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| Cyril of Jerusalem |
Today is the Feast day of Cyril of Jerusalem. He was bishop of the church there from C.E.
349 – 386. We know virtually nothing of
his life prior to the beginning of his episcopacy. He followed Bishop Maximus, who hand-picked
Cyril as his successor. Cyril was
deposed and reinstated three times (357, 360, 367) due mostly to the
theological attacks of Acacius of Caesarea.
Acacius was the voice of Arianism in those days and was in bitter
dispute with both Cyril and Athanasius of Alexandria.
Some of the controversy surrounding Cyril was due to his
refusal to use the term homoousios in
credal statements or in his writings.
He was in no way critical of the concept, but he considered the term
itself inadequate within the technical language of his argumentation.
Cyril’s great contribution is his composition of a series of
twenty-three pre-baptismal catechetical lectures. He wrote these early in his episcopacy as
instruction for those candidates who were concluding their preparation for
baptism at the time of the Easter Vigil.
You can find them here.
In lecture one he says,
While
it rests with (God) to plant and water, it is your part to bring forth fruit. It rests with God to bestow grace,
but with you to accept and cherish it. Do
not despise the grace because it is freely given, but rather cherish it with
reverence once you have received it.
Cyril’s lectures make for some
insightful Lenten devotional reading.
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