Today, August 5, as our Church celebrates the Dedication of Saint Mary Major, we are invited to first read and reflect on a passage from the letter of the apostle Paul to the Galatians (3:22---4:7) entitled "Through faith we are the sons and heirs of God. Our treasure, which follows, is from a homily delivered at the council of Ephesus by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop.
The Council of Ephesus, held in 431 AD, was the third Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church. It was primarily convened to address the Nestorian controversy and specifically focused on the teachings of Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople. Nestorius argued that Mary was the mother of Christ's human nature, not of his divine nature, and proposed "Christotokos" ("Christ-bearer") as a more appropriate term. This sparked a debate about the unity of Christ's divine and human natures and led to the condemnation of Nestorianism as heresy. The council ultimately declared that the Virgin Mary should be called Theotokus, meaning "God-bearer" or "Mother of God".
After the Council of Ephesus (431) in which the mother of Jesus was acclaimed as Mother of God, Pope Sixtus III erected at Rome on the Esquiline hill, a basilica dedicated to the honor of the holy Mother of God. It was afterward called Saint Mary Major and it is the oldest church in the West dedicated to the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Saint Cyril was born in 370 and lived a monastic life. He was ordained a priest and succeeded his uncle as bishop of Alexandria where he served from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire. He had a preeminent role at the Council of Ephesus; he fought bravely against the doctrines of Nestorius, and wrote many learned works explaining and defending the Catholic faith.
Saint Cyril is counted among the Church Fathers and also as a Doctor of the Church. His reputation within the Christian world has resulted in his titles, "Pillar of Faith" and "Seal of all the Fathers". Cyril died in 444.
The Galatians to whom the letter is addressed were Paul's converts, most likely among the descendants of Celts who had invaded western and central Asia Minor in the third century B.C. and had settled in the territory around Ancyra (modern Ankara, Turkey). Paul had passed through this area on his second missionary journey and again on his third. It is less likely that the recipients of this letter were Paul's churches in the southern regions of Pisidia, Lycaonia, and Pamphylia where he had preached earlier in the Hellenized cities of Perge, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, and Derbe; this area was part of the Roman province of Galatia, and some scholars think that South Galatia was the destination of this letter.
