Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444) was a Christian theologian and Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444.
Cyril wrote extensively and was a major player in the Christological controversies of the late 4th and 5th centuries. He was the President of the Council of Ephesus in 431, which clarified the hypostatic union of Christ's divine and human natures into one person against the views of Nestorius, who was deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople. He is also well-known for his advocacy of the term Theotokos for the Virgin Mary, which followed from his Christological views.
Cyril is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches with the titles Pillar of Faith and Seal of the Fathers. In the Catholic Church, he was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1883 under the title Doctor Incarnationis ("Doctor of the Incarnation").
Patron saint of Alexandria
In the Martyrology
- June 27 Saint Cyril, bishop of Alexandria of Egypt and doctor of the Church