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Orientalis Ecclesiae

 
  Encycical Letter of Pope Pius XII  
  on  
  Ἀγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας – Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church
(*c. 376 – 444†), Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444.		  

 

     
  Venerable Brethren,
Health and Our Apostolic Benediction.		  
     
  St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, glory of the Eastern Church and celebrated champion of the Virgin Mother of God, has always been held by the Church in the highest esteem, and We welcome the opportunity of recalling his merits in this brief Letter, now that fifteen centuries have passed since he happily exchanged this earthly exile for his heavenly home.  
     
  2. Our Predecessor St. Celestine I hailed him as 'good defender of the Catholic faith,'[1] as 'excellent priest,'[2] as 'apostolic man.'[3] The ecumenical Council of Chalcedon not only used his doctrine for the detecting and refuting of the latest errors, but went so far as to compare it with the learning of St. Leo the Great;[4] [Pope Saint Leo the Great (* circa 400; reigned from 29 September 440 to 10 November 461 †)] and in fact the latter praised and commended the writings of this great Doctor because of their perfect agreement with the faith of the holy Fathers.[5] The fifth ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople, treated St. Cyril's authority with similar reverence[6] and many years later, during the controversy about the two wills in Christ, his teaching was rightly and triumphantly vindicated, both in the first Lateran Council [7] and in the sixth ecumenical Council, against the false charge of being tainted with the error of Monothelitism. He was, as Our saintly Predecessor Agatho proclaimed, 'a defender of the truth'[8] and 'a consistent teacher of the orthodox faith.'[9]  
     
  3. We therefore think it proper in this Letter to give some account of his spotless life, faith, and virtue; and this for the benefit of all, but especially of those who belong to the Eastern Church and therefore have good reason to be proud of this luminary of Christian wisdom, this valiant hero of the apostolate.  
     
  4. Born of a distinguished family, he was raised to the See of Alexandria - so tradition tells us - in the year 412. His first conflict was with the Novatians and others who attacked the integrity and purity of the faith, and against these he preached, wrote, and issued decrees, ever alert, ever fearless. Later, when the blasphemous heresy of Nestorius began to spread gradually through the East the watchful Pastor was quick to perceive the growth of these new errors and zealous in protecting his flock against them. Throughout this stormy period, and especially at the Council of Ephesus, he showed himself the invincible champion and learned teacher of the divine maternity of the Virgin Mary, of the hypostatic union in Christ, and of the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff. But the leading part which St. Cyril played in these important events has already been admirably described and explained by Our immediate Predecessor of happy memory Pius XI, in the Encyclical Lux Veritatis [10] with which in the year 1931 he celebrated the fifteenth centenary of that ecumenical Council, and therefore it would be superfluous to enter into the details of it here.  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 

     
  46. Sustained by this happy hope, We grant most lovingly in the Lord to each and every one of you, Venerable Brethren, and to the flocks committed to your care, as a pledge of heavenly blessings and in token of Our fatherly goodwill, Our Apostolic Benediction.  
     

 

  Given at St. Peter's, Rome, on the 9th day of April, Easter Sunday, in the year 1944, the sixth of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XII		  
     

 

  Notes  
     
 

1. Ep. 12, 4: Migne, 50, col. 467.

2. Ep. 13, 2: ib., 471.

3. Ep. 25, 7: ib., 552.

4. Cf. Mansi, VI, 953, 956-7; VII, 9.

5. Cf. Ep. ad Im., Theodosium: Migne P.L.., 54, col. 891.

6. Cf. Mansi, IX, 231 sq.

7. Cf. Mansi, X, 1076 sq.

8. Cf. Mansi, XI, 270 sq.

9. Cf. ib., 262 sq.

10. A.A.S., XXIII (1931), pp. 493 sq.

11. Cf. In Joannem, lib. x: Migne, P.G., 74, col. 419.

12. Ep. 10; Migne, P.G., 77, col. 78.

13. Ep.9: ib., 62.

14. Ep. 10: ib., 70.

15. Ep. 9: ib., 63.

16. Ep. 1: ib., 14.

17. Ep. 55: ib., 202-203.

18. Ep. 61: ib., 325.

19. Cf. Ep. 9: ib., 62.

20. Cf. Ep. 57: ib., 322.

21. Ep. 58: ib., 322.

22. Ep. 18: ib., 123-126.

23. Cf.Ep.9: ib., 62.

24. Ep. 39: ib., 175.

25. Ep. 39: ib., 175.

26. Ep. 33: ib., 161.

27. Ep. 39: ib., 174.

28. Ep. 11: ib., 79.

29. Cf. Ep. ad Cyrillum: ib., 90.

30. Mansi, IV, 1287.

31. Apol. ad Theodos.: Migne, P.G., 76, col, 482.

32. Ep. 22: P.L., 50, col. 542-543.

33. Ep. 40: Migne, P.G., 77, col. 202.

34. Ep. 4, 1-2: Migne, P.L., 50. col. 561.

35. Ep. 5, 1, 3, 5: ib., 602-604.

36. Ep. 44: P.G., 77, col. 226.

37. Ep. 49: ib., 254.

  

 

 

 

     
     

 

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