Vigils Reading – Saints Cyril and Methodius

Saints Cyril and Methodius

Apostles of the Slavic People

Constantine (later Cyril) and Michael (later Methodius) were born early in the 9th century in Thessalonika… At a young age the brothers lost their father and they were raised under the protection of their uncle Theoctistos…a powerful official in the Byzantine government… In 843, he invited Constantine to Constantinople to continue his studies at the university there. He was ordained a deacon in Constantinople.

…In 862 the two brothers were invited by Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia to preach Christianity in his domains… Rastislav was looking for Christian missionaries to replace those from the Germans… The brothers were dedicated to the idea that Christianity should be presented to the people in their native languages as was the practice in the East. To accomplish their work they developed the Glagolitic alphabet, the precursor of the Cyrillic alphabet, and began the translation of the Scriptures and Christian literature into the Slavic language.

The German clergy had used their liturgical language, Latin, as a measure to maintain their influence in Moravia and therefore were unhappy with the work of Constantine and Methodius, and they used this difference to attack the brothers. After laboring for about four years, the brothers were called by Nicholas I to appear

in Rome to defend their work… However, before their arrival, in 869 Nicholas died and was succeeded by Adrian II. After Adrian was convinced of the orthodoxy of the brothers, he approved their use of Slavonic in their church services and commended their work. He then consecrated Methodius bishop. Constantine took monastic vows in a Greek monastery in Rome. He was given the name Cyril, the

name by which he is now commonly known. Cyril was not to return to Moravia as he died shortly thereafter. The date of Cyril’s death is uncertain, but appears to have been shortly after his consecration, both perhaps in February 869, with his death most probably on February 14.

Adrian II reestablished the old diocese of Panonia, as the first Slavonic diocese of Moravia and Pannonia, independent of the Germans, at the request of the Slavic princes… Here Methodius was appointed to the new diocese as archbishop.

However, on returning to Moravia in 870, King Louis and the German bishops summoned Methodius to a synod at Radisbon, where they deposed him and sent him to prison. After the Germans suffered military defeats in Moravia, John
VIII freed him three years later and restored Methodius as Archbishop of Moravia. Soon his orthodoxy was again under question by the Germans, particularly over the use of Slavonic. Once again John VIII sanctioned the use of Slavonic in

the liturgy but with the stipulation that the Gospel must first be read in Latin before the reading in Slavonic… With his health damaged during his long struggle with his opponents, Methodius died on April 6, 885, after having recommended as his successor his disciple, the Moravian Slav, Gorazd.

…The work of the brothers in translating the Holy Scriptures, the services, Nomocanon, and other Christian literature into Slavonic has been the greatest example of Orthodox missionaries bringing Christianity to the peoples of the world…their work became the foundation of Slavic civilization in eastern and south- eastern Europe and provided the language footings for the missionary efforts in the

coming centuries. It is for this continuation of the practice of the Holy Apostles of speaking of Christianity in the languages of all the nations that Ss Cyril and Methodius are remembered as equal to the apostles