Cyril of Jerusalem (Greek Κύριλλος Α΄ Ἱεροσολύμων) was a distinguished theologian of the early Church (ca. 313– 386). He is venerated as asaint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. In 1883, Cyril was declared a Doctor of the Churchby Pope Leo XIII. He is highly respected in the Palestinian Christian Community.
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Life and character
Little is known of his life before he became a bishop; the assignment of his birth to the year 315 rests on conjecture.[2] It is believed[who?] that Cyril came from a family of Christians and was immediately drawn to the Church. Most scholars[who?] believe that Cyril was born and brought up in Caesarea of Palestine but some[who?] say he may have been born in Jerusalem because of his early knowledge of the city's layout, but this could have been attributed to research or information he learned after moving there to become bishop.
St. Cyril was ordained a deacon by Bishop St. Macarius of Jerusalem in about 335 and a priest some eight years later by Bishop St. Maximus. About the end of 350 he succeeded St. Maximus in the See of Jerusalem.[3][4][5]
Soon after his appointment, Cyril in his Letter to Constantius[6] of 351 recorded the appearance of a cross of light in the sky above Golgotha, witnessed by the whole population of Jerusalem. Cyril regards this as proof that Constantius' piety towards God ensures imperial victory. The Greek church commemorates this miracle on the 7th of May. Though in modern times the authenticity of the Letter has been questioned, on the grounds that the word homoousios occurs in the final blessing, many scholars believe this may be a later interpolation, and accept the letter's authenticity on the grounds of other pieces of internal evidence.[7]
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source : Wikipedia