St. Cyril: "Fight to the death for the Truth!" For in our days the Chastisement is upon us!
Sermon by Anonymous Traditional Priest | The Daily Knight
I am ready to accept with tranquility all blame, all humiliations, all injuries, provided that the Faith is not endangered… But when the faith is attacked, we must not hesitate to sacrifice our life itself.
Brethren in Christ our Lord,
These words of courage and unwavering fidelity to the Catholic Truth were spoken by the great saint, bishop and Doctor of the Church, we commemorate today: Cyril of Alexandria. And we are so blessed to celebrate his feast day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of All Time, which contains all the dogmatic truth of our Faith–the truth which St. Cyril fought for with amazing courage; for as historians report: he was a man who loved peace, but would put everything on the line to fight for the truth.
St. Cyril’s name is immediately associated with the Council of Ephesus, the Third General Council of the Church where he presided in the name of the pope Celestin in 431 AD. That Council was summoned by Emperor Theodosius II to settle the conflict between Alexandria and Constantinople over the term “Theotokos” Mother of God. The Patriarch of Constantinople –Nestorius rejected the teaching of Faith about the Blessed Mother, espousing the heresy that there were two separate persons in Christ and Mary was the mother of the human person but not of the Divine Person. He contradicted the Catholic truth defended by Cyril that in Christ there are two natures the Divine and the human – but there is in Him only One Person – a Divine Person, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Mary gave birth, according to the flesh, to a Divine Person, therefore She is the Mother of God, though not of the Divinity, of God as God.
St. Cyril guiding the diocese of Alexandria for 32 years, was a passionate warrior for the truth of Christ. Nothing was more important to him than truth. He wrote: “For if faith be injured, let death be better to the pious than living.” He died with a prayer to the Blessed Mother on his lips, praised by future popes as “that most holy man and champion of Catholic integrity.” Brethren, we are so blessed to celebrate the feast day of a great bishop as it offers a lesson of urgent significance for us when the Apostolic Catholic Faith is under attack by treacherous liberal bishops, who depart from the sacred deposit of faith and follow their own visions and whims trying to please the world rather than God.
The Church is in a time of confusion, with the faithful uncertain what to hold to on and what to do – because of wolves in sheep skins –deceiving and scattering the flock. So many bishops in our time forget what mission they have been called to fulfill: to guard the deposit of faith in its pure form; to stay true to the apostolic tradition as pastors of Christ’s flock.
St. Cyril of Alexandria knew that Church shepherds must surmount any obstacles in the way – especially the temptations of the world –and must bear their share of hardship for the Gospel–even accepting martyrdom if necessary. His famous cry was: Fight to the death for the truth. Do we hear such courageous exhortation from our shepherds today? Bishop Cyril was adamant that the deposit of faith received from the apostles must be passed on in an integral purity.
How different are the winds blowing through the Church among the shepherds today; instead of “be faithful to Christ” they proclaim “be modern and go with the spirit of the world.” Satan tries to attack the Church by tempting shepherds to betray the deposit of faith; to be proud and think that they know better than Christ and the Apostles. The essence of this temptation is not to serve the Apostolic Church, but to make their own church – according to the fashions of our times. Yet, the mandate to safeguard the deposit of faith comes from our Lord Himself–keep everything I have commanded you.”
All saints across the ages would in all humility admit after St. Paul: "Tradidi quod et accepi" (I have transmitted what I have received). This is what Christ expects of the shepherds of His flock – faithfulness to Him and to His message of salvation. As bishop, St. Cyril protected the faith from the Nestorian and Novatian heresies; from false teachers and ideas; passing on the faith in all its purity, shepherding the flock by teaching the truth and doing so according to God’s will. He had courage and feared no enemies as he wrote in direct tone: “To Nestorius, new Judas. Know that by reason of thy impious preachings, in conformity with the rules of the Church, thou hast been deposed by the Holy Synod and that thou hast no longer any rank in the church.”
Who would have such courage now to say that to the heretical western bishops who scandalize the faithful preaching that Church doctrine must be changed; that Traditional Liturgy must be banished from dioceses and priests forbidden to celebrate it; that abominable sins of sodomy, of betrayal of marriage vows, of impurity - must no longer be called sins but be accepted as good and loved by God? Because Brethren this is what is going on in the Church now and what is being prepared in the so called Synod on synodality!
The Faith is being changed into a new modern faith which, as those bishops say – will embrace the discoveries of science and the sexual revolution of the 60’s. This is why they are banishing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of Apostolic Tradition and forbidding priests to celebrate it – because it is a Holy Mass of the true Catholic Faith and Church and that does not fit the modern times. On the feast of St. Cyril we cry out with bleeding hearts: where are such brave shepherds now, who would tell those treacherous bishops: You Judases! Because of your impious preachings you are deposed and no longer hold any rank in the church!” At the European Continental Synodal conference in Prague this week, Polish and Ukrainian bishops and Catholics protested that the whole process is to force the LGBT agenda on the Church and effectively dismantle the Catholic Doctrine–but their voices are laughed at by the German and western bishops who dismiss them as “backward Catholics from Eastern Europe.” Where are bishops like St. Cyril today?
Even those few who try to resist these diabolical prohibitions of Tradition by quoting the Canon Law – they are threatened with removal by the Vatican and told they have no authority – as bishops – no authority to defend the Faith. Brethren St. Cyril’s feast day signals to us that all this evil is inevitably coming to our parish, and soon. Our Pastor is in anguish. What are we to do? Remember one thing: all those who keep the Traditional Catholic Faith are our friends; we must stand together; our enemies are on the Modernist side. Let us never be split and turned against each other!
Thank God our Faithful here are strong, as the Ladies of the Victorious Heart of Jesus wrote: It is the time of Saints and Martyrs to resist evil and remain faithful to God in truth, holiness and on fire for the love of God! Truly, it is His honor we must defend, it is His truth we must protect and teach... all for the salvation and sanctification of Souls! Thanks be to God for all of you – faithful Catholics; thanks for so many strong families in our parish, you will not let the Holy Faith be torn from your hearts!
St. Cyril calls upon us today: Be ready to accept with tranquility all blame, all humiliations, all injuries, provided that the Faith is not endangered… But when the faith is attacked, we must not hesitate to sacrifice our life itself. May the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary protect us! As today our hearts cry out: St. Cyril of Alexandria – pray for us. Amen.
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