It is
generally believed that St. Cyril’s catechetical sermons fall into two groups:
18 of which were preached around 348 A.D. to those who were elected to Baptism
and the remaining five comprises the “Mysagogic
Catecheses, preached to the newly baptized in the week after Easter”
(Yarnold 69). It is observed that St. Cyril made extensive use of the Sacred
Scripture in his sermons. For example, in sermon 1 on the pre-baptismal rites, he
told the story of Exodus that through Moses, God saved the Israelites from the
hands of the Egyptians. He used the story to instruct catechumens that the Old
Testament has foretold the salvation of Christ, the Lamb of God who saved them
from the slavery of sins by his own blood. Moreover, corresponding to Pharaoh’s
army submerged into the sea, “the devil disappears in the waters of salvation”
used in Baptism (Yarnold 71). He also traced back to the ancient serpent which
tempted the First Parents to secede from God so as to appeal to the catechumens
that they had to renounce Satan in order to receive salvation in Christ
(Yarnold 72). St. Cyril made use of the narratio,
centered on Christ, who is our Savior proclaimed in catechesis, to transfer the
knowledge of faith in the catechetical community (GDC 85). By telling the
story of salvation, using both the Old and New Testaments, he helped
catechumens (the elects) to know the faith (fides
quae), i.e., salvation coming only through Christ, and act according to the
faith (fides qua), i.e., turning away
from the devil (GDC 85).
Like St.
Hippolytus, St. Cyril also placed heavy emphasis on the need for catechumens to
live a moral life. They would need to “renounce all deeds and thoughts which
(were) against (their) better judgment” (Yarnold 72). Acts which were considered
evil at St. Cyril’s time such as “horse-racing, hunting, and all such futility”
should be renounced (Yarnold 72). Moreover, they should not offer food in honor
of idols which simply did not exist, and participate in the worship in pagan
temples (Yarnold 73). In making his claims, St. Cyril cited from the story of
Lot in the Scripture where his wife was turned a pillar of salt because she
looked back, reminding catechumens not to turn back to what lying behind, and
not to “put (their) hand on the plough (but) revert to the bitter activity of
the world” (Yarnold 74). Instead, he encouraged them to “flee to the mountain
to Jesus Christ, the stone hewn without hands which has filled the world”
(Yarnold 74). The stories and allegories used by St. Cyril are remarkable. Again,
we see how he had made exemplary use of the narratio
to tell the story of salvation, particularly on the underlying meaning of the
sacraments, and the essential need for catechumens to turn away from sinful
ways before their upcoming Baptism.
When
St. Cyril taught the catechumens to denounce the Satan, he was in fact
referring to the triple renunciation of sin in the baptismal rite. In his
sermon, he went on to instruct on the triple profession of faith that followed.
In accordance with the early Church practice, candidates for baptism would turn
from the west (the darkness of the Devil) to the east (the true light of God),
symbolizing the “change of allegiance” (Yarnold 74). Then they would say “I
believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and in one baptism of
repentance” (Yarnold 75), which is an important and concise proclamation of our
Christian faith.
Similar
to his sermons on Baptism, St. Cyril of Jerusalem made outstanding use
of the narratio to tell the story of
salvation in his homilies of Confirmation and the Eucharist to the catechumens
(elects). Although the sacrament of Confirmation might not be so clearly
referred to as a sacrament of the Church at his time, he made it clear to the
catechumens that the holy Myron used to anoint them was not “ordinary ointment”
because the it has been transformed by the Holy Spirit; just like bread and
wine after invocation of the Holy Spirit are no longer bread and wine but the
Body and Blood of Christ. He told the catechumens: “holy Myron after the
invocation is no longer ordinary ointment but God's grace, which through the
presence of the Holy Spirit instils his divinity into us … the body is anointed
with visible ointment, and the soul is sanctified by the Holy, hidden Spirit”
(Yarnold 82-83). The anointing of Myron was made on the forehead, ears,
nostrils and chest (Yarnold 83). The sacramental sign and effects of sacred
ointment were made so clear in the above.
As for
his sermons on the Eucharist, again St. Cyril made extensive use of the New and
Old Testaments to instruct the catechumens that the bread and wine, after
invocation, have been truly changed to the Body and Blood of Christ. And by
partaking his Body and Blood, we “participate in the divine nature” (2 Peter
1:4) (Yarnold 87). He also appealed to the spiritual sense of the catechumens:
“Though your senses suggest (the contrary) to you, let faith reassure you. Do
not judge the matter by taste but by faith, which brings you certainly without
doubting, since you have been found worthy of Christ’s body and blood” (Yarnold
87). Indeed, I find St. Cyril’s sermons extremely useful for reference and
adoption by pastors and catechists today: not only in lessons for catechumens
but also homilies and spiritual talks for the faithful.
There
are also a couple of interesting observations on the reception of Holy
Communion in ancient times. St. Cyril taught catechumens to receive the Holy
Communion by the right hand, supported by the left hand beneath it: “Make your
left hand a throne for your right, since your right hand is about to welcome a
king, saying in response Amen”
(Yarnold 87). Two points worth mentioning here. The Church today provides us
with the option to receive Holy Communion on the tongue or on the hand. Some
Catholics advocate reception on the tongue only, fearing the lack of reverence
to the Body of Christ if they are to receive it on the hand, yet, we should be
aware that reception on the tongue is a medieval or later practice rather than
an early Church practice. If we can follow the words of St. Cyril and also
“(are) careful to drop not a particle of it” (Yarnold 96) as further advised by
him, it appears to me that the sacramental sign is even clearer with reception
by the hand, and obviously without any question of abuse. Secondly, his saying
about “your right hand is about to welcome a king” sounds very appealing to me.
When you gladly receive someone, you always use your right hand to receive him,
even in today’s culture. Why not for Jesus? I was never taught of this, and had
neither even thought of it. But I practiced it for the first time during Mass with
impressive results (I used to putting the right hand beneath the left for
“convenience”). Finally, though no longer a church practice today, St. Cyril
asked the catechumens to use Christ’s Body to “carefully bless (their) eyes
with a touch of the holy body” before consuming it, and use Christ’s Blood (by
touching their hands on the moist lips) to “bless (their) eyes, forehead, and
other organs of sense” (Yarnold 96-97). It simply shows how devoted St. Cyril
was in using and in advocating sacraments as sources of divine grace!
Works Cited
The General Directory for Catechesis (GDC). Vatican, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
Yarnold,
Edward. The Awe-inspiring Rites of Initiation:
The Origins of the RCIA. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1994. Print.
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