# Cyril of Jerusalem

Source: https://coptic-lore-forge.lovable.app/wiki/cyril-of-jerusalem — Coptic Orthodox Wiki (updated 2026-10-02)

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem was a fourth-century bishop of Jerusalem, a teacher of Christian faith and sacramental life, and a saint honored in Egyptian tradition. His importance for Coptic Christianity rests on his catechetical writings, his explanations of worship, and the extensive later literature attributed to him.

## Overview

**Saint Cyril of Jerusalem** was a fourth-century bishop, catechetical teacher, and interpreter of Christian worship. The Egyptian tradition recognized him as orthodox and regarded his character and writings favorably, giving him a prominent place both in Coptic historical memory and in Coptic literature.[^1][^5] His importance includes teachings on Baptism, anointing, the Eucharist, prayer, and Christian conduct, alongside an extensive later body of homilies circulated under his name.[^7][^10][^13][^19][^23][^24][^25]

Two aspects of this legacy require distinction: Cyril’s historical teaching and the later literary authority attached to his name. Eighteen authentic *Catecheses* are distinguished from the spurious homilies of the later “Cyrillian Cycle”; some other isolated works attributed to him may preserve earlier Greek material without thereby being authenticated as his compositions.[^25][^26] He should also be distinguished from Cyril of Alexandria, the twenty-fourth patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, whose patriarchate lasted from 412 to 444.[^37]

## History and origins

### Episcopate and theological controversy

Cyril’s episcopate at Jerusalem lasted approximately from 350 to 387. He obtained the bishopric through the efforts of an Arian-aligned faction, while his doctrine was substantially anti-Arian. His repeated exile was associated with the Arian emperors Constantius, during 357–362, and Valens, during 367–378.[^1]

A separate discussion places Cyril among the moderates who rallied around Basil of Ancyra and the term *homoiousion*, meaning “of like substance.” This position stood between the Nicene party’s *homoousion*, “of the same substance,” and the more radical Arians emerging around 355; Melitius of Antioch is named alongside Cyril among these moderates.[^3]

The same account explains that distrust of some Nicene advocates, including fears of Sabellian or modalist Monarchianism, initially obstructed agreement. Through the work of leaders such as Athanasius of Alexandria and Hilary of Poitiers, and increasing concern about radical Arianism, the Homoiousians were brought into the Homoousian camp by the Council of Constantinople in 381.[^3] Read together, these accounts distinguish the circumstances of Cyril’s appointment and his early theological associations from the Egyptian tradition’s later recognition of his orthodoxy.[^1][^3]

The chronology is not uniform. Cyril’s lifespan is dated approximately to 315–386, whereas his episcopate is also dated as extending to 387 and his year of death is alternatively given as 387. These alternatives remain unresolved here.[^1][^2][^28]

### The luminous cross over Golgotha

The appearance of a shining cross over Golgotha became an especially important episode in Coptic remembrance of Cyril. The account survives in Greek in a letter attributed to him, printed in *Patrologia Graeca* 33, columns 1165–1176, and in the ecclesiastical histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Philostorgius.[^4]

In Coptic, the event appears in a historical account that mentions the letter and in a homily on the cross also attributed to Cyril. The Copto-Arabic commemoration of the appearance falls on **12 Bashans**, citing both the letter and the historical account in the Synaxarion. A Coptic version of the letter is therefore quite probable, but its survival is not established.[^4]

This is a commemoration of the appearance of the cross, not a date identified in these passages as Cyril’s personal feast. Its transmission through a letter, historical writing, homiletic literature, and the Synaxarion illustrates the different forms through which his association with Jerusalem entered Coptic religious memory.[^4]

## Theology and meaning

### Baptism, water, and the Holy Spirit

Cyril’s *Catechetical Lectures* 3 and 4 are cited among patristic explanations distinguishing Christian baptism from earlier baptisms. In this account, John’s baptism prepares for the fuller remission, sanctification, and gift of the Holy Spirit associated with Christ. Cyril is also named among the Fathers who expounded baptism’s role in purification, forgiveness, spiritual regeneration, and salvation.[^7]

One quotation makes the relation between the visible element and divine action explicit: “When you go down into the water, then regard not simply the water, but look for salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Cyril continues that both are necessary and grounds the teaching in the authority of Jesus Christ. His explanation therefore directs attention beyond water alone without treating water as dispensable.[^8]

### Anointing before and after baptism

Anointing took place before entry into the font: “When ye were stripped, ye were anointed with exorcised oil, from the very hairs of your head to the soles of your feet.” The candidates were then led by the hand to baptism. This testimony concerns prebaptismal anointing formerly practiced in both Eastern and Western churches.[^9]

A different anointing follows baptism. A Coptic Church Review discussion of myron quotes *Catechetical Lectures* 21:1: after emerging from “the pool of the sacred streams,” the newly baptized received an unction identified with the Holy Spirit. The article uses Cyril alongside Cyprian and Tertullian to explain the Coptic practice of giving myron directly after baptism.[^10]

The *Rudder* likewise invokes Cyril when explaining chrism as a token of receiving the Holy Spirit’s gracious gift and becoming complete Christians. Its discussion relates this anointing to the Spirit’s descent upon Christ at the Jordan and to participation in Christ. These sources distinguish preparation before baptism from the Spirit-bearing anointing afterward, rather than presenting all ritual oil as having one undifferentiated purpose.[^9][^10][^11]

### Asceticism and pastoral moderation

Cyril’s praise of chastity uses the language of angelic life: its crown is “angelic,” and those practicing it are “angels walking upon earth.” He also associates virgins with Mary the Virgin. This reflects the wider patristic esteem for celibate life devoted to God.[^23]

His treatment of second marriage nevertheless rejects contempt for those who remarry. His teaching states: “Continence is a good and wonderful thing; but still, it is permissible to enter upon a second marriage.” The subject is remarriage after a spouse’s death.[^24]

The same article contrasts Cyril’s relative leniency with Tertullian’s discouragement of remarriage and Ambrose’s position that second marriages should be neither prohibited nor recommended. Cyril’s praise of chastity and his permission for remarriage thus belong together: an ascetic preference does not authorize disdain for those following a permitted alternative.[^23][^24]

## Liturgical and practical use

### Washing the hands and purity of conduct

*Understanding the Liturgy* cites Cyril when explaining the celebrant’s threefold washing of the hands. Cyril describes a deacon providing water to the celebrant and the presbyters around the altar, emphasizing that this is not needed because they entered church physically unwashed. Rather, the ablution signifies the obligation to be free from sins and transgressions.[^13]

His interpretation depends on the symbolism of the hands as instruments of action: washing them expresses purity and blamelessness of conduct. He connects the gesture with Psalm 25:6, “I will wash my hands among the innocent and will circle your altar, O Lord.” The liturgical commentary notes that the priest actually recites this psalm while washing.[^13]

The same teaching on ablution parallels warnings against approaching the sacrifice with a polluted soul. These comparisons explain the ceremony as an ethical summons, not merely bodily cleansing.[^14]

### The kiss and the lifting of hearts

The *Rudder* cites Cyril’s explanation of the liturgical kiss as a sign that the participants’ souls are united and that grudges and revengeful feelings have been banished. Its emphasis is reconciliation: the outward exchange should express an actual disposition toward the other worshippers.[^15]

For the invitation “Lift up your hearts,” Cyril says that the heart must be directed toward God rather than occupied with earthly matters. *Understanding the Liturgy* quotes him to explain the invitation as a command to put away worldly thoughts at the solemn moment of worship.[^16] Together with handwashing and the kiss, this explanation connects bodily gestures and spoken responses with purity of action, reconciliation, and inward attention.[^13][^15][^16]

### Creation, angels, and the Sanctus

Cyril’s account of eucharistic thanksgiving includes the heavens, earth, sea, and the whole visible and invisible creation. It names Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Thrones, and the many-faced Cherubim, followed by the Seraphim seen by Isaiah around God’s throne.[^17]

The angelic remembrance in this passage is explained through the scriptural invitation, “Magnify the Lord with me.” It is connected with the Sanctus: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thine holy glory.”[^17][^18]

The reason for singing is participatory rather than merely descriptive. In the words attributed to Cyril, Christians recite the Seraphim’s doxology “that we may be sharers of the hymnody of the heavenly hosts.” Earthly thanksgiving is thereby presented as joining heavenly praise.[^17]

### Intercession and eucharistic reception

Cyril is quoted as a witness to intercession after the spiritual sacrifice or “bloodless worship.” Over this sacrifice, worshippers beseech God for “the common peace of the churches” and “the good estate of the world.” The passage links eucharistic worship with prayer extending beyond the immediate congregation.[^19]

His instructions for receiving Communion describe the left hand supporting the right as a throne prepared for a king. The communicant receives the body of Christ in the hollow of the palm and says “Amen.” This instruction appears in lecture 23.21, with a fuller version in mystagogical lecture 5.[^20][^21]

The fuller quotation includes cautiously sanctifying the eyes by contact with the received gift and taking care not to lose any “pearl,” explained as a precious particle. These are evidence of historical reception in the hands, not a statement of present Coptic practice.[^21] The Council in Trullo’s decree of 692 prohibited substituting private gold or silver vessels for the hands, noting the unease such vessels caused among poorer worshippers.[^20]

### Baptismal illumination and care of the sick

The newly baptized approached the Church of the Resurrection, or Anastasis, on the eve of the Savior’s resurrection. Coming from the neighboring baptistery in white robes, they filled the darkness with “the brightness of unnumbered lights.” The lighted candles given after baptism were tokens of the inner light just received.[^12]

He is also included among the Fathers who emphasized the significance of the anointing of the sick, together with Origen, John Chrysostom, and Victor, presbyter of Antioch. The supplied passage provides no separate quotation of Cyril on this sacrament, so it establishes his place among its patristic witnesses without furnishing a detailed account of his particular teaching.[^22]

## Texts, hymnody, and terminology

### Catechetical writings and their Coptic transmission

Cyril’s catechetical lectures belonged to the theological works studied by catechumens, alongside other early Christian instructional and catechetical writings. Such works equipped learners to understand Christian faith concerning the Trinity, Virgin Birth, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Second Coming, sacraments, and ritual amid periods of controversy.[^6]

A Coptic translation of Cyril’s catechetical lectures was adopted very early. Only a few fragments from Book 6 survive, consisting of polemical material concerned with Gnostic and/or Manichaean subjects. Whether a complete translation was ever made therefore remains uncertain.[^5]

The same entry argues that the *Mystagogical Catecheses* never existed in Coptic. This judgment concerns their ancient translation history: it does not prevent modern Coptic liturgical publications from quoting them, as *Understanding the Liturgy* repeatedly does when discussing washing, heavenly praise, and intercession.[^5][^13][^17][^19]

### Titles and technical vocabulary

The supplied sources use several titles and technical expressions for Cyril’s teaching and its reception:

- **Catecheses / Catechetical Lectures:** the instructional writings, including eighteen lectures identified as authentic in the discussion of the later literary cycle.[^26]
- **Mystagogical Catecheses / On the Mysteries:** titles used when citing explanations of sacramental worship, including angelic remembrance and Communion.[^17][^18][^21]
- **Homoiousion / homoousion:** “of like substance” and “of the same substance,” the theological terms central to the account of Cyril’s fourth-century affiliations.[^3]
- **Myron / meron:** the sacramental anointing discussed in Coptic Church Review, which gives *meron* as a Greek and Coptic word meaning “anointment.”[^10]
- **Sanctus:** the Seraphic hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” whose singing Cyril explains as participation in heavenly praise.[^17]
- **De passione, De cruce, In Mariam Virginem:** titles meaning “On the Passion,” “On the Cross,” and a work concerning the Virgin Mary, used for later homilies attributed to Cyril.[^26][^27]

## The later Coptic literary tradition

### Formation of the Cyrillian Cycle

The growth of the Cyrillian Cycle was connected with interest in Jerusalem and in apocrypha claiming to originate there. Several homilies were intended to supplement the eighteen authentic *Catecheses* as numbers 19, 20, and 21, accompanied by other additional texts. Their attachment to the catechetical collection is part of their literary history, not evidence that Cyril composed them.[^25][^26]

The broad overview and the dedicated entry organize the Passion material differently. The overview places a two-part commentary on John within its account of the cycle; the dedicated entry separates a Johannine pair of homilies from a cycle-associated pair drawing on all four Gospels. The distinction is important because several different works bear essentially the same title.[^26][^27]

### Passion homilies and surviving manuscripts

An isolated two-part homily on the Passion forms a single interpretive unit on John 13–20. Its principal manuscripts are Pierpont Morgan Library M594 and M595 in New York; four additional fragmentary codices from the White Monastery were formerly described as unedited.[^25][^27]

Another isolated homily on the Passion, preserved in Morgan M610, is a late apocryphal work attributed to the apostles. Presented as a homily, it recounts the discovery of a long-forgotten ancient manuscript in a Jerusalem building. This text was likewise formerly described as unedited.[^27]

Within the interconnected cycle, *De passione* a and b form another two-part unit, drawing citations from all four Gospels rather than following one alone. The broader survey also mentions additional Passion works, including one containing an apocryphal revelation of the risen Jesus to the disciples.[^26][^27]

### The Cross and the figure of Bacheus

*De cruce* combines episodes from earlier manuscripts: Isaac the Samaritan’s miracle involving the cross; a miracle concerning Cleophas and Rufas, identified as relatives of the Virgin; Helena’s recovery of the cross; the story of Eusignius; and the luminous cross. The general cycle survey also associates its legendary material with Constantine and Constantius.[^26][^27]

One episode introduces Bacheus, a fictitious literary figure. In the homily attributed to Cyril, Bacheus is a presbyter and archimandrite of a small monastery near Aschalon in Palestine; a miracle he performs in connection with the cross brings Isaac the Samaritan to Christianity.[^28]

Although the story is set in Cyril’s fourth-century lifetime, its literary features point to the sixth-century development of homiletic and hagiographical cycles. Bacheus probably became the center of a separate cycle shortly afterward, perhaps early in the seventh century.[^28]

Later titles make him bishop of Maiuma near Gaza and retain the identification that he converted Isaac. A damaged Oslo fragment, University Library 217, supplies this title; eight Naples folios, IB13, 31–38, preserve material from *In Honor of the Twelve Apostles*, including an “autobiographical” section and the apostles as judges in the Valley of Josaphat.[^28]

Other fragments in Naples IB13, 24–30, and Coptic Museum 9232 appear to belong to an encomium of the Three Young Men of Babylon. There Bacheus presents himself as a disciple of James the Persian, or James Intercisus, intending to visit the martyr’s shrine in Egypt. These developments document the expansion of a literary character originally encountered in Cyril’s attributed cycle, not verified associates of the historical bishop.[^28][^29]

### The Virgin’s life and Dormition

*In Mariam Virginem* combines material about Mary’s childhood with a Dormition narrative and polemic against groups characterized as having Gnostic tendencies. The dedicated entry relates it to the apocryphal *Dormitio Virginis*, while distinguishing its version from that found under the name of Evodius of Rome.[^26][^27]

The Cyril-attributed texts belong to the first major family of Dormition narratives, centered on Jerusalem rather than the preliminary gathering at Bethlehem characteristic of the second family. A Syriac letter attributed to Cyril concerning the Temple may have influenced an episode in the second family; this is a proposed literary relationship, not an authenticated episode of Cyril’s biography.[^30]

The Cyril-related witnesses include a text edited by Forbes Robinson in 1896, corresponding to Morgan M597, folios 46–74, and a related version published by Budge in 1915, corresponding to M583, pages 139–157. The latter was also published by Campagnano in 1980.[^31]

These fragmentary works place the Dormition within a broader Life of the Virgin directed against Ebionite and Harpocratian opponents. Their insistence that Mary was not a phantom and that a real tomb existed explains the narrative’s doctrinal purpose: concrete events and witnesses oppose what the texts describe as mere “fantasy.”[^32]

The witnesses named are John, Peter, Verus, and James, associated with the Johannine cycle of Prochorus. An Ethiopic version published in 1974 develops the same connection. Differences between this group and Evodius-related traditions may correspond to Gaianite and Severian traditions.[^32]

The fragmentary text may announce the bodily Assumption on 16 Misra without a visit to the tomb at Gethsemane, but the reconstruction remains open. Elsewhere, this tradition describes Verus, called Bibros in Coptic, collecting Mary’s two linen robes and attributes a church for the feast of her disappearance on the night of 20 Tobe to Constantine and his sons.[^32][^33]

Cyril also appears within a six-book Dormition legend based on Syriac models and preserved in copies reaching back to the sixth century. Its literary frame has three monks from Sinai discover John’s book at Ephesus at Cyril’s invitation. The narrative incorporates the finding of the Cross and Judas Cyriacus, centers Bethlehem, and ends by invoking apostolic authority for Marian feasts on 24 December, 15 May, and 13 August.[^33]

The Cyril-related Assumption tradition, with its emphasis on John’s disciples Verus and Prochorus, is further connected to Coptic books concerning the enthronement of Michael and Gabriel. These connections demonstrate the reach of the attributed literature beyond a single Marian homily.[^34]

## Preservation and significance in Coptic Orthodox life

Cyril’s reception belongs to a wider history of translating patristic homilies into Coptic. Selection was shaped by monastic spiritual needs and a broader audience of relatively simply educated readers, rather than solely by an official program; Cyril of Jerusalem is included among the translated Fathers.[^36]

Material attributed to him also formed part of Egyptian monastic libraries. The fifty-six codices discovered from the monastery of the Archangel Michael at Sopehes in the Fayyum were written between 820 and 920 and passed almost entirely to the Pierpont Morgan Library. Among their homiletic authors were Cyril and other bishops from both Egyptian and non-Egyptian cities; Hyvernat published the collection in facsimile in 1922.[^35]

In the modern Coptic publications supplied here, Cyril remains a resource for explaining worship rather than only an object of historical study. His words clarify why hands are washed, hearts lifted, the Sanctus sung, intercessions offered, and the baptized anointed. Their recurring concern is the relationship between an outward act and the spiritual reality it expresses: moral purity, attention to God, communion with heavenly praise, and reception of the Holy Spirit.[^10][^13][^16][^17][^19]

His Coptic significance is therefore both theological and literary. The historical teacher supplies enduring explanations of sacramental life, while the later works attributed to him preserve traditions concerning Jerusalem, the Cross, and the Virgin. Keeping these categories distinct respects both the Egyptian recognition of Cyril as orthodox and the largely pseudonymous character of the later corpus.[^1][^25][^26][^27]

## Frequently asked questions

**Who was Saint Cyril of Jerusalem?**
Cyril was a fourth-century bishop of Jerusalem whose teaching was substantially anti-Arian despite the support of an Arian-aligned faction at his appointment. Egyptian tradition recognized him as orthodox and accorded him an important historical and literary position.

**What did Cyril of Jerusalem teach about baptism?**
Cyril taught that baptism involves both water and the saving power of the Holy Spirit. The sources also cite him on purification, forgiveness of sins, spiritual regeneration, and anointing before and after baptism.

**Did Cyril of Jerusalem write all the Coptic homilies attributed to him?**
No. The Coptic Encyclopedia distinguishes his authentic Catecheses from a later literary cycle of spurious homilies and other attributed works whose authenticity is doubtful.

**What is Cyril’s connection with the appearance of the cross?**
A letter attributed to Cyril describes the appearance of a shining cross over Golgotha. The Copto-Arabic Synaxarion commemorates this appearance on 12 Bashans and cites both the letter and an ecclesiastical history.

**When did Cyril of Jerusalem die?**
The supplied sources differ: several give his lifespan as approximately 315–386, while the encyclopedia’s dedicated entry places his episcopate around 350–387 and its Bacheus entry gives his death as 387.

## Sources
[^1]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 47)
[^2]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 46)
[^3]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 630)
[^4]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 47)
[^5]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 47)
[^6]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 404)
[^7]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 46)
[^8]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 714)
[^9]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 353)
[^10]: Coptic Church Review, Volume 2, Number 3 (p. 24)
[^11]: The Rudder (Pedalion) of the Metaphorical Ship of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Orthodox Christians, Agapios, a Hieromonk and Nicodemos, a Monk (p. 1156)
[^12]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 334)
[^13]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 7)
[^14]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 28)
[^15]: The Rudder (Pedalion) of the Metaphorical Ship of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Orthodox Christians, Agapios, a Hieromonk and Nicodemos, a Monk (p. 1149)
[^16]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 44)
[^17]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 50)
[^18]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 339)
[^19]: Understanding the Liturgy, Father Athanasius Iskander (p. 71)
[^20]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 145)
[^21]: The Rudder (Pedalion) of the Metaphorical Ship of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Orthodox Christians, Agapios, a Hieromonk and Nicodemos, a Monk (p. 882)
[^22]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 356)
[^23]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 411)
[^24]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 573)
[^25]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 47)
[^26]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 10)
[^27]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 48)
[^28]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 11)
[^29]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 12)
[^30]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 708)
[^31]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 709)
[^32]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 710)
[^33]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 712)
[^34]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 713)
[^35]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 248)
[^36]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 260)
[^37]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 3, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 23)