Saints Athanasius the Great and Cyril, Archbishops of Alexandria

Athanasius, born in Alexandria c. 296, was a deacon at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which condemned the teaching of Arius, and became archbishop of Alexandria in 328. Supporters of Arius, often backed by emperors, had him exiled five times, and he spent some seventeen years away from his see. At the Council of Tyre in 335 he was accused of having cut off the hand of a cleric named Arsenius; he produced Arsenius alive, with both hands. His Life tells that once, pursued on the Nile, he turned his boat back towards his pursuers and, asked if he had seen Athanasius, said he was not far ahead. He died in 373.

Cyril, nephew of Archbishop Theophilus, led the Church of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He opposed the teaching of Nestorius, archbishop of Constantinople, and presided at the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus in 431, which called Mary Theotokos, "Mother of God".