Cyril of Alexandria

Patriarch of Alexandria from 412, Cyril was the uncompromising architect of the church's confession that Christ is one person: the eternal Word who truly took flesh, so that Mary is rightly called Theotokos, God-bearer. He led the Council of Ephesus in 431, which vindicated that title against Nestorius. Combative in controversy — his Alexandria was turbulent, and his role in its conflicts remains debated — he was also a superb exegete: vast commentaries on John and Isaiah, and a long sequence of homilies on Luke that the Catena draws on constantly. Later councils honored him simply as 'the seal of the fathers.'

Later councils called him 'the seal of the fathers'; the Council of Ephesus vindicated calling Mary Theotokos largely through his tenacity.

Cyril of Alexandria has 386 commentary entries in HolyStudy’s verse-by-verse Church Fathers commentary. Open any Gospel chapter, tap a verse, and choose the Church Fathers tab.