Darkness On The Earth

Ἀπὸ δὲ ἕκτης ὥρας σκότος ἐγένετο ἐφ' ὅλην τὴν γῆν ἕως ὥρας ἐνάτης.... Τὸ σκότος ἐφ' ὅλην τὴν γῆν ἐγένετο ἀπὸ ὤρας ἕκτης ἔως ὦρας ἐννάτης, τοῦ ἠλίου ἐκλείποντος, ἴν' εἰδείεν ὅτι αὐτός ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἀπηρτημένος τοῦ ξύλου ὁ σύνοπλον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τὴν κτίσιν λαβὼν, ὅτε τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις πεπολέμηκε· δι' αὐτοὺς τὸ ἡλιακὸν ἐκλέποιπε φῶς, καὶ ἀπάσης τῆς αὐτῶν χώρας κατεσκεδάσθη τὸ σκότος, ἡλίου τὴν ἀκτῖνα συστείλαντος καὶ οἶον οὐκ ἀνεχομένου πέμπει αὐτὴν ἔτι τοῖς γεγονόσι κυριοκτόνοις. Καὶ καθ' ἕτερον δὲ τρόπον ἐσκοτίσθαι φαμὲν τὴν Ἰουδαίων χώραν, ἤτοι τοὺς κατοικοῦντας αὐτὴν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐδέξατο τὸν ἥλιον τῆς δικαιοσύνης καὶ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne PG 72.465c

From the sixth hour onwards there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour... 1 There was darkness on the whole land from the sixth hour to the ninth hour by an obscurity of the sun, that they might know Him who hung upon the cross, He who for their help had taken on the covering of a created thing when he vanquished the Egyptians. 2 Because of this the light of the sun perished and darkness spread through all the land, the rays of the sun being suppressed because He would not suffer them to come to those who now were killers of the Lord. And otherwise we say that the land of the Jews was darkened, that is, those who dwelt in it, because they did not receive the sun of justice and the true light. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 22.45 2 Exod 14.24