Language studies have shown that in the first centuries, Cyril and Methodius used the language of home and church. Then, with the introduction of Paleoslavic into the Royal Chancellery and official documents, this language also reached the lips of the consecrated ministers. The first calligraphic books, then printed, were in Slavonic. According to leading linguistic researchers, our ancestors used a script almost unknown to us today, the Cyrillic alphabet, for five centuries.
Born and raised in 9th-century Byzantine Thessalonica, Saints Cyril and Methodius are to this day considered the fathers of a culture that changed world history. Living in a bilingual area with speakers of Proto-Slavonic and Greek, the two brothers benefited from an outstanding education. From Thessaloniki to Constantinople, they continued their education at the most prestigious institution of the East – the University founded by Emperor Theodosius the Great and reorganized by the Macedonian dynasty.
Well-versed in theology and the languages of the time, the young men were part of several missionary delegations to the Middle East. Although they did impressive work in Constantinople, history has kept them from serving in Western Europe.
Biography of Cyril and Methodius
| Full name: | Constantine Cyril | Methodius |
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth/ Feast Day: | 0826 AD | 0815 AD |
| Year of death: | 0869 AD | 0885 AD |
| Place of birth: | Thessalonica | Thessalonica |
| Father's name: | Leo | Leo |
| Mother's name: | Maria | Maria |
| Nationality: | Slav | Slav |
| Life accomplishments: | Constantine receives the name Cyril and becomes a monk. His biographer testifies to his last moments when his prayers were only for the forgiveness of his sins and the strengthening of the Slavic people, still feeling his duty as shepherd of this land. | After the death of St. Cyril, buried in the Basilica of San Clemente in the Eternal City, his brother Methodius was appointed Archbishop of Moravia and the Slavs, a ministry he held until his death in 885 with many trials and tribulations caused by the political and religious rulers of the Germans who did not conform to the papal decision, but even finally caused it to be changed and the Slavic mission banned. |
| Death cause: | He got ill. | Natural causes. |
What resulted from the work done by the monks Cyril and Methodius?
Pope Adrian II granted them permission to use the Slavonic language and the new alphabet. A few months later, while they were still in Rome, Cyril fell seriously ill. In less than two months, aged just 42, he died. But peace was slow in coming. After many arrests and convictions, and his health weakened by his long struggle with his opponents, Methodius died on 6 April 885.
In 862, the Byzantine diplomats and theologians Cyril and Methodius were invited by Prince Rastislav of Greater Moravia to preach Christianity in the heartlands of Europe, and so, as a result of their work, they converted thousands of pagans to Christianity. Although they accepted the thought that it would be a mission like any other, the journey to the West meant the trip of a lifetime.
Arriving amid a people speaking Slavic dialects and divided between Germanic and Eastern Orthodox cultures, the two missionaries had to seek a means of communication and unity between the Slavic people. This was not easy work, but the Cyrillic alphabet, named after St Cyril, was born. In the hope of receiving episcopal support for using the newly created alphabet, the two brothers went to Rome.
What is Methodius known for?
During the last years of his life, Methodius continued to encounter opposition. Even so, with the help of two disciples, he completed the translation of the Bible into the Bible and the civil and ecclesiastical laws.
Methodius is known for being appointed ruler of a region where the Slavic language was spoken in the meantime. After a few years in this position, he retired to a Greek monastery in Bithynia (Asia Minor). Constantine also settled there in 855.
Methodius’ work among the Slavs seems to have borne much fruit, despite opposition from the Frankish clergy and Svatopluk, the new ruler of Moravia. Accused of heresy, Methodius successfully defended himself. They obtained a bull from Pope John VIII, confirming his orthodoxy, reaffirming the autonomy of his diocese, and expressly authorizing the Mass in Slavonic.
What is Cyril and Methodius Day?
A few months later, while they were still in Rome, Constantine became seriously ill. The brothers stayed in a Greek monastery, Constantine wearing a monastic habit. He was also given the name Cyril. In less than two months, he would pass into eternal life.
Saints Cyril (826-869) and Methodius (815-844) are celebrated on May 11th. They are called “Apostles of the Slavs” because they translated the Holy Scriptures into Slavonic.
Brothers Cyril and Methodius are the ones who created the alphabet “Glagolitic,” which comes from the Slavic “glagol,” in translation – word. Later, the Glagolitic alphabet, with some additions by the disciples, developed into the Cyrillic alphabet.
Key Verse related to Methodius and Cyril
“Behold, my brother, we have shared the same destiny, plowing the same furrow; I now fall in the field at the end of my day. I know that you greatly love your Mountain, but do not, for the sake of the Mountain, give up your work of teaching.”
(St. Cyril; Memorial of Sts. Cyril and Methodius)
What did Methodius and Cyril do?
The encyclopedia asserts that Constantine (who took the name Cyril only in the last months of his life) and Methodius were born into a noble family in Thessaloniki, Greece. The brothers learned Greek and probably also Slavic, as many Slavs had migrated south to Macedonia. After the death of their father, Constantine moved to Constantinople.
By giving the Slovenes an alphabet and the written word, Saints Cyril and Methodius strengthened the cultural and political influence of Byzantium in the Balkans and Central Europe. As an instrument of culture, the Old Slavonic language had widespread, encompassing the Moravian Sea (on the territory of the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Old Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, and Old Russia. Later, this language was also adopted as the cultural language in non-Slav countries.
Cyril was only 14 when he traveled to Constantinople with the family of a high official. He later attended the imperial university, where he was taught by some of the most renowned teachers of the time, including Photios, the future Patriarch of Constantinople.
Trivia about Cyril and Methodius
Bibliography
- Dvornik, F. (1964). The significance of the missions of Cyril and Methodius. Slavic Review, 23(2), 195-211.
- Dvornik, F. (1970). Byzantine Missions among the Slavs: SS. Constantine-Cyril and Methodius. Rutgers Univ. Press.
- Hetényi, M., & Ivanič, P. (2021). The Contribution of Ss. Cyril and Methodius to Culture and Religion. Religions, 12(6), 417.
- Smith, T. A. (2012). Cyril and Methodius. In The Orthodox Christian World (pp. 284-290). Routledge.
- Soulis, G. C. (1965). The legacy of Cyril and Methodius to the Southern Slavs. Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 19, 19-43.
