THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

A NEW TRANSLATION

VOLUME 118

THE FATHERSOF THE CHURCH

A NEW TRANSLATION

EDITORIAL BOARD

Thomas P. HaltonThe Catholic University of America

Editorial Director

Elizabeth Clark Robert D. Sider Duke University Dickinson College

Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J. Michael Slusser Fordham University Duquesne University

David G. Hunter Cynthia White University of Kentucky The University of Arizona

Kathleen McVey Rebecca Lyman Princeton Theological Seminary Church Divinity School of the Pacific

David J. McGonagleDirector

The Catholic University of America Press

FORMER EDITORIAL DIRECTORSLudwig Schopp, Roy J. Deferrari, Bernard M. Peebles,

Hermigild Dressler, O.F.M.

Carole Monica C. BurnettStaff Editor

ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIAFESTAL LETTERS 1–12

Translated by

PHiLiP R. AMiDOn, S.J.Creighton University

Edited with introduction and notes by

JOHn J. O’KEEFECreighton University

THE CATHOLiC UniVERSiTY OF AMERiCA PRESSWashington, D.C.

Copyright © 2009THE CATHOLiC UniVERSiTY OF AMERiCA PRESS

All rights reservedPrinted in the United States of America

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American national Standards for information Science—Permanence of Paper

for Printed Library Materials, ANSI z39.48-1984.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataCyril, Saint, Patriarch of Alexandria, ca. 370–444.

[Correspondence. English. Selections]Festal letters 1–12 / St. Cyril of Alexandria ; translated by Philip R. Amidon ;

introduction and notes by John J. O’Keefe.p. cm. — (The Fathers of the church : a new translation ; v. 118)

includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 978-0-8132-0118-4 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Cyril, Saint, Patriarch

of Alexandria, ca. 370–444—Correspondence. 2. Christian saints—Egypt—Alexandria—Correspondence. 3. Christian life—Early works to 1800.

4. Theology, Doctrinal—Early works to 1800. i. Title, ii. Series.BR65.C952E5 2008 270.2092—dc22

2008029287

COnTEnTS

Abbreviations vii Select Bibliography ix

introduction 1 i. The Festal Genre and St. Cyril of Alexandria 3 ii. Cyril’s Life and the Content of the Festal Letters 8 A. Cyril the Exegete 9 B. Cyril, Politics, and the Origenist Controversy 12 C. Cyril, Egypt, the Old Testament, and the Jews 16 D. “That Christ is One” 26 iii. Conclusion 31

FESTAL LETTERS 1–12

Festal Letter One 35 Festal Letter Seven 125 Festal Letter Two 52 Festal Letter Eight 137 Festal Letter Three 68 Festal Letter nine 155 Festal Letter Four 69 Festal Letter Ten 175 Festal Letter Five 83 Festal Letter Eleven 195 Festal Letter Six 101 Festal Letter Twelve 216

APPEnDiX AnD inDiCES

Appendix: Dates of Easter 237 General index 239 index of Holy Scripture 243

ABBREViATiOnS

FL Festal Letters.

Ep. Epistle.

JTS Journal of Theological Studies.

PG Patrologia Graeca, ed. J.-P. Migne. Paris.

SC Sources Chrétiennes. Paris: Cerf.

vii

ix

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Durand, G. M., ed. Cyrille d’Alexandrie: Deux Dialogues Christologiques. SC 97. Paris: Cerf, 1964.

———, ed. Cyrille d’Alexandrie: Dialogues sur la Trinité, Tomes 1–3. SC 231, 237, 246. Paris: Cerf, 1976–1978.

Évieux, Pierre. Cyrille d’Alexandrie: Lettres Festales I–XVII. Sources Chré-tiennes, 372, 392, 434. Paris: Cerf, 1991–1998.

McEnerney, John i. St. Cyril of Alexandria Letters 1–110. The Fathers of the Church, vols. 76, 77. Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1987.

Migne, J.-P., ed. Patrologia cursus completus. Series Graeca, vols. 68–77.Pusey, P. E., ed. Sancti Patris Nostri Cyrilli Archiepiscopi Alexandrini. 7 vols.

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Cameron, Averil. Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire: The Development of Christian Discourse. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

Casiday, A. M. Evagrius Ponticus. London and new York: Routledge, 2006.Chadwick, Henry. “Eucharist and Christology in the nestorian Contro-

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Christian Wisdom in the Contra Galilaeos of Julian the Apostate and the Contra Julianum of St. Cyril of Alexandria. Rome, 1978.

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xii SELECT BiBLiOGRAPHY