⛪ Saint of the Day : February 14⛪ Other Names :
Apostle of Bulgaria
Apostle of the Slavs
Apostle of the Southern Slavs
Constantin
Constantine the Philospher
Constantine
Cyril the Philosopher
Equal of the Apostles
Slavorum Apostoli
⛪ Memorial :
14 February
Formerly 7 July
Formerly 9 March
27 July as one of the Apostles of Bulgaria
6 April (Velehrd, Moravia)
⛪ Born :
827 at Thessalonica, Greece as Constantin
⛪ Died :
14 February 869 at Rome, Italy of natural causes
⛪ Representation :
• With Saint Methodius • Oriental monk holding a church with the help of Methodius • Surrounded by Bulgarian converts • Wearing a long philosopher's coat
Cyril and Methodius must have often wondered, as we do
today, how God could bring spiritual meaning out of worldly concerns. Every
mission they went on, every struggle they fought was a result of political
battles, not spiritual, and yet the political battles are forgotten and their
work lives on in the Slavic peoples and their literature.
Tradition tells us that the brothers Methodius and
Constantine (he did not take the name Cyril until just before his death) grew
up in Thessalonica as sons of a prominentChristian family. Because many Slavic
people settled in Thessalonica, it is assumed Constantine and Methodius were
familiar with the Slavic language. Methodius, the older of the two brothers,
became an important civil official who would have needed to know Slavonic. He
grew tired of worldly affairs and retired to a monastery. Constantine became a
scholar and a professor known as "the Philosopher" in Constantinople.
In 860 Constantine and Methodius went as missionaries to what is today the
Ukraine.
When the Byzantine emperor decided to honor a request for
missionaries by the Moravian prince Rastislav, Methodius and Constantine were
the natural choices; they knew the language, they were able administrators, and
had already proven themselves successful missionaries.
But there was far more behind this request and the
response than a desire for Christianity. Rastislav, like the rest of the Slav
princes, was struggling for independence from German influence and invasion.
Christian missionaries from the East, to replace missionaries from Germany,
would help Rastislav consolidate power in his own country, especially if they
spoke the Slavonic language.
Constantine and Methodius were dedicated to the ideal of
expression in a people's native language. Throughout their lives they would
battle against those who saw value only in Greek or Latin. Before they even
left on their mission, tradition says, Constantine constructed a script for
Slavonic -- a script that is known today as glagolithic. Glagolithic is
considered by some as the precursor of cyrillic which named after him.
Arriving in 863 in Moravia, Constantine began translating
the liturgy into Slavonic. In the East, it was a normal procedure to translate
liturgy into the vernacular. As we know, in the West the custom was to use
Greek and later Latin, until Vatican II. The German hierarchy, which had power
over Moravia, used this difference to combat the brothers' influence. The
German priests didn't like losing their control and knew that language has a
great deal to do with independence.
So when Constantine and Methodius went to Rome to have
the Slav priesthood candidates ordained (neither was a bishop at the time),
they had to face the criticism the Germans had leveled against them. But if the
Germans had motives that differed from spiritual concerns, so did the pope. He
was concerned about the Eastern church gaining too much influence in the Slavic
provinces. Helping Constantine and Methodius would give the Roman Catholic
church more power in the area. So after speaking the brothers, the pope
approved the use of Slavonic in services and ordained their pupils.
Constantine never returned to Moravia. He died in Rome
after assuming the monastic robes and the name Cyril on February 14, 869.
Legend tells us that his older brother was so griefstricken, and perhaps upset
by the political turmoil, that he intended to withdraw to a monastery in
Constantinople. Cyril's dying wish, however, was that Methodius return to the
missionary work they had begun.
He couldn't return to Moravia because of political
problems there, but another Slavic prince, Kocel, asked for him, having admired
the brothers' work in translating so much text into Slavonic. Methodius was
allowed by the pope to continue saying Mass and administering baptism in the
Slavonic tongue. Methodius was finally consecrated bishop, once again because
of politics -- Kocel knew that having a Slavonic bishop would destroy the power
of the Salzburg hierarchy over his land. Methodius becamebishop of Sirmium, an
ancient see near Belgrade and given power over Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, and
Moravian territory.
The German bishops accused him of infringing on their
power and imprisoned him in a monastery. This lasted until Germany suffered
military defeats in Moravia. At that time the pope intervened and Methodius
returned to his diocese in triumph at the same time the Germans were forced to
recognize Moravian independence. There was a loss involved -- to appease the
Germans a little, the pope told Methodius he could no longer celebrate liturgy
in the vernacular.
In 879 Methodius was summoned to Rome to answer German
charges he had not obeyed this restriction. This worked against the Germans
because it gave Methodius a chance to explain how important it was to celebrate
the liturgy in the tongue people understood. Instead of condemning him, the
pope gave him permission to use Slavonic in the Mass, in Scripture reading, and
in the office. He also made him head of the hierarchy in Moravia.
The criticism never went away, but it never stopped
Methodius either. It is said that he translated almost all the Bible and the
works of the Fathers of the Church into Slavonic before he died on April 6 in
884.
Within twenty years after his death, it would seem like
all the work of Cyril and Methodius was destroyed. Magyar invasions devastated
Moravia. And without the brothers to explain their position, use of the
vernacular in liturgy was banned. But politics could never prevail over God's
will. The disciples of Cyril and Methodius who were driven out of Moravia
didn't hide in a locked room. The invasion and the ban gave them a chance to go
to other Slavic countries. The brothers' work of spreading Christ's word and
translating it into Slavonic continued and laid the foundation for Christianity
in the region.
What began as a request guided by political concerns
produced two of the greatest Christianmissionaries, revered by both Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and two of the fathers of Slavonic
literary culture.
In Their Footsteps:
Cyril and Methodius believed in the importance of
celebrating liturgy in our own language, a privilegewe have only had in last
twenty years. If this change took place before your time, ask older Catholics
about the differences that have taken place in their worship because of this
change. If you were worshipping during the change, reflect on how celebrating
in the vernacular has helped your worship and your spiritual life.
Prayer:
Saints Cyril and Methodius, watch over all missionaries
but especially those in Slavic countries. Help those that are in danger in the
troubled areas. Watch over the people you dedicated your lives to. Amen