Cyril of Jerusalem is remembered primarily for his Catechetical Lectures, a systematic instruction given to catechumens (those preparing for baptism) that provides the most detailed early source for 4th-century liturgical practice and Christian doctrine. Though he faced exile multiple times for his opposition to heresy and for ecclesiastical disputes, his pastoral and catechetical work shaped Christian initiation for centuries.

Traditionally, Cyril's three exiles were understood as the cost of his faithful witness to orthodoxy. Socrates reports that during one exile, Cyril's opponents spread false charges against him and attempted to undermine his reputation, but that his integrity and the truth of his teaching eventually vindicated him. Later hagiographic sources attribute miracles to Cyril — including healings and visions — but these are not found in the earliest sources.

Cyril's role as custodian of the liturgy of Jerusalem, the city of Christ's redemptive work, gave him special significance in Christian tradition. His catechetical method — careful instruction in the creeds, the sacraments, and Christian virtue — became the model for Christian initiation across the Church.

Cyril was born around 313 in Jerusalem. Little is known of his early life, but he emerged as a prominent figure in the Jerusalem church during the episcopacy of Macarius (314–335), the bishop who presided over the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre under Constantine. Cyril was ordained a deacon under Macarius and later became known as a powerful preacher and catechist.

Around 349, Cyril was ordained as bishop of Jerusalem — though the exact date is disputed. He inherited a church that was experiencing rapid growth due to Constantine's building of the Holy Sepulchre basilica, which made Jerusalem a major pilgrimage site. Cyril's role included not only governing the Jerusalem church but also caring for the influx of pilgrims and instructing the growing numbers of catechumens seeking baptism.

It was probably between 350 and 365 that Cyril delivered his most famous work: twenty-four lectures given to catechumens in preparation for their baptism at Easter and Pentecost. These Catechetical Lectures (preserved in the tradition of Cyril's works, though some scholars dispute the attribution of a few lectures) provide the most comprehensive surviving account of 4th-century liturgical practice, including the structure of the Eucharistic prayer (anaphora), the practice of the sign of the cross, the veneration of the cross, and practices of Christian discipline and penance.

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