Bishop of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church · Feast: 18 March
Open in the Daily Word app“O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8
Cyril, whom the Syriac tradition calls Mar Cyril or Mar Koorilos, was born around 315, probably in or near Jerusalem. He was steeped in the Scriptures and was ordained a priest. Around 348 he became bishop of the Holy City, at a time when the Church was deeply divided over the teaching of Arius, who denied that the Son is truly God. Because he had been consecrated by Acacius of Caesarea, who leaned towards the Arians, some at first doubted him.
Before he became bishop, or very early in his time as bishop, he gave the catechetical instructions for which he is best remembered. During the forty-day fast before Easter he taught those preparing for baptism, in the great church that Constantine had built over the place of the Lord's death and burial. He explained the Creed line by line. The lectures to the newly baptised in Easter week, on baptism, the anointing with chrism and the Eucharist, come down to us under his name, though some scholars think that his successor John had a hand in them in their present form. These twenty-four lectures are a priceless window on how the early Church taught and worshipped.
His life as bishop was hard. He quarrelled with Acacius about the rights of his see and was accused, among other things, of selling church goods. Three times he was driven from Jerusalem, and he spent some sixteen years in exile, under emperors who favoured the Arian party. He returned for the last time in 378 to a city torn by faction, heresy and disorder.
In 381 he took part in the First Council of Constantinople, which completed the Creed we profess, and the bishops of the council wrote of him with praise as a true bishop who had fought hard against the Arians. He died in Jerusalem in 386, traditionally on 18 March. In 1883 Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church.
He taught people to learn the Creed by heart and to understand it.
He taught that what we receive is truly the Body and Blood of Christ.
He bore exile and slander without giving up the faith.
He would rather sell church goods than let the hungry starve.
The historians Sozomen and Theodoret record that during a famine in Jerusalem, when the poor had no food, Cyril sold church treasures to feed them. His enemies later used this against him.
In a letter to the emperor Constantius that still survives, Cyril describes a great cross of light that appeared in the sky over Jerusalem on 7 May 351, stretching from Golgotha to the Mount of Olives, and seen by the whole city.
In the lectures to the newly baptised, those coming to communion are told to make the left hand a throne for the right, since it is to receive the King, and to take care not to lose a crumb, as one would never let gold dust fall. Customs of receiving communion differ, but this reverence belongs to all the Churches.
Do not regard them as mere bread and wine, for by the Lord's own declaration they are the Body and Blood of Christ.
Mystagogical Catechesis 4, attributed to St Cyril of Jerusalem, in substance
The Church is called Catholic because it extends over all the world and teaches all the doctrines that people ought to know.
St Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis 18, in substance
The Creed is meant to be understood and lived.
The holy mysteries are God's goodness to be tasted (Psalm 34:8).
Truth may cost us our place.
Dear friends, imagine yourself in Jerusalem in the fourth century, in the fast before Easter. You are preparing for baptism, in the great church built where the Lord died and rose again. A bishop stands before you and explains the Creed, line by line. That was St Cyril. Sixteen centuries later we can still read his lessons, because someone wrote them down. How much do we know of the faith that we recite?
He told his hearers that the Creed is to be kept in the heart. Our children learn many things at school. Do they know why we believe that Jesus is truly God? Could we explain it to them? In these last days of the fast, let us take up the Creed at home, go through it slowly, and teach it in our families.
After Easter he spoke of the holy mysteries. He said that what looks like bread and wine are, by the Lord's own word, the Body and Blood of Christ. He taught people to come to communion with reverence, as one receiving a king, and with care not to lose a crumb. And he reminded them of the psalm: taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). Let us look at how we come to Holy Mass / Holy Qurbana: how we prepare ourselves, how we behave and how we give thanks.
Cyril paid for his faith. He was exiled three times and was slandered, and he was accused even for selling treasures to feed the hungry. He kept going. When we are misjudged for doing right, let us remember him, and ask Mar Cyril to help us know, love and live what we profess, and to feed those who are hungry. Amen.
O God, who through St Cyril of Jerusalem led your Church into a deeper understanding of the mysteries of salvation, grant through his prayers that we may know the faith we profess, hold fast to it in every trial, and receive your holy mysteries with reverence and love. Amen.