Macarius died in or before the year 335; for at the Council of Tyre, assembled in that
year to condemn Athanasius, Maximus sat as successor to Macarius in the See of Jerusalem8.
This date is confirmed by the fact that after the accession of Maximus, a great assembly of
Bishops was held at Jerusalem in the year 335, for the dedication of the Church of the Holy
Resurrection9.
It thus appears that Cyril’s ordination as Deacon cannot be put later than 334 or the
beginning of 335.
Towards the close of the latter year the Bishops who had deposed Athanasius at the
Council of Tyre proceeded to Jerusalem “to celebrate the Tricennalia of Constantine’s reign
by consecrating his grand Church on Mount Calvary10.” On that occasion “Jerusalem became
the gathering point for distinguished prelates from every province, and the whole city was
thronged by a vast assemblage of the servants of God……In short, the whole of Syria and
Mesopotamia, Phœnicia and Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, and Libya, with the dwellers in the
Thebaid, all contributed to swell the mighty concourse of God’s ministers, followed as they
were by vast numbers from every province. They were attended by an imperial escort, and
officers of trust had also been sent from the palace itself, with instructions to heighten the
xi
splendour of the festival at the Emperor’s expense11.” Eusebius proceeds to describe the
splendid banquets, the lavish distribution of money and clothes to the naked and destitute,
the offerings of imperial magnificence, the “intellectual feast” of the many Bishops’ discourses,
and last, not least, his own “various public orations pronounced in honour of this solemnity.”
Among the Clergy taking part in this gorgeous ceremony, the newly ordained Deacon of
the Church of Jerusalem would naturally have his place. It was a scene which could not fail
to leave a deep impression on his mind, and to influence his attitude towards the contending
parties in the great controversy by which the Church was at this time distracted. He knew
that Athanasius had just been deposed, he had seen Arius triumphantly restored to commu-
nion in that august assembly of Bishops “from every province,” with his own Bishop Max-
imus, and Eusebius of Cæsarea, the Metropolitan, at their head. It is much to the praise of
his wisdom and steadfastness that he was not misled by the notable triumph of the Arians
to join their faction or adopt their tenets.
In September, 346, Athanasius returning from his second exile at Trèves passed through
Jerusalem. The aged Bishop Maximus, who had been induced to acquiesce in the condem-
nation of Athanasius at Tyre, and in the solemn recognition of Arius at Jerusalem, had af-
terwards refused to join the Eusebians at Antioch in 341, for the purpose of confirming the
8 Hefele, History of Councils, ii. 17; Sozom. H. E. ii. 25.
9 Euseb. Vita Const. iv. 43.
10 Robertson, Prolegomena to Athanasius, p. xxxix.
11 Euseb. V. C. iv. 43.
6
Life of S. Cyril.