From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   February 14th - Sts. Cyril and Methodius (RM)   
      
   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 Dneiper-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.   
      
   In Rome the pope had heard of their good work. Pope Nicholas I summoned them   
   to   
   meet him, but when they reached Rome he had died. They traveled at an   
   unfortunate time; Photius had incurred excommunication (because he had been   
   illegally appointed) and their liturgical use of Slavonic was strongly   
   criticized. 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 way 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 Sts. Boniface and Alexus   
   (Monastery) 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   
      
   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, Ukrainians, and   
   Bulgars   
      
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