The twelve propositions did not emanate from Rome , and were not equally clear; one or two of them were later among the authorities invoked by the Monophysite heretics in their own favour. Cyril was the head of the rival theological school to that of Antioch, where Nestorius had studied, and was the hereditary rival of the Constantinopolitan would-be patriarch. Cyril wrote also to John, Patriarch of Antioch , informing him of the facts, and insinuating that if John should support his old friend Nestorius, he would find himself isolated over against Rome , Macedonia , and Egypt.
John took the hint and urged Nestorius to yield. Meanwhile, in Constantinople itself large numbers of the people held aloof from Nestorius, and the Emperor Theodosius II had been persuaded to summon a general council to meet at Ephesus. The imperial letters were dispatched 19 November, whereas the bishops sent by Cyril arrived at Constantinople only on 7 December.
Nestorius, somewhat naturally, refused to accept the message sent by his rival, and on the 13th and 14th of December preached publicly against Cyril as a calumniator , and as having used bribes which was probably as true as it was usual ; but he declared himself willing to use the word Theotokos. These sermons he sent to John of Antioch , who preferred them to the anathematizations of Cyril.
Nestorius, however, issued twelve propositions with appended anathemas. If Cyril's propositions might be taken to deny the two natures in Christ, those of Nestorius hardly veiled his belief in two distinct persons. Theodoret urged John yet further, and wrote a treatise against Cyril, to which the latter replied with some warmth. He also wrote an "Answer" in five books to the sermons of Nestorius.
As the fifteenth-century idea of an oecumenical council superior to the pope had yet to be invented, and there was but one precedent for such an assembly, we need not be surprised that St. Celestine welcomed the initiative of the emperor, and hoped for peace through the assembly. Nestorius found the churches of Ephesus closed to him, when he arrived with the imperial commissioner, Count Candidian, and his own friend, Count Irenaeus.
Cyril came with fifty of his bishops. Palestine, Crete, Asia Minor , and Greece added their quotient. But John of Antioch and his suffragans were delayed. Cyril may have believed, rightly or wrongly, that John did not wish to be present at the trial of his friend Nestorius, or that he wished to gain time for him, and he opened the council without John, on 22 June, in spite of the request of sixty-eight bishops for a delay. This was an initial error , which had disastrous results. The legates from Rome had not arrived, so that Cyril had no answer to the letter he had written to Celestine asking "whether the holy synod should receive a man who condemned what it preached, or, because the time of delay had elapsed, whether the sentence was still in force".
Cyril might have presumed that the pope , in agreeing to send legates to the council, intended Nestorius to have a complete trial, but it was more convenient to assume that the Roman ultimatum had not been suspended, and that the council was bound by it.
He therefore took the place of president, not only as the highest of rank, but also as still holding the place of Celestine, though he cannot have received any fresh commission from the pope. Nestorius was summoned, in order that he might explain his neglect of Cyril's former monition in the name of the pope.
He refused to receive the four bishops whom the council sent to him. Consequently nothing remained but formal procedure. For the council was bound by the canons to depose Nestorius for contumacy , as he would not appear, and by the letter of Celestine to condemn him for heresy , as he had not recanted.
The correspondence between Rome , Alexandria, and Constantinople was read, and some testimonies were read from earlier writers to show the errors of Nestorius. The second letter of Cyril to Nestorius was approved by all the bishops. The reply of Nestorius was condemned. No discussion took place. The letter of Cyril and the ten anathematizations raised no comment. All was concluded at one sitting. The council declared that it was "of necessity impelled" by the canons and by the letter of Celestine to declare Nestorius deposed and excommunicated.
The papal legates , who had been detained by bad weather, arrived on the 10th of July, and they solemnly confirmed the sentence by the authority of St.
Peter, for the refusal of Nestorius to appear had made useless the permission which they brought from the pope to grant him forgiveness if he should repent. But meanwhile John of Antioch and his party had arrived on the 26th and 27th of June. They formed themselves into a rival council of forty-three bishops , and deposed Memnon, Bishop of Ephesus, and St.
Cyril, accusing the latter of Apollinarianism and even of Eunomianism. Both parties now appealed to the emperor, who took the amazing decision of sending a count to treat Nestorius, Cyril, and Memnon as being all three lawfully deposed.
They were kept in close custody; but eventually the emperor took the orthodox view, though he dissolved the council; Cyril was allowed to return to his diocese , and Nestorius went into retirement at Antioch. Later he was banished to the Great Oasis of Egypt. Meanwhile Pope Celestine was dead. His successor, St. For some time the strongest opponent of Cyril was Theodoret, but eventually he approved a letter of Cyril to Acacius of Berhoea. John sent Paul, Bishop of Emesa , as his plenipotentiary to Alexandria, and he patched up reconciliation with Cyril.
Enjoy Christmas Carols and Songs with Lyrics. He died of natural causes in AD in Alexandria, Egypt. His feast day is celebrated on June 27 every year. He studied formal Christian education, grammar, rhetoric and humanities, theology, and biblical studies.
This was a very powerful and influential position which he used to close the Novatianists churches and seize their sacred vessels. Orestes, the Roman state official serving as governor of the diocese of Egypt strongly resisted attempts by Cyril to encroach onto secular matters. He said Mary was not the mother of God but only of the man Christ, whose humanity was only a temple of God. Nestorianism implied that the humanity of Christ was a mere disguise. In the confusion that followed, Cyril was deposed and imprisoned for three months, after which he was welcomed back to Alexandria.
Besides needing to soften some of his opposition to those who had sided with Nestorius, Cyril had difficulties with some of his own allies, who thought he had gone too far, sacrificing not only language but orthodoxy.
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