On March 18, the Catholic Church honors St. Cyril of Jerusalem, a fourth-century bishop and Doctor of the Church whose writings are still regarded as outstanding expressions of the Christian faith.
St. Cyril is also remembered for his thorough Biblical knowledge and his patience in the face of misunderstanding and opposition.
Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians, who similarly celebrate him as a saint on March 18, also commemorate him on May 7 – a miraculous event said to have occurred shortly after his consecration as bishop.
Cyril was probably born in Jerusalem around the year 315, shortly after the legalization of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
Although that legalization stopped many of the persecutions that had threatened the Church for two centuries, it indirectly gave rise to many internal disputes – both with regard to theology and episcopal jurisdiction – in which Cyril would find himself involved.
Cyril received an excellent education in classical Greek literature as well as the Bible. He was ordained to the priesthood by Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem, and succeeded him as bishop in 348.
During his early years as bishop, probably around 350, he gave a series of lectures to new initiates of the Catholic Church. Twenty-four lectures have survived and are studied today.
At the General Assembly in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI praised the saint for providing an “integral” form of Christian instruction “encompassing body, soul and spirit.” The teachings of St. Cyril, the Pope said, “remain a symbol for the theological formation of Christians today.”
In 351, three years after Cyril became Bishop of Jerusalem, a large cross-shaped light appeared in the sky of the city for several hours – an event that many interpreted as a sign of the Church’s victory over heresy. However, it could also be interpreted as a sign of the pain the new bishop faces in leading his flock.
Unlike many other Eastern bishops and priests of the fourth century, Cyril did not let his classical education lead him away from his belief in the full humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ.
However, the man who consecrated Cyril as bishop was Archbishop Acacius of Caesarea, an associate of the Arians, who claimed that Jesus was a creature, not God. Because of his connection to the archbishop, Cyril was unjustly suspected of heresy by many of his brother bishops.
But he also found himself at odds with Acacius, who claimed jurisdiction over the birthplace of the church. Overall, these disputes led to Cyril being exiled from Jerusalem three times over the course of 20 years, his longest exile lasting more than a decade.
Ultimately, however, the Eastern bishops accepted Cyril’s orthodoxy and legitimacy as a bishop – both of which he confirmed in a letter to the Pope in Rome, in which he also expressed admiration for his pastoral efforts.
In 381, St. Cyril participated in the Second Ecumenical Council, which condemned two different forms of Arianism and added statements about the Holy Spirit to the Nicene Creed of 325.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem died in 387 and was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1883.
This story was first published in March 2011 and has been updated.
