Letters (first part: Migne letters 1-55)

Contents

All letters that survive in Greek in Migne PG 77 are published (letter 80 is Basil, Letter 260, published under Basil; letter 88, to Cyril from Hypatia, is a later forgery). The letters that survive only in Latin are in preparation.

Reading pages: 1 · 2–9 · 10–13 · 14–16 · 17–18 · 19–29 · 30–38 · 39 · 40 · 41 · 42–45 · 46–49 · 50 · 53–54 · 55 · 56–75 · 76–85

1. 1Cyril warns the Egyptian monks against those questioning whether Mary should be called Mother of God, and argues from Athanasius, the Nicene Creed, and Scripture that the one born of the Virgin is the Word of God made flesh, one Christ, not a man used as God's instrument.
2. 2Cyril answers Nestorius's anger over his letter to the monks, says the disturbance came from Nestorius's own sermons, reports Celestine of Rome's concern, and urges him to call Mary Mother of God.
3. 3Nestorius's brief, guarded reply to Cyril, written only because the presbyter Lampon pressed him for a letter.
4. 4Cyril's second letter to Nestorius sets out how the Word became man by a union according to hypostasis, so that one Christ is born, suffers, and rises, and Mary is rightly called Mother of God.
5. 5Nestorius replies to Cyril's second letter, arguing that the Nicene Creed and Scripture ascribe birth and suffering to Christ's humanity, not his Godhead, so Mary is more exactly called Mother of Christ.
6. 8Cyril defends his letter to the monks by pointing out that Nestorius stood by while Bishop Dorotheus anathematized anyone who calls Mary Mother of God.
7. 9Cyril tells a correspondent that he is peaceable and loves Nestorius, but cannot keep silent when the faith itself is at stake and bishops must answer for their people.
8. 10Cyril instructs his clergy at Constantinople how to answer Nestorius's supporters, quotes Nestorius's sermons, explains how the Word is said to suffer in his flesh, and says he will refuse Nestorius as his judge.
9. 11Cyril reports to Celestine of Rome on Nestorius's teaching and conduct, asks whether he should break communion with him, and attaches a memorandum summarizing Nestorius's views and his deposition of the presbyter Philip.
10. 12Celestine of Rome praises Cyril's defence of the faith and commissions him, acting with Rome's authority, to give Nestorius ten days to recant in writing or be removed from communion.
11. 13Cyril informs John of Antioch that the Roman synod has condemned Nestorius's teaching and that he himself will follow Rome's judgement, urging John to consider his course.
12. 14Cyril tells Acacius of Beroea of his grief that Nestorius tolerated an anathema against all who call Mary Mother of God, a term used by Athanasius, Theophilus, Basil, Gregory, and Atticus.
13. 15Acacius of Beroea, replying for himself and John of Antioch, urges Cyril to calm the dispute over Nestorius's words rather than inflame it, warning by the example of Apollinarius against probing mysteries.
14. 16Cyril sends Juvenal of Jerusalem Celestine's letters condemning Nestorius and urges joint action: letters to Nestorius, his people, and the emperor.
15. 17Cyril and the Egyptian synod give Nestorius a final warning, set out at length the faith in the one incarnate Word, the Eucharist, and Mary as Mother of God, and append twelve anathemas he must accept.
16. 18Cyril and the Egyptian synod tell the clergy and people of Constantinople that Nestorius has been warned, urge them to keep the faith of their former bishops, and declare communion with those he has deposed.
17. 19Cyril and the synod praise the monks of Constantinople for resisting Nestorius's blasphemies and tell them Nestorius has been given a final warning to recant or be removed.
18. 20On his way to the Council of Ephesus, Cyril tells his people that he has reached Rhodes safely and asks for their prayers.
19. 21From Ephesus before the council opens, Cyril tells his people he is well and confident that Christ will restore the right faith, and asks their prayers.
20. 22John of Antioch writes to Cyril that he is a few days from Ephesus after a hard thirty-day journey and asks for his prayers.
21. 23Cyril reports to his agents in Constantinople how Nestorius refused three summonses at Ephesus and was deposed, and warns that the official minutes are being delayed.
22. 24Cyril tells his church that about two hundred bishops at Ephesus deposed Nestorius on 22 June 431 and that the city celebrated with a torchlight escort.
23. 25Cyril tells his church that the heresy of Nestorius has been brought down by the council's vote, and asks their prayers for his safe return.
24. 26After Nestorius's deposition Cyril asks the Egyptian monks to keep praying for the bishops, as Moses prayed while Joshua fought Amalek.
25. 27Cyril reports from Ephesus that the council refuses communion with John of Antioch's party or any compromise statement of faith, and that the bishops are under guard and in hardship.
26. 28Cyril answers slanders that Nestorius was deposed by his intrigue, reports that the council is under guard but refuses communion with John of Antioch's party, and asks for prayers.
27. 29Alypius, a presbyter of Constantinople, praises Cyril as a confessor who, like Elijah, Phinehas, and Athanasius, has overthrown Nestorius.
28. 30Maximian, newly made bishop of Constantinople after Nestorius, congratulates Cyril as a confessor and asks for his prayers and counsel.
29. 31Cyril welcomes Maximian as Nestorius's successor at Constantinople, restates the faith in one Christ against Apollinarius and Nestorius, and compares Nestorius's fall and Maximian's rise to Shebna and Eliakim.
30. 35John of Antioch and his bishops tell Xystus of Rome, Cyril, and Maximian that, for the sake of peace, they now accept Nestorius's deposition by the Council of Ephesus and Maximian's ordination.
31. 36Paul of Emesa, John of Antioch's envoy, formally accepts Maximian's appointment and Nestorius's deposition, anathematizes Nestorius's teaching, and restores communion with Cyril on the basis of the agreed statement of faith.
32. 37Cyril reassures his agents at Constantinople that the peace talks with Paul of Emesa have kept every safeguard: Paul confessed Mary as Mother of God, and John's letters of communion will be handed over only if he signs Nestorius's deposition.
33. 38John of Antioch sends Cyril the agreed statement of faith (the Formula of Reunion), accepts Nestorius's deposition and Maximian's ordination, and restores communion.
34. 39Cyril welcomes the reunion with John of Antioch, quotes the agreed Formula of Reunion, denies that he teaches a heavenly body of Christ or a mixing of natures, and insists the Nicene Creed must not be altered.
35. 40Cyril explains to Acacius of Melitene how the reunion of 433 came about, defends the Antiochene confession as no new creed and not Nestorian, and sets out his own teaching of one incarnate nature of the Word, the union of two natures, and the right way to distinguish Christ's sayings.
36. 41Answering Acacius of Melitene, Cyril rejects the view that the scapegoat of Lev 16 was sent to a demon and reads the two goats, and the two birds of Lev 14, as a double picture of the one Christ who dies in the flesh and lives as God.
37. 42Cyril sends Rufus of Thessalonica a copy of his long letter to Acacius of Melitene explaining the Easterners' confession of faith.
38. 43Cyril tells Rufus of Thessalonica that receiving the repentant Easterners into communion is wise, and sends him several of his books on the Old Testament and against Nestorius.
39. 44Cyril explains to his agent Eulogius why he accepted the Easterners' talk of two natures: knowing the difference of natures is not dividing Christ, and after the union there is one Son and one incarnate nature of the Word.
40. 45Answering Succensus, Cyril traces Nestorius's teaching to Diodore, explains that Christ is from two natures but after the union is one Son and one incarnate nature of God the Word, and denies that Christ's risen body was changed into Godhead.
41. 46In a second letter to Succensus, Cyril answers four objections to his formula “one nature of the Word, incarnate,” arguing that it implies neither suffering in the Godhead nor confusion, nor any loss of Christ's full humanity.
42. 47John of Antioch tells Cyril that peace has been restored through Paul of Emesa, that the small changes made to Cyril's draft alter nothing of substance, and that he will work to bring the remaining Eastern bishops along.
43. 48Cyril tells Donatus of Nicopolis how the reunion with John of Antioch was reached without retracting anything he had written, and that the bishops deposed for supporting Nestorius were not restored.
44. 49Cyril tells Maximian of Constantinople that, through his prayers, John of Antioch and his bishops have accepted Nestorius's deposition and communion has been restored.
45. 50Cyril arms Valerian of Iconium against Nestorius's followers, refuting their readings of Phil 2, 2 Cor 5:19, and Acts 10:38, defending the Word's own suffering in the flesh and the one person of Christ, and assuring him that the Eastern bishops have condemned Nestorius.
46. 53A fragment of Cyril's letter to Xystus of Rome denying that he ever called the divine nature of the Word passible and confessing one Christ in and from both natures.
47. 54Cyril reassures the presbyter Eusebius that the peace with John of Antioch kept every condition set at Ephesus, that the deposed Nestorian bishops were not restored, and that the charges against himself of teaching a passible Godhead or a heavenly flesh are slanders.
48. 55Cyril explains the Nicene Creed clause by clause to a group of monks, insisting that the one only-begotten Word himself became man, suffered in his own flesh, and is the one Lord into whose death Christians are baptized, against the followers of Nestorius and Theodore.
49. 56Cyril urges the archimandrite Gennadius not to break communion with Proclus of Constantinople for receiving the bishop of Jerusalem (Aelia), explaining that strictness must sometimes give way to management for a greater good.
50. 57Cyril asks the deacon Maximus of Antioch to resume communion with John of Antioch, receiving former Nestorians who have repented without too much strictness.
51. 58Cyril answers Maximus again, defending John of Antioch's gentle handling of those who had sided with Nestorius: sick souls need management as a remedy, for Christ came to call sinners.
52. 63Cyril complains to John of Antioch that Theodoret still holds to Nestorius's slanders and has neither anathematized him nor signed his deposition, and asks John to bring him into line.
53. 67Cyril and his synod to John of Antioch and his synod: they anathematize Nestorius and anyone who speaks of two sons and two Christs, confess one Son, the Word made flesh from the holy Mother of God, warn against ascribing the views of Diodore and Theodore to Athanasius, Basil, Gregory and Theophilus, ask that repentant Nestorians be received, and that accusations against clergy be heard in church courts.
54. 69Cyril tells Acacius of Melitene that the archimandrite Maximus has visited him, that the Easterners now praise Theodore of Mopsuestia, Nestorius's teacher, and claim the great fathers taught the same, and that he has written against Diodore and Theodore and an explanation of the Nicene Creed, which he sends.
55. 70Cyril tells the clergy in Constantinople and the presbyter Lampo of a petition from the orthodox of Antioch against the Eastern bishops' turn to Theodore's books, and sends his explanation of the Nicene Creed, written on parchment for the empresses and the emperor.
56. 72Cyril asks Proclus of Constantinople not to allow Theodore of Mopsuestia to be anathematized by name: his writings deserve condemnation, but Ephesus wisely avoided naming him, he died in communion, and condemning him now would reopen the troubles in the East.
57. 75Atticus of Constantinople explains to Cyril why, under popular pressure and with the emperor's approval, he has entered the name of the deposed John Chrysostom in the diptychs, citing precedents, and asks Cyril to do the same in Egypt for the sake of peace.
58. 76Cyril refuses Atticus's request: the deposed John Chrysostom cannot be listed among the bishops in the diptychs without overturning the canons and Nicaea; true management must do no harm, the few objectors should be left to God, and Arsacius must keep his place after Nectarius, as Matthias, not Judas, is among the apostles.
59. 77Cyril asks Domnus of Antioch to have the charges heard against clergy who tried to depose their bishop Athanasius, remove him from the diptychs and replace the church stewards, and to let him decline a suspect metropolitan as judge.
60. 78In a canonical letter (to Domnus of Antioch) Cyril asks that the aged bishop Peter, removed without a hearing and robbed, either be properly tried or restored, that his money be returned, that bishops not be made to account for ordinary expenses, and that clergy not be pushed into resigning.
61. 79Cyril tells the bishops of Libya and Pentapolis to examine candidates for ordination (whether newly married, or expelled from monasteries) and to baptize excommunicated catechumens who are dying.
62. 81Fragments of Cyril's letter to the monks at Phua against those who deny the resurrection of the body: the denial comes from Origen's teaching that souls pre-existed and were embodied as punishment, which Scripture and the judgment 'for what was done through the body' refute.
63. 82Cyril asks Amphilochius of Side to receive repentant Messalians (Euchites) with a simple anathema of the heresy, without pressing passages from books on the unlearned.
64. 85Cyril sends the African synod at Carthage authentic copies of the Nicene canons and announces the date of Easter.