in the first place to the virgins consecrated to the Lord, reminds them of the duty to please him alone and to show detachment from earthly affections even in outward appearance, renouncing luxury, ornaments and profane amusements. 3) De lapsis (251), dedicated to the confessors of the faith, whose fortitude he praises; he deplores the fall of many in the persecution, distinguishing between those who apostatized in the face of torments and those who evaded the struggle. One must proceed with caution in admitting apostates to reconciliation. The libellatici too must do penance, and so must those who fell only in their inmost heart. 4) De catholicae Ecclesiae unitate is a pastoral letter written on the occasion of the schism of Novatian (251). Heresies are deplored as attacks on the unity of the Church willed by Christ, who built his Church on Peter, prefigured in the Old Testament, announced by St. Paul. It is absolutely necessary to remain united to the Church; outside it not even martyrdom avails for salvation (on ch. 4, see below). 5) De dominica oratione (251-52): after an introduction on the excellence of this prayer and on prayer in general, Cyprian comments on the individual petitions of the Pater noster. There follow further considerations on this prayer as a whole and on the necessity of praying with recollection, of adding fasts and alms to prayer, and of praying assiduously. 6) Ad Demetrianum (252), addressed to a pagan, in order to refute, in a tone of strong invective, the accusation that the calamities by which the world is afflicted are punishments sent by the gods because they have been abandoned by the Christians. He replies that this comes instead from the fact that the world has now grown old, and, turning the accusation back on his opponent, he affirms that the cause of such disasters is the unbelief and the vices of the pagans and especially the persecutions against the Christians. The gods are nothing but demons. Even if Christians too are involved in common adversities, for them, who think of the future reward, these are not an evil. Let the pagans therefore be converted to the true God. 7) De mortalitate (252-53), is a consolatory pastoral letter to the people cast down by the plague raging in Carthage and in the empire. The Christian must not fear death, since it is a gain. Nor should the sharing of misfortune between Christians and pagans be a cause of scandal: the Christian must be ready to endure every sorrow. Once again motives of consolation in the face of death and illness are invoked, and the suffering are invited to look with longing to Paradise, our homeland. 8) De opere et eleemosynis (252-53): beneficence and almsgiving are a means of wiping out sins, similar to Baptism, inculcated by Scripture. There is no need to fear that almsgiving will impoverish, nor that it will deprive the children of the giver of what is necessary. Whoever gives alms celebrates before God a marvellous spectacle, which is set against worldly spectacles, the work of the devil. One must, thinking of the sentence of the final judgment, remembering the example of the first Christians, give oneself ardently to the practice of these holy works. 9) De bono patientiae (256): in this short work, written during the baptismal controversy, Cyprian illustrates, drawing his ideas from Tertullian, the difference between true Christian patience and that of the philosophers, showing in God and in Christ the model of this virtue. He then argues for the necessity of patience from the condition of man and of the Christian, and extols its merits, exhorting to practise it even in persecutions. 10) De zelo et livore (256-57), occasioned likewise by the controversy over the Baptism of heretics, demonstrates, with biblical examples and sayings, the malice of envy and its sad consequences, inculcating the duty of charity. 11) Ad Fortunatum de exhortatione martyrii (257): as the persecution of Valerian raged, Cyprian sends to Fortunatus, who had expressed the desire for it, a collection of biblical passages arranged to demonstrate certain theses and commented upon, warning that he does not wish to compose a treatise, but to provide the material to prepare the soldiers of Christ for combat. The fundamental themes are the vanity of idols, the divine threats against their worshippers, faith in Christ, the purpose of persecutions; he concludes by extolling the beauty of martyrdom. 12) Ad Quirinum (Testimoniorum libri III), is likewise a collection of scriptural passages, directed, in the first two books, against the Jews (c. 248). In book I, 24 theses are proposed, grouping around each of them biblical texts that demonstrate the wrongs and errors of the Jews; in book II the 30 theses with their surrounding texts set out the divinity of Christ and his mission; book III, added later, presents in 120 theses, demonstrated by biblical passages, the moral duties of the Christian. 13) Quod idola dii non sint (c. 246), whose authenticity is contested, because of the silence of the catalogues of Pontius and of Mommsen, because of the scanty manuscript tradition and because of its lack of originality, being entirely a plagiarism from Minucius Felix and from Tertullian's Apologeticum. First it refutes polytheism, then it demonstrates the unity of God, and finally it treats of Christ.

The Epistolary comprises 81 letters, among which 16 are from correspondents, in general arranged in chronological order. With Schanz, one can distinguish in it, besides 4 letters that cannot be dated, on various ecclesiastical questions, the following groups: 1) Letters from the period of his retirement, in which he justifies his flight and treats especially of the question of the lapsi and then of the schism of Felicissimus. A group of 13 letters was sent to the Church of Carthage, 12 to the clergy of Rome or to individual members of it, 11, earlier than the schism, to various recipients; 3 concern the aforementioned schism of Felicissimus. 2) 20 letters exchanged with the bishops of Rome Cornelius and Lucius, still on the question of the lapsi, then on the schism of Novatian and on the persecution of Decius. 3) 9 letters from the time of Pope Stephen, with the Pope and with others, almost all on the Baptism of heretics. 4) 5 letters from the last exile. At least 11 letters are lost. Cyprian's epistolary is of extraordinary importance for the historical information it provides us about events of the first rank in the life of the Church, for the richness of its dogmatic and disciplinary content, and for the prominence with which the personality of the writer emerges from it. The style is always careful and suited to the subject. Among those of the correspondents there are 5 in vulgar Latin, with frequent errors of morphology and syntax.

The manuscripts have handed down under the name of Cyprian a series of short works of uncertain authorship, some of which were composed in the age and milieu of Cyprian, while others are much later. Each is mentioned in its proper place, under its respective title.

III. THOUGHT

C., far more a pastor than a theologian, does not present particular speculative developments of the various dogmas, which he simply reports according to tradition; only practical necessity led him to examine two points of doctrine in depth: the Sacraments (in particular Baptism) and the Church. Since conversions from the numerous heresies were frequent, the problem arose whether the Baptism received in heresy should be considered valid or not, and whether therefore converts should be rebaptized. C., following the tradition prevailing in the African Churches, maintains that such Baptism is invalid. Besides appealing to tradition, he brings forward two arguments: first, the minister of the Sacrament cannot confer the Grace that he himself does not possess: «But how can he cleanse and sanctify the water who is himself unclean and does not have in himself the Holy Spirit, while the Lord says in Numbers: And everything that an unclean person touches shall be unclean (Num. 19, 22)? How can he who baptizes give to others the remission of sins, when he cannot, outside the Church, free himself from his own sins?» (Ep. 70, 1). The second argument is the unity of Baptism deriving from the unity of the Church: «We do not pronounce our judgment as new, but we share that which was already previously established by our predecessors and observed in full agreement by us and by you: we think, that is, and hold for certain that no one can be baptized outside the Church, since the Baptism established in the holy Church is one» (ibid.). «Wherefore, since the Church alone has the living water and the power to baptize and to wash man, whoever says that anyone can be baptized or sanctified among Novatian must first demonstrate and teach that Novatian is in the Church or at the head of the Church» (Ep. 69, 3; PL 4, Ep. 76).

The doctrine of the unity of the Church, which truly stands at the center of C.'s magisterium and practical activity, is set out at length in the treatise De catholicae Ecclesiae unitate and often recurs in the letters. In the treatise, C. affirms that the plot against the unity of the Church is more to be feared than persecution (chaps. 1-3). It is an illusion to believe that one preserves the faith while not preserving the unity of the Church (chap. 4). The Church, remaining one, extends until it embraces a multitude of men, as a single light gives many rays, a single tree many branches, a single source many streams (chap. 5); she is the uncorrupted spouse of Christ and our mother. «He cannot have God for a father who does not have the Church for a mother»; «whoever does not preserve this unity does not preserve the law of God, does not preserve the faith of the Father and of the Son, does not preserve life and salvation» (chap. 6). The symbol of this unity is Christ's seamless tunic (chap. 7). Not even martyrdom benefits one who is not in the Church (chap. 14). «There is one God and one Christ, one is his Church, one his faith, one the people, held together in the firm unity of the body by the cement of concord. The unity cannot be split, nor can one body be separated by tearing apart its structure, be cut to pieces by lacerating its entrails» (chap. 33).

The bond of the unity of the Church is first of all the episcopate: «This unity we must preserve with firmness and claim above all we bishops who are at the government of the Church, so as to demonstrate that the episcopate also is one and undivided. One is the episcopate, of which each of us holds a part in solidarity» (chap. 5). The Church is constituted upon the bishops and every act of the Church is regulated through them who are set over her (Ep. 33, 1; PL 4, Ep. 27). In turn, the episcopate has the center of its unity in the chair of Peter. Decisive for the primacy of the pope is chap. 4 of the De cat. Eccl. unit., which in its first redaction (long redaction), made during the schism of Novatian (as Bèvenot demonstrated, after Chapman, from the study of the manuscripts), reads thus: «And the same after his Resurrection says to him: Feed my sheep (Jn. 21, 15-17). Upon him he builds the Church and entrusts to him the sheep to be pastured. And although to all the apostles he grants equal power, he nevertheless instituted a single chair and determined by his authority the origin and nature of unity. Certainly, what Peter was, the others were too, but the primacy is given to Peter and there is presented to us one Church and one chair. All are shepherds; but there is shown to us a single flock that must be pastured by all the apostles with unanimous consent. Does he who does not preserve this unity [of the Church; the expression Pauli unitatem is due to a scribe's blunder] believe that he preserves the faith? Does he who abandons the Chair of Peter upon which the Church is founded presume to be in the Church?» This clear profession of the primacy of Peter and of his successors was then attenuated in the second redaction of the treatise, made by C. himself during the baptismal controversy; but it is sufficiently clear also from other passages: «God is one only and Christ is one only and one is the Church and one the Chair founded upon Peter by the voice of the Lord» (Ep., 43, 5; PL 4, Ep. 40). «They dare [the heretics] to cross the sea and to bring to the Chair of Peter and to the principal Church (Ecclesiam principalem), from which the unity of the episcopate (unitas sacerdotalis) took its origin, letters of schismatics and of the profane. They do not reflect that those are the Romans, whose faith was openly praised by the Apostle, and to whom perfidy can have no access» (Ep., 59, 14; PL 4, Ep. 55). There remain, nevertheless, in C.'s doctrine some obscure points, because of the difficulty of reconciling such passages with others in which an episcopalian conception emerges, according to which every bishop is independent and responsible only before God; there remains above all the difficulty of reconciling those explicit admissions of the primacy with the conduct held by C. toward Pope Stephen in the baptismal controversy, in which he firmly opposes the bishop of Rome and invokes the collective intervention of the episcopate to correct his deliberations. Certainly, C. was unable to deduce from that truth its natural theoretical and practical consequences.

Studies: On the manuscripts, besides Hartel, cf. H. v. Soden, Die Cyprianische Briefsammlung (Texte und Untersuchungen, new series, 10, III). Leipzig 1904. For the De unitate: D. Van Den Eynde, La double édition du « De unitate » de s. Cyprien, in Revue d'hist. ecclés., 29 (1933), pp. 5-24; M. Bévenot, St. Cyprian's De Unitate Chap. 4 in the light of the manuscripts (Analecta Gregoriana, 11), Rome 1938 (there further bibliography, especially the works of D. Chapman). In general: P. Monceaux, Histoire littéraire de l'Afrique chrétienne, II, Paris 1902; Bardenhewer, II (1914), pp. 442-517; Moricca, I, pp. 367-456; Schanz-Krüger, III; A. d'Alès, La théologie de s. Cyprien, Paris 1922, pp. 333-92; H. Koch, Cyprianische Untersuchungen, Bonn 1926; S. Colombo, S. C. di Cartagine, l'uomo e lo scrittore, in Didaskaleion, new series, 6 (1928), pp. 1-80; P. Godet, Cyprien, in DThC, III, coll. 2459-70; H. Koch, Cathedra Petri, Giessen 1930; R. Poschmann, Ecclesia principalis, ein kritischer Beitrag zur Frage des Primats bei Cyprien, Breslau 1933; P. de Labriolle - G. Bardy, Histoire de la littérature latine chrétienne, 3rd ed., Paris 1947, pp. 196-247. On the language: L. Bayard, Le latin de s. Cyprien, Paris 1901; P. A. H. J. Merck, Zur Syntax der Kasus und Tempora in den Trachtaten des hl. Cyprien, Nijmegen 1930; I. Schrijnen-Chr. Mohrmann, Studien zur Syntax der Briefe des hl. Cyprien, 2 vols., ibid. 1936-37; M. J. Ball, Nature and the Vocabulary of Nature in the works of s. Cyprien (Cathol. Univ. Patristic Studies, 75), Washington 1946.

Michele Pellegrino