34—Cyril of Jerusalem: Mystery and Mayhem

Cyril served as bishop during ugly times. The Church was divided, and suspicion was universal. He suffered false accusation, conspiracy, and exile. Yet he was able to see supernatural beauty shining through natural signs in the Church’s liturgy: bread and wine, oil and water, breath and gesture. He is history’s great practitioner of the art of mystagogy—guidance in the sacramental mysteries. His lectures, in fact, cover all the basics of Christian life: creed, commandments, prayer, and sacraments. Eyewitnesses tell us that his hearers applauded when he taught. His lectures still edify and entertain more than a millennium and a half after their first delivery.

Links

Cyril of Jerusalem, Procatechesis https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2408

Cyril of Jerusalem, On Baptism https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2428

Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Body and Blood of Christ https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2430

Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Sacred Liturgy and Communion https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=2431

Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com

Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/

Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org

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