Week 3 - Saturday

Bible Passage

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Commentary

A Silent Patriarch 

As Pope, Kyrillos would pray the liturgy everyday as he would in his early monk days, during liturgy he would pray “with a deep voice, bowed head, and closed eyes with fear and respect. He never allowed himself to lean against the altar nor to talk with anyone during the liturgy. While praying, he used to shed many tears. His Holiness enjoyed celebrating the prayers of the divine liturgy by himself because it gave him the greatest spiritual comfort.”

It was later written of Pope Kyrillos that “not only has a monk become patriarch, but the patriarch has remained a monk.” He never abandoned his spiritual practice and life of prayer, which is the very thing that made him the great saint we know him as today.