“… satan is about to unsettle everything. Enraged against the Churches of God, he seeks everywhere to disturb the peace of the faithful. This nefarious beast, who delights in wickedness, will never rest”.
Newsdesk (18/07/2023 18:04, Gaudium Press) Where was he born? Who were his parents? What education did he receive? None of these questions can be answered with certainty. St. Cyril of Alexandria enters history as a result of his ardent love for Jesus Christ and His Virgin Mother.
Little is known about his origins, only that he was the nephew of the Patriarch of Alexandria. His writings reveal a wide mastery of the pagan classics, which shows that he had a thorough education. However, they were not the foundation of his thought, but rather, the most ancient Fathers of the Church.
His works are not written in a poetic or artistic style, but are characterised by their clarity of ideas and polemical tone. The circumstances demanded it!
Patriarch Cyril’s rectitude of conscience
Upon the death of his uncle, Cyril ascended to the episcopal see on October 17th, 412. A few years later, the holy Patriarch learnt of the new doctrine defended and promulgated by Nestorius – who claimed that, despite Her greatness and holiness, Mary was not the Mother of God, Theotokos; a creature could not beget the Creator; She was the Mother of the man Jesus, and nothing more – which was spreading among the monks of Egypt. With his ardent and combative character, he decided to proceed with energy from the very first moment.
His readiness to defend the Faith earned him, centuries later, the praise of Pius XI: “Among the opponents of the Nestorian heresy, who were not lacking even in the capital of the Eastern Empire, undoubtedly in the first place is the holy man and avenger of Catholic integrity, who was Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria”.
From the very beginning, St. Cyril leaves a lesson of submission and respect, worthy of admiration: when faced with the doctrine of Nestorius, could he not – on the basis of his knowledge and study, using his patriarchal jurisdiction – issue an opinion? No! By his rectitude of conscience he refrained from “judging by his own authority such a grave cause, without first asking and listening to the judgement of the Apostolic See”.
“Satan is about to unsettle everything”
At the time, Celestine I was seated in the Chair of Peter, and Cyril addressed a reverent missive to him, appealing to the ancient custom of the Churches which, in his words, “constrains us to communicate to Your Holiness events of this kind.
For this reason, he adds, “I am obliged to write to you to warn you that satan is about to unsettle everything. Enraged against the Churches of God, he seeks everywhere to disturb the peace of the faithful. This nefarious beast, who delights in wickedness, will never rest. Until now I have kept a profound silence and have written nothing at all to Your Holiness or to your brethren in the priesthood about the one who is currently administering the Church of Constantinople, for I know perfectly well that rashness in this matter is harmful. But since the evil is now about to reach its peak, it is imperatively necessary to break the silence and tell you everything that has happened”.
It was not the first time that the Pope had heard of the upheaval that was devastating the churches of the East. Nestorius, overcome by pride, would not accept any criticism or opposition. He was so sure of his superiority that he did not even bother to answer the theological objections made to him.
He accused some of the monks who defended the Faith of subverting public order, denounced them to the government and had them arrested. Finally, he dared to try to proselytize even the Roman Pontiff, to whom he sent a letter in 429 “sending him, among other things, a large collection of his homilies”.
The Pope’s discernment and wisdom soon made him realise the error that was hidden under the appearance of good doctrine, as well as the crooked intentions of its propagator. He therefore sent Nestorius’ writings to the learned Abbot of St. Victor’s in Marseilles for his opinion.
The religious’ reply reached Celestine I together with the letter of St. Cyril. Taking this concurrence as a sign of Providence, the Pope appointed the latter as papal legate and judge in this important matter, and wrote to Nestorius himself, enjoining him to submit in everything to the decisions of the holy Patriarch.
When the Faith is threatened, one should not hesitate to act
The great days of Alexandria were behind them at this time, both in the civil and spiritual spheres. The era of the great polemics which, in Athanasius’ lifetime, animated the city had passed. It was now a peaceful and quiet environment, still illuminated by the nostalgia of the golden age.
How could Cyril fail to appreciate the serenity that surrounded him? It would have been much more pleasant for the Bishop of Alexandria to keep quiet and maintain a peaceful life, free from danger. Moreover, the centre of this evil was not in his territory… Yet could he remain guiltlessly silent “when the Faith, corrupted by many, was in grave danger?”
There was only one answer, thus recorded by his own pen: “I love peace; there is nothing that annoys me more than quarrels and disputes. I love the whole world, and if I could cure a brother, losing all my goods and possessions, I would be ready to do it with joy, for concord is what I most esteem… But the Faith is threatened, and a scandal awaits all the churches of the Roman Empire… The sacred doctrine is entrusted to us... How can we remedy these evils?.. I am ready to bear quietly all the tortures, all the humiliations, all the insults, so that the Faith may suffer no harm”.
Celestine I convokes the Council of Ephesus
With the authority received from the Supreme Pontiff, Cyril convoked a synod in Alexandria, at which the famous twelve anathemas that would later bear his name were composed. In them, the holy and peaceful Patriarch warns, criticises and condemns!
The twelve anathemas were sent to Nestorius with the express order to concur. For the pride of the heresiarch, accustomed to impose his will in everything, this was a terrible affront. He then tried to win for himself the good graces of Emperor Theodosius II, who, being of a harmonizing nature, asked the Pope to convene a council.
Had not Celestine I already replied to Nestorius, disapproving of his doctrine? What remained to be decided? But the situation was delicate and the Pope acceded to the Emperor’s wish: the Council was to be held in Ephesus in 431. Bishops Arcadius and Projectus, together with the presbyter Philip, were appointed papal legates. Cyril was instructed to listen to Nestorius, although, his doctrine being known, there was no doubt about his condemnation.
Nestorius and his followers were the first to arrive; Cyril soon came, accompanied by fifty Egyptian prelates. Gradually others came forward. However, the papal legates did not appear. Then the Patriarch of Alexandria opened the Council!
The Church proclaims the dogma of Divine Maternity
There is no lack of historians who dispute the validity of this first session. However, the famous Fr. Bernarnino Llorca, SJ, argues that “St Cyril undoubtedly had the power to begin the sessions of the Council and, consequently, the decisions he took were entirely valid”.
It could be argued whether it would not have been more prudent to await the arrival of the papal legates and the Patriarch of Antioch. However, prolonging the wait would have done even greater harm to the Holy Church, given the attitude of the Emperor, which was contrary to the Pope’s designs.
When the sessions began, “the correspondence between St. Cyril and Nestorius was read, the sentence given by the Pope at the Synod of Rome, a long series of documents from the Fathers of the Church arguing in his favour, and finally a sentence was pronounced against Nestorius and his doctrine, after which he was solemnly deposed”.
The enthusiastic people flocked to the church where the great assembly was being held and “followed the withdrawal of the Council Fathers, acclaiming them throughout the city”. The divinity of Christ, the Incarnate Word, God made Man, had been officially declared. The way had been opened to proclaim the divine Maternity of Mary as a dogma!
The defender of orthodoxy is accused of being a heretic
It would be too long to recount here all the vicissitudes suffered by St. Cyril after the Council. After having used him to bring about the triumph of true doctrine, Providence wanted to subject him to a very severe test: wise and influential people within the Church accused him of heresy!
How could the intrepid defender of orthodoxy have strayed from the Faith? However, Patriarch John of Antioch and the priest Theodoret of Cyrus affirmed that there were signs of it….
In those days when theological science and language were still in their infancy, Cyril used certain formulations which could be interpreted as a defence of Monophysitism. Was he not, in fact, a partisan of this opposite heresy, which favoured a single nature in Christ, a fusion of the divine and the human?
Throughout his life , the Patriarch of Alexandria had shown himself to be made of the “material” of the Saints. As the official representative of the Pope, it would have been easy for him to impose his criteria with all justice. However, he preferred to bend to the demands of his accusers, giving them as many explanations as necessary to convince them of the orthodoxy of his assertions. And when John of Antioch demanded that he remove from his writings certain expressions which might serve as a pretext for the enemies of the Faith, he willingly agreed to do so.
The result of this delicate controversy was the Edict of Union of 433, which, according to the aforementioned Fr. Bernardino Llorca, “must be considered as an indispensable complement to the Council of Ephesus”. With this document St. Cyril and Patriarch John declared their longed-for communion, to which Theodoret would later also join.
This exemplary display of humility by the holy Patriarch was one of the greatest proofs of the spiritual heights he had reached in the firmament of the Church. The Theologian of the Incarnation, the proponent of the first of the Marian dogmas, the champion of the true Faith, did not hesitate to seal the orthodoxy of his doctrine with his meekness and modesty.
Text extracted, with adaptations, from Heralds of the Gospel Magazine n. 210, June 2019. By Sister Maria Beatriz Ribeiro Matos, EP.
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
