Festival of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor
Posted on February 9, 2024 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 5:13-19 (NKJV)
5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Devotion
Today the Church observes the Festival Day of St. Cyril of Alexandria, one of the great fathers of the early Church. Cyril was a bold confessor who served as the Patriarch of Alexandria in the early fifth century. At that time in the life of the Church, the Arian threat was receding, but a new generation of false teachers had arisen who, like the Arians before them, taught incorrectly concerning the union of the divine and human natures in Christ. (The Nestorians radically divided the two natures in a fashion similar to that of the Calvinists.) Cyril was the most prominent confessor of the faithful doctrine at the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431), and the Council resolved to depose Nestorius for his heresy. (Nestorius had served as Patriarch of Constantinople.) The Nestorians attacked Cyril as a “monster” and attempted to use political power to attack Cyril, forcing him to flee the soldiers of a misguided emperor. However, in the end, the emperor exiled Nestorius to Egypt.
Cyril heeded the word of the Lord: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” While the false teachers tried to undermine biblical doctrine to make it more appealing to human reason, Cyril and other faithful confessors would not budge, and strove for a clearer confession of the biblical teaching which eschewed such compromises.
Collect: O God, who didst give St. Cyril as a faithful teacher of the saving truth in a time of great trial, grant to Thy people zeal for Thy Word and faithful teachers for Thy Church, that they may stand steadfast against all error, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Sexagesima Sunday
O Lord God, Who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do: Mercifully grant that by Thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
