Saint Cyril of Jerusalem

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem was bishop of Jerusalem in the fourth century and one of the great catechists of the ancient Church. During the disputes with the Arians he was sentenced to exile three times. He left the Catecheses, in which he explained the faith to adults preparing for baptism. The Church commemorates him on March 18.

He was born around 315 in Jerusalem or its surroundings; the exact date is not known. He received a careful education, centered above all on Sacred Scripture. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Maximus. In 348 he himself became bishop of Jerusalem. He was consecrated by Acacius, the metropolitan of Caesarea in Palestine, who favored the Arians, and so Cyril was suspected of owing his office to concessions made to them.

Soon, however, he came into conflict with Acacius, both in matters of faith and over the independence of the see of Jerusalem from Caesarea. Within about twenty years he had to leave his city three times. In 357 a synod deposed him; among other things he was accused of having sold church furnishings during a famine in order to help the poor. In 360 he was banished at the instigation of Acacius, and in 367 by the will of Emperor Valens, who supported the Arians. This third exile was the longest and lasted eleven years. Only in 378, after the emperor’s death, did Cyril return for good and restore unity and peace to the faithful.

In 381 he took part in the Council of Constantinople, the second ecumenical council, and played an important role in it. Some sources of his time cast doubt on Cyril’s orthodoxy, while others firmly defended it. The most important testimony is the synodal letter of 382, in which the bishops of the East confirmed before the pope his orthodoxy, the legitimacy of his episcopal ordination, and the merits of his pastoral service.

Twenty-four of Cyril’s catecheses have been preserved, delivered around 350. After an introductory Procatechesis come eighteen instructions for catechumens, given in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. They speak of conversion, of baptism, and of the Jerusalem creed. The last five, called mystagogical, were intended for the newly baptized during Easter week. They explain the rites of baptism, the anointing with chrism, and the Eucharist, as well as the Lord’s Prayer. In them Cyril taught that what seems to be bread and wine is the Body and Blood of Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church names him among the bishops whose catechetical works remain models.

He died as bishop of Jerusalem. The sources, including those of the Church, differ on the year of his death: they give 386 or 387. In Jerusalem, as early as the fifth century, the memory of his burial was kept on March 18. He has been venerated as a saint since antiquity in East and West, without a formal canonization process. In 1882 Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church, together with Saint Cyril of Alexandria.