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Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs.
IX Century
Born c. 815/825 in Thessalonike, St. Methodius was the scion of a
senatorial family.
His younger brother St. Cyril, also known as Constantine the Philosopher,
was born c. 826/827. Their mother Maria may have been
a Slav. Well-educated, Cyril became the librarian at Hagia Sophia in
Constantinople and taught philosophy, while Methodius became an
archon
in Macedonia, and is thought to have been married before he became a monk
at
Mount Olympus in 850. Later, the two brothers
began to evangelize the Khazars, who lived on the Black Sea. After
Ratislav, Duke
of Moravia, requested missionaries from Constantinople, Michael III sent
the
two to convert the Slavs in that kingdom. Cyril developed the glagolithic
alphabet, based on the Greek, to translate the Bible and liturgical texts
into Slavonic (or Old Bulgarian).
The pair were called to Rome a few years
later to defend their use of the vernacular. Cyril is said to have
presented
Adrian II with the relics of Clement of Rome, after which the pope
consented
to the use of Slavonic. Cyril entered a monastery near Rome, where he died
in
869. Frescoes in San Clemente depict his funeral, and his grave is in the
basilica.
Methodius continued to translate liturgical texts into Slavonic after the
death of
his brother. In Rome, Adrian II had consecrated him bishop of Pannonia and
Moravia; he returned
to his see in 870. Louis the German captured him and imprisoned him for
two years
before John VIII secured his release. In 878, Methodius was summoned to
Rome
to defend a second time the use of the vernacular in the church. He was
allowed
to continue to use it, but Stephen V/VI tried to outlaw its use after
Methodius'
repose in 885.
Karen Rae Keck
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