Letter to Constantius
Epistula ad Constantium imperatorem
Letter to Emperor Constantius§1
1The Epistle of Cyril, Bishop in Jerusalem, to Constantius the King, concerning the sign appearing in heaven. To the most God-loving and most pious Constantius Augustus, Cyril, the bishop in Jerusalem, greets you in the Lord.
First, I send from Jerusalem the firstfruits of letters toward your God-loving kingship, which it is appropriate for you to receive and for me to provide; they are not filled with the flattery of words, but with the sign-giving visions of God; nor do they contain the rhetorical probabilities of well-constructed speech, but testify to the truth through the outcome of the events by the forthrightness of the holy Gospels.
For others, those who possess your honor, many times crown your head, presenting gold-leafed crowns variegated with most brilliant stones. We, however, do not crown you from the earth (for those things given from the earth have an end in the earth); rather, we hasten to bring to your knowledge the divine energy of heavenly things, which has been accomplished in Jerusalem during the times of your God-loving kingship and your piety. This is not so that you might come from ignorance into the knowledge of God (for you are already teaching others through whom men are pious); but so that, as you already knew, these things might also be confirmed, and you, having received the ancestral inheritance of the kingship, might learn to be honored with greater heavenly crowns from God, so that you might give the due thanksgiving to God, the King of Kings, and might be filled with a greater courage against enemies, understanding that by your work you love your kingship toward God, through whom He works wonders upon you.
For during the time of your father Constantine, the most God-loving and of blessed memory, the salvation of the wood of the Cross was found in Jerusalem, the finding of which the divine grace provided to the one who was beautifully seeking the hidden holy places through piety. And during your time, O most pious ruler, king, the ancestral piety...
Greek · §1
Epistula ad Constantium imperatorem ̓ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΚΥΡΙΛΛΟΥ ἘΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ}1 ἹΕΡΟΣΟΛΥΜΩΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΟΝ ΤΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΑ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ἘΝ ΟΥΡΑΝΩ ΦΑΝΕΝΤΟΣ ΣΗΜΕΙΟΥ Βασιλεῖ θεοφιλεστάτῳ καὶ εὐσεβεστάτῳ Κωνσταντίῳ Αὐγούστῳ, Κύριλλος ὁ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπίσκοπος ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν. 1 Πρώτας ταύτας ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων πρὸς τὴν θεοφιλῆ σου βασιλείαν ἀποστέλλω γραμμάτων ἀπαρχάς, σοί τε πρεπούσας ὑποδέξασθαι κἀμοὶ παρασχεῖν· οὐ λόγων κολακείας πεπληρωμένας, ἀλλ' ἐπουρανίων μηνυτικὰς θεοπτίας· οὐδ' εὐσυνθέτους λόγων ῥητορικὰς πιθανότητας περιεχούσας, ἀλλ' ἁγίων εὐαγγελίων προρρήσεσι διὰ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκβάσεως μαρτυρούσας τὴν ἀλήθειαν. 2 Ἕτεροι μὲν γὰρ ἀφ' ὧν ἔχουσι τὴν τιμίαν σου πολλάκις στεφανοῦσι κεφαλήν, χρυσοκολλήτους στεφάνους λίθοις διαυγεστάτοις πεποικιλμένους προσκομίζοντες. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐ τοῖς ἀπὸ γῆς σε στεφανοῦμεν (τὰ γὰρ ἀπὸ γῆς δωρούμενα τέλος ἔχει τὴν γῆν)· ἀλλ' ἐπουρανίων πραγμάτων θεϊκὴν ἐνέργειαν ἐν τοῖς τῆς θεοφιλοῦς σου βασιλείας καιροῖς ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τελεσθεῖσαν τῆς σῆς εὐσεβείας μετὰ σπουδῆς ἄγομεν εἰς γνῶσιν· οὐχ ἵνα νῦν ἐξ ἀγνοίας ἔλθῃς εἰς θεογνωσίαν (φθάνεις γὰρ καὶ ἑτέρους διδάσκων δι' ὧν εὐσεβεῖς· ἀλλ' ἵνα, ἅπερ ᾔδεις, ταῦτα καὶ βεβαιωθῇς, καὶ τὸν τῆς βασιλείας προγονικὸν ὑποδεξάμενος κλῆρον, μείζοσι θεόθεν στεφάνοις ἐπουρανίοις τετιμῆσθαι μαθών, θεῷ μὲν τῷ παμβασιλεῖ καὶ νῦν τὴν πρέπουσαν ἀποδῷς εὐχαριστίαν, μείζονος δὲ τοῦ κατ' ἐχθρῶν θάρσους πληρωθῇς, ἔργῳ τὴν σὴν βασιλείαν ἀγαπᾶσθαι πρὸς θεοῦ, δι' ὧν ἐπὶ σοῦ θαυματουργεῖ, καταλαβών. 3 Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ θεοφιλεστάτου καὶ τῆς μακαρίας μνήμης Κωνσταντίνου τοῦ σοῦ πατρός, τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ σταυροῦ ξύλον ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ηὕρηται, τῆς θείας χάριτος τῷ καλῶς ζητοῦντι τὴν εὐσέβειαν τῶν ἀποκεκρυμμένων ἁγίων τόπων παρασχούσης τὴν εὕρεσιν. Ἐπὶ δὲ σοῦ, δέσποτα πανευσεβέστατε βασιλεῦ, προγονικὴν εὐσέβειαν
The Vision of the Cross§2
2The wonders are not from the earth, but from the heavens, prevailing through a greater reverence toward the divine; and the trophy of the victory over death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God—I call it the blessed Cross—was seen flashing with flashes of light in Jerusalem.
For in these holy days of the holy Pentecost, around the third hour, the immense Cross, constructed out of light, appeared in heaven, stretched out from above the holy Golgotha even unto the holy Mount of Olives; not appearing only once or twice, but being shown most clearly to the entire multitude of the city; nor as anyone might think it passing quickly through a vision, but being seen eye-attractively over many hours above the earth, and having conquered the solar rays with its flashing glimmers (for it would have been covered by them if it were being conquered by them, unless it provided more brilliant torches to those seeing it); as the multitude of the city rushed all at once from it into the holy church, seized with the fear of the theophany along with joy, both young and old men and women, and of every age, even unto the maidens already staying at home, both locals and strangers, Christians and also pagans visiting from elsewhere; and all of them unanimously, as if from one mouth, were hymn-singing the miracle-worker Christ Jesus our Lord, the only-begotten Son of God, having received Him through deed and experience; because the most pious doctrine of Christians is not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration.
Greek · §2
μείζονι τῇ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐλαβείᾳ νικῶντος, οὐκ ἀπὸ γῆς λοιπόν, ἀλλ' ἐξ οὐρανῶν τὰ θαυματουργήματα· καὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ κατὰ τῆς τοῦ θανάτου νικῆς τρόπαιον, ὁ μακάριος λέγω σταυρός, φωτὸς μαρμαρυγαῖς ἀπαστράπτων ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ὤφθη. 4 Ἐν γὰρ ταῖς ἁγίαις ἡμέραις ταύταις τῆς ἁγίας πεντηκοστῆς, νόνναις μαΐαις, περὶ τρίτην ὥραν, παμμεγέθης ὁ σταυρός, ἐκ φωτὸς κατεσκευασμένος, ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὑπεράνω τοῦ ἁγίου Γολγοθᾶ μέχρι τοῦ ἁγίου Ὄρους τῶν ἐλαιῶν ἐκτεταμένος ἐφαίνετο· οὐχ ἑνὶ καὶ δευτέρῳ μόνον φανείς, ἀλλὰ παντὶ τῷ τῆς πόλεως πλήθει φανερώτατα δειχθείς· οὐδ' ὡς ἄν τις νομίσειεν ὀξέως κατὰ φαντασίαν παραδραμών, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ πλείοσιν ὥραις ὑπὲρ γῆν ὀφθαλμοφανῶς θεωρούμενος, καὶ ταῖς ἀπαστραπτούσαις μαρμαρυγαῖς τὰς ἡλιακὰς ἀκτῖνας νικήσας (ἦ γὰρ ἂν ὑπ' αὐτῶν νικώμενος ἐκαλύπτετο, εἰ μὴ δυνατωτέρας ἡλίου τοῖς ὁρῶσι παρεῖχε τὰς λαμπηδόνας)· ὡς ἅπαν μὲν ἀθρόως ἐξαυτῆς εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκκλησίαν συνδραμεῖν τῆς πόλεως τὸ πλῆθος, τῷ τῆς θεοπτίας φόβῳ μετ' εὐφροσύνης κατασχεθέν, νέων ἅμα καὶ πρεσβύτων ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν, καὶ πάσης ἡλικίας καὶ μέχρις αὐτῶν ἤδη τῶν κατ' οἴκους θαλαμευομένων κορῶν, ἐντοπίων τε καὶ ξένων, χριστιανῶν τε ἅμα καὶ τῶν ἀλλαχόθεν ἐπιδημούντων ἐθνικῶν· ὁμοθυμαδὸν δὲ πάντων ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸς στόματος Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν, τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν θαυματοποιὸν ἀνυμνούντων, ἔργῳ τε καὶ πείρᾳ παραλαβόντων· ὅτι χριστιανῶν τὸ δόγμα τὸ πανευσεβὲς οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς σοφίας ἐστι λόγοις, ἀλλ' ἐν ἀποδείξει
Divine Witness and the Sign of the Son of Man§3
3It is a matter of spirit and power, proclaimed not by men alone, but witnessed from the heavens by God. Since therefore we, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, having received the wonder of the miracle through sight to them, have offered and will offer a surpassing worship with thanksgiving to God the All-King and to the only-begotten Son of God, having made and making earnest prayers and prayers for your God-beloved rule in the holy places, it was necessary not to hand over these heavenly theophanies in silence, but I strove to evangelize your inspired piety through them from the Scriptures; so that, having built upon the knowledge recently shown by God upon the good foundation of the faith already existing from you, you might take up the hope toward our Lord Jesus Christ more firmly, while also being habitually filled with confidence and all manliness, as if having God as an ally, so that you might most readily present the trophy of the cross, a boast of boasts, being led by the sign shown in heaven; of which, having shown the form to men, heaven boasted even more greatly.
But this miracle, most God-beloved King, following the testimonies of the prophets and the holy voices of Christ in the Gospels, has been accomplished now and will be accomplished again even more greatly; for in the Gospel according to Matthew, the Savior, giving knowledge of things to come to his blessed apostles and through them pre-proclaiming most clearly to those speaking after them, was saying: 'And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven' (Matthew 24:30). Having taken into my hands the divine book of the Gospel, which is accustomed to be held, the things written concerning this...
Greek · §3
πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως, οὐχ ὑπ' ἀνθρώπων μόνον καταγγελλόμενον, ἀλλ' ἐξ οὐρανῶν θεόθεν μαρτυρούμενον. 5 Ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἡμεῖς, οἱ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ οἰκήτορες, τὸ τοῦ θαύματος παράδοξον αὐταῖς ὄψεσι παραλαβόντες, θεῷ μὲν τῷ παμβασιλεῖ καὶ υἱῷ τῷ μονογενεῖ τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν πρέπουσαν μετ' εὐχαριστίας προσκύνησιν ἀπεδώκαμεν τε καὶ ἀποδώσομεν, εὐχὰς ἐκτενεῖς καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς σου κράτους ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις τόποις πεποιημένοι τε καὶ ποιησόμενοι, ἔδει δὲ τὰς ἐπουρανίους ταύτας θεοπτίας μὴ παραδοῦναι σιωπῇ, ἀλλ' εὐαγγελίσασθαι σου τὴν ἔνθεον εὐσέβειαν ἐξαυτῆς διὰ τούτων ἐσπούδασα τῶν γραμμάτων· ἵν' ἀγαθῷ θεμελίῳ τῆς παρὰ σοὶ προϋπαρχούσης πίστεως τὴν ἐκ τῶν προσφάτως θεόθεν ἐπιδειχθέντων γνῶσιν ἐποικοδομήσας, βεβαιότερον μὲν τὴν εἰς τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἀναλάβῃς τὴν ἐλπίδα, θαρσῶν δὲ καὶ πασῆς ἀνδρείας συνήθως πεπληρωμένος, ὡς ἂν αὐτὸν θεὸν ἔχων σύμμαχον, τὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ τρόπαιον ἑτοιμότατα προφέρῃς, καύχημα καυχημάτων, τὸ δειχθὲν ἐν οὐρανῷ σημεῖον ἐπαγόμενος· οὗ καὶ τὸ σχῆμα δείξας ἀνθρώποις οὐρανὸς μειζόνως ἐκαυχήσατο. 6 Τὸ μέντοι θαυματούργημα τοῦτο, βασιλεῦ θεοφιλέστατε, προφητῶν μαρτυρίαις καὶ Χριστοῦ φωναῖς ἁγίοις εὐαγγελίοις ἐγκειμέναις ἀκολούθως, ἐτελέσθη τε νῦν καὶ πάλιν μειζόνως τελεσθήσεται· ἐν γὰρ τῷ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐαγγελίῳ μελλόντων πραγμάτων γνῶσιν ὁ σωτὴρ τοῖς μακαρίοις ἀποστόλοις αὐτοῦ δωρούμενος καὶ δι' ἐκείνων τοῖς μετ' αὐτοὺς ὁμιλῶν λευκότατα προαναφωνῶν ἔλεγε· "Καὶ τότε φανήσεται τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν οὐρανῷ". Ἥντινα τοῦ εὐαγγελίου θείαν βίβλον συνηθῶς εἰς χεῖρας ἀναλαβών, τὰς περὶ τούτου κειμένας
Final exhortation and blessing§4
4You will find prophetic testimonies written down; of these, O Lord, I entreat you to attend with more intensive study, because of the following account of those things written on the spot, which were pre-announced by our Savior, requesting much reverence in their observation, so as not to suffer harm from any opposing activity.
7 These, the firstfruits of our words, I offer to you, most God-beloved king; these voices I first utter from Jerusalem to you, the most genuine and most pious one who hunts for Christ with us, the only-begotten Son of God and our Savior, who completed the salvation in Jerusalem according to the divine writings, having struck down death there, and having wiped out the sins of men with precious blood belonging to those near to Him, and having granted life and incorruption and heavenly spiritual grace to all who believe.
May the All-King God, the provider of all goodness, keep you in every way through many peaceful cycles of years, by whose power and grace guarding you, and enriching you with more brilliant and greater works worthy of piety, and nourishing you with the shoots of genuine royal sons, the boast of Christians and the glory of the whole cosmos.
Strengthening you and adorning you with every virtue, demonstrating the philanthropy of the custom of both the holy churches and the Roman rule, and nourishing you with the rewards of greater piety, may the God of all ours grant to you many peaceful cycles of years, Augustus king, most God-beloved.
Greek · §4
προαγγελτικὰς μαρτυρίας ἐγγράφως εὑρήσεις· ὧν μαλιστά σε, δέσποτα, πυκνοτέρᾳ τῇ μελέτῃ προσέχειν παρακαλῶ, διὰ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν κατὰ τὴν αὐτόθι γεγραμμένων ἀκολουθίαν, τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν προαναφωνηθέντων, πολλῆς μετ' εὐλαβείας δεομένων τῆς παρατηρήσεως, πρὸς τὸ μηδεμίαν ἐξ ἀντικειμένης ἐνεργείας ὑπομεῖναι τὴν βλάβην. 7 Ταύτας σοὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων λόγων, βασιλεῦ θεοφιλέστατε, προσφέρω τὰς ἀπαρχάς· ταύτας ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων πρώτας ἀποφθέγγομαι τὰς φωνάς, σοὶ τῷ γνησιωτάτῳ καὶ πανευσεβεῖ μεθ' ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ προσ κυνητῇ, τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, τοῦ τὴν οἰκουομικὴν κατὰ τὰς θείας γραφὰς ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τελέσαντος σωτηρίαν, τοῦ πατήσαντος μὲν ἐνταῦθα τὸν θάνατον, οἰκείοις δὲ τιμίοις αἵμασι τὰς ἀνθρώπων ἁμαρτίας ἐξαλείψαντος, ζωὴν δὲ καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ πνευματικὴν ἐπουράνιον χάριν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἅπασιν παρασχόντος. Οὗ τῇ τε δυνάμει καὶ τῇ χάριτί σε φρουρούμενον, λαμπροτέροις τε καὶ μείζοσιν εὐσεβείας ἐμπρέποντα κατορθώμασιν, υἱῶν τε γνησίων βασιλικοῖς ἐναβρυνόμενον βλαστήμασιν, αὐτὸς ὁ παμβασιλεὺς θεός, ὁ πάσης ἀγαθωσύνης πάροχος, πολλαῖς ἐτῶν εἰρηνικαῖς περιόδοις, καύχημα χριστιανῶν καὶ κόσμῳ σύμπαντι φυλάξειε πανέστιον. 8 ἐρρωμένον σε καὶ πάσῃ κεκοσμημένον ἀρετῇ καὶ τὴν συνήθη τῶν τε ἁγίων ἐκκλησιῶν καὶ τῆς ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν ἐνδεικνύμενον καὶ μείζοσιν εὐσεβείας βραβείοις ἐναβρυνόμενον, πολλαῖς εἰρηνικαῖς ἐτῶν περιόδοις ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς ἡμῖν χαρίσηται πανέστιον, Αὔγουστε βασιλεῦ θεοφιλέστατε.