Cyril of Jerusalem. Glory in the Cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus

The following is part of a lecture given by St. Cyril of Jerusalem to the catechumens during Lent of 347 A.D..  Presented here for the first Friday of the Lenten stations of the cross:

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: "Every deed of Christ is a cause of glorying to the Catholic Church, but Her greatest of all glorying is in the Cross; and knowing this, Paul says, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14). For it was indeed wondrous that one who was blind from his birth should receive sight in Siloam (John 9:1-7); but what is this compared with the blind of the whole world? It was a great thing, surpassing nature, for Lazarus to rise again on the fourth day (John 11:1-44); but the grace extended to him alone, and what was it compared with the dead in sins throughout the world? It was marvelous that five loaves should pour forth food for the five thousand (Matt. 14:14-21, Mark 6:34-44, Luke 9:11-17, John 6:5-13); but what is that to those who are famishing in ignorance throughout all the world? It was marvelous that she should have been loosed who had been bound by Satan eighteen years (Luke 13:10-16); yet what is this to all of us, who were bound fast in the chains of our sins? But the glory of the Cross led those who were blind through ignorance into light, loosed all who were held fast by sin and ransomed the whole world of mankind (Matt. 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Tim 2:6).

"Let us then not be ashamed of the Cross of our Saviour, but rather glory in it. For the word of the Cross is to Jews a stumbling-block, and to Gentiles foolishness (1 Cor. 1:23), but to us salvation, and to them that are perishing it is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18). For it was not a mere man who died for us, as I said before, but the Son of God, God made Man. Further, if the lamb under Moses drove the destroyer far away [Passover Lamb, Ex 12:21-23], did not much rather the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), deliver us from our sins? The blood of a silly sheep gave salvation; shall not the Blood of the Only-begotten much rather save…."

"Jesus then really suffered for all men; for the Cross was no illusion, otherwise our redemption is an illusion also. His death was not a mere show, for then our salvation is also without reality [imaginary, mythical]. If His death was but a show, they were true who said, We remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I rise again (Matt. 27:63). His Passion then was real: for He was really crucified and we are not ashamed of that; He was crucified and we do not deny it, no, I rather glory to speak of it.

"I confess the Cross because I know of the Resurrection; for if, after being crucified, He had remained as He was, I might not have confessed it. I might have concealed both it and my Master, but now that the Resurrection has followed the Cross, I am not ashamed to declare it." (St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, Excerpts from his Catechesis (Lecture 13) during lent of 347 A.D. when Cyril was still a Priest).

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Cyprian of Carthage. The Lord's Prayer and Prayer of the Heart

"Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil (Matt. 6:9-13)."


St. Cyprian of Carthage: "... what can be a more spiritual prayer than that which was given to us by Christ, by whom also the Holy Spirit was given to us? What praying to the Father can be more truthful than that which was delivered to us by the Son who is the Truth, out of His own mouth?

"Therefore, beloved brethren, let us pray as God our Teacher has taught us. It is a loving and friendly prayer to beseech God with His own word, to come up to His ears in the prayer of Christ. Let the Father acknowledge the words of His Son when we make our prayer, and let Him also who dwells within our breast Himself dwell in our voice. And since we have Jesus as an Advocate with the Father for our sins, let us, when as sinners we petition on behalf of our sins, put forward the words of our Advocate. For since He says, that 'whatsoever we shall ask of the Father in His name, He will give us (Jn 15:16, 16:23),' how much more effectually do we obtain what we ask in Christ’s name, if we ask for it in His own prayer.

"But when we pray, let our speech and petition be disciplined, observing quietness and modesty. Let us consider that we are standing in God’s sight. We must please the divine eyes both with the habit of body and with the measure of voice. ...Moreover, in His teaching the Lord bids us to pray in secret — in hidden and remote places, in our very bedrooms (Matt. 6:6) — which is best suited to faith, that we may know that God is everywhere present, and hears and sees all, and in the abundance of His majesty penetrates even into hidden and secret places, as it is written, 'I am a God at hand, and not a God far off. If a man shall hide himself in secret places, shall I not then see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth (Jer. 23:23, 24).' And again: 'The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good  (Prov. 15:3).' And when we meet together with the brethren in one place, and celebrate divine sacrifices with God’s priest, we ought to be mindful of modesty and discipline — not to throw abroad our prayers indiscriminately, with unsubdued voices, nor to cast to God with tumultuous wordiness a petition that ought to be commended to God by modesty; for God is the hearer, not of the voice, but of the heart.



"Take as an example, Hannah (1 Sam 1:9-13)...she did not pray to God with a clamorous petition, but silently and modestly, within the very recesses of her heart. She spoke with hidden prayer, but with manifest faith. She spoke not with her voice, but with her heart, because she knew that God hears; and she effectually obtained what she sought because she asked it with belief. Divine Scripture asserts this, when it says, 'She spoke in her heart, and her lips moved, and her voice was not heard (1 Sam 1:13);' but God heard her. We read also in the Psalms, 'Speak in your hearts, and in your beds...(Ps. 4:4).' The Holy Spirit, moreover, suggests these same things by Jeremiah, and teaches, saying, 'But in the heart ought God to be adored by you (Baruch 6:6).'" (St. Cyprian (190-258 AD) Bishop of Carthage (248-258 AD) Excerpts from Treatise IV, On the Lord's Prayer)
 

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Mary, Mother of God. The Soul and Spirit of a Beautiful Woman

Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior because He has regarded the humility of His handmaid; for behold, from now on all generations shall call me blessed because He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. His mercy is from generation unto generations, to those who fear Him. He has shown might in His arm; He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever (Luke 1:46-55).” 

+ Mary, Mother of God, pray for us +

Gregory Nazianzen. Jesus, God Incarnate

“For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him [Jesus] should all the fulness dwell—for in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily… (Col 1:19, 2:9).”

St. Gregory Nazianzen: “Jesus was baptized as Man, but He remitted sins as God (Matt. 3:13; 9:6) — not because He needed purifying rites Himself, but that He might sanctify the element of water. He was tempted as Man, but He conquered as God (Matt. 4:1-11); yea, He bids us be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world (John 16:33). He hungered, but He fed thousands; yea, He is the Bread that gives life, and That is of heaven (John 6:32-58). He thirsted, but He cried, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink (John 7:37-39).” Yea, He promised that fountains should flow from those who believe. He was wearied, but He is the Rest of those who are weary and heavy laden (Matt. 11:28-30). He was heavy with sleep, but He walked lightly over the sea. He rebuked the winds, He saved Peter as he began to sink (Matt. 14:25-31). He is called a Samaritan and a demoniac, but He saves the one who came down from Jerusalem and fell among thieves (Luke 10:30-37); the demons acknowledge Him, and He drives out demons and sinks in the sea a legion of foul spirits (Luke 8:28–33), and sees the prince of the demons falling like lightning (Luke 10:18). He is stoned, but is not taken. He prays, but He hears prayer. He weeps, but He causes tears to cease. He asks where Lazarus was laid, for He was Man; but He raises Lazarus, for He was God (John 11:34, 43). He is sold very cheaply for thirty pieces of silver, but He redeems the world and that at a great price, for the Price was His own blood (1 Pet. 1:19). As a sheep He is led to the slaughter (Isa. 53:7), but He is the Shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also (John 10:11-16). As a Lamb He is silent, yet He is the Word and is proclaimed by the Voice of one crying in the wilderness (John 1:23). He is bruised and wounded, but He heals every disease and every infirmity (Matt. 4:23, 9:35). He is lifted up and nailed to the Tree, but by the Tree of Life He restores us; yea, He saves even the robber crucified with Him (Luke 23:43); yea, He wrapped the visible world in darkness (Matt. 27:45). He is given vinegar to drink mingled with gall (Matt. 27:34) – He who turned the water into wine (John 2:1–11), Who is the destroyer of the bitter taste, Who is Sweetness and altogether desire. He lays down His life, but He has power to take it again (John 10:17, 18); and the veil is rent, for the mysterious doors of Heaven are opened; the rocks are split, the dead arise (Matt. 27:51, 52). He dies, but He gives life, and by His death destroys death. He is buried, but He rises again; He goes down into Hell, but He brings up the souls; He ascends to Heaven, and shall come again…”For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then He shall render unto every man according to his deeds (Matt. 16:27).” (St. Gregory of Nazianzus, (330-390); Bishop of Constantinople from 381 to 390. Oration 29, para. 20 -  some Scripture references added as unobtrusively as possible for those who want to read these truths about the Lord Jesus Christ directly from the written word of God)