Today we celebrate two evangelists and missionaries, Sts. Cyril and Methodius.
First, from the Orthodox Church of America (with minor edits for clarity):
Saints Cyril and Methodius, Teachers of the Slavs, were themselves Slavs, born in Macedonia in the city of Thessalonica.
St Cyril received the finest of educations, and from the age of fourteen he was raised with the son of the emperor. Later, he was ordained as a priest. Upon his return to Constantinople, he worked as a librarian of the cathedral church, and as a professor of philosophy. St Cyril successfully held debates with iconoclast heretics and with Muslims.
Yearning for solitude, he went to Mount Olympos to his older brother Methodius, but his solitude lasted only a short while. Both brothers were sent by the emperor Michael on a missionary journey to preach Christianity to the Khazars in the year 857. Along the way they stopped at Cherson and discovered the relics of the martyr Clement of Rome (November 25).
Arriving at the territory of the Khazars, the holy brothers spoke with them about the Christian Faith. Persuaded by the preaching of St Cyril, the Khazar prince together with all his people accepted Christianity. The grateful prince wanted to reward the preachers with rich presents, but they refused this and instead asked the prince to free and send home with them all the Greek captives. St Cyril returned to Constantinople together with 200 such captives set free.
In the year 862 began the chief exploit of the holy brothers. At the request of Prince Rostislav, the emperor sent them to Moravia to preach Christianity in the Slavic language. Sts Cyril and Methodius by a revelation from God compiled a Slavonic alphabet and translated the Gospel, Epistles, the Psalter and many Service books into the Slavonic language. They introduced divine services in Slavonic.
The holy brothers were then summoned to Rome at the invitation of the Pope. Pope Adrian received them with great honor, since they brought with them the relics of the martyr Clement. Sickly by nature and in poor health, St Cyril soon fell ill from his many labors, and after taking the schema (monastic garment given to spiritually advanced monks), he died in the year 869 at the age of forty-two. Before his death, he expressed his wish for his brother to continue the Christian enlightenment of the Slavs. St Cyril was buried in the Roman church of St Clement, whose own relics also rest there, brought to Italy from Cherson by the Enlighteners of the Slavs.
And now from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
These brothers, the Apostles of the Slavs, were born in Thessalonica, in 827 and 826 respectively. Though belonging to a senatorial family they renounced secular honours and became priests. They were living in a monastery on the Bosphorous, when the Khazars sent to Constantinople for a Christianconverted many of the people. Soon after the Khazar mission there was a request from the MoraviansGospel. German missionaries had already laboured among them, but without success. The Moravians wished a teacher who could instruct them and conduct Divine service in the Slavonic tongue. On account of their acquaintance with the language, Cyril and Methodius were chosen for their work. In preparation for it Cyril invented an alphabet and, with the help of Methodius, translated the Gospels and the necessary liturgical books into Slavonic. They went to Moravia in 863, and laboured for four and a half years. Despite their success, they were regarded by the Germans with distrust, first because they had come from Constantinople where schism was rife, and again because they held the Church services in the Slavonic language. On this account the brothers were summoned to Rome by Nicholas I, who died, however, before their arrival. His successor, Adrian II, received them kindly. Convinced of their orthodoxy, he commended their missionary activity, sanctioned the Slavonic Liturgy, and ordained Cyril and Methodius bishops. Cyril, however, was not to return to Moravia. He died in Rome, 4 Feb., 869. teacher. Cyril was selected and was accompanied by his brother. They learned the Khazar language and for a preacher of the
At the request of the Moravian princes, Rastislav and Svatopluk, and the Slav Prince Kocel of Pannonia, Adrian II formed an Archdiocese of Moravia and Pannonia, made it independent of the German Church, and appointed Methodius archbishop. In 870 King Louis and the German bishops summoned Methodius to a synod at Ratisbon. Here he was deposed and condemned to prison. After three years he was liberated at the command of Pope John VIII and reinstated as Archbishop of Moravia. He zealously endeavoured to spread the Faith among the Bohemians, and also among the Poles in Northern Moravia. Soon, however, he was summoned to Rome again in consequence of the allegations of the Germanpriest Wiching, who impugned his orthodoxy, and objected to the use of Slavonic in the liturgy. But John VIII, after an inquiry, sanctioned the Slavonic Liturgy, decreeing, however, that in the Mass the Gospel should be read first in Latin and then in Slavonic. Wiching, in the meantime, had been nominated one of the suffragan bishops of Methodius. He continued to oppose his metropolitan, going so far as to produce spurious papal letters. The pope, however, assured Methodius that they were false. Methodius went to Constantinople about this time, and with the assistance of several priests, he completed the translation of the Holy Scriptures, with the exception of the Books of Machabees. He translated also the “Nomocanon”, i.e. the Greek ecclesiastico-civil law. The enemies of Methodius did not cease to antagonize him. His health was worn out from the long struggle, and he died 6 April, 885, recommending as his successor Gorazd, a Moravian Slav who had been his disciple.
Formerly the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius was celebrated in Bohemia and Moravia on 9 March; but Pius IX changed the date to 5 July. Leo XIII, by his Encyclical “Grande Munus” of 30 September, 1880, extended the feast to the universal Church. [Note: The feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is currently celebrated on February 14 in the Latin Church.]
A couple things stick out here, which I shall mention briefly. First, the brothers associated with “both lungs” of Christianity-the Orthodox and Catholics. If only we could work together to spread the faith (in fact, working together would be a visible sign of grace and faith in our lives…too many people on both sides of the issue are dismissive of this reality). Second, notice how learning seemed to be the aid of the missionary activity, especially in translating the Gospel and liturgy into the Slavic language. Once again this reminds us that all learning should be the source for good works and deeds tending to the glory of God and betterment of humanity, and not as an end in itself or worse, for our own selfish pursuits.
The Collect from the 1962 Missal:
Almighty and everlasting God, Who by the ministry of Thy blessed Confessors and Bishops Cyril and Methodius didst vouchsafe to call the Slavic peoples to the knowledge of Thy name: grant that we who glory in their festival may be joined with them in fellowship. Through our Lord. Amen
Readings:
Heb 7:23-27, Ps. 131:16-17, Ps. 109:4, Lk. 10:1-9, Ps. 67:36, Mt. 10:27
(Editors Note: I’ll do my best to include the ‘62 Missal Mass readings with each post. After the bio and the collect, feel free to do the readings, in order, and tease out the threads).
