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Cyril of Alexandria
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Saint Cyril of Alexandria (c. 378 - 444) was the Pope of Alexandria when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th, and 5th centuries. He was a central figure in the First Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Archbishop of Constantinople. Cyril is counted among the Church Fathers and the Doctors of the Church, and his reputation within the Christian world has resulted in his titles "Pillar of Faith" and "Seal of all the Fathers".
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day on June 9 and also, together with Pope Athanasius I of Alexandria, on January 18.
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Saint Cyril of Alexandria (c. 378 - 444) was the Pope of Alexandria when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th, and 5th centuries. He was a central figure in the First Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Archbishop of Constantinople. Cyril is counted among the Church Fathers and the Doctors of the Church, and his reputation within the Christian world has resulted in his titles "Pillar of Faith" and "Seal of all the Fathers".
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day on June 9 and also, together with Pope Athanasius I of Alexandria, on January 18. The Roman Catholic Church did not commemorate him in the Tridentine Calendar; it added his feast only in 1882, assigning to it the date of February 9, the date on which it is still observed by those who use calendars prior to that of the 1969 revision, which assigned to it the date of June 27, considered to be the day of the saint's death. The same date has been chosen for the Lutheran calendar.
Early life
Cyril was born about 378 in the small town of Theodosios, Egypt, near modern day El-Mahalla El-Kubra. A few years after his birth, his mother's brother (or uncle) Theophilus rose to the powerful position of Patriarch of Alexandria. His mother remained close to her brother and under his guidance, St. Cyril was well educated. His education showed through his knowledge, in his writings, of Christian writers of his day, including Eusebius, Origen, Didymus, and writers of the Alexandrian church. He received the formal education standard for his day: he studied grammar from age twelve to fourteen (390-392), rhetoric and humanities from fifteen to twenty (393-397) and finally theology and biblical studies (398-402).
Pope of Alexandria
Theophilus died on October 15, 412, and Cyril was made Pope on 18 October 412, against the a party favouring Archdeacon Timothy.
Thus, Cyril followed his uncle in a position that had become powerful and influential, rivaling that of the city prefect in a time of turmoil and (frequently violent) conflict between the cosmopolitan city's pagan, Jewish, and Christian inhabitants.
He began to exert his authority by causing the churches of the Novatians to be closed and their sacred vessels to be seized.
Next he moved against the Jews and demanded that they be removed from the city. Orestes, prefect of the city, refused but Cyril led a mob of Christians against the Jews in the city, plundering and destroying the synagogues, as well as killing Orestes. According to some historians, all Jews were expelled from Alexandria, while others consider this an exaggeration and that only a portion of the local Jewish population was expelled
Some of the tensions between Jews and Christians was prompted by a slaughter of Christians at the hands of Alexandrian Jews who, after instigating the death of monk Hierax, lured Christians in the streets at night claiming that the church was on fire.
During his conflict with Orestes, Cyril was also involved in the murder of the female mathematician, astronomer, physicist and head of the library of Alexandria,Hypatia, who was a frequent guest of Orestes and whose fields of study were considered heresy by Cyril.
Newer studies show Hypatia's death as the result of a struggle between two Christian factions, the moderate Orestes, supported by Hypatia, and the more rigid Cyril.
According to lexicographer William Smith,
Others contend that neither the riots nor the murder of Hypatia can rightly be attributed to Cyril. In the case of the riots, he had intended only to lead a delegation to the Jews, but he lost control of the situation; and in the murder of Hypatia, a group of his followers acted on their own initiative without consulting him. As John Anthony McGuckin puts it,
Another major conflict was that between the Alexandrian and Antiochian schools of ecclesiastical reflection, piety, and discourse. The conflict came to a head in 428 after Nestorius, who originated in Antioch, was made Archbishop of Constantinople.
Nestorius intervened in an argument about the proper rendition of Mary’s position in relation to Christ by renouncing both the terms "mother of man" and "mother of God" as improper, suggesting "mother of Christ" instead. This however only stoked the fires. Finally, Emperor Theodosius II convoked a council in Ephesus to solve the dispute. Ephesus was friendly to Cyril and after months of maneuvering the Council of Ephesus in 431 ended with Nestorius being deposed and exiled.
Cyril died about 444, but the controversies were to continue for decades, from the "Robber Synod" of Ephesus (449) to the Council of Chalcedon (451) and beyond.
Theology
Cyril regarded the embodiment of God in the person of Jesus Christ to be so mystically powerful that it spread out from the body of the God-man into the rest of the race, to reconstitute human nature into a graced and deified condition of the saints, one that promised immortality and transfiguration to believers. Nestorius, on the other hand, saw the incarnation as primarily a moral and ethical example to the faithful, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Cyril's constant stress was on the simple idea that it was God who walked the streets of Nazareth (hence Mary was Theotokos (Mother of God)), and God who had appeared in a transfigured humanity. Nestorius spoke of the distinct 'Jesus the man' and 'the divine Logos' in ways that Cyril thought were too dichotomous, widening the ontological gap between man and God in a way that would annihilate the person of Christ.
Mariology
Cyril of Alexandria became noted in Church history, because of his spirited fight for the title “Theotokos” during the Council of Ephesus (431). His writings include the homily given in Ephesus and several other sermons. . Some of his alleged homilies are in dispute as to his authorship. In several writings, Cyril focuses on the love of Jesus to his mother. On the Cross, he overcomes his pain and thinks of his mother. At the wedding in Cana, he bows to her wishes. The overwhelming merit of Cyril of Alexandria is the cementation of the centre of dogmatic mariology for all times. Cyril is credited with creating a basis for all other mariological developments through his teaching of the blessed Virgin Mary, as the Mother of God.
Legacy
Cyril was a scholarly archbishop and a prolific writer. In the early years of his active life in the Church he wrote several exegeses. Among these were: Commentaries on the Old Testament, Thesaurus, Discourse Against Arians, Commentary on St. John's Gospel, and Dialogues on the Trinity. In 429 as the Christological controversies increased, his output of writings was that which his opponents could not match. His writings and his theology have remained central to tradition of the Fathers and to all Orthodox to this day.
See also
Sources
- McGuckin, John A. St. Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004. ISBN 0-88141-259-7
- Wessel, Susan. Cyril of Alexandria and the Nestorian Controversy:The Making of a Saint and a Heretic. Oxford 2004. ISBN 0-19926-846-0
External links
- as it relates to the Christological Controversy
- Includes text written by Cyril of Alexandria
- Eastern Orthodox icon and synaxarion
Works
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