Letter to Constantius · §1 · Cyril of Jerusalem

First fruits of heavenly news, not flattery

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Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, opens his letter to the emperor Constantius by explaining that he sends not flattering words but news of a heavenly vision.

To Constantius Augustus, the emperor most God-loving and most pious, Cyril, bishop in Jerusalem, greetings in the Lord. These first fruits of letters I send from Jerusalem to your God-loving majesty—fitting for you to receive and for me to offer. They are not filled with flattering words, but they announce heavenly visions. They do not contain clever rhetorical persuasions of speech, but they bear witness to the truth of the holy Gospels' predictions through the outcome of events.

Others, for their part, often crown your honored head with what they have, bringing crowns inlaid with gold and adorned with brilliant stones. But we do not crown you with things from the earth—for gifts from the earth have the earth as their end. Rather, we eagerly bring to the knowledge of your piety a divine working of heavenly things accomplished in Jerusalem during the times of your God-loving reign. Not so that you might now pass from ignorance into knowledge of God—for you are already teaching others through your piety—but so that what you already knew you might also have confirmed, and so that, having received the ancestral inheritance of the kingdom, you might learn that you have been honored with greater heavenly crowns from God, and might now render fitting thanksgiving to God the King of all, and might be filled with greater courage against your enemies, understanding in deed that your reign is loved by God through the wonders He works in your time.

For in the time of Constantine, your father, most God-loving and of blessed memory, the saving wood of the cross was found in Jerusalem, when divine grace granted to the one who nobly sought piety the finding of the hidden holy places.

Greek

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.

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About this text

Cyril of Jerusalem’s letter to Constantius on the vision of the cross.

Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–386) wrote this letter to the emperor Constantius Augustus. He was bishop of Jerusalem at the time, and he sent it in May 351. His purpose was to report a remarkable event in the city and to assure the emperor of divine favor.

The letter was written while Constantius was facing a military conflict with the usurper Magnentius. Cyril reports that during the days of Pentecost a huge cross of light appeared in the sky over Jerusalem, stretching from Golgotha to the Mount of Olives. It was visible to the whole city for hours and brighter than the sun. Cyril presents this as a heavenly sign confirming the Christian faith and the emperor's piety, following the discovery of the true cross under Constantius's father Constantine.

A reader will meet Cyril himself, the emperor Constantius, and the memory of Constantine. Cyril quotes Jesus from the Gospel according to Matthew, where the Savior speaks of the sign of the Son of Man. He urges Constantius to read that Gospel closely and take courage with God as his ally. To follow the letter, know that 'cross' means the cross of Christ as a triumphant sign, 'sign' means a heavenly sign, and 'piety' means devout reverence toward God. The letter refers to the Gospel according to Matthew, and the quoted prediction is now cited as Matthew 24:30.

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