Friday, 14 February, 5th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings — Gen. 3:1-8; Ps. 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7; Mk. 7:31-37.

Some Notes on Sts. Cyril (c. 827-869) and Methodius (c. 815-884; some sources say that Methodius and Cyril were born only two yrs. apart, 827 and 826).

1. Saints Cyril and Methodius were born of a prominent Christian family in Thessalonica, now in modern Greece. Methodius was the oldest of seven brothers. Cyril was the youngest and was given the name Constantine, but was renamed Cyril when he became a monk in Rome.

His older brother was Michael but was also given a new name, Methodius, when he became a monk. Cyril became a scholar and a professor known as "the philosopher" in Constantinople. He was ordained a priest after his education, while Methodius remained a monk until 867/868.

2. About the year 860, the Byzantine Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius (Cyril's university professor) sent him on a mission to the Khazars (in what is now known as Ukrain). The Khazars had requested a scholar who could debate with both Jews and Saracens. After his return to Constantinople, he became a professor of philosophy. By this time, Methodius had become a prominent figure in Byzantine political and administrative affairs, as well as an abbot of his monastery.

3. In 862, upon the request of King Rastislav of Moravia, Patriarch Photius sent Cyril and Methodius to evangelize the King's Slavic subjects who had already been converted from paganism. The King's reason was political — to disengage himself from dependence on the Franks. He had expelled Roman missionaries. The Emperor was also eager to expand Byzantine influence. Thus began the work of Cyril and Methodius that would give them historical importance.

They first trained assistants.

4. In 863, they began translating the Gospels and liturgical books into what is now known as the "Old Church Slavonic," and travelled to Great Moravia to promote it. They were opposed by German ecclesiastics who disapproved the creation of a Slavonic liturgy. To do the translation they devised the "Glagolitic alphabet," the first alphabet to be used for Slavonic manuscripts. Its descendant script, the Cyrillic, is used by many languages today in Eastern Europe. Cyril and Methodius also wrote the 1st Slavic Civil Code in a language now known as "Church Slavonic," still used in the liturgy by some Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The translations were based on the liturgy of Rome.

5. Their mission had great success among the Slavs, in part because they used the people's native Slavic language rather than Latin or Greek. But they met opposition from Frankish Bishops, esp. the Archbishop of Salzburg and the Bishop of Passau. Frankish missionaries also insisted on the use of the Latin liturgy and regarded Moravia and the Slavic peoples as their rightful mission field. Unwilling to cause dissension among Christians, Cyril and Methodius saw the Pope in Rome upon his invitation. Pope Adrian II formally authorized the use of the new Slavic liturgy.