What if truth could move us to tears?
Theological precision does more than guard against error — it elevates the soul. In the lives of St. Cyril of Alexandria and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, that union of clarity and devotion comes brilliantly to light.
As Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, St. Cyril had big shoes to fill.
Cyril came from a prominent Egyptian Christian family and was the nephew (and assistant) of the famous priest Theophilus, who was Patriarch of Alexandria before him. St. Mark the Evangelist was the first leader of that ancient episcopate and the great St. Athanasius was one of its leading lights.
Cyril knew well the great theological battle his predecessors fought against the Arians, who denied the full divinity of Jesus. His own task was to confront the Nestorians, who objected to calling Mary “Mother of God,” insisting instead on “Mother of Christ” because they believed she gave birth only to Christ’s human nature.
Cyril had the answer: A mother gives birth to a person, not an abstract “nature,” and Jesus was not two persons — he was one person with two natures. His view carried the day at the Council of Ephesus in 431, sparking raucous celebrations in the streets by Christians overjoyed to keep their beloved title Theotokos, God-bearer — “Mother of God.
Cyril’s triumph was not only theological — it was pastoral as well, as he worked patiently to bring dissenters back into the fold.
As Pope Benedict XVI noted, with Cyril, “on the one hand is the clarity of the doctrine of faith, but in addition, on the other, the intense search for unity and reconciliation.”
More than a dozen centuries later, Cyril’s “win” was one of the marks that drew Elizabeth Ann Seton into the Church.
Marian devotion can be a stumbling block for many Protestants, but St. Elizabeth Ann Seton grasped early on the beauty and depth of the Church’s teaching.
“The glory and happiness of the Catholic Church is to sing the praises of Mary, the striking proof she is the true spouse of Christ” she wrote, “since she best loves, honors, and cherishes her whom Jesus Christ himself so much honors, loves and cherishes.”
Mother Seton saw the practical application of Marian spirituality, too. In times of sorrow, she said, “It seems as if our Lord or his blessed Mother stood continually by me, in a corporeal form, to comfort, cheer, and encourage me, in the different weary and tedious hours of pain.”
Mary’s comfort and care follow from her status as “Mother of God,” St. Cyril pointed out at length. “Hail Mary!” he wrote:
“Through you the Trinity is glorified; through you is the cross named precious, and adored throughout the whole world; through you heaven exults; through you angels and archangels rejoice; through you demons are put to flight; through you the devil, the tempter, fell from heaven; through you the fallen creature is taken up to heaven; through you the whole created world, gripped in the madness of idolatry, comes to a recognition of the truth; through you comes about holy baptism for believers; through you the oil of gladness; through you churches have been founded across the whole world; through you nations are led to repentance.”
St. Cyril saw her as the mother of every good thing and as the figure who, from the foot of the cross to the upper room of Pentecost, was at the center of Christian unity.
The unity of the Church was another central theme in Cyril’s work.
Pope Leo XIII made Cyril a Doctor of the Church in 1882, an act that united the Western Church with Eastern Orthodoxy in its admiration for the Alexandrian archbishop.
Cyril served as Patriarch of Alexandria for 32 years, from 412 until his death in 444, and produced volumes of letters, treatises, and commentaries on Scripture and theology.
Pope Benedict XVI called Cyril’s writings “truly numerous” and an “instant success,” as they were widely translated and disseminated worldwide in his lifetime. To this day, Benedict said, they “are of the utmost importance for the history of Christianity.” In fact, the full text of Cyril’s Commentary on the Letter to the Hebrews was discovered in Armenia as recently as 2020, and published in many languages, including English, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
St. Cyril saw unity as a vital necessity for Christians. “The oneness of believers, in agreement of heart and soul, should resemble the divine oneness and essential identity of the Holy Trinity and the intimate relation of each divine Person with the others,” he wrote.
The ultimate symbol of that unity, Cyril said, is the Eucharist.
The One Loaf made from scattered grains has long been a symbol of the oneness of the Church. St. Cyril added that “Through the mystery of the Eucharist, one body — his own body — blesses those who believe in him. He makes us the same body with himself and with each other. For who could divide the natural union of those who are knit together through his holy body, which is one in union with Christ?”
Elizabeth Seton felt this intensely. While still a Protestant, she witnessed a Mass in Italy and recoiled from the disbelief of a Protestant man she was with by quoting St. Paul’s words on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
She said, “Involuntarily I bent from him to the pavement and thought secretly on the word of St. Paul with starting tears: ‘They discern not the Lord’s body.’”
Mother Seton saw in the Eucharist the remedy for the soul’s wounds and trials. So did Cyril
“This heavenly bread of Angels removes my pains, my cares – warms, cheers, soothes, contents and renews my whole being,” she said.
St. Cyril wrote expansively on the same topic, with this remarkable litany of advice:
“If the poison of pride is swelling up in you, turn to the Eucharist; and that Bread, which is your God humbling and disguising Himself, will teach you humility. If the fever of selfish greed rages in you, feed on this Bread; and you will learn generosity.
“If the cold wind of coveting withers you, hasten to the Bread of Angels; and charity will come to blossom in your heart. If you feel the itch of intemperance, nourish yourself with the Flesh and Blood of Christ, Who practiced heroic self-control during His earthly life; and you will become temperate.
“If you are lazy and sluggish about spiritual things, strengthen yourself with this heavenly Food; and you will grow fervent. Lastly, if you feel scorched by the fever of impurity, go to the banquet of the Angels; and the spotless Flesh of Christ will make you pure and chaste.”
These two saints knew that sound doctrine is not just for the mind but for the heart — a grace-filled path through which heaven touches our lives and leads us to communion with God.
TOM HOOPES, autor más reciente de El Rosario de San Juan Pablo II, es escritor residente en el Benedictine College de Kansas, donde imparte clases. Es anfitrión de La extraordinaria Story podcast sobre la vida de Cristo. Su libro Lo que dijo realmente el Papa Francisco ya está disponible en Audible. Antiguo reportero en la zona de Washington, D.C., fue secretario de prensa del Presidente del Comité de Medios y Arbitrios de la Cámara de Representantes de los Estados Unidos y pasó 10 años como editor del periódico National Catholic Register y de la revista Faith & Family. Su trabajo aparece con frecuencia en el Register, Aleteia y Catholic Digest. Vive en Atchison, Kansas, con su esposa, April, y tiene nueve hijos.Imagen: Dominio público
Image: St. Cyril of Alexandria. Fresco in the Chora, 14th century. Istanbul, Turkey. Wikicommons
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