This date is used by the Western Rite Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church did not commemorate Saint Cyril in the Tridentine Calendar: it added his feast only in 1882, assigning to it the date of 9 February. Cyril's Paschal table was provided with a Metonic basic structure in the form of a 19-year lunar cycle adopted by him around AD 425, which was very different from the first Metonic 19-year lunar cycle invented around AD 260 by Anatolius, but exactly equal to the lunar cycle which had been introduced around AD 412 by Annianus the Julian equivalent of this Alexandrian cycle adopted by Cyril and nowadays referred to as the 'classical (Alexandrian) 19-year lunar cycle' would emerge a century later in Rome as the basic structure of Dionysius Exiguus’ Paschal table (AD 525). Historians disagree over the extent of his responsibility in this.Ĭyril tried to oblige the pious Christian emperor Theodosius II (AD 408–450) to himself by dedicating his Paschal table to him. He is also known for his expulsion of Novatians and Jews from Alexandria and for inflaming tensions that led to the murder of the Hellenistic philosopher Hypatia by a Christian mob. The Nestorian bishops at their synod at the Council of Ephesus declared him a heretic, labelling him as a 'monster, born and educated for the destruction of the church.' Ĭyril is well known for his dispute with Nestorius and his supporter, Patriarch John of Antioch, whom Cyril excluded from the Council of Ephesus for arriving late. He was a central figure in the Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Patriarch of Constantinople.Ĭyril is counted among the Church Fathers and also as a Doctor of the Church, and his reputation within the Christian world has resulted in his titles Pillar of Faith and Seal of all the Fathers. Cyril wrote extensively and was a major player in the Christological controversies of the late-4th and 5th centuries.

He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire.

Cyril & Methodius by Jerry McCollough