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Last
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March 18, 2007
The
Orthodox Church: A Visual Journey
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| Cyril
(originally Constantine) and Methodius were brothers, from a noble
family in Thessalonika, a district in northeastern Greece.
Constantine was the younger, born in about 827, and his brother
Methodius in about 825. They both entered the priesthood. Constantine
undertook a mission to the Arabs, and then became a professor of
philosophy at the imperial school in Constantinople and librarian at the
cathedral of Santa Sophia. Methodius became governor of a district that
had been settled by Slavs. Both brothers then retired to monastic life.
In about 861, the Emperor Michel III sent them to work with the Khazars
northeast of the Black Sea in the Dnieper-Volga region of what was later
Russia. They learned the Khazar language and made many converts, and
discovered what were believed to be relics of Clement, an early Bishop
of Rome.
In about 863, Prince Rotislav, the ruler of
Great Moravia (an area including much of what was later
Czecko-Slovakia), asked the emperor for missionaries, specifying that he
wanted someone who would teach his people in their own language (he had
western missionaries, but they used only Latin). The emperor and the
Patriarch Photius sent Methodius and his brother Constantine, who
translated the Liturgy and much of the Scriptures into Slavonic.
Since Slavonic had no written form, they
invented an alphabet for it, the Glagolitic alphabet, which gave rise to
the Cyrillic Alphabet (named for Constantine aka
Cyril), which is used to write Russian and (with modifications)
several related languages today. They used the Greek alphabet as their
basis, writing a letter in two forms when two similar sounds in Slavonic
each needed a letter (hence, in modern Russian, we have "plain a"
written "A" and "fancy a" written like a backward "R" representing the
sounds of hard and soft (or unpalatalized and palatalized) a,
represented approximately in English by "ah" and "yah"). When no Greek
letter was close, then they borrowed from Hebrew (the letter TZADDI for
the sound "ts" as in "tsar", and the letter
SHIN for the sound "sh", and a variant on it for the sound "shch" as in
"Khrushchev", and so on).
The resulting alphabet had 43 letters. It has
since undergone development, chiefly simplification and the omission of
letters. Thus, the modern Russian alphabet has only 32 letters. The
Cyrillic alphabet with minor variations is used today for Russian,
Ukrainian, and other languages of the former USSR, and also for
Bulgarian and Serbian and formerly for Rumanian. (Serbs and Croats both
speak Serbo-Croatian, but the Serbs, who are traditionally East
Orthodox, write it with the Cyrillic alphabet, while the Croats, who are
traditionally Roman Catholic, write it with the Latin alphabet. Before
the first World War, there were many Muslims (regarded as Turks) living
in Greece, and many Christians (regarded as Greeks) living in western
Turkey. Each group spoke the language of the country in which it lived,
but the Greek-speaking Turks in Greece wrote Greek using the Arabic
script that was then standard for writing Turkish, and the
Turkish-speaking Greeks in Turkey wrote Turkish in the Greek alphabet.
For some reason, the alphabet matters to rival religious groups.)
Thus the brothers were the first to produce
written material in the Slavic languages, and are regarded as the
founders of Slavic literature.
The brothers encountered missionaries from
Germany, representing the western or Latin branch of the Church, and
more particularly representing the Holy Roman Empire as founded by
Charlemagne, and committed to linguistic, and cultural uniformity. They
insisted on the use of the Latin liturgy, and they regarded Moravia and
the Slavic peoples as their rightful mission field. When friction
developed, the brothers, unwilling to be a cause of dissension among
Christians, went south toward Venice, and then from Venice to Rome to
see the Pope, hoping to reach an agreement that would avoid quarreling
between missionaries in the field. They brought with them the
above-mentioned relics of Clement, third bishop of Rome after the
Apostles (see 23 November). They arrived in Rome in 868 and were
received with honor. Constantine entered a monastery there, taking the
name Cyril, by which he is now remembered. However, he died only a few
weeks thereafter. He is buried in Rome in the Church of San Clemente.
The Pope (Adrian II) gave Methodius the title
of Archbishop of Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica in Yugoslavia) and sent
him back in 869, with jurisdiction over all of Moravia and Pannonia, and
authorization to use the Slavonic Liturgy. Soon, however, Prince
Rotislav, who had originally invited the brothers to Moravia, died, and
his successor did not support Methodius. In 870 the Frankish king Louis
and his bishops deposed Methodius at a synod at Ratisbon, and imprisoned
him for a little over two years. The pope (John VIII) secured his
release, but told him not to use the Slavonic Liturgy any more. In 878
he was summoned to Rome on charges of heresy and using Slavonic. This
time Pope John was convinced by his arguments and sent him back cleared
of all charges, and with permission to use Slavonic. He died 6 April 885
in Velehrad, the old capitol of Moravia. The Carolingian bishop who
succeeded him, Wiching, suppressed the Slavonic Liturgy and forced the
followers of Methodius into exile. Many found refuge with King Boris of
Bulgaria (852-889), under whom they reorganized a Slavic-speaking
Church. Meanwhile, Pope John's successors adopted a Latin-only policy
which lasted for centuries.
Today Cyril and Methodius are honored by
Eastern and Western Christians alike, and the importance of their work
in preaching and worshipping in the language of the people is recognized
on all sides.
Prayer (traditional language)
Almighty and everlasting God, who by the power
of the Holy Spirit didst move thy servant Cyril and his brother
Methodius to bring the light of the Gospel to a hostile and divided
people: Overcome, we pray thee, by the love of Christ, all
bitterness and contention among us, and make us one united family
under the banner of the Prince of Peace; who liveth and reigneth
with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Prayer (contemporary language)
Almighty and everlasting God, who by the power
of the Holy Spirit moved your servant Cyril and his brother
Methodius to bring the light of the Gospel to a hostile and divided
people: Overcome all bitterness and strife among us by the love of
Christ, and make us one united family under the banner of the Prince
of Peace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever.
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Born in Thessalonika, Greece;
Cyril in 827, Methodius in 815 (some say 826); died respectively
in Rome on February 14, 869 and probably at Stare Mesto (Velehrad,
Czechoslovakia) on April 6, 884; feast day formerly on July 7
(or March 9); Pope John Paul II in 1981 declared them joint
patrons of Europe with Saint Benedict.
". . . We pray Thee, Lord, give to us, Thy
servants, in all time of our life on earth, a mind forgetful
of past ill-will, a pure conscience and sincere thoughts,
and a heart to love our brethren; for the sake of Jesus
Christ, Thy Son, our Lord and only Savior."
--From the Coptic Liturgy of Saint Cyril.
Cyril and Methodius were brothers, born into a
senatorial family, who both rose to high positions in the
world--Methodius became governor of a colony in the Slav
province of Opsikion; Cyril, a leading philosopher at the
University of Constantinople. Cyril, the younger of the two, was
baptized Constantine and sent at an early age to study at the
imperial university at Constantinople under Leo the Grammarian
and Photius, was ordained deacon, and in time took over
Photius's position at the university. Cyril also served as
librarian at the church of Santa Sophia, where he earned the
reputation and surname 'the Philosopher.' Methodius was also
ordained. Both renounced the life of this world and went to live
in a monastery on the Bosphorus.
In 861, Emperor Michael III sent Cyril deep
into the Dnieper-Volga regions of Russia to convert the Khazars,
who were Jews. His brother accompanied him. Both brothers were
brilliant linguists and soon familiarized themselves with the
Khazar language. They came back to their monastery after a
successful mission, and Methodius became abbot of an important
monastery in Greece.
Almost immediately (863) they were sent by the
then Patriarch Photius of Constantinople to convert the
Moravians at the request of Prince Rostislav. German
missionaries had been unsuccessful in their attempts to convert
the Moravians; Cyril and Methodius met with success because of
their knowledge of the Slavonic tongue.
They invented an alphabet called
glagolitic, which marked the beginning of Slavonic
literature (the Cyrillic alphabet traditionally ascribed to
Cyril was probably the work of his followers in Bulgaria,
although both could have been inventions of Saint Cyril). Cyril,
with the help of his brother, translated the liturgical books
into Slavonic.
Meanwhile, they incurred the enmity of the
German clergy because of their free use of Slavonic in Church
services and because they were from Constantinople, which was
suspect to many in the West because of the heresy rife in the
East. Further, their missionary efforts were hampered by the
refusal of the German bishop of Passau to ordain their
candidates for the priesthood.
These two brother saints always celebrated
Mass and administered the sacraments in the Slavonic language.
News of their successful missionary work among the pagan Slavs
was carried to Rome along with complaints against them for
celebrating the rites of the Church in the heathen vernacular.
In 868 Saints Cyril and Methodius were
summoned to Rome by Nicholas I, but arriving there after his
death. They travelled at an unfortunate time; Photius had
incurred excommunication (because he had been illegally
appointed) and their liturgical use of Slavonic was strongly
criticized. However, Nicholas's successor, Adrian II, received
them warmly. They presented him with the alleged relics of Pope
Saint Clement, which Cyril was said to have miraculously
recovered from the sea in Crimea on his was back from the
Khazars.
Adrian was convinced of their orthodoxy,
approved their use of Slavonic in the liturgy, and was so
delighted and impressed by Cyril and Methodius that he
determined that they should be consecrated bishops. It is
believed that before this could happen, Constantine became a
monk at SS. Boniface and Alexus in Rome and took the name Cyril,
but probably died before his consecration as bishop. He was
buried in the beautiful church of San Clemente on the Coelian in
Rome, where there is an ancient fresco depicting Cyril's
funeral. (His earthly remains were discovered in the lower part
of the church in 1880 and now lie in a chapel dedicated to him
and his brother, set off the right aisle of this church.)
Methodius was consecrated bishop and struggled
on alone, often in dangerously hostile lands. He bore a letter
from the Holy See commending him as a man of "exact
understanding and orthodoxy." At the request of Prince Kosel of
Moravia and Pannonia, Pope Adrian revived the ancient
archdiocese of Sirmium (now Mitrovitsa), consisting of Moravia
and Pannonia, independent of the German hierarchy, and made
Methodius archbishop at Velehrad, Czechoslovakia (I don't know
which two of the countries this is now part ofSt. Cyril died in
Rome in 869 and is buried in the Church of San Clemente. St.
Methodius was afterwards consecrated Archbishop of Moravia and
Pannonia and returned thither to his missionary work. Later on
he was again accused of using the heathen Slavonic language in
the celebration of the Mass and in the sacraments. It was a
popular idea then, that as there had been three languages,
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, inscribed over our Lord on the cross,
it would be sacrilegious to use any other language in the
service of the Church. St.Methodius appealed to the pope and in
879 he was again summoned to Rome, before John VIII, who after
hearing the matter sanctioned the use of the Slavonic language
in the Mass and the offices of the Church, saying among other
things:
We rightly praise the Slavonic letters invented by Cyril in
which praises to God are set forth, and we order that the
glories and deeds of Christ our Lord be told in that same
language. Nor is it in anywise opposed to wholesome doctrine and
faith to say Mass in that same Slavonic language (Nec sanę fidei
vel doctrinę aliquid obstat missam in eadem slavonica lingua
canere), or to chant the holy gospels or divine lessons from the
Old and New Testaments duly translated and interpreted therein,
or the other parts of the divine office: for He who created the
three principal languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, also made
the others for His praise and glory (Boczek, Codex, tom. I, pp.
43-44). F)
From that time onward the Slavonic tongue was
firmly fixed as a liturgical language of the Church, and was
used wherever the Slavic tribes were converted to Christianity
under the influence of monks and missionaries of the Greek Rite.
The Cyrillic letters used in writing it are adaptations of the
uncial Greek alphabet, with the addition of a number of new
letters to express sounds not found in the greek language. All
Church books in Russia, Servia, Bulgaria, or Austro-Hungary
(whether used in the Greek Catholic or the Greek Orthodox
Churches) are printed in the old Cyrillic alphabet and in the
ancient Slavonic tongue.
Although he was supported by the pope, many
German bishops resented his work among the Moravians (and
probably the loss of territory). King Ludwig (Louis the German),
urged on by the bishops, deposed Methodius at a synod at
Ratisbon (Regensburg) and actually imprisoned him for two years
in 870. Pope John VIII secured his release and returned him to
his see, but thought it politic to forbid his use of Slavonic in
the liturgy, although Methodius was authorized to use it in
preaching. At the same time John reminded the German bishops
that Pannonia and the disposition of sees throughout Illyricum
belonged to the Holy See.
During the following years, Methodius
continued his work of evangelization in Moravia, but he made an
enemy of Rostislav's nephew, Svatopluk, who had driven his uncle
out. Methodius rebuked Svatopluk for his wicked ways.
Accordingly, in 878, the archbishop was reported to the Holy See
for continuing to hold Mass in Slavonic and for heresy, in that
he omitted the words "and the Son (filioque)" from the
creed, which at that time had not been introduced everywhere in
the West, not even in Rome. Methodius was summoned again to Rome
in 879. John was convinced that he was not heterodox, and
impressed by Methodius's arguments, again permitted the use of
Slavonic in the Mass and public prayers.
Finally, Methodius returned to Constantinople
to complete a translation of the Bible that he and Cyril had
begun together. Methodius's struggle with the Germans continued
throughout the balance of his life. Methodius was subjected to
serious vexations, especially from his suffragan Bishop Wiching
of Nitra, who was so unscrupulous as to forge a papal letter in
his own favor. After Methodius's death, Wiching drove out his
principal followers, including Saint Clement Slovensky, who took
refuge in Bulgaria.
These two heroes of the faith are considered
the "Apostles of the Slavs" or "of the Southern Slavs." Even
today the liturgical language of the Russians, Serbians,
Ukranians, and Bulgars is that designed by the two brothers.
Their feast was extended to the universal Church by Pope Leo
XIII in 1880. Methodius is regarded as a pioneer in the use of
the vernacular in the liturgy and as a patron of ecumenism
(Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Schamoni,
Walsh, White).
In art, the two can be identified as an
Oriental bishop and monk (anonymous Russian icon) holding up a
church between them. |
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February 14th
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