St. Cyril of Alexandria

Patriarch of AlexandriaFeast June 9

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The patriarch whose Christology defeated Nestorianism at the Council of Ephesus and whose commentary on John defends the eternal divinity of the Word.

Born: c. 376 (Alexandria or its surrounds)
Reposed: June 27, 444
See: Alexandria
Feast: June 9 · January 18

Cyril was born about 376 to a notable Alexandrian family and trained from his youth in Scripture and the writings of Athanasius, his predecessor by two generations on the throne of St. Mark. As a young man he spent five years among the monks of the Egyptian desert before returning to the city to assist his uncle, the patriarch Theophilus.

He succeeded Theophilus in 412 and would govern the Church of Alexandria for thirty-two years. His earliest works are exegetical: a long commentary on John, a parallel commentary on Luke, a treatise on the Trinity in dialogue form. He read every line of Scripture against the question that mattered to him most: who is Christ?

5 works

Books in print

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On the Unity of ChristBy Cyril of Alexandria · St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1995Cyril's mature statement of the union of natures in the one incarnate Word, the doctrinal voice that carried the day at Ephesus and shaped the Chalcedonian definition. John McGuckin's translation.Buy on Amazon
Commentary on John, Vol. 1By Cyril of Alexandria · IVP Academic, 2013Books 1–6 of Cyril's twelve-book exegesis of the Fourth Gospel, the first complete modern English translation. David R. Maxwell, working from Pusey's critical Greek text, restores the work to general readability.Buy on Amazon
Commentary on John, Vol. 2By Cyril of Alexandria · IVP Academic, 2015Books 7–12 of the Commentary on John, completing Maxwell's translation, including Cyril's exposition of the Last Supper discourses, the high-priestly prayer, and the Resurrection appearances.Buy on Amazon
Three Christological TreatisesBy Cyril of Alexandria · The Catholic University of America Press, 2014On Orthodoxy to Theodosius, Defense against the Bishops of Oriens, and Defense against Theodoret, the three works in which Cyril explained his Twelve Anathemas to the Emperor and his critics on the eve of Ephesus. Daniel King's translation, the first into English.Buy on Amazon
Letters 1–50By Cyril of Alexandria · The Catholic University of America Press, 1987The first half of Cyril's surviving correspondence, including the Second Letter to Nestorius, the Third Letter with the Twelve Anathemas, and the Letter to John of Antioch that sealed the Formulary of Reunion. John I. McEnerney's translation.Buy on Amazon
Letters 51–110By Cyril of Alexandria · The Catholic University of America Press, 1987The second and final volume of McEnerney's translation of Cyril's letters, Christological clarifications after the Reunion of 433, pastoral correspondence, and the Letter to Eulogius on the proper reception of the Antiochene formula.Buy on Amazon
Festal Letters 1–12By Cyril of Alexandria · The Catholic University of America Press, 2009The annual Paschal letters by which the Alexandrian patriarch announced the date of Pascha and prepared his flock for the great fast, Cyril's pastoral voice, year by year, on repentance, almsgiving, and the meaning of the Resurrection. Philip Amidon's translation.Buy on Amazon
Festal Letters 13–30By Cyril of Alexandria · The Catholic University of America Press, 2013The remaining festal letters Cyril sent across his patriarchate, including the letters of the years through and beyond Ephesus, in which the Christological controversy enters his Paschal preaching.Buy on Amazon
Cyril of AlexandriaAbout Norman Russell · Routledge, 2000Russell's introduction to Cyril's life, method, and theology, with fresh translations of selections from the major works, the Commentary on John, the Christological treatises, the Against Julian, and the Letters. The standard scholarly entry point.Buy on Amazon
Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological ControversyAbout John A. McGuckin · St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2004McGuckin's standard study of the fifth-century clash between Cyril and Nestorius, political, theological, and personal, with key primary texts in translation.Buy on Amazon
The Appropriation of Divine Life in Cyril of AlexandriaAbout Daniel A. Keating · Oxford University Press, 2004Keating's comprehensive account of sanctification and deification in Cyril, drawn from the New Testament commentaries and homilies. The definitive monograph on the soteriology that runs beneath Cyril's Christology.Buy on Amazon

In his own words

Books in print