Saint
Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Confessor & Doctor
Born at Alexandria, Egypt, and nephew
of the patriach of that city, Theophilus, Cyril received a classical
and theological education at Alexandria and was ordained by his
uncle. He 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.
He succeeded his uncle Theophilus as
patriarch of Alexandria on Theophilus' death 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 Governor Orestes, with whom he disagreed about some of his
actions.
In 430 Cyril became embroiled with
Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, who was preaching that Mary
was not the Mother of God since Christ was divine and not human, and
consequently She should not have the word Theotokos
(God-bearer) applied to Her. He persuaded Pope Celestine I to convoke
a synod at Rome, which condemned Nestorius, and then did the same at
his own synod in Alexandria. 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 tenets of Nestorius and his followers before the arrival of
Archbishop John of Antioch and forty-two followers who believed
Nestorius was innocent; when they found what had been done, they held
a council of their own and deposed Cyril. Emperor Theodosius II
arrested both Cyril and Nestorius but released Cyril on the arrival
of papal legates who confirmed the council's actions against
Nestorius and declared Cyril innocent of all charges. Two years later
Archbishop John, representing the moderate Antiochene bishops, and
Cyril reached an agreement and joined in the condemnation, and
Nestorius was forced into exile.
During the rest of his life Cyril wrote
treatises that clarified the doctrines of the Trinity and the
Incarnation and that helped prevent Nestorianism and Pelagianism from
taking long-term deep root in the Christian community. He was the
most brilliant theologian of the Alexendrian tradition. His writings
are characterized by accurate thinking, precise exposition, and great
reasoning skill. Among his writings are commentaries on Saint John,
Saint Luke, and the Pentateuch, treatises on dogmatic theology, an
Apologia against Julian the Apostate, and letters and sermons. He was
declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1882.
Saint
Apollonia, Virgin & Martyr
At Alexandria, in 249, a mob rose in
savage fury against the Christians, during a persecution which the
pagans of Alexandria instigated at the urging of a magician of that
city. Metras, an old man, perished first. His eyes were pierced with
reeds, and he was stoned to death. A woman named Quinta was the next
victim. She was led to a heathen temple and told to worship; she
replied by cursing the false god many times, and she too was stoned
to death. After this the houses of the Christians were sacked and
plundered; and they accepted the despoiling of their possessions with
joy.
Saint Apollonia, an aged virgin, was
the most famous among the martyrs, honored for her virtue and
modesty. Her teeth were beaten out, and she was led outside the city,
where a huge fire was kindled. She was told she must deny Christ, or
else be burned alive. She was silent for a moment, and then, moved by
a special inspiration of the Holy Ghost, she walked into the fire and
died in its flames.
The same courage showed itself the next
year, when Decius became emperor, and the persecution grew until it
seemed as if the very elect must fall away. The story of the witness
to Christianity given by a fifteen-year-old boy named Dioscorus
illustrates both the courage of the Alexandrian Christians, and the
esteem they had for the grace of martyrdom. To the arguments of the
judge this young man returned wise answers, and then proved
invincible under torture. His older companions were executed, but
Dioscorus was spared on account of his tender years. The Christians
could not suppose that he had been deprived of the martyr's crown,
unless to receive it afterwards more gloriously. Dioscorus, writes
Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria at this time, still is with us,
reserved for some longer and greater combat.
There were indeed many Christians who
came, pale and trembling, to offer the heathen sacrifices. But the
judges themselves were struck with amazement at the multitudes who
came spontaneously to receive the crown of martyrdom. Women triumphed
over torture, until finally the judges were glad to execute them at
once, and put an end to the ignominy of their own defeat.
Little
Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's
Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea
(Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
