Saint Cyril of Jerusalem

“For God seeks nothing else from us, save a good purpose. Say not, ‘How are my sins blotted out?’ I tell you, from willing, from believing; what is shorter than this? But if your lips declare your willing, but your heart is silent, He knows the
heart who judges you. Cease then henceforth from every wicked thing: refrain thy tongue from light words, thine eye from sin, thy mind from roving after useless matters..”

– Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
(23 Catechetical Lectures)

4th Century Father among the Saints

Life

Teachings

The Trinity:
- There is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Incarnation:
- Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine.
- He was born of the Virgin Mary and lived a sinless life.
- He died on the cross to atone for the sins of humanity and rose from the dead three days later.
The Eucharist:
- The Eucharist is the true body and blood of Christ.
- He believed that when we receive the Eucharist, we are united with Christ and become partakers of his divine nature.
Morality:
- Christians should live a moral life in accordance with the teachings of Christ.
- He emphasized the importance of love, forgiveness, and charity.

Writings

23 Catechetical Lectures

Troparion — Tone 8

You were seen in Zion clothed in a robe of godliness / as an illustrious pillar of the Apostles’ faith. / You became an heir to their grace, / setting forth their pious doctrines / and dispensing their talents of wisdom. / O Cyril, our Father and hierarch, pray for us.

Kontakion — Tone 1

With your lips, O wise Cyril, / and through divine inspiration / you enlightened your people / to the worship of the one Trinity, / undivided in essence, yet divided in Hypostases. / Wherefore rejoicing, we celebrate your all-holy memory, / offering you as our intercessor before God.

Feast Day(s)

March 18th
May 7th (Apparition of the Sign of the Precious Cross over Jerusalem in 351 A.D)