During our 9am Mass, which was in Latin this being the fourth Saturday of the month, we celebrated the life of S. Cyril of Alexandria whose feast day falls this day. S. Cyril was a great defender of the faith and stood up to wrongful (heretical) teaching in his day. Here is a short exposition of his life:
Cyril was born into a wealthy family in 376 at Alexandria, Egypt. As nephew of Theophilus, patriarch of that city, he received a fine classical and theological education before being ordained at his uncle’s hand. He then accompanied Theophilus to Constantinople in 403 and was present at the ‘Synod of the Oak’ that deposed John Chrysostom, whom he believed guilty of the charges against him. Click here for more information about that!
Cryil eventually succeeded his uncle as patriarch in 412, but only after a riot between Cyril’s supporters and the followers of his rival Timotheus! Cyril at once began a series of attacks against the Novatians, whose churches he closed; the Jews, whom he drove from the city; and the governor Orestes, with whom he disagreed. As you can see – he was a feisty soul and did not shrink from conflict! But sometimes God needs principled ‘toughies’ to resist heresy and uphold his teaching, as we shall come to see.
In 430 Cyril became embroiled with Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, who was preaching many heretical things including the notion that Mary was not the Mother of God. Cryil was enraged and soon persuaded Pope Celestine I to hold a synod at Rome, which condemned Nestorius, and then did the same at his own synod in Alexandria.
Following the Synods Pope Celestine directed Cyril to depose Nestorius, and in 431, Cyril presided over the third General Council at Ephesus, attended by some two hundred bishops, which condemned all the teaching of Nestorius and his followers. But the matter did not end here. Nestorius’ supporters hit back and held a council of their own and deposed Cyril! A political ‘ding dong’ ensued with much heartfelt and bitter arguing between the two factions (how like the church of our own day!)
Eventually Emperor Theodosius II decided to sort things out and arrested both Cyril and Nestorius. Fortunately for Cyril two Papal Legates arrived who confirmed the council’s actions against Nestorius and declared Cyril innocent of all charges, this led to his release. With the Pope’s backing Cyril triumphed and Nestorius was forced into exile.
All of this fighting led Cyril to see how dangerous false and watered down teaching can be to living faith. He thus devoted the rest of his life to theological writing which clarified the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation and helped prevent Nestorianism and Pelagianism from taking root in the Christian community. Indeed most agree that he was the most brilliant theologian of the Alexandrian tradition. His writings are characterized by accurate thinking, precise exposition, and great reasoning skills. Among his writings are commentaries on John, Luke, and the Pentateuch, treatises on dogmatic theology, and Apologia against Julian the Apostate, and letters and sermons. He was declared a doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1882.
Lord, raise up more men and women like Saint Cyril, to defend and teach the faith which comes to us from the apostles. Help us to resist, in our own day, the wrongful teaching of those who would change the message of faith, to appease the opinions of our sorry society. May we stand up for Jesus in our love of orthodoxy and remain steadfast in our love of all things holy. Help us to be faithful to your holy Word and Sacraments. Amen.
