Cyril of Jerusalem is a major church figure from the fourth century. He directed his work towards evangelization, becoming a school of Christian education and guidance.

The place and time of his birth are not known, but it is likely that he was born in Jerusalem around the year 315 AD. The certain thing is that he became bishop of Jerusalem in the year 349 AD, and was ordained by the Metropolitan of Caesarea in Palestine, Acacius the Arian, who believed that he was of his doctrine. However, a dispute broke out between them after Cyril defended the Council of Nicaea and its doctrine.

His parents were pious and instilled in his heart straight faith and a love of prayer and the Holy Books. Cyril caught the attention of Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem, who ordained him a priest in 344 and entrusted him with teaching catechumens and preparing them for holy baptism. He was elected bishop of Jerusalem in 350. He was exiled three times after he was accused by the Arian heretics. All the bishops gathered at the Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople testified to his Orthodoxy by saying: “We acknowledge and recognize that the venerable Pontiff Cyril fought the good fight against the Arians at different times and places.” He died in 387 after an episcopal life that lasted 38 years, of which he spent 16 years in exile away from his see. The church celebrates him on the eighteenth of March.

During his episcopate, Cyril tasted the bitterness of repeated exile. In the year 357 AD, Acacius held a council in Jerusalem and was able to exile him to Thracius. However, he was returned to his bishopric a year later by decision of the Council of Slivica. In 360 AD, Acacius was again able to exile Cyril, and he remained in exile until Julian ascended to the throne of the empire in 362 AD. However, the longest exile was in 763 AD by order of Emperor Valens, which lasted eleven years, that is, until 378 AD. Thus, Cyril spent fourteen years in exile, i.e. about half the term of his episcopate.

Cyril is not considered among the great theologians or those with prominent doctrinal positions. This was best demonstrated by the educational sermons he delivered during the seasons of Lent and Easter to those seeking baptism (catechumens) and to the newly baptized (enlightened ones). In addition to these educational sermons, Cyril left behind a sermon on the recovery of the paralytic, and a letter he addressed to Emperor Constantius informing him of a miracle in which the cross appeared sparkling in the sky of Jerusalem between the Holy Sepulcher and the Mount of Olives. We have 24 educational sermons that Cyril appears to have delivered before and after Easter in the year 348. The reason for delivering them at this time of the year is that baptism was performed during the Easter season because baptism was linked to the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

His book “Religious Education,” which consists of 42 teachings, which he delivered in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is considered one of the most important Christian treasures. This book has been preserved in a large number of manuscripts due to its importance, whether from the point of view of education and guidance or from the spiritual point of view. We can divide the book into two parts:

The first section can be called “The Catechism of the Catechumens,” and it consists of 91 teachings. It is directed to those who intend to become enlightened (that is, those who will receive baptism). This part includes an outline of the basic doctrines, laws related to the lives of believers, and a theological interpretation of the Constitution of Faith that they will recite at baptism.

The second section can be called “Sacramental Teaching” and includes 5 teachings addressed to the newly enlightened (i.e. those who have accepted baptism). This part is an explanation of the sacraments. Teachings 20 and 21 are for the sacrament of baptism, 22 for the sacrament of chrismation, 32 for the sacrament of thanksgiving, and 24 explanation of the Divine Mass.

In one of his sermons, Cyril presents the Orthodox belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ, echoing the expressions of the law of faith that was approved in the First Ecumenical Council. He says: “Believe in the one and only Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, God from God, life from life, light from light, similar to the Father in everything". Cyril explains the Church’s intent in saying that the Son of God was born from the Father before all ages, and adds: “In physical birth, the Father precedes the Son temporally, but the Son is born from the Father before all ages, and there is no temporal difference between them. Physical birth means that the newborn is a minor and needs care to grow and grow. But the only Son of God was born completely from the Father.” If God is eternal without beginning and there is no time separating the existence of the Father and the existence of the Son, then this means that the Son of God is eternal and therefore God from God.

Saint Jerusalem also emphasizes the divinity of the Holy Spirit, in order to respond to those who say the inferiority of the Holy Spirit before the Father and the Son. He says: “The Holy Spirit alone, like the Son, sees the Father face to face.” The only Son shares the divinity of the Father with the Holy Spirit.” Recognizing the Holy Spirit as God is related to salvation, as Cyril states that “salvation for us comes from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, a Trinity with one essence, harmonious and inseparable.” These words spoken by Saint Cyril were later echoed by the Second Ecumenical Council, which added to the Code of Faith the clause related to the Holy Spirit, clarifying the reality of prostration of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son.

For Cyril, baptism occupies the first place in his teaching, and this is self-evident since most of his sermons are directed to those about to undergo baptism. He expands on his explanation of the meaning of baptism, as presented to him by Saint Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans. “The baptismal font is an image of the tomb in which Jesus was buried after he was taken down from the cross. He asked each of you to confess your faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then he descended into the water three times and ascended from it in the likeness of Christ who tasted the three-day burial. So baptism is death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. This is why we see Saint Jerusalem stressing elsewhere the symbolism of death and life in the waters of baptism, likening it to the mother who gives life: “You were buried and born at the same time. The waters of baptism are a grave and a mother at the same time. Solomon wrote, “A time to be born and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). But for us, the opposite is true: the time of death is the same as the time of birth.” It is as if Cyril is here recalling what the Apostle Paul said, who affirms that death has no power over a person after he is baptized. This is because a person dies once in baptism, and lives as a new person in the image of Christ rising from the dead.

In his introduction, Cyril emphasizes that baptism is granted once in a life, saying: “It is not possible to accept the washing of rebirth (meaning baptism) two or three times. What you lose once you cannot regain it, because the Lord is one, faith is one, and baptism is one.” We can also conclude from the introduction that many of those who were accepting Christianity at that time were accepting it for various political, social, or functional purposes, far from the spirit and convictions of the first Christians. That is why Cyril warns them against coming for undesirable reasons, as such a mistake would spoil baptism: “The water accepts you, but the spirit will not accept you.”

Cyril distinguishes between the baptism of John and baptism into Christ, saying: “Let no one think that baptism is anything other than the grace of forgiveness of sins and divine adoption, like the baptism of John, who granted forgiveness of sins. As for us, we know that baptism, even if it is for the cleansing of sins and participation in the gift of the Holy Spirit, is also an image of Christ’s suffering in us. Here Cyril cites the letter of Saint Paul to the Romans: “Do you not know that we were baptized into Jesus Christ? We were baptized into his death, and were buried with him in baptism so that we might die and live” (6: 3-4). Hence, Cyril confirms the church teaching regarding baptism in that it grants forgiveness of sins and adoption, but it is essentially participation in the Lord’s death, resurrection, and new life with Him.

Saint Cyril emphasizes the importance of the sacrament of thanksgiving (communion). He focuses on the reality of the Lord’s presence in the offerings offered, and then on the reality of our union with Him through our partaking of His body and blood: “Let us receive the body and blood of the Lord with confidence. Because we gave him his body in the form of bread and his blood in the form of wine. When we receive His body and blood, we become one body and one blood with Him. This is how we become bearers of Christ.” Our saint cites the Apostle Peter in his second letter (1:4) that we become “partakers of the divine nature” through Communion. Cyril stresses the importance of praying for the sick, the distressed, travelers, and the dead, because we are partners with them in the one body of Christ. The saint says about those who have fallen asleep: “Likewise, when we pray for those who have fallen asleep... we offer Christ who died to erase all sin, and through him our merciful God will forgive us and them.”

Saint Cyril says: “God gives you grace, and it is up to you to receive it and preserve it.” God gives grace freely, but He waits for the response of man, who has full freedom to accept it or reject it. Our business, as believers in the power of the grace that we received in baptism, is to live and be renewed and repent to God, and in this way we have preserved the deposit, that is, the grace.

Cyril calls the sacrament of holy chrismation “the anointing of Christ,” by which believers receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He says: “Behold, you were baptized into Christ and put on Christ (Galatians 3:27), and you became conformed to the image of Christ, the Son of God (Romans 8:29). You have become Christs by receiving the seal of the Holy Spirit.” Then he continues, saying in the same sermon: “With this ointment (chrism) you are symbolically anointed on your forehead and all your senses. At the time when your body is anointed with the visible oil, your soul will be sanctified by the life-giving Holy Spirit.” Finally, our saint confirms that the Eucharist completes entry into the Church. He calls on the baptized to participate in the true body of Christ and his true blood made available to them in the Mass. He says to those who doubt this fact: “Christ had previously, at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, transformed water into wine by his own will. Would he not be worthy of By believing when he turns the wine into his blood?

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem conveys to us faith as a life to live in order to reach salvation. Education, for him, should not stop at talking and repeating it in a boring and ineffective parrot. Therefore, he alerts his listener to the fact that baptism has planted in him the grace that he must water by following the straight path and implementing the Lord’s commandments and teachings. We can say that his advice to his disciples and to us personally is his saying, concisely and sufficiently: “Remember the things that have been said, because we say them, not only for you to hear them, but for you to keep them by faith.”

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