27 June

St Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376-444)
Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Born c. 376, Didouseya, Roman Egypt (modern-day El-Mahalla El-Kubra)
Died 444 (aged 67–68), Alexandria
Patron Alexandria; Egypt.

St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, one of the metropolitan sees of the Christian Church in the east, was one of the great defenders of the faith against the heresy of Nestorius who denied the oneness of person in Jesus Christ. At the Council of Ephesus in 431, over which he presided in the pope’s name, and at his instigation, it was defined that Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time God and man, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, is truly Theotokos, the Mother of God. St. Cyril died in 444. The Church venerates him as one of her great doctors. His commentary on the Gospel of St. John is one of the richest doctrinally of those left us by the Fathers of the Church.

In 1881, he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII, and in 1944, on the fifteenth centenary of Cyril’s death, Pope Pius XII issued his encyclical Orientalis Ecclesiae, commemorating Cyril’s place in the history of the Church.

COLLECT PRAYER

O God, who made the Bishop Saint Cyril of Alexandria an invincible champion of the divine motherhood of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that we, who believe she is truly the Mother of God, may be saved through the Incarnation of Christ your Son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

Things to Do: 

  • Read Pope Pius XII’s encyclical, Orientalis Ecclesiae (On St. Cyril, Patriarch Of Alexandria).
  • Read some excerpts from the writings of St. Cyril at the Crossroads Initiative.
  • St. Cyril lived in the fifth century and combated the heresy of Nestorius, who denied the union between the humanity and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus, the divine motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (See Catechism of the Catholic Church 466.) Read what the Catholic Encyclopedia says about Nestorius and Nestorianism.

St. Cyril of Alexandria

St. Cyril is one of the great Greek Fathers of the Church. He was chosen by Divine Providence to be the shield and champion of the Church against Nestorius, who denied the unity of persons in Christ. If this heresy had succeeded, Mary would not be called the Mother of God.

Excepting Sts. Athanasius and Augustine, his equal as a defender of orthodoxy can hardly be found in the Church’s history. His greatest achievement was the successful direction of the ecumenical council at Ephesus (431), of which he was the soul (Pope Celestine had appointed him papal legate). In this council two important dogmas were defined—that there is but one person in Christ, and that Mary (in the literal sense of the word) can be called the Mother of God (Theotokos). His successful defense of the latter doctrine is his greatest title to honor.

His writings show such depth and clarity that the Greeks called him the “seal of the fathers.” He died in 444 A.D., after having been bishop for thirty-two years. In Rome, the basilica of St. Mary Major stands as a most venerable monument to the honor paid Mary at the Council of Ephesus. On the arch leading into the sanctuary important incidents in the lives of Jesus and Mary are depicted in mosaic.

—Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

In 1881, he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII, and in 1944, on the fifteenth centenary of Cyril’s death, Pope Pius XII issued his encyclical Orientalis Ecclesiae, commemorating Cyril’s place in the history of the Church.

—Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens
Source: Catholic Culture