The life of our holy father Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria

He was a descendant of noble parents - Christians and was the nephew of the famous Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria [Theophilus occupied the Alexandrian patriarchal chair from 385 to 412.

He was ambitious and sought to subjugate the Archbishop of Constantinople to his influence, and so after the death of Nectarius, who held the Byzantine chair from 381 to 397, he intrigued in favor of electing a person devoted to him, Theophilus, to the chair.

John Zlatoust, formerly the presbyter of Antioch, was bitter against him and became the support of the anti-Zlatoust party. He took an active part in the complex intrigue against the Constantinople saint, which resulted in the overthrow of the latter and his expulsion from the capital twice.

In general, his attitude towards Zlatoust was such that a dark stain was placed on his name, but otherwise, Theophilus was quite a wise hierarch and did a lot of useful things for the Church of Alexandria.]

The uncle of Cyril, Patriarch Theophilus, seeing his nephew's brilliant abilities and chaste way of life, included him in his clergy, appointing the young Cyril archdeacon.

Cyril occupied the Alexandrian patriarchal chair from 412 to 444 C.E.] and, upon becoming patriarch, immediately expelled from the city the heretics called novacians, who were like the Pharisees, who justified themselves in the eyes of men and claimed to be pure and righteous and to be innocent of any sin.

In a sign of their supposedly blameless life, the Novatians wore white robes and taught that a person who had fallen into mortal sin after baptism should not be received into church fellowship, that such a person's mortal sin could not be forgiven and that only secondary baptism could wash away his sin.

This heresy originated with Novatian, who was the presbyter in Rome under Emperor Decius [Roman Emperor Decius reigned 249-251] and, after the martyrdom of Pope Fabian [Fabian, Roman bishop, occupied the Roman see from 236 to 250], aspired to the papal throne [Fabian was martyred in January 250, and his see remained vacant until June of the following year, as the brutality of the persecution prevented him from committing

The election of a new pope.

Decius, as it were, said that he would rather see a pretender to the imperial throne than a new bishop in Rome. During this year-long widowhood of the Roman Church, Novacian, distinguished by eloquence and scholarship, as well as a harsh way of life, enjoyed great influence and could count on being elected bishop.

But, despite all the intrigues, he failed to achieve the desired result, and the blessed Cornelius was elected to the papal throne [St. Cornelius was pope in Rome from 251 to 252].

Among the victims of the persecution were Fabian of Rome, Babylonia of Antioch, Alexander of Jerusalem, while in the lives of other holy men (such as Cyprian of Carthage, Origen, Gregory the Wonderworker, Dionysius of Alexandria) this period was marked by exile and other sufferings.

For this purpose, they were subjected to torture, imprisonment and hunger, and in such trials, the stubbornness of many did not endure.] , and many of the believers, fearing the cruel torment, timidly offered sacrifices to idols, and then, coming with repentance and tears, confessed their sin. Seeing their repentance, St. Cornelius the Pope received them again into the communion of the holy Church, just as Christ received the bitterly weeping Peter.

Meanwhile, the presbyter Novatian opposed the pope, claiming that those who had renounced Christ and sacrificed to the demons were unworthy to be in the fence of the Church of Christ [Novatian did not at first show intolerance for the fallen; Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, testifies that he was the author of the letter in which the Roman clergy admitted that the fallen could be admitted to the church if they were in mortal danger.

But after the election of Cornelius he became the leader of a party which held a quite different view, and Novacian began to teach that although the repentant fallen may be admitted to divine mercy, and therefore may be exhorted to repentance, yet the Church has no power to grant them absolution and must forever exclude them from communion; otherwise it loses its Christian character and its advantages.]

In doing so, he blasphemed the holy pope, making him an accomplice to idolatry.

And he himself broke off his fellowship with him, and having found some like-minded, he became the second pope in Rome [The consecration of Novatian to the episcopate was made by three bishops of small towns who were called by his supporters under vain pretexts and laid their hands on him in the evening, after supper.]

I've been here before.

The sentence of life banishment, which was initially applied only to those who had renounced their faith, was later extended to all those who had committed more or less grave sins after baptism.

Some of the novatians condemned remarriage, equating it with adultery. As for the main truths of the Gospel, the novatians were and always remained Orthodox, and many of them suffered even to death for their faith.]

In the following years the novatians' schism spread to Alexandria, where it lasted until the time of St. Cyril, where they did many things contrary to Orthodoxy: they baptized the formerly baptized in the Catholic Church, and forbade remarriage, calling it adultery, and other unreasonable innovations.

St. Cyril, from the very beginning of his patriarchate, drove these heretics, together with their bishop Theopemptus, out of Alexandria, and then he armed himself against the enemies of the human race, the unclean spirits, whom he drove out of their habitations.

120 stadia is thus 21 versts.] from Alexandria was one village called Konop [Konop is located at the mouth of the Nile, which was named after its conopic name. Before the foundation of Alexandria Konop was the most significant city of this area, but with the emergence of this capital of Egypt its importance began to fall and by the time of the introduction of Christianity the city disappeared, - in its place there was then a small village.]

Near it was a place called Manufin [This place, according to the news about the transfer of the relics of the martyrs Cyrus and John (see below, the 28th), was two fields away from Konop, i.e. about two kilometers.] (formerly it was a village).

But distracted by other concerns, he did not manage to carry out his purpose. St. Cyril, having received the Alexandrian chair after Theophilus, decided to fulfill the wish of his uncle and predecessor and earnestly prayed to God that He would give him help from above and the strength to overcome and expel the unclean spirits from Manoufin.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to the holy man in a vision, commanding him to carry to Manuphin the honourable relics of the martyrs Cyrus and John [Cyrus and John, unpaid physicians, were martyred in Konopa in 311 A.D. Their memory is celebrated on January 31].

And when he had cast out the devils out of the city of Alexandria, he did all that he could to cleanse the city altogether from the devils that were visible, even the Jews, who had long dwelt in the city in great numbers.

Even from the time of Alexander the Great and the founding of Alexandria [Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king who conquered the entire civilized East, lived at the end of the IV century B.C. The city of Alexandria, which is in Egypt, was founded by him to establish Greek rule in 332 B.C.

Having become one of the richest and most flourishing cities in the East, it soon began to attract enterprising settlers from other countries and, by the way, from Palestine - from among its then Jewish population.

Ptolemy the Great, after the conquest of Jerusalem, settled a large colony of Jews in Alexandria and gave them equal rights with the Greeks. The Romans confirmed these rights for them, and Augustus established a special Jewish council to oversee Jewish affairs under the authority of the imperial prefect.

And the Jews came to Jerusalem, and made a great multitude of them, and persecuted the Christians openly and secretly, hating Christ and his name.

The heretics, the novatians mentioned above, were harmful to the city, but the Jews were the most vicious and harmful enemies, not only stirring up disturbances in the city, but also organizing numerous murders and bloodshed.

The Law required that it be performed at the tabernacle and later at the temple in Jerusalem, but the destruction of the temple during the Babylonian captivity necessitated the need for special places of worship.

In the middle of the synagogue was a lower naloy or chapel, some of the seating places were made higher than the others and were intended for elders, i.e. elderly or influential people in the community.

The elders formed a council, which had the highest authority over the synagogue, and the head of this council was called the chief or ruler of the synagogue (Mark 5:22; Acts 13:15).

But the Jewish elders not only ignored the priest's warnings but grew more bitter.

In the city there was a large and beautiful church called the Alexandrian Church, named after its organizer, bishop Alexander [understandably St. Alexander, former bishop of Alexandria from 312 to 326, one of the first defenders of Orthodoxy, who spoke out against the heresy of Arius.] One day the Jews armed themselves as if for war, and with the coming of night they raised a noise and confusion in the street among Christian houses, shouting: "The Alexandrian Church is burning".

And when they heard the cry, they came out of their houses one after another to extinguish the fire, and the Jews came out of their gates and slew them with their swords and their spears and their knives, and many of them were slain that night.

And when the day was come, the patriarch Kirill heard of the slaughter, and was grieved for the slain, and sought justice against the Jews; but Orestes, the bishop of the city, being a Christian, being envious of the saint, helped the Jews, and defended the murderers.

Eparch, in his rage against the saint, began to harm the saint's close relatives, as well as other prominent citizens who were supporters of the patriarch.

This name was used not only for teachers of literacy, but also for people who had a thorough knowledge of all Greek classical literature, who studied it critically - both in terms of the structure of the phrase and in terms of its content.]

Each of them wrote to the emperor Theodosius the Younger [Feodosius II or the Younger reigned in the East from 408 to 450], until the latter issued a decree prohibiting Jews from living in the city.

She was a pious and virtuous woman, and, distinguished by Christian wisdom, spent her days in purity and integrity, keeping her virginity. From her youth she was taught philosophy by her father, Feon, and excelled so much in courtesy that she surpassed all the philosophers who lived at that time, as reported by Sisinius, bishop of Ptolemais.

She was a woman of great learning, and she kept her virginity for the love of Christ. All the people of Alexandria who loved magic flocked to see and hear the wise young woman Hypatias, and she taught many people.

She was revered by all the spiritual and secular authorities, as well as by all the people, and many turned to her seeking her wise advice. She wanted to reconcile the bishop with the patriarch, and with humility and meekness she came to both and persuaded them to peace with wise speeches.

And when she was on her way home in her chariot, the rebels came upon her, and dragged her out of her chariot, and tore her garments, and beat her to death; and their fierce rage was not quenched, and they mocked the dead body of the virgin in their rage.

When the people of the city heard what had happened, they were filled with grief, especially those who loved science. The news of this revolt reached the priests of the Mount of Olives, which is south of Alexandria and west of the Nile River.

The name of the mountain comes from the abundance of nitra or selitra in the lakes that adjoined it. In a number of other desert areas of Egypt, the Nitrian Mountain was a favorite place of dwelling for hermits.] They were filled with grief and pity for the innocent victims of the rebellion and, gathered in number of up to five hundred people, came from the desert to the city, wishing to protect the patriarch.

When they saw the ruler, the monks began to shout at him, rebuking him and calling him an ellin and an idolater, because he had previously adhered to the ellin belief [The Greeks were called Elin.

He was baptized in Constantinople, and one of the monks threw a stone at the bishop and hit him on the head. When the crowd shouted, the monks fled from him, and the servants of the bishop seized one of the monks, named Ammon.

Eparch, supposing that the monks had been incited against him by the patriarch, was very angry and handed Ammonia over to cruel torture and torture, among which he died.

And they set up a long cross, and seized a young man, and crucified him, and bound him with ropes, and spat upon him.

When they had finished mocking him, they beat him until he died on the cross, and thus the martyr of Christ became a copy of the sufferings of Christ.

The Jews who had planned this evil deed were executed, and the bishop was dismissed from his office. After that, the saint of Christ Kirill, defeating the tumult, malice and hostility of the enemies of the Christian name, successfully shepherded the word flock of Christ entrusted to him.

But when the disturbances described in Alexandria had subsided, the whole underworld became even more agitated by the heresy of Nestorius, and St. Cyril had to perform a new - a greater feat.

He was elected to the patriarchate of Constantinople in 428-431. Before his election as bishop of the capital, he was a presbyter in Antioch (see below).

In addition, Nestorius had a penchant for learning and was famous for his fluent and eloquent oratory; but at the same time he was accused of pride and ambition, and it was said that his love of glory led him to resort to showy holiness in his life and to a high-spirited style in his preaching.

In addition to his personal fame, the fact that he came out of the same church as the venerable John Zlatoust gave rise to a special confidence in his name in Constantinople.

While preaching in the cathedral on the day of his enthronement, he addressed the emperor with the words: "Give me the land cleansed from heretics, and I in turn will give you the kingdom of heaven".

These words were greeted with loud approval, but subsequent circumstances showed that Nestorius himself was not firm in Orthodoxy and was a wolf in sheep's clothing.] , translated from Antioch [Antioch Syriac - one of the oldest and richest cities of Syria, its capital city; lies at the Orontes river, 10 kilometers from its entrance into the Mediterranean Sea; founded 300 years before R. H. Seleucus Nicator and named after Antioch, his father.

For the Christian Church, Antioch was of special importance as the second largest Christian center after Jerusalem, and as the mother of Christian churches from the Gentiles. The very name "Christian" was first given to the followers of the Lord Jesus in Antioch; it was here that Christian missions first arose, because it was from here that Apostle Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey and returned there (Acts 13:1, 4; 14, 26).

(Acts 15:39, 40) Paul's second journey ended there and his third journey began there. (Acts 18:22, 23) Thereafter, Antioch had many notable councils called in connection with heretical disputes.

Since ancient times, a special theological school has been established at the school, which is distinguished by its sober reasoning, clear presentation of the sequential development of the divine revelation and introduction of historical-grammatical methods (i.e. by means of historical and grammatical references) for interpreting the holy scriptures.

It was from this school that John Zlatoust, Theodore, Bishop of Moss, Theodoret of Cyrene, and others came, and Nestorius also belonged to this school, but he took its sober-minded principles to extremes and, in an effort to bring the mystery of the incarnation closer to our understanding, fell into heresy.]

He spread among the believers the seeds of heretical doctrine like weeds among the wheat, not first himself, but through his co-religionists. His heresy was blasphemy against Christ God and against the Most Holy Virgin Mary; for he, being outraged, claimed that from the Virgin Mary a simple man was born, Christ, and not God, since the womb of a woman could not contain God, but only a man.

According to Nestorius, God the Word was united with the Human Jesus from the moment of conception only by grace and dwelt in him as in a temple. Therefore, Nestorius called the Virgin Mary not God's Mother but Christ's Mother.

On one occasion, while giving a sermon to the people in the cathedral church of Constantinople, Anastasius attacked the use of the word "Feotocos" - the Virgin Mary in the appendix to the Virgin Mary [The name of the Virgin Mary the Virgin Mary, attacked by Anastasius and Nestorius, was used in the previous century by Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius the Great, Gregory the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and others; it did not mean that St.

The Virgin revealed her divine nature to the Savior, but only affirmed the unity of the Godhead and humanity in one person, "because the Son of God assumed not a human person, but only a human nature".] It was he who argued that the Virgin Mary could not be called the Mother of God, since She was a human being, and how could God be born of human flesh?

When questioned about this, Nestorius himself began to openly reveal his madness and spew out the poison of his blasphemies against Christ and His Immaculate Mother.

"I cannot", he said, "call the woman the Mother of God who gave birth to the fleshly Man, of the same nature as myself, for she was the Mother of the tabernacle prepared by the Holy Spirit for the habitation of the Divine Word.

Some of them were opposed to the heresy and did not want to associate with Nestrius, while others, on the contrary, were seduced by heretical philosophy and followed the teachings of heretics.

This heresy angered not only Constantinople, but all the ends of the earth, for the wicked Nestorius wrote with his co-religionists many writings in defense of his teaching, which he disseminated to the surrounding cities, distant countries and deserts, among the monastics [By the way, the lists of Nestorius' sermons were circulated among Egyptian monks, and many of them ceased to call the Most Holy Virgin the Mother of God as a result.]

He thus caused the same division among Christians that had been caused by the wicked Arius who had torn Christ's garments. [Alexander, a bishop of Alexandria, had a dream of the Lord who had his garments torn.

Soon after this, Arius also spoke with his heretical teaching about the Face of the Lord Jesus Christ.] , because many of the clergy and laity followed the footsteps of Nestorius, as many had previously followed the footsteps of Arius.

St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, upon learning of the heretical teaching of Nestorius and the success of his preaching, was outraged in spirit and, as a faithful slave and brave soldier of Christ the God and the pure Mother of God, armed himself against the enemy of Christ and stood firmly for the honor of God and the Most Holy Mother of God.

At first St. Cyril kindly wrote to Nestorius, urging him to abandon false doctrines and to put an end to the confusion he had caused in the Church of Christ by professing the true faith.

St. Cyril wrote to the clergy of the Church of Constantinople and to the imperial court [St. Cyril wrote two special treatises, one to the emperor Theodosius the Younger and the other to the empresses Pulcheria and Eudokia, the first of whom was the emperor's sister and the second the emperor's wife.], urging them not to be seduced by the teaching of Nestorius.

He also sent letters to all the rulers and bishops of the various countries and cities, in which he warned everyone not to be enthralled with the heresy of Nestorius. Since this heresy had led astray, among other things, many monks, he wrote to them too, explaining the soul-destroying harm of heresy and turning them away from being seduced by it.

In fact, St. Cyril did not cease to shout against this wolf until he had driven him away from the flock of Christ. Meanwhile, Nestorius not only did not correct himself from Cyril's messages, but went with his followers even to worse.

And then Nestorius himself began to torture those of the clergy and monks of the church of Constantinople who resisted him and did not share his heresy.

And the people of the land were greatly moved, and greatly dismayed, and they were greatly dismayed, and they were greatly dismayed, and they were greatly dismayed.

Many of the bishops were already infected with this pernicious heretical teaching and became followers of Nestorius, who was supported by John [John I, Patriarch of Antioch, held the Antioch chair from 423 to 440], the Patriarch of Antioch, who, disapproving of what Nestorius had said, still asked Cyril not to attach special importance to his words.

The only way to end the disturbance was to convene an ecumenical council, which was desired by both Nestorius's opponents and his supporters, each hoping that its teachings would prevail, and Theodosius the Younger decided to convene such a council.

The city of Ephesus is the main city of the province of Iconia, near the mouth of the Caistra (now Kyučak-Menderec); it served as a hub for all the trade of the front Asia.

Therefore, the church in Ephesus was held in high esteem as the church of the apostles, and the bishops of Ephesus received patriarchal rights in the fifth century, which were retained for a short time.] , he invited all the metropolitans and bishops of the empire to gather here for Pentecost 431.

In the time described, the name comite became an honorific title given to the highest dignitaries of the empire.] Candidian to attend the council as the imperial representative. Nestorius arrived in Ephesus shortly after Easter (19 April), accompanied by 16 bishops; before the feast of Pentecost, St. Cyril appeared at the head of fifty Egyptian bishops.

About forty bishops came from the surrounding cities of Asia Minor [These bishops were headed by Memnon, the bishop of Ephesus, whose cathedral enjoyed patriarchal rights at that time.

Pope Celestine, unable to attend because of illness and old age, sent two bishops and a presbyter as representatives of himself and "the whole western council", with the order to be guided by the judgment of St. Cyril. A total of about 200 bishops attended, but John of Antioch and other Syrian bishops, who mostly sided with Nestorius, did not attend.

The bishops who had gathered for the council waited in vain until 21 June and, without waiting, finally opened their meetings (21 June 431).

But the wicked Nestorius opposed the council and did not appear at it under the pretext that he would wait for the arrival of John of Antioch and the Syrian bishops.

St. Cyril presented to the council his letters to Nestorius and others, in which he denounced the wicked wisdom of the heretic, and also presented the definitions of the local council that had been held before in Alexandria.

When he learned of the proceedings, he convened a separate council for the defence of Nestorius, which was attended by Nestorius and all his supporters. The heretically infected Candidian assisted this lawless council, and at it St. Cyril was unjustly denounced as a heretic by Apollinarius [Apollinarius was bishop of Laodicea, in Syria (died 390).

At first he was one of the chief advocates of the Nicene Creed; but later, in his fight against the heresy of Arius, he fell into the opposite extreme.

On the basis that a perfect God and a perfect man could not be united in one Person, and that if Christ were a perfect man, He could not remain sinless and make the atonement, Apollinaeus taught that Christ had only two parts of a human being - body and soul - with a third part, the spirit, interceding in him - the Godhead.

This heresy was condemned at the Council of Alexandria in 362, which denied the true humanity of Christ and claimed that Christ had no soul, but instead contained the Godhead in himself.

The emperor believed their slander and ordered that St. Cyril be imprisoned together with the blessed Memnon, bishop of Ephesus, in the dungeon [With St. Cyril and Memnon, he was imprisoned, by the emperor's order, and Nestorius.

But when he had examined everything thoroughly, and had seen, on the one hand, the innocence of the righteous Cyril, and, on the other, the open lies and malice of his enemies, Theodosius restored the holy and valiant saint and his adherent Memnon to their offices, and praised the patience and meekness of the former; and he ordered the heretics to be restrained.

Thus, St. Cyril again became the head of the holy fathers assembled in Ephesus to consider the wisdom of Nestorius. At this council the dogma of faith was established that the incarnate of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the true God, and the one who gave birth to Him, the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the true Goddess.

When this decree was made known to the people, there was great rejoicing among all the believers, and all the citizens of the city of Ephesus shouted with a solemn shout, but not as at first when they said: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

The event took place in the time of the apostles in the same Ephesus, where the famous temple of Artemis (or Diana, the goddess of hunting) was then located and where the name of this goddess was surrounded by a special worship.

When Paul and Barnabas came to Ephesus, they said that idols were worthless. But the people were shouting, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! "" Great is the goddess of the Ephesians! " They shouted, "Great is the goddess of the Ephesians!"

Nestorius was condemned as a heretic and blasphemer and was not only deprived of his rank, but also excommunicated from the Church of Christ and condemned to eternal damnation.

The emperor exiled Nestorius to a distant land called Oasym, where he died in great torment.

It was he who had his blasphemous tongue eaten alive by worms, and the following incident, which is related by St. John in his work "The Spiritual Forest" (Limonary, written in the early 7th century and containing short accounts of the pilgrims of Palestine, Egypt and Syria), shows how anti-Orthodox the blasphemy of the Heretic Nestorius against the Mother of God is:

"Once", he writes, "we came to the presbyter of the Koloman Lavra [the Lavra was the name of a monastery with a large number of monks and its significance.

The monks in the laurels led a hermitage lifestyle and lived in their cells, gathering together only for worship on the first and last day of the week, and in the rest of the days keeping silence.

And he said unto us, Behold, I saw in a dream, and behold, there stood before the door of my cell a bright, most beautiful virgin clothed in scarlet, and with her two bright men.

And I knew that it was our Lady, the Most Holy Virgin Mary, and the men with her, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Theologian. I went out of my cell at once, and bowing, I begged her to come in to me and bless my cell, but she would not.

And when she saw my earnest prayer, she said unto me, Thou hast my enemy in thy cell, and how canst thou desire that I should come in unto thee? And she departed. And I awoke from my sleep, and wept, and wept bitterly, and thought, Have I not sinned against the most pure virgin in my heart? for there was none else beside me in my cell.

And I searched, and found no sin before him; and when I saw that I was in sorrow, I took the book, and read it, that I might be a little glad in my sorrow; and it was the book of Hezekiah, the blessed ruler of Jerusalem, which I asked of him for a time.

And when I had read the book, I saw at the end of it two words of the wicked Nestorius, and thus I knew what enemy of the Most Holy was in my cell. Then I arose, and gave the book to him that gave it to me, and said to him, Brother, take thy book; I have not so much benefited from it as hurt.

And I told him of my former vision, and he, filled with divine jealousy, cut out of the book two words of Nestorius, and burned them in the fire, saying, Let not the enemy of our Lord, the Virgin Mary, and the Holy Spirit remain in my cell.

Nor should we be silent about how the saint of Christ, Cyril - this great pleasing of God, with so great a holiness, nevertheless had something shameful in himself and repugnant piety - to see his miraculous correction.

His zealous service to the truth and to the Church of Christ, his bold denunciations of all manner of vices and weaknesses of the society of that time, aroused the malice of those whom the saint denounced, and they undertook a whole campaign against him, raising all manner of slanders against the saint and seeking to arm the emperor, the empress, as well as other persons against him.

The result of these intrigues against Zlatoust was his deposition and two deportations from the capital of the empire. The second exile was especially cruel. The saint was sent to the wild Pfiunt, on the shore of the Black Sea, in Armenia, but he, not reaching that city, exhausted by the difficulty of the journey and various oppressions on the way, died in Comana, in the province of Pontus, in the north-east of Asia Minor.

Kirill of Alexandria had been in Zlatoust's last years, but could hardly have known Zlatoust personally; however, since Zlatoust's uncle, Patriarch Theophilos of Alexandria, was hostile to Zlatoust, it is natural that he too had a biased opinion about Zlatoust, being involved in the deception of the slanders spread on the saint.] - saint on the saint.

This should not surprise us, for perfection belongs to God alone; and no man can be perfect by himself unless he "from his fullness we all received, and grace for grace".

For we have all received from the fullness of God's grace, which is in Christ Jesus. Therefore the saints are subject to human weakness, even as St. Cyril was in his dealings with St. John the Great, and he was angry not only at the end of his life, but even after his death, and did not want to remember him among the saints.

On the one hand, from his uncle, the patriarch Theophilus, on the other, from others who harbored enmity against Zlatoust, he heard many unjust slanders against this universal lamp and, in his goodness, believed the lie as truth.

Atticus, the patriarch of Constantinople, who lived before Nestorius, persuaded him in his letters to inscribe the name of St. John Chrysostom in the church's diptychs.

In the Christian church, the diptychs were from ancient times commemorative books, in which the names of bishops, martyrs and all saints in general were written.] , that is, in books with the names of saints.

After ascending to the patriarchal throne of Constantinople after Arsacius, he inscribed in the diptychs and Zlatoust and, while he was alive, warned St. Cyril in letters asking him to do the same.

St. Isidore of Pelusiot was condemned and put to death. His writings are composed of letters, most of which are interpretations of the Holy Scriptures.

In fact, he writes many letters to exhort and admonish, and to reconcile those who are at variance with him.

Isidore, a relative of Cyril, the elderly husband, saw the indignation of many against St. Cyril for his excommunication of John Chrysostom, and boldly wrote to him, urging him to examine the circumstances of the condemnation of John Chrysostom impartially. "Patience is shortsighted, and hatred sees nothing at all", wrote Pelusiot in one of his letters to St. Cyril.

"Therefore, if you wish to be pure from both faults, do not pronounce rash judgments, but subject your actions to a just judgment; for God, who knows everything in advance before it comes to fruition, humanely chose to come down from heaven and see the cry of Sodom (Gen. 18:20) and instruct us to do everything by careful examination.

For many have heard of you, and have heard that you are a man of many persuasions.

Just as Theophilus openly expressed his hatred of the godly and godly John, so it is desirable to boast of this, although the situation of the accused has changed greatly, for John has already suffered exile and is no longer alive". In another letter, St. Isidore of Pelusiot wrote to Cyril: "I am frightened by the examples of the Divine Scriptures and compelled to write what is right.

For if I am a father, as you say, I am afraid of the reproach that Eli received for not punishing his sons who sinned.

When Eli, a weak man, failed to heed God's repeated warnings, God's judgment on Elijah's household soon came.

And there was a war with the Philistines, and when the ark of the covenant was brought into the army of the Jews by the sons of Elijah, there was a catastrophe: the sons of Elijah were slain, the ark was taken captive, and Elijah, when he heard of it, fell from his seat and died.

I fear the punishment which Jonathan suffered for not stopping his father, who sought witches.

When God had withdrawn from Saul, and had not given him a revelation of the outcome of the war during the war with the Philistines, he decided to turn to superstition and went to a sorceress who lived in En-dor, a small town in the tribe of Issachar, where he called out to the shadow of Samuel and sought to know his fate.

Therefore, lest I also be condemned, and thou condemned of God, cease strife, and that vengeance for thy own insult, which should be rendered to mortals, carry not into the living Church, - under the pretext of piety do not cause in her eternal discord".

While the official representatives of the Church of Constantinople and the Church of Alexandria did not recognize him as a saint, in other churches, such as Rome and Antioch, he was inscribed in the Diptychs and counted among the saints, but in the first two churches there were many supporters of Zlatoust who did not share the views of their official representatives and considered him a saint.

In Constantinople, the supporters of John the Baptist broke away from the Church and formed a schism of the Ioannites, which was destroyed only in 438.]

And in another place the saint wrote to Cyril: "You ask me about the circumstances of the banishment of the holy man John: but I will not write in detail about it, lest I appear to be a man who rebukes and condemns others, because the many injustices of men to the saint have exceeded all measure.

I will briefly recall to you the brutal manners of Egypt, which is near you [Alexandria, located on the very shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and as a city of Greek origin, here considered as being outside the present ancient Egypt.] : he denied Moses, surrendered to Pharaoh, mutilate with wounds the humble, angered the workers, built cities and did not pay the wages of the workers [Here is an indication of the great oppressions that were carried out in

the time of the Egyptian pharaohs over the slaves who built the pyramids and other Egyptian structures and, by the way, over the Jews.

[The predecessor of Cyril on the Alexandrian chair, his uncle Theophilus, was selfish, as is evident from the life of St. Cyril of Alexandria.

John the Baptist (November 14).] ; he and his co-religionists rose up against St. John - a godly man and preacher of God. Despite this, the house of David is strengthened and multiplies, while Saul, as you see, weakens [Figurative expression - indicating the triumph of the righteous John the Baptist after his death, recognized as a saint in many churches and having a large number of followers and admirers.] ".

These were the letters of St. Isidore Pelusiot to St. Cyril, which, upon his last reading, made him conscious of his sin, and especially when he was frightened by the next vision, when he thought he was in some very beautiful and joyful place.

And he saw there Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the saints of the old covenant, and the saints of the new covenant, and a very large and bright temple, the beauty of which no man can describe, and he heard sweet voices singing in it.

And among those who stood around the Mother of God was St. John the Baptist, who shone like an angel of God in a marvelous light, and had in his hand a book of his writings; and a multitude of wonderful men were around him, like servants, all of them armed, as if ready to attack.

And when Cyril was about to fall at the feet of the Virgin Mary to worship her, St. John and his armed men immediately rushed upon him, forbidding him to approach the Immaculate Mother of God and driving him out of the miraculous temple.

But suddenly he heard the Blessed Virgin pleading with John to forgive Cyril and not to expel him from the temple, for he had sinned against him not out of malice, but out of ignorance.

When the Blessed Mother spoke these words, John immediately repented and replied to the Mother of God: "By your intercession, Lord, I forgive him". Then, approaching Cyril in a friendly way, he embraced and kissed him, and thus they reconciled with each other in a vision.

Then, having gathered all the bishops of Egypt, he celebrated a solemn feast in honor of St. John the Divine and recorded the last of the great saints in the church books, thus removing the stain on the holy husband Cyril, who was hostile to St. John, and the enmity between His slaves was dispelled by the Most Holy Mother of God.

The rest of his life Saint Cyril lived among great heroes, caring not only for his own salvation, but also for the salvation of others and instructing many on the right path.

Despite this, he, as an uneducated and simple man, held one wrong opinion; it was out of his ignorance that the elder claimed that Melchizedek was the Son of God [Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the God of the Most High is mentioned in the book (Gen. 14:18) (compare Ps.109:3; Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1,10, 11, 15, 11).

When Abraham came back from the defeat of the king of Elam and his allies who had plundered Lot, Melchizedek met him with bread and wine and blessed him in the name of the Most High God. Abraham received this blessing so highly and so reverently that he gave Melchizedek a tenth of all his spoils.

(Psalm 75:3) It can be inferred that Melchizedek was a special, glorious servant of the true God in all Palestine. The Scriptures concealed details about him, making him a type of Christ. The transforming significance of the Melchizedek priesthood was also pointed out by King and Prophet David when he said of the Son of God: "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 109:4).

But especially clearly and in detail is revealed the transforming significance of Melchizedek in the apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 7).]

Knowing that the Elder works miracles and is pleasing to God, that God fulfills all his requests, and that he thinks wrongly of Melchizedek only because of his simplicity, the patriarch used such wisdom to guide him in the right way.

"Abba, I beg you to help me solve one mystery: on the one hand, my reasoning leads me to the conclusion that Melchizedek is the Son of God, but on the other hand, something tells me that this is unjust and that he is an ordinary man and a priest of God.

And whatsoever God shall reveal unto thee, hide not from me. And the elder, trusting in his godly life, boldly answered St. Cyril, saying, Let me alone, my lord, for three days, and at the end of these three days I will inquire of this God, and I will tell thee what shall be revealed unto me. And when he had withdrawn into his cell, and was shut up there three days, the elder prayed to God that he might reveal unto him of Melchizedek. And when he had received the request, he came to St. Cyril, and said,

"Melchizedek is a man, not the Son of God. And may you know, my lord, that this is indeed so". St. Cyril was very happy to save the old man's soul and, thanking him, released him. The old man went away and began to preach to everyone that Melchizedek was a man, not the Son of God.

After thirty-two years on the Alexandrian patriarchal throne and during his lifetime having purified the Church of Christ from all the former heresies, he wrote many soulful works.

Among Kirill's explanatory writings, the best is his interpretation of the Gospel of Luke, which is notable for its brevity and accuracy in its explanation of Scripture.

Cyril against Julian, a refutation of the work that Julian, with the help of pagan philosophers, wrote in defense of paganism and against Christianity. Most of Cyril's dogmatic writings are written on the case of Nestoria. These are the five books against Nestorius.

Fotius (the Patriarch of Constantinople) says that it was thorough and tended to overturn the heretical teaching of Arius and Eunomius, and that it surpasses all others in clarity.

The anti-anthropomorphism work was written by St. Cyril for some Egyptian monks who, unknowingly, imagined God in human form. St. Cyril wrote many discourses.

It is inscribed in the Slavonic Psalter and the Greek Chronology as a warning to Christians.], St. Cyril died peacefully in the Lord [St. Cyril died on June 27, 448].

He is worthy to be counted with St. Goldilocks, and with him, in the flame of unfailing love, will stand before both Christ God and the Most Holy Mother of God, in her glory, near her throne, and praise the Blessed Virgin with her begotten true God for ever and ever.

The abyss of theological teachings has been given to us by this Jave, from the source of the Saviours, a heresy that submerges the beatitude of Cyril, and saves the flock unscathed from anxiety.