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The saints

St. Cyril of Alexandria

A hard-edged bishop who defended the truth that Mary is the Mother of God.

Feast: 27 June · 378 to 444 · The early Church · Alexandria, Egypt

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Painting of St. Cyril of Alexandria in bishop’s vestments, holding a book.

Catedrales e Iglesias/Cathedrals and Churches from Puebla de los Ángeles, Mexico, 2013. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Home / The saints / St. Cyril of Alexandria

The Council of Ephesus, 431

Cyril was a forceful, sometimes harsh bishop of Alexandria.1

When Nestorius taught that Mary should not be called Mother of God, Cyril fought him.1

At the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Church agreed with Cyril: Jesus is one person, truly God, so Mary is the Mother of God.

Patronage No official patronage we can cite yet. The Church honors him as the defender of Mary’s title Mother of God.

01St. Cyril of Alexandria

A saint with rough edges

His early years as bishop were full of conflict, and later he learned to compromise for peace.1

Live it this week

Be right, and be kind

Cyril was right about the truth and often too harsh about it. In your next disagreement this week, say what’s true without one sarcastic or cutting word.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Cyril of Alexandria”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.