Reference:CPG 5314/8625
Incipit:Οἱ σφόδρα λυπούμενοι
Date:mid-4301
Greek Text:ACO 1.1.1:98-99
Latin Text:ACO 1.3:38-39
English Translation:FCC: J. Winkel; Price, CE #5; McEnerney, FC 76:73-74

The Greek text and Latin translation below are adapted from the ACO. The English translation below was produced for FCC by J. Winkel. For information about the historical context of this letter and its connection to the escalating Christological controversy of the time, click here.

 A letter written by Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, to Acacius, bishop of Beroea, about the heretic Nestorius.Cyrilli archiepiscopi Alexandrini epistula scripta ad Acacium episcopum Beroeae de haeretico Nestorio
Κυρίῳ μου ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ καὶ συλλειτουργῷ Ἀκακίῳ Κύριλλος ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν.To my lord, beloved brother, and fellow worker Acacius, Cyril sends greetings in the Lord.Domino meo dilectissimo fratri et comministro Acacio Cyrillus in domino salutem.
Οἱ σφόδρα λυπούμενοι καὶ φροντίδι τετρωμένην ἔχοντες τὴν καρδίαν οὐ μικρῶς ἔχουσι παραψυχήν, ὅταν τισὶ τῶν ὁμογνωμόνων τὰ ἐφ’ οἷς λελύπηνται, λέγωσι.Those who are severely grieved and who have a heart wounded with concern have no small consolation whenever they speak to someone who agrees with them about those things which grieve them.Qui uehementer contristantur et uulneratum sollicitudine cor habentes non paruam consolationem habent, dum aliquibus concordantibus ea pro quibus contristantur, aperiunt.
τοιοῦτός τις γέγονα κἀγώ· διά τοι τοῦτο τῇ σῇ τελειότητι γράψαι δεῖν ᾠήθην τὰς αἰτίας ἐφ’ αἷς εἰκότως, ὥς γε οἶμαι, λελύπημαι, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἔτι λυποῦμαι.I am also such a person; indeed, on account of this I thought it necessary to write to your maturity the causes about which reasonably, as I think at least, I have been grieved, or rather I am even still being grieved.Huiusmodi aliquis factus sum etiam ego et propterea tuae perfectioni scribendas esse curaui causas pro quibus rite, ut arbitror, contristatus sum, magis autem etiam nunc contristor.
οὐ γὰρ ἤρκεσε τῷ εὐλαβεστάτῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Νεστορίῳ τὸ ἐπ’ ἐκκλησίας εἰπεῖν ἃ ἐπ’ ἐκκλησίας ἐσκανδάλισε καὶ παρέλυσε πίστιν τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ πάντων ἡμῶν σωτῆρι Χριστῷ, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἠνέσχετο Δωροθέου τινὸς ἐπισκόπου τολμήσαντος ἐπ’ ἐκκλησίας καὶ συνάξεως εἰπεῖν ἀναφανδόν· “Εἴ τις λέγει θεοτόκον τὴν Μαρίαν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω.”For it was not enough for the devout bishop Nestorius to say before the church that which gave offense to the church and weakened faith in Christ, the Savior of all of us. He also put up with Dorotheus, a certain bishop who dared to say openly before the church and the congregation, “If anyone says that Mary is the God-bearer, let him be condemned!”Non enim satis fuit reuerentissimo episcopo Nestorio coram ecclesia dicere quae coram ecclesia scandalizauerunt et destruxerunt fidem quae est in omnium saluatore Christo, sed etiam passus est Dorotheum quendam episcopum praesumere coram ecclesia et collecta dicere palam: “Si quis dicit dei genetricem Mariam, anathema sit.”
τί τοίνυν δράσομεν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ὀρθοδόξων ἀναθεματισθέντες μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων; εὑρίσκω γὰρ ἐν συγγραφαῖς καὶ τὸν τῆς ἀοιδίμου μνήμης ἐπίσκοπον Ἀθανάσιον πλειστάκις αὐτὴν ὀνομάσαντα θεοτόκον, καὶ τὸν μακάριον δὲ πατέρα ἡμῶν Θεόφιλον καὶ ἑτέρους πολλοὺς τῶν ἁγίων καὶ κατὰ καιροὺς ἐπισκόπων, τοῦτο μὲν Βασίλειον, τοῦτο δὲ Γρηγόριον, καὶ αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν μακάριον Ἀττικόν.Therefore what will we do in the church of orthodoxy, who have been condemned with the holy fathers? For I find also in the documents Bishop Athanasius, of famous memory, very often calling her God-bearer. Our blessed father Theophilus, and many other saints and bishops time after time, Basil, Gregory, and the blessed Atticus himself also did so.Quid igitur faciemus in ecclesia orthodoxorum anathematizati cum sanctis patribus? Inuenio namque in conscriptis et famosissimae memoriae episcopum Athanasium frequenter eam nominasse dei genetricem, sed et beatum patrem nostrum Theophilum et alios plurimos sanctorum et per tempora episcoporum, tam Basilium quam Gregorium et ipsum uero beatum Atticum.
οὐδεὶς δὲ οἶμαι τῶν ὀρθοδόξων θεοτόκον αὐτὴν δέδιεν εἰπεῖν, εἴπερ ἐστὶν ἀληθὲς ὅτι θεός ἐστιν ὁ Ἐμμανουήλ. γεγόνασι τοίνυν ἀνάθεμα πρὸς θεὸν ὄντες ἅγιοι πατέρες, καὶ πάντες δὲ ὅσοι τοῖς ὀρθοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας ἑπόμενοι δόγμασι θεὸν ὁμολογοῦσι Χριστόν, καὶ οὐ μέχρι τούτων ἡ ἐκ τοῦ πράγματος ζημία, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ διεστράφησαν αἱ τῶν λαῶν γνῶμαι.And none, I think, of the orthodox feared to call her God-bearer, since Emmanuel is truly God. Indeed, the holy fathers who are with God, and all who follow the right doctrine of truth and confess Christ to be God, have become condemned. And the damage from this matter is not only this far, but also the minds of the people were twisted.Nullis autem, arbitror, orthodoxorum dei genetricem eam dicere formidatum est, si est uerum quia deus est Emmanuhel. Facti sunt igitur anathema qui ad deum sunt sancti patres, sed et omnes quicumque recta ueritatis dogmata secuntur et deum confitentur Christum. Et non usque ad haec rei damnum existit, sed etiam euersae sunt sententiae populorum.
τεθρήνηκα γὰρ ἀκούων τοὺς μὲν εἰς τοῦτο πεσόντας ἀπιστίας ἤδη καὶ ἀμαθίας, ὡς μηδὲ θεὸν ὁμολογεῖν τὸν Χριστόν, τοὺς δὲ κἂν εἰ ἕλοιντο ὁμολογεῖν ὅλως αὐτὸν θεόν, μηδὲν ὑγιὲς ἐπ’ αὐτῷ δοξάζειν, ἀλλ’ εὐδοκίᾳ καὶ χάριτι μεθ’ ἡμῶν κεκλῆσθαι πρὸς τοῦτο λέγοντας.For I lamented when I heard that some already fell into this unbelief and ignorance with the result that they no longer confessed Christ to be God. But even if they chose to confess him to be actually God, they think nothing correct about him, but say that he is called this with us by goodwill and grace.Lamentatus enim sum audiens alios quidem in talem iam incidisse perfidiam et ignorantiam, ut neque deum confiteantur Christum, alios autem uel si uoluerint confiteri omnino eum deum, nihil tamen super eum salubre sectantur, sed benignitate et gratia nobiscum uocatum ad hoc dicentes.
ταῦτα θρήνου καὶ οἰμωγῆς ἄξια. ποία γὰρ ὅλως ἡ χρεία καὶ εἰς μέσον ἄγεσθαι τὰ οὕτως λεπτὰ καὶ κεκρυμμένα;This is worthy of lament and wailing. For how is it actually necessary to bring things so delicate and obscure to the public?Haec lamentatione et gemitu digna sunt. Quae enim omnino utilitas etiam ad medium deducere quae ita suptilia et occulta sunt?
διὰ τί δὲ μὴ μᾶλλον ἠθικαῖς ἐξηγήσεσιν ὠφελοῦμεν τοὺς λαούς, εἰ μὴ σφόδρα ἱκανῶς εἰς ἀκρίβειαν τὴν δογματικήν; ἐπειδὴ δὲ μονάζουσι τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν τεθορυβημένοις ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων ἀναγνωσμάτων ἢ γοῦν ἐξηγήσεων τὸν ὀρθὸν τῆς πίστεως ἐξηγησάμεθα λόγον, ἐκπεπολέμωται καὶ γέγονεν ἐχθρὸς καὶ συλλέγει τινὰς ἀγύρτας καὶ ἀπεγνωσμένους καὶ παρασκευάζει ψεύδεσθαι κατ’ ἐμοῦ τινὰ ἐπὶ πολλῶν, καὶ τάχα δικαίως.And why do we not rather help the people with moral explanations, if we are not great enough for doctrinal precision? Since we explained the right teaching of faith to the monks in Egypt and Alexandria, who have been distressed from such readings, or at least explanations, he has become an enemy and grown hostile. He collects certain shady characters and those who were rejected, and he has prepared to say certain lies about me in front of many, and perhaps justly.Cur autem non potius moralibus expositionibus prosumus populis, si non uehementer sumus eruditi ad suptilitatem dogmatum? quia uero monachis per Aegyptum et in Alexandriam conturbatis ex huiusmodi lectionibus seu expositionibus rectam fidei exposuimus rationem, debellat et factus est inimicus et congregat quosdam aleatores et desperatos et praeparat ut mentiantur aduersum me quaedam coram multis; et puto iuste.
εἰ γὰρ εἴχομεν ζῆλον θεοῦ καὶ τῆς τῶν πατέρων φιλοθείας ἐγινόμεθα μιμηταί, πάλαι ἂν ἦμεν κατὰ τῶν τετολμηκότων φλυαρῆσαι κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἀναθεματισάντων ἡμᾶς τε τοὺς ζῶντας καὶ τοὺς πρὸς θεὸν ὄντας ἤδη πατέρας ἁγίους ψῆφον ὁσίαν ἐξενέγκαντες, δι’ ἧς ἦν εἰκὸς θεραπεύεσθαι καὶ τοὺς εἰς πίστιν ἠδικημένους τῶν λαῶν.For if we were carrying the zeal of God and were imitators of the fathers’ love for God, long ago we would have been carrying out such a decree against those daring to speak nonsense against Christ and condemning both us who live and those already with God who were holy fathers. Through such a decree it was likely that those people who were injured in their faith would be healed.Nam si habuissemus zelum dei et in amore diuino patrum essemus imitatores, olim aduersus eos qui praesumunt obloqui contra Christum et anathematizare tam nos uiuos quam eos qui iam ad deum sunt, sanctos patres, sententiam sanctam proferentes per quam consequens erat mederi et eos ex populis qui in fide laesi sunt.
Πρόσειπε τὴν παρὰ σοὶ ἀδελφότητα· σὲ ἡ σὺν ἡμῖν ἐν κυρίῳ προσαγορεύει.Greet the brotherhood with you; those with us greet you in the Lord. 

Last updated 9/25/24 by JSW

  1. See McGuckin, St. Cyr, p. 42.

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