Letter to Emperor Constantius
The 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
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
About this text
Cyril of Jerusalem’s letter to Constantius on the vision of the cross.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.