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St. Cyril of Alexandria
St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444). Born around 376 in Alexandria, Egypt, likely in Theadelphia, Cyril was a Christian theologian, bishop, and Doctor of the Church renowned for defending Christ’s divinity. Raised in a devout family—his uncle Theophilus was Alexandria’s patriarch—he studied Scripture and rhetoric, possibly under Didymus the Blind, and was ordained a priest. In 412, succeeding Theophilus as patriarch, he led the influential See of Alexandria, wielding authority in a turbulent era. His preaching, delivered in Greek, clarified Trinitarian and Christological doctrines, notably against Nestorius, whose teachings Cyril opposed at the Council of Ephesus (431), securing the title Theotokos (Mother of God) for Mary and affirming Christ’s unified divine-human nature. Cyril’s extensive writings include On the Unity of Christ, Against Nestorius, and commentaries on John, Luke, and Hebrews, shaping Eastern and Western theology. Earlier, he faced criticism for expelling Jews from Alexandria in 415 amid riots and for his role in the mob killing of philosopher Hypatia, though direct responsibility is debated. A skilled apologist, he refuted Julian the Apostate’s Against the Galileans. Unmarried, as a celibate bishop, he died on June 27, 444, in Alexandria, leaving no family but a vast legacy. Cyril said, “Christ is one person, uniting in Himself the fullness of God and man.”
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St. Cyril of Alexandria emphasizes the divine appointment of certain men as guides and teachers of the world, shining their light over all nations and people. Jesus called his disciples to a glorious apostolate, becoming pillars of truth and carrying out their mission just as the Father had sent Him. The disciples were tasked with calling sinners to repentance, healing the sick, and aligning their will with God's, aiming to save the world through their teachings.
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Mission of the 12 Apostles
Our Lord Jesus Christ has appointed certain men to be guides and teachers of the world and stewards of his divine mysteries. Now he bids them to shine out like lamps and to cast out their light not only over the land of the Jews but over every country under the sun and over people scattered in all directions and settled in distant lands. That man has spoken truly who said: No one takes honor upon himself, except the one who is called by God, for it was our Lord Jesus Christ who called his own disciples before all others to a most glorious apostolate. These holy men became the pillar and mainstay of the truth, and Jesus said that he was sending them just as the Father had sent him. By these words he is making clear the dignity of the apostolate and the incomparable glory of the power given to them, but he is also, it would seem, giving them a hint about the methods they are to adopt in their apostolic mission. For if Christ thought it necessary to send out his intimate disciples in this fashion, just as the Father had sent him, then surely it was necessary that they whose mission was to be patterned on that of Jesus should see exactly why the Father had sent the Son. And so Christ interpreted the character of his mission to us in a variety of ways. Once he said: I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance. And then at another time he said: I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. For God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Accordingly, in affirming that they are sent by him just as he was sent by the Father, Christ sums up in a few words the approach they themselves should take to their ministry. From what he said they would gather that it was their vocation to call sinners to repentance, to heal those who were sick whether in body or spirit, to seek in all their dealings never to do their own will but the will of him who sent them, and as far as possible to save the world by their teaching. Surely it is in all these respects that we find his holy disciples striving to excel. To ascertain this is no great labor, a single reading of the Acts of the Apostles or of Saint Paul’s writings is enough.
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St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444). Born around 376 in Alexandria, Egypt, likely in Theadelphia, Cyril was a Christian theologian, bishop, and Doctor of the Church renowned for defending Christ’s divinity. Raised in a devout family—his uncle Theophilus was Alexandria’s patriarch—he studied Scripture and rhetoric, possibly under Didymus the Blind, and was ordained a priest. In 412, succeeding Theophilus as patriarch, he led the influential See of Alexandria, wielding authority in a turbulent era. His preaching, delivered in Greek, clarified Trinitarian and Christological doctrines, notably against Nestorius, whose teachings Cyril opposed at the Council of Ephesus (431), securing the title Theotokos (Mother of God) for Mary and affirming Christ’s unified divine-human nature. Cyril’s extensive writings include On the Unity of Christ, Against Nestorius, and commentaries on John, Luke, and Hebrews, shaping Eastern and Western theology. Earlier, he faced criticism for expelling Jews from Alexandria in 415 amid riots and for his role in the mob killing of philosopher Hypatia, though direct responsibility is debated. A skilled apologist, he refuted Julian the Apostate’s Against the Galileans. Unmarried, as a celibate bishop, he died on June 27, 444, in Alexandria, leaving no family but a vast legacy. Cyril said, “Christ is one person, uniting in Himself the fullness of God and man.”