He and seventeen other martyrs died at Carthage circa 250 as a result of the persecution of the Emperor Decius.
“When they,” says He, “deliver you up, take no thought what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” The present struggle has afforded a proof of this saying. A voice filled with the Holy Spirit broke forth from the martyr’s mouth when the most blessed Mappalicus said to the proconsul in the midst of his torments, “You shall see a contest to-morrow.” And that which he said with the testimony of virtue and faith, the Lord fulfilled. A heavenly contest was exhibited, and the servant of God was crowned ill the struggle of the promised fight.
Epistle VIII, Saint Cyprian
