How a Girl Defeated the Devil with the Sign of the Cross
Today on the Old Calendar, October 15th, we commemorate the virgin martyr St. Justina along with St. Cyprian the Magician. Her story is that of a young girl, armed with nothing but the sign of the Cross, who was able to defeat all manner of demonic attacks from a powerful sorcerer, and in doing so, converted him to Christ.
In the reign of Decius, there was a renowned sorcerer named Cyprian. Sworn by impious parents to the service of Apollo since the time of his birth, and in his youth given over to magicians to learn all sorts of demonic arts and sorcery, Cyprian became so well versed in these practices that he even consorted face to face with the devil himself. The prince of darkness greatly praised Cyprian, and gave him a legion of demons to serve him, promising him great honor for his service to the powers of darkness.
Being that the Lord is greatly merciful and desires the salvation of all men, He arranged for Cyprian’s soul to be saved by arranging the following events.
In Antioch, there lived a maiden named Justina. She was born of pagan parents, but happened to hear the preaching of a Deacon passing by, and came to believe in Christ. A certain youth named Aglaias saw Justina as she was on her way to church and was struck by her beauty. The devil, envying the virtues of the chaste Justina, instilled shameful intentions into the heart of Aglaias. He attempted to flatter her into fornication, but St. Justina fled from him as from fire. He asked for her hand in marriage, but the young woman replied, “My Bridegroom is Christ; Him I serve, and for His sake I preserve my purity. He preserves both my soul and my body from every defilement.” The youth Aglaias, at the prompting of the devil, tried to capture the young maiden by force, but she was saved by neighbors who heard her screams as she fought back against the impious youth.
This greatly angered Aglaias, who then turned to Cyprian for help. Cyprian consoled the youth, assuring him that he could cause Justina to feel passion for him. Cyprian conjured up a demon skilled in stirring up passions of lust. The demon bragged of his abilities, but St. Justina was granted victory over this attack of the evil one with much prayer and the power of the sign of the Cross. In fact, Cyprian conjured up many spells and demonic attacks to sway the pious maiden, even going so far as to attack all of Antioch, but all of these plots failed and were defeated by St. Justina’s prayers and the sign of the Cross.
Eventually, Cyprian realized that no matter how powerful a demon he conjured up or whatever demonic arts he attempted, all of them were defeated by this young girl who simply called upon Christ and made the sign of the Cross, and that therefore he had been serving the wrong master. He repented of his evil ways and converted to Christianity, being baptized and leading a life of strict repentance for his past misdeeds. But this enraged the devil, who inspired the pagans to seize both Cyprian and Justina for being enemies of the false gods and the emperor. After many tortures, they were both martyred for Christ.
To this day, St. Justina serves as a powerful reminder that no matter what attacks of the enemy may befall us, faith in Christ and the sign of the Cross will give us victory over all our enemies. May she pray for us in all our struggles!