Today is the feast of St Cyprian of Carthage. The tomorrow begins the period of nine days leading up to the feast of St Cyprian of Antioch on September 26th.

As every year, I encourage the Strategerati to do the a Novena to St Cyprian. Two years ago I wrote a Sorcerer’s Prayer for this occasion that you can find on my blog. This year however I have been directed to encourage people not only to pray to St Cyprian, but to Justina and Theoctistus.

As I mentioned before, In my communications with Cyprian he has expressed serious issues with his current popularity and the sidelining of his Christianity. Viewing him as someone that was only masquerading as a Christian is incorrect. It is precisely his conversion to Christianity that makes him notable.

Because of his growing popularity and reputation for success a lot of non-Christians want to work with him, which is fine, but if you cannot utter the name “Jesus Christ” in a prayer without getting apoplectic then I would advise against working with this saint. One must also not forget to mention Justina. As Jesse Hathaway pointed out this weekend when we were chatting: “It was she that overcame him and his rape demons after all!”

The role of St. Justina is clear: she is the Wisdom to compliment St Cyprians means. She is the taming influence to his wild power. She is the shield that not even he can overcome. I also want to offer that she is an excellent saint to call upon for the prevention of rape, and for rape survivors who are dealing with their pain.

The role of Theoctistus is that of grace in extension. He witnessed the execution of Justina and Cyprian in Nicomedia where they were beheaded (only after unsuccessful attempts to boil them in Antioch – very similar to the story of Padmasambhava and Mandarava) and he instantly converted to Christianity, and was himself promptly beheaded. Their bodies were left for six days on the banks of the river Gallus until Christian sailors took their bodies to Rome where they were interred.

This Novena invokes all three of them as both Christian martyrs and sources of Sorcerous wisdom and intercession.