Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian
St Cyprian was born to wealthy pagan parents. He was taught rhetoric and literature. He was an adult convert in 246, taught the faith by Saint Caecilius of Carthage.
Cornelius was ordained in 247 and became Bishop of Carthage in 249. During the persecution of Decius, beginning in 250, Cyprian lived in hiding, covertly ministering to his flock; his enemies condemned him for being a coward and not standing up for his faith.
As a writer he was second only in importance to Tertullian as a Latin Father of the Church. Cyprian was involved in the great argument over whether apostates should be readmitted to the Church; Cyprian believed they should, but under stringent conditions.
Cyprian also supported Pope Saint Cornelius against the anti-pope Novatian. During the persecutions of Valerian he was exiled to Curubis in 257, brought back Carthage, and then martyred in 258. His name is in the Communicantes in the Canon of the Mass.
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. – Saint Cyprian, from The Unity of the Catholic Church
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen