After Theophilus's death, Blessed Cyril was unanimously elected to the patriarchal throne. Upon becoming patriarch, he immediately expelled from the city the heretics known as Novatians. They resembled the Pharisees, justifying themselves in the eyes of the people by claiming to be pure and righteous, and innocent of any sin. As a sign of their supposedly blameless life, the Novatians wore white robes and taught that anyone who had fallen into mortal sin after baptism should not be received into church communion. They maintained that there could be no forgiveness for such a person's mortal sin, and only a second baptism could wash away their sin.
This heresy originated with Novatian, who served as a priest in Rome during the reign of Emperor Decius and, after the martyrdom of Pope Fabian sought the papal throne. But despite all his efforts, he failed to achieve his goal, and Blessed Cornelius was elected to the papal throne. Envious of Cornelius, Novatian began to plot against him and opposed him in everything. At that time, the Church was experiencing severe persecution from the pagans and many of the believers, fearing cruel torture, cowardly offered sacrifices to idols and then, coming to repentance, tearfully confessed their sin. Seeing their repentance, Saint Pope Cornelius received them back into communion with the Holy Church, just as Christ received the bitterly weeping Peter. Meanwhile, the priest Novatian opposed the pope, arguing that it was unworthy for those who, having renounced Christ, had sacrificed to demons to be within the fold of Christ's Church . He also blasphemed the holy pope, accusing him of being an accomplice to idolaters. He himself broke communion with him and, finding some like-minded individuals, became a second pope in Rome. Thus arose the Novatian schism .
The Novatian schism subsequently spread throughout the region, reaching as far as Alexandria and persisting there until the time of Saint Cyril. Here, the Novatians committed many acts unorthodox. For example, they rebaptized those who had been previously baptized in the Catholic Church and did not permit second marriages, calling it the sin of adultery. They also had other foolish innovations.
From the very beginning of his patriarchate, Saint Cyril expelled these heretics, along with their bishop, Theopemptus, from Alexandria. He then took up arms against the enemies of the human race—the unclean spirits, whom he exorcised from their abodes.
120 stadia from Alexandria stood a village called Konop . Not far from it was a place called Manuphin ( formerly a village). Here stood an ancient temple, formerly the abode of demons: this place inspired terror in all, and Patriarch Theophilus wanted to cleanse it of demons and sanctify it for the glorification of God. But distracted by other concerns, he did not manage to carry out his intention. Saint Cyril, having succeeded Theophilus to the See of Alexandria, decided to fulfill the wish of his uncle and predecessor and fervently prayed to God that He would grant him help from above and the strength to overcome and expel the unclean spirits from Manuphin. And then an Angel of the Lord appeared to the holy man in a vision, commanding him to transfer the precious relics of the martyrs Cyrus and John to Manuphin , in order to drive out the demonic power from there. Saint Cyril did just that – he brought the relics of the saints to Manoufin and built a church there in their name. The unclean spirits were immediately expelled from there, and the place became a source of healing from the relics of the martyrs.
Having thus expelled invisible demons from the outskirts of Alexandria, the saint exerted every effort to completely cleanse the city itself of visible demons, such as the Christ-hating Jews. They had long resided in that city in countless numbers. Ever since the time of Alexander the Great and the founding of Alexandria , many immigrants from Judea had settled there, growing into a numerous tribe. Hating Christ and those who bore His name, they openly and secretly caused Christians all manner of anger and trouble. The aforementioned Novatian heretics were harmful to the city, but incomparably more vicious and pernicious were the Jews, who not only stirred up civil strife within the city but also committed numerous murders and bloodshed. Summoning the leaders of the Jewish synagogues , the saint of God admonished them to restrain their people from such atrocities. But the Jewish elders not only failed to heed the saint's admonitions, but instead rushed to commit even greater wickedness.
In the city there was a large and beautiful church, called the Alexander Church, after the name of its founder, Bishop Alexander. One day, the Jews armed themselves as if for war, and as night fell, they raised a commotion and commotion in the streets among the Christian houses, shouting: "The Alexander Church is burning."
Hearing the screams, Christians rushed one after another from their homes toward the supposed fire, intending to extinguish it. And so the merciless Jews immediately hacked to pieces those Christians who emerged from their gates with swords, spears, or knives—in short, they killed them with whatever they could find. And many Christians were killed that night.
With the dawn of day, His Holiness Patriarch Cyril learned of the massacre. Recovering from his grief over the murders, he began to seek justice against the Jews. But the city's eparch, Orestes, although a Christian by faith, nevertheless harbored hostility toward the saint and aided the Jews by defending the murderers. Then Saint Cyril himself went with a multitude of Christians to the Jewish gathering and expelled all the Jews from the city, destroyed their homes, and burned their synagogue.
The eparch, burning with anger at the saint for this, began to inflict harm on the saint's close relatives, as well as other prominent citizens who were supporters of the patriarch. Thus, he subjected the grammarian Hierax to merciless torture in the square , stripping him naked. A great disagreement arose between the eparch and the patriarch. For the most holy patriarch defended Christians, while the eparch supported the Jews. Each wrote on their own behalf to Emperor Theodosius the Younger , until the latter issued an edict forbidding Jews from residing in the city.
At that time, riots and rebellions frequently broke out in the city streets, during which many people uninvolved in these riots perished. In Alexandria lived a young woman named Hypatia, the daughter of the philosopher Theon. She was a religious and virtuous woman, distinguished by her Christian wisdom, and spent her days in purity and chastity, preserving her virginity. From her youth, she was instructed in philosophy by her father Theon, and she excelled in wisdom to such an extent that she surpassed all the philosophers living at that time, as reported by Sisinius, Bishop of Ptolemais and Suidas, who glorified her with much praise. She also refused to marry, partly out of a desire to pursue her love of philosophy and book study unhindered, but especially out of her love for Christ. Lovers of wisdom flocked from far and wide to Alexandria to see the wise maiden Hypatia and hear her wise words, so much so that she became a teacher to many. She was revered by all the spiritual and secular authorities, as well as by the entire people, and many resorted to her, seeking her wise counsel. Wishing to reconcile the eparch with the patriarch, she approached both with humility and meekness and with wise words persuaded them to peace. The holy patriarch himself sought an opportunity to reconcile with the eparch, but he, in his wickedness, refused even to hear of reconciliation. One day, as Hypatia was returning home in a chariot, peace-hating rebels attacked her, dragged her from the chariot, tore her clothes, and beat her to death. But their bestial rage did not stop at this atrocity, and in the blindness of their malice, they began to mock the girl's dead body as well. Having chopped it into pieces, they burned it in a place called Cinaron .
When the city's inhabitants learned of what had happened, everyone, and especially the scholars, deeply pitied Hypatia. Incidentally, word of the rebellion reached the monks of Mount Nitria . They were filled with grief and pity for the innocent victims of the rebellion and, gathering to a number of up to five hundred, came from the desert to the city, wishing to defend the patriarch. By chance, they came across the eparch riding towards them in a chariot. Seeing the ruler, the monks began to shout at him, reproaching him and calling him a Greek and an idolater, because he had previously adhered to the Hellenic faith and had only recently been baptized in Constantinople. One of the monks threw a stone at the eparch and hit him on the head. When a large crowd came running to the eparch's outcry, the monks withdrew from him. The eparch's servants seized one of the monks, named Ammonius. The eparch, suspecting that the monks had been incited against him by the patriarch, became greatly enraged and subjected Ammonius to cruel torture and torment, during which he died. Upon learning of this, the holy patriarch was greatly grieved in spirit and, ordering the martyr's body taken, buried it with honor.
Meanwhile, the Jews expelled from the city, having set up a place for spectacles and games, erected a long cross to mock Christ and insult Christians. They seized a certain Christian youth and crucified him stretched out on it. They didn't attach him to the cross with nails, but tied him with ropes and mocked him for a long time, laughing and spitting at him. Having finished their mockery, they beat him until he died on the cross, and thus Christ's martyr became an imitator of Christ's sufferings. Saint Cyril, learning of this new atrocity by the Jews, addressed a letter to the emperor, informing him of all the circumstances of the incident. Although it took a while, the emperor nevertheless issued a just decree. By this order, the Jewish leaders who were at the head of those who had planned the said atrocity were executed, and the eparch was dismissed from his post.
After that, Saint Cyril of Christ, having conquered the turmoil, malice and enmity of the enemies of the Christian name, successfully shepherded the verbal flock of Christ’s sheep entrusted to him.
But when the troubles described in Alexandria had subsided, an even greater unrest arose throughout the Celestial Empire, stirred up by the heresy of Nestorius, and Saint Cyril was faced with a new and greater feat. In the Church of Constantinople, after the death of Patriarch Sisinius who had succeeded Atticus Nestorius translated from Antioch was elevated to the patriarchal throne. He was a man supposedly firm in faith and virtuous in life, but inwardly a secret heretic. He scattered the seeds of heretical teaching among the believers, like tares among wheat, at first not personally, but through his associates. His heresy consisted of blasphemy against Christ God and the Most Pure Virgin Mary; For he, the accursed one, claimed that the Virgin Mary gave birth to a mere man, Christ, not God, since a woman's womb could not contain God, only a man. According to Nestorius's teaching, God the Word united with the man Jesus from the very moment of conception solely by grace and dwelt within him as in a temple. Therefore, Nestorius called the Virgin Mary not the Mother of God, but the Mother of Christ. Nestorius's heresy was spread among the people by his adherents, Bishop Dorotheus and Presbyter Anastasius, whom Nestorius had brought with him from Antioch.
Once, on a certain feast day, Anastasius, while delivering a sermon to the people in the cathedral church of Constantinople, attacked the use of the word "Theotokos"—Mother of God—in connection with the Blessed Virgin Mary . He argued that the Virgin Mary could not be called the Mother of God, since She was human, and how could God be born of human flesh? The sermon provoked murmurs and uproar in the church. Accusations of heresy rained down upon Anastasius.
When Nestorius himself was questioned about this, the latter began to clearly reveal his madness and spewed the poison of his blasphemies against Christ God and His Most Pure Mother.
"I cannot," he said, "call a woman the Mother of God who gave birth to a carnal Man, identical in nature to herself, for She was the Mother of the Tabernacle prepared by the Holy Spirit for the dwelling of the Divine Word. Therefore, it is more just to call her the Mother of Christ. By this word we designate her relationship to the One in Whom the Divinity dwelt."
And so, discord and strife arose among the people: some resisted the heresy and refused to have communion with Nestorius, while others, on the contrary, were seduced by heretical wisdom and accepted the heretics' teachings. This heresy upset not only Constantinople but also all the ends of the earth, for the impious Nestorius and his associates wrote numerous works in defense of their teachings, which he sent to neighboring cities, distant lands, and deserts, among monastics . In this way, he caused the same discord among Christians that had been previously stirred up by the impious Arius, who tore the garment of Christ for many of the clergy and laity followed in the footsteps of Nestorius, just as many had previously followed in the footsteps of Arius.
Saint Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, upon learning of the heretical teachings of Nestorius and the success of his preaching, was troubled in spirit and, as a faithful servant and brave warrior of Christ God and the Most Pure Mother of God, he armed himself against the enemy of Christ and steadfastly stood up for the honor of God and the Most Holy Theotokos. He proved himself a true shepherd of Christ's sheep, vigilantly watching over his flock and battling the wolf. Initially, Saint Cyril wrote kindly to Nestorius, exhorting him to abandon his false teachings and, by confessing the true faith, end the unrest he had stirred in the Church of Christ . Then, seeing that Nestorius was not correcting himself, he wrote a stern letter to him, denouncing his error. Saint Cyril also wrote to the clergy of the Church of Constantinople and to the royal court , urging them not to be tempted by the teachings of Nestorius. He wrote a letter to Pope Celestine of ancient Rome and to the other patriarchs informing them of the heresy of Nestorius and imploring them to exhort him to repentance. Furthermore, he sent letters to all authorities and bishops of various countries and cities, warning everyone against being drawn into the heresy of Nestorius. Since this heresy had, among other things, seduced many monks, he also wrote to them, explaining its soul-destroying harm and dissuading them from its seduction. In short, Saint Cyril never ceased to cry out against this wolf until he had completely driven him from the flock of Christ.
Meanwhile, Nestorius not only refused to be corrected by Cyril's letters, but he and his followers even went so far as to do worse. It was one of his supporters, Bishop Dorotheus, who, in the presence of Nestorius himself, stood on the dais in the cathedral and loudly proclaimed:
If anyone calls the Virgin Mary the Mother of God, let him be anathema.
Nestorius himself then began to torture those clergy and monks of the Church of Constantinople who resisted him and did not share his heresy. At the same time, he furiously attacked Saint Cyril, vainly and proudly declaring him a heretic, even though he himself was one. Having then concocted many unjust and false slanders against the holy and righteous man, he spread them among the people, blaspheming and dishonoring Cyril's name. But the Alexandrian saint paid no attention to these slanders and was concerned solely with the salvation of human souls.
Despite Cyril's activities, unrest and unrest continued, and the Nestorian heresy grew daily and gained ever greater strength. Many bishops had already become infected with this soul-destroying heretical teaching and became followers of Nestorius. Incidentally, he received some support from John , Patriarch of Antioch , who, while disapproving of what Nestorius had said, nevertheless asked Cyril not to attach much importance to his words. This, however, could not extinguish the raging fire. One means remained to end the unrest—to convene an Ecumenical Council. Both Nestorius's opponents and his supporters were equally eager for the council to be convened, each side hoping that its own teaching would triumph. And so Theodosius the Younger, yielding to the general demand, decided to convene such a council .
Having designated the Asia Minor city of Ephesus as the site for the council , he invited all the metropolitans and bishops of the empire to gather there for Pentecost 431. He also sent Count Candidianus to Ephesus to attend the council as the imperial representative.
Nestorius arrived in Ephesus shortly after Easter (April 19), accompanied by 16 bishops; just before the feast of Pentecost, Saint Cyril appeared at the head of fifty Egyptian bishops. About 40 bishops arrived from the surrounding cities of Asia Minor . Pope Celestine, due to illness and old age, was unable to appear and sent two bishops and a priest as representatives of himself and "the entire Western council," with instructions to be guided by the judgment of Saint Cyril. In total, about 200 bishops gathered, but John of Antioch and the other Syrian bishops, most of whom sided with Nestorius, still did not appear. The bishops who had gathered for the council waited in vain for them until June 21 and, having not received their arrival, finally opened their sessions (June 21, 431). Due to the dignity of his see, Saint Cyril assumed the presidency of this council, co-chaired by Juvenal of Jerusalem and Memnon of Ephesus. But the impious Nestorius opposed the council and did not attend, citing the pretext of awaiting the arrival of John of Antioch and the Syrian bishops. The council fathers invited him to appear three times, but he stubbornly refused. They then began examining Nestorius's writings and, after careful examination, condemned them as heretical. Saint Cyril presented the council with his letters to Nestorius and others, in which he denounced the heretic's impious wisdom, and also presented the decrees of the local council held earlier in Alexandria. The council fathers concurred with the teachings of the holy man, recognizing him as Orthodox and divinely wise, and approved the decrees of the local council of Alexandria.
Meanwhile, John of Antioch arrived in Ephesus with the Syrian bishops. Learning of the progress of the case, he convened a separate council in defense of Nestorius, attended by Nestorius and all his supporters. Candidian, infected with heresy, assisted this unlawful council, and at it Saint Cyril was unjustly accused of the heresy of Apollinaris , which denied the true humanity of Christ and asserted that Christ had no soul, but instead contained divinity within himself. By bringing such an accusation against the holy man and falsely slandering him, Nestorius's followers sought to arm the emperor himself against him. Initially, they succeeded in their goal. The emperor believed their slanders and ordered Saint Cyril imprisoned along with Blessed Memnon, Bishop of Ephesus. But then, having subjected everything to a detailed examination and seeing, on the one hand, the innocence of the righteous Cyril, and on the other, the obvious lies and malice of his enemies, Theodosius reinstated the holy and valiant hierarch and his follower Memnon in their positions and praised the patience and meekness of the former; he ordered the heretics to be restrained.
Thus, Saint Cyril once again stood at the head of the holy fathers gathered in Ephesus to examine the wisdom of Nestorius. At this council, the dogma of faith was established that our Lord Jesus Christ, incarnate of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, is the true God, and that the Most Pure Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Him, is the true Theotokos. When this final decision was proclaimed to the people, great joy reigned among all the believers, and all the citizens of Ephesus solemnly exclaimed, not as they had once said, "Great is Artemis of Ephesus" but with entirely different words: "Great is the Most Pure Virgin Mary, Theotokos." Nestorius was condemned as a heretic and blasphemer and not only deprived of his rank but also excommunicated from the Church of Christ and condemned to eternal damnation. John of Antioch and the Syrian bishops later joined this council's decision. The emperor exiled Nestorius to a distant land called Oasis . Here, unrepentant, the impious Nestorius ended his life in terrible torment. It was while he was still alive that his blasphemous tongue was eaten away by worms.
How contrary to Orthodoxy the blasphemy of the Mother of God perpetrated by the heretic Nestorius is demonstrated by the following incident, recounted by St. John in his work, The Spiritual Meadow : "Once," he writes, "we came to the presbyter of the Koloman Lavra Abba Kyriakos, and he told us the following: 'Once I saw in a dream that outside the doors of my cell stood a radiant, most beautiful Virgin, dressed in purple, and with her two radiant men. And I recognized that this was our Lady, the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos, and the men with her were St. John the Baptist and St. John the Theologian. I immediately left my cell and, bowing down, begged Her to come in and bless my cell, but She was unwilling.' I pleaded with Her for a long time, saying, "Mistress! Let not Thy servant depart from Thee humiliated and disgraced." And I uttered many other prayers before Her. Then, seeing my earnest prayer, She answered me:
“You have My enemy in your cell, how can you then express the desire for Me to come to you?”
With these words She departed. Awakening from sleep, I began to weep and grieve, wondering if I had sinned against the Most Pure Virgin in my thoughts; for there was no one else in my cell but myself. Having carefully examined myself, I found nothing in which I could have sinned against Her. Seeing that grief was consuming me, I, in order to find some relief from my sorrow, took a book to read. It was the book of the blessed Jerusalem priest Hesychius , which I had borrowed from him. After reading the book, I saw at the end two words of the impious Nestorius, and thus I recognized precisely what kind of enemy of the Most Holy Lady was in my cell. Then, rising, I carried the book to the one who had given it to me and said to him:
- Brother, take your book; I have received more harm from it than benefit.
He asked me how his book had harmed me rather than benefited me. I told him about the vision I had had. Then, filled with divine zeal, he cut out two words of Nestorius from the book and burned them in the fire, saying, "Let no enemy of our Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, remain in my cell."
Nor should we remain silent about how Saint Cyril of Christ—this great saint of God, despite his great holiness, nevertheless harbored something shameful and contrary to piety—in order to see his miraculous correction. He was angered without cause at John Chrysostom —a saint against a saint. This should not surprise us, for perfection is inherent only to God; among men, no one can be perfect in himself, unless he is "of His fullness we have all received grace upon grace" ( John 1:16 ) ; therefore, even saints, as people, are partakers of human weaknesses. Saint Cyril also had such a weakness, precisely in his relationship with John Chrysostom : he was angry with the holy man not only during the latter's life, but even after his death, and did not want to remember him among the saints. Such anger in Cyril arose not from malice, but from ignorance. He heard, on the one hand, from his uncle, Patriarch Theophilus, and on the other, from others who harbored hostility toward Chrysostom, many unjust slanders against this universal luminary, and, in his innocence, he believed lies as truth. For it is written: "A fool believes every word" ( Proverbs 14:15 ). Patriarch Atticus of Constantinople, who lived before Nestorius, urged him in his letters to inscribe the name of St. John Chrysostom in the church diptychs , that is, in the books containing the names of saints. Atticus himself had previously been one of John Chrysostom's enemies , but later, recognizing the innocence of this holy man and at the same time his sin against him, he repented. Having succeeded Arsacius to the Patriarchal Throne of Constantinople, he also included Chrysostom in the diptychs and, while he was still alive, exhorted Saint Cyril with letters asking him to do the same. But Cyril did not listen, unwilling to undermine the earlier Council against John, convened by Theophilus.
Likewise, Saint Isidore of Pelusium a relative of Cyril, a man of advanced years, seeing the indignation of many at Saint Cyril for excluding Chrysostom from the number of saints, wrote to him with boldness, exhorting him to consider impartially the circumstances of the condemnation of John Chrysostom.
"Passion is short-sighted, and hatred sees nothing at all," wrote Pelusium in one of his letters to Saint Cyril. "Therefore, if you wish to be free from both these faults, do not pronounce rash judgments, but subject deeds to a just judgment; for God, who knows everything before it is fulfilled, was kind enough to descend from heaven and behold the cry of Sodom ( Gen. 18:20 ), teaching us to do everything with careful scrutiny. For many who were with you at the Council of Ephesus mockingly say that you are satisfying your own enmity, and not seeking the Orthodoxy required for Jesus Christ. He is Theophilus' nephew, they say, and his spirit is with him." Just as Theophilus clearly poured out his fury on the God-bearing and God-loving John, so it is desirable to boast about this, although a great change has occurred in the position of the accused, for John has already suffered exile and is now no longer alive.”
In another letter, Saint Isidore of Pelusium wrote to Cyril: "The examples from Divine Scripture frighten me and compel me to write what I must. For if I am a father, as you yourself say, then I fear the condemnation that Eli suffered for not edifying his sinful sons ; but if, as I know more surely, I am a son before you, who bear the image of that great Mark , then I fear the punishment that Jonathan suffered for not stopping his father from seeking the sorceress . For since he could have stopped him, he died in battle before the sinner. Therefore, so that I may not be condemned, and God may not condemn you, stop the strife, and do not transfer that vengeance for your own insult, which should be given to mortals, into the living Church - under the pretext of piety, do not produce eternal discord in it”.
And in another place the saint wrote to Cyril: "You ask me about the circumstances of the exile of the holy man John: but I will not write about it in detail, lest I seem to be a man who denounces and condemns others, for the numerous injustices of people towards the saint have surpassed all measure. I will briefly recall to you the stiff-necked character of Egypt, which is near you it denied Moses, surrendered to Pharaoh, flayed the humble with wounds, embittered the workers, built cities and did not pay wages to the workers . Practicing such deeds, it gave birth to the lawless Theophilus, who revered gold for God ; with his like-minded people, he rebelled against Saint John - a man who loved God and preached about God. Nevertheless, the house of David is established and multiplies, but Saul, as you see, is weakened "
Such were the writings of Saint Isidore of Pelusium to Saint Cyril. They had such an effect on the latter that, after reading them, he began to acknowledge his sin. He became especially conscious of it and fully repented when he was terrified by the following vision. He imagined himself in a most beautiful place, filled with indescribable joy. Here he saw wondrous men—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and other saints, both Old and New Testament. He also saw a vast and luminous temple, the beauty of which human language cannot describe, and within it he heard the singing of sweet-sounding voices. Entering this temple and marveling at its beauty and splendor, Cyril beheld within it, in the radiance of glory, the Most Pure Lady Theotokos, surrounded by a multitude of angels. Among those standing around the Mother of God, Saint John Chrysostom occupied a place of honor , shining like an angel of God with a miraculous light and holding a book of his writings in his hand. A multitude of wondrous men surrounded him like servants. All were armed, as if prepared for an attack. And so, when Cyril wanted to fall at the feet of the Mother of God to venerate Her, Saint John and his attendants immediately rushed at him, forbidding him to approach the Most Pure Mother of God and driving him from the wondrous temple. Cyril, seeing John indignantly confronting him and himself being driven from the temple, trembled. But suddenly he heard the Most Pure Virgin Mary addressing John with a petition that he forgive Cyril and not expel him from the temple, for he had sinned against it not out of malice, but out of ignorance. But John seemed unwilling to forgive Cyril. Then the Most Holy Theotokos said, "Forgive him for My sake, for he has labored greatly for My honor—he glorified Me among men and called Me the Theotokos."
When the Most Holy Theotokos spoke these words, John immediately took pity and answered the Theotokos:
"By your intercession, Lady, I forgive him." Then, approaching Cyril in a friendly manner, he embraced and kissed him, and thus they were reconciled in the vision.
After this vision, Saint Cyril began to repent frequently and condemn himself for having unjustly harbored anger against such a saint of God. Then, gathering all the Egyptian bishops, he celebrated a solemn feast in honor of Saint John Chrysostom and inscribed him in the church books among the great saints. Thus, the stain on the holy man Cyril, who had been hostile to Saint John, was removed. The enmity between her servants was dispelled by the Most Pure Theotokos herself. From that time on, as long as Saint Cyril lived, he glorified Saint John Chrysostom with laudatory speeches.
Saint Cyril spent the rest of his life amidst great struggles, concerned not only with his own salvation but also with the salvation of others, and guiding many onto the righteous path. The following incident is related from the life of Saint Cyril, the saint of God. In Lower Egypt, there lived at that time a certain elder, renowned for his holy life. Despite this, he, being an uneducated and simple man, held one erroneous opinion: precisely because of his ignorance, the elder claimed that Melchizedek was the Son of God . His ignorance of this wisdom was reported to Saint Cyril, who invited the elder to his home. Knowing that the elder performed miracles and was so pleasing to God that God fulfilled his every request—and that his misconceptions about Melchizedek were only due to his simplicity—the patriarch used this wisdom to guide him onto the true path. Gently addressing the elder, he said:
"Abba, I beg you to help me resolve a perplexity: on the one hand, reason leads me to the conclusion that Melchizedek is the Son of God, but on the other hand, something tells me this is unfair and that he is an ordinary man and God's high priest. And so I find myself in doubt and perplexity, not knowing where to come to. Therefore, I have deliberately called you to pray to God regarding this, asking Him to reveal it to you. And whatever God reveals to you, please do not refuse to tell me."
Relying on his God-pleasing life, the elder boldly answered Saint Cyril:
“Allow me, lord, to retire for three days, after which I will ask God about this and tell you what will be revealed to me.
Then, having retired to his cell and secluded himself there for three days, the elder prayed to God to reveal to him the truth about Melchizedek. Having received his request, he came to Saint Cyril and said:
"Melchizedek is a man, not the Son of God. And let it be known to you, Master, that this is indeed so."
Saint Cyril was overjoyed to have saved the elder's soul and, thanking him, sent him away. The elder, having departed, began to preach to everyone that Melchizedek was a man, not the Son of God. Thus wisely did the saint of God guide the ignorant man onto the true path.
Having occupied the Alexandrian patriarchal throne for thirty-two years, during his lifetime purifying the Church of Christ from all the heresies then prevalent, and writing many edifying works , Saint Cyril fell asleep in the Lord in peace . At his departure, the Most Pure Mother of God herself stood before him, for he had labored faithfully for her and valiantly fought for her honor. He is worthily numbered among Saint Chrysostom, and together with him, aflame with unfading love, he stands before both Christ God and the Most Pure Mother of God, abiding in her glory, near her throne, and praising the Most Blessed Virgin and the true God born of her throughout the ages. Amen.
Source: https://azbyka.org/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/498