St. Cyril of Alexandria

St. Cyril of Alexandria was born about 376 near Alexandria, Egypt, and was educated under the guidance of his uncle Theophilus, the city's patriarch. Formed in Scripture, theology, and the combative church politics of the age, he succeeded his uncle as Patriarch of Alexandria in 412. The early years of his episcopate were marked by the turbulence for which the city was notorious, and historians still debate his role in its conflicts; but it is as a theologian of the Incarnation that the Church remembers him. His defining struggle began in 428, when Nestorius, the new patriarch of Constantinople, objected to calling the Virgin Mary Theotokos — "God-bearer," or Mother of God. Cyril saw at stake nothing less than the unity of Christ: if Mary is not the Mother of God, then the child she bore is somehow divided from the eternal Son. In letters of great theological depth he defended the ancient title, and at the Council of Ephesus in 431, over which he presided as the pope's delegate, the Church solemnly affirmed that Mary is truly Theotokos because her Son is one divine person, true God and true man. Cyril was no mere controversialist. His voluminous writings include rich commentaries on the Gospels of John and Luke and on the Old Testament, works against paganism, and treatises such as On the Unity of Christ that remain classics of Christology. In his later years he worked, with notable flexibility, toward reconciliation with the moderate bishops of Antioch, accepting the Formula of Reunion in 433. He died on June 27, 444, after thirty-two years as patriarch. Venerated in both East and West — Eastern tradition hails him as the "Seal of the Fathers" — Cyril was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1882. His optional memorial in the Roman calendar is June 27, and he remains a touchstone of the Church's faith in the Incarnation and of authentic Marian devotion.