Today’s Readings – Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor

Little is known of the life of Cyril before he became bishop. It is believed he was born about the year 313 or 315 AD. He was raised in Jerusalem and given a good education, especially in the Scriptures. About the year 335, he was ordained deacon by St Macarius of Jerusalem, and ordained priest about eight years later by Bishop St Maximus. He was given the task of catechising during Lent those preparing for Baptism, and during the Easter season, the newly baptised. His catechetical texts remain valuable as examples of the ritual and theology of the Church in the mid-fourth century.

About the year 350 he succeeded St Maximus as Bishop of Jerusalem. Through the nature of his conciliatory disposition, while opposed to Arianism, he was not quite ready to accept the uncompromising term homo … Continue

Yesterday’s Readings – Saint Patrick, Bishop and Missionary

The origins of Patrick are not clear, and facts are difficult to separate from legend. He is said to have been born at Banna Venta Berniae, somewhere in Roman Britain in the second half of the 4th century, perhaps around 385 AD. It is also claimed he was born in Kilpatrick (meaning ’ … Continue