By Christina Hermoso
Roman Catholics honor today the memory of a distinguished theologian of the early Church - Saint Cyril (San Cirilo), the well-loved bishop of Jerusalem and a Doctor of the Church.
St. Cyril’s instructions were used as reference by the Roman Catholic Church for its teachings. His writings were considered as the most important sources on how the Church celebrated the liturgy and the sacraments during the first few decades after the legalization of Christianity.
A great instructor of catechumens, his lasting legacy was the book “The Cathechizes,” which contained the instructions he gave the catechumens in preparation for baptism.
Born in the year 315 in Jerusalem, St. Cyril studied the scriptures as a child. St. Maximus, patriarch of Jerusalem, ordained him priest in the year 343. He served as bishop of Jerusalem for 35 years from 351 up to the time of his death in 386.
Pope Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1883 and ordered that his office and mass be said throughout the Universal Church.