{"id":9612,"date":"2026-06-26T12:20:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=9612"},"modified":"2026-06-26T12:20:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:20:39","slug":"st-cyril-of-alexandria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/predication.net\/?p=9612","title":{"rendered":"St. Cyril of Alexandria"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h2>\n

June 27, non-binding commemoration<\/strong>
\nPosition: patriarch, teacher of the church<\/strong>
\nDeath: 444<\/strong>
\nAttributes: doves, Virgin Mary<\/strong>
\nCURRICULUM VITAE<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After receiving his education, he went to the monks in the desert to learn from them the true virtuous life. He then became the patriarch of Alexandria in Egypt. He led a doctrinal dispute with the Church in Constantinople, where the heretical Patriarch Nestorius denied Mary as the Mother of God. Cyril was a fearless defender of the belief in Mary’s divine motherhood. In 431, he presided over the Council of Ephesus, where he played a major role in condemning the Nestorian heresy. Through his writings, he became one of the greatest theologians and exegetes of the East.<\/strong>
\nCV FOR MEDITATION<\/strong><\/h2>\n

THE ADVOCATES OF THE MOTHER OF GOD<\/strong>
\nHe was born around 370 in Alexandria, Egypt. Biographers believe, based on his work, that he received a remarkable education. He decided to enter the spiritual life and went to the desert, where he became a monk. In his efforts to live a virtuous life, he struggled with a violent temperament that probably accompanied him throughout his life.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 403, already as a priest, he accompanied his uncle Theophilus, who was the Patriarch of Alexandria, to the Synod “At the Oak,” which wrongly condemned St. John Chrysostom to exile. Cyril only realized his mistake after his uncle’s death. In 412, he succeeded him as Patriarch of Alexandria. He tried to resolve the tensions in the Church, which various theological discussions had caused and which sectarians and hostile Jews had also instigated. Cyril’s power was greater than that of his predecessor; in particular, he also had some temporal authority. With his temperamental zeal, Cyril sometimes rushed.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After an argument over the theater they went to on Saturday, where they instigated the arrest of Cyril’s friend Hierax, the Jews began to attack the Christians. Cyril warned the Jewish leaders, but their co-religionists prepared a bloody attack, which they began at night with an alarm call that the Alexandrian temple was burning. They attacked the gathering Christians with swords. Patriarch Cyril first wanted the prefect to intervene, but he was not in favor of him and hesitated. Cyril then took care of the expulsion of the Jews from Alexandria. This act increased the hostile attitude of the prefect Orestes. Both wrote to Emperor Theodosius II. The emperor sided with Cyril and forbade Jews from living in the city.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cyril solved other problems by having the churches of the Novatian sect closed and not wanting them in the city.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cyril’s energetic actions emboldened some revolutionary monks of Mount Nitris to deplorable riots. In 415, they attacked the prefect’s chariot with insults. One monk hit the prefect with a stone, was imprisoned for it, and died under torture. The philosopher Hypatia had negotiated with Orestes and was therefore accused of preventing the bishop’s reconciliation with the prefect. Her accusers attacked and tortured her. These crimes tarnished Cyril’s and the Alexandrian church’s reputations.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Jews then tied a Christian to a cross and beat him until he died under torture. Patriarch Cyril resolved the situation by writing to the emperor, who had the perpetrator punished and Orestes deposed.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cyril tried to act as best he could, but it was difficult, and he was sometimes unsuccessful. He preached a lot and tried to establish peace in Alexandria. He was a relentless fighter against heresy. In 429, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestor, particularly provoked him toward such activities.\u00a0He began to proclaim that the Virgin Mary was not the Mother of God, as it was customary to call her in the East, but only the Mother of Christ. According to him, she gave birth only to a man, and God the Word united with the man Jesus and dwelt in him, as in a temple.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When Cyril learned of these claims, he wrote many letters to Nestor, bishops, and monks in which he refuted this doctrine. Nestor then began to slander him at the imperial court, and Cyril therefore wrote apologetic letters directly to Emperor Theodosius II. He also turned to Pope Celestine to decide the dispute. The pope convened a synod in Rome in 430, which recognized the orthodoxy of Cyril’s teachings and called on Nestor to recant his errors. Cyril, on behalf of the synod, ensured that its decision was implemented. He compiled twelve doctrinal articles, the so-called anathemas, and requested that Nestor publicly accept them. He refused to agree to them, and therefore a general council was convened in Ephesus in 431, presided over by Cyril. The pope’s envoys were late, and a group of bishops from the Patriarchate of Antioch, led by John, who allegedly sought neutrality in the dispute while supporting Nestorius, also arrived late.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The bishops at the council condemned Nestorius’ teachings, the papal legates approved the decision, but the Antiochians then held their own meeting. At it, they condemned Cyril and the Ephesian bishop Memnon. The emperor’s soldiers then imprisoned Cyril. However, the emperor ultimately agreed with the council’s decision, released Cyril, and deposed Nestorius. Only after two years did reconciliation between the two sides, Cyril and John, take place, when both retreated from their extreme positions.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cyril of Alexandria stood out primarily as a theologian who wrote extensively. Even before the dispute with Nestorius, he was concerned with the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation. He based his work on the teachings of the Church Fathers and the Holy Scriptures. The most important of the five groups of writings was the doctrinal-polemical works and sermons, in which he deepened the doctrine of the aforementioned mysteries. Other groups are: Interpretations of Holy Scripture, defense of Christians against the slanders of Julian the Apostate, sermons, and letters.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In addition to his pastoral work, Cyril devoted the last years of his life to theological writings. He endeavored to explain theological concepts more thoroughly to prevent further misunderstandings.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 1883, Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church.<\/b><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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