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Свети Кирил Александрийски
Свети Кирил Александрийски (376-27 юни 444) е светец, един от отците на Църквата, богослов и тълкувател на Светото Писание, създател на ортодоксалното учение за Богочовека. Представител на Александрийската богословска школа; от 412 година — архиепископ на Александрия. От 428 година се бори против ереста на Несторий — тогавашен архиепископ на Константинопол. Участник в Третия Вселенски (Ефески) събор, осъдил ереста на Несторий и утвърдил почитанието към Дева Мария (Богородица). Автор на многочислени полемични съчинения против Несторий, в които утвърждава неразделното съединение в Христос, започващо с Неговото раждане в света; в съчиненията му е въведен терминът „ипостасно единство“. На Кирил Александрийски принадлежат тълкувания на ред Старозаветни книги, събрани в трактат за Троицата — „Тезаврос“ и апологетично съчинение, осъждащо „Речи против християните“ на император Юлиан. Предполага се, че е подстрекател за убийството на учената Хипатия от Александрия, поради нейните изявления против християнството.
Saint Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria (Greek: Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας; c. 376 – 444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries. He was a central figure in the First Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Patriarch of Constantinople.
Cyril is counted among the Church Fathers and the Doctors of the Church, and his reputation within the Christian world has resulted in his titles Pillar of Faith and Seal of all the Fathers, but Theodosius II, the Roman Emperor, condemned him for behaving like a "proud pharaoh", and the Nestorian bishops at the Council of Ephesus declared him a heretic, labelling him as a "monster, born and educated for the destruction of the church."
Cyril is well-known due to his dispute with Nestorius and his supporter Patriarch John of Antioch, whom Cyril excluded from the Council of Ephesus for arriving late. He is also known for his involvement in the expulsion of Novatians and Jews from Alexandria and the murder of the Hellenistic philosopher Hypatia by Coptic monks. Historians disagree over the extent of his responsibility for these events.
The Roman Catholic Church did not commemorate Saint Cyril in the Tridentine Calendar: it added his feast only in 1882, assigning to it the date of 9 February. The 1969 revision moved it to 27 June, considered to be the day of the saint's death, as celebrated by the Coptic Orthodox Church. The same date has been chosen for the Lutheran calendar. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Church celebrate his feast day on 9 June and also, together with Pope Athanasius I of Alexandria, on 18 January.
Little is known for certain of Cyril's early life. He was born c. 376, in the small town of Theodosios, Egypt, near modern day El-Mahalla El-Kubra. A few years after his birth, his maternal uncle Theophilus rose to the powerful position of Patriarch of Alexandria.[3] His mother remained close to her brother and under his guidance, Cyril was well educated. His education showed through his knowledge, in his writings of Christian writers of his day, including Eusebius, Origen, Didymus the Blind, and writers of the Church of Alexandria. He received the formal Christian education standard for his day: he studied grammar from age twelve to fourteen (390-392), rhetoric and humanities from fifteen to twenty (393-397) and finally theology and biblical studies (398-402). In 403 he accompanied his uncle to attend a synod in Constantinople.