St. Cyril of Jerusalem
St. Cyril who was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1822, was born during 315, and he grew up in Jerusalem and was well educated in the scriptures. He would speak a lot about the Nativity and Holy Sepulchre as if he was a witness. His family was Christian and he loved them very much. He also had a sister and a nephew who’s name was Gelasius, who became a bishop and later a saint.
He spoke as if he belonged to a group called the Solitaries, this group of men lived in their houses in the city and practiced a life of chastity, and service.
After his ordination, his bishop who was St. Maximus, thought so highly of him that he put him in charge of the instruction of the catechumens. Their are still many of his catechetical lectures in existence today because many were written down by someone in the congregation.
When St. Maximus died, St. Cyril was consecrated bishop of Jerusalem. However due to the fact that he was supported by an Arian bishop, named Acacius, the orthodox critiqued the meeting. Both groups were wrong however St. Cyril was caught in between.
When a huge famine hit Jerusalem the poor and vulnerable needed a lot of assistance so they turned to St. Cyril. St. Cyril saw that they were suffering greatly so he gave away some of the goods that the church had. By doing this St. Cyril was able to save many lives and other saints such as St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine have done this too.
Eventually a fall out between Acacius and St. Cyril had begun over territory. The bishop Of Caesarea had authority over every single bishop in Palestine. However, St. Cyril argued that his authority did not cover Jerusalem because Jerusalem was an apostolic see, meaning it was a see that was set up by the apostles. However when St. Cyril was unable to appear at one of the councils that Acacius had called, he was accused of selling the churches goods to raise money and they decided to banish him.
St. Cyril waited in Tarsus as he waited to find out what was going to happen. Constantius called a council where the decision was going to take place. The council contained of Orthodox, Arians, and Semi-Arian bishops. However when Acacius saw that St. Cyril and other exiled orthodox bishops were attending, they demanded that all the persecuted bishops had to leave. Which lead to him deciding to walk out because his demand was ignored. The other bishops that were present prevailed on St. Cyril due to the fact that they did not want to give Acacius a reason to deny the validity of the council. Eventually Acacius returned but he left immediately after his creed had been rejected and decided to never return, even when he had to give his testimony against St. Cyril. The council ended with Acacius and the other Arian bishops being condemned and there was no final judgement on St. Cyril’s case due to the fact that it was forgotten about after Acacius didn’t want to testify and St. Cyril went to Jerusalem.
However Acacius brought his story to the emperor elaborating it with many details. This brought a new assembly by Acacius who once again had St. Cyril banished based on what other bishops of Tarsus had done while St. Cyril was there.
St. Cyril's banishment lasted until Julian became emperor because Julian decided to recall all exiled bishops whether they were orthodox or Arian. Therefore St. Cyril returned to Jerusalem and when Acacius passed away, there was a need for a replacement for Caesarea so each faction nominated their own replacement. St. Cyril appointed his nephew St. Gelasius and it was said that he was a very holy person which was said by many orthodox. However a year later they were driven out of Palestine again after a new ruler reversed Julian’s ruling.
Eleven years after that event, St. Cyril went back to Jerusalem and found out it had been ruined by heresy. He tried his best to put stuff back together. He was able to attend a council at Constantinople in 381 where the Nicene Creed and orthodoxy triumphed and Arianism was condemned. St. Cyril was able to receive justice at the same council who cleared him of all previous rumours and praised him for "a good fight in various places against the Arians."
St. Cyril passed away during the year 386 at the age of 70. His feast day is celebrated on March 18.
Prayer to St. Cyril:
St. Cyril intercede that we may have the wisdom and patience we need to take the time to understand others even when we may not be able to understand or agree with them. Help us to have the courage we need to stand up for what we believe is right, in a way that we treat everyone with love and respect in the process so that we may respect their human dignity. Help us to pray for all those who are suffering in this world and give us the strength we need so that we may be able to help them and speak up for them when they cannot speak for themselves.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord and Mary Our Mother in Heaven.
Amen
May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.
Works cited:
Information (read from, not taken):
Catholic Online. “St. Cyril of Jerusalem.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online. Accessed 18 March 2021.
Images:
St. Cyril of Jerusalem. March 18, 2021.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem. March 18, 2021.
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