The Commemoration of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs, 11 May

“…we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” Acts 2: 10b

Cyril (826-69) and Methodius (c. 815-85) were brothers who came from a Greek family in Thessalonica. The younger brother took the name “Cyril” when he became a monk in 868. After ordination, Cyril became librarian at the church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople. In 862 the brothers were sent by the emperor as missionaries to what is now the Czech republic, where they taught in the native Slavic tongue. Cyril invented the alphabet today know today as “Cyrillic,” which provided a written language for the liturgy and Scriptures for the Slavic peoples. This use of the vernacular established an important principle for evangelical missions. (Bio source: LCMS, Commemorations)

In an informative article in the May/June 2013 edition of Touchstone, “The Thessalonian Brothers:  The Legacy of the Mission of Cyril and Methodius 1,150 Years Later”, on the way to Rome in 867, the brothers stopped in Venice,

“…to debate Western clerics who insisted on the tradition of using only Hebrew, Greek, and Latin for worship, which the Slavonic sources deride as the “trilingual heresy” or “Pilatian heresy” (after Pilate’s use of those three languages for the sign on Christ’s cross (John 19:20) ).  (Cyril) is said to have responded with St. Paul’s words:  “that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord” (Phil. 2: 11)  

Further, it is written in Revelation 14: 6,

There are 5 other references in Revelation to “languages” or “tongues”. Cyril and Methodius translated the Bible for the Slavic people to read it.  Constantine (“Cyril”) was quite talented.  He became a librarian, then a professor of philosophy, then a monk and  eventually a missionary.  Methodius was a ruler of a Slavic province, then a contemplative monk and then with his brother Cyril a missionary.  Cyril invented an alphabet in order to translate the Bible to teach and preach God’s Word to Slavic people. From the Touchstone article:

Most Slavic philologists believe that the alphabet devised by Cyril was Glagolitic, and that the Cyrillic named for him was developed later by his disciples, as it is clearly based on the Greek alphabet. Glagolitic is, to the modern Western eye, “exotic,” consisting of various combinations of triangles, circles, arcs, and straight lines.

This is an example of Glagolitic:

According to the Touchstone article, Glagolitic was, “…”an entirely new invention and showed (Cyril’s) keen ability to distinguish and represent the phonological structure of the Slavic language very precisely.”

Even though Cyril did not invent the Cyrillic alphabet as it is used in Russia, the largest land-mass country on earth, nevertheless it is fitting that the alphabet and language resulting from the saint’s work is so named.

In the 9th Century, Methodius was working in the Bavarian regions, was imprisoned for three years and Pope John VIII upbraided the Bavarian clergy for their actions. In a letter to Bishop Hermanrich of Passau, he wrote of Methodius,

Would the cruelty of any layman, not to say a bishop, indeed of any tyrant, exceed your temerity? Would [it] go beyond your bestial ferocity when you imprisoned our brother and fellow bishop Methodius, tortured him for a long time in open air in sharpest cold and frightful rains, removed him from the affairs of the church which were entrusted to him, and went so far in your frenzy that you would have struck him with a horsewhip . . . had you not been prevented by others?

This still goes on in many parts of the highly developed world like China and various African nations. In the 9^th century most of Europe was pagan.  The brothers were sent into a dark world, as were the Apostles.  Jesus sent out the Apostles to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth, across so many borders, languages, cultures.  Jesus told the Apostles: You are my witnesses into the world. The Church and her people follow His outstretched arm. Ours is not to master the public but to make public the Master (Pr. Helmut Thielicke). Someone may be dying to hear a good word this week, tell of Christ, give your witness when asked for a defense of the hope that is in you, but do with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).The Touchstone article is a good read and the narrative of Cyril and Methodius should be made into a movie complete with exile, monks, religious controversy, political fights of princes, imprisonment and even torture as a witness to our tortured times.

Too long too many churches have wanted to be loved by world, accepted by the world, adopting their morals, life styles of the rich and famous…it is the stuff of the news and the world pats those churches on the back and says that’s nice, go sit over there.  Too long have churches wanted to hate the world and worldly people.  Jesus did not send the Apostles into the world to hate the people in it, but even to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute..  Jesus died for His enemies, us.  “When the devil is mocked, he sheds the blood of the mockers. When God was mocked, He shed His blood on the mockers.” (Pr. Hans Fiene).  

Cyril and Methodius did what they did because they were called to do so armed only with the Word of God as we are.  These brothers’ example can teach us the way we can live the translated life from death to Christ. The Word of God is translated so  we are “translated” into His kingdom (see Colossians 1: 13), and changed by the Gospel of grace for sinners through Jesus Christ our Lord.  We thank the Lord for ministry of Cyril and Methodius and for all missionaries and Bible translators.

COLLECT of the DAY
O God, who enlightened the Slavic peoples
through the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius,
grant that our hearts may grasp the words of your teaching,
and perfect us as a people of one accord
in true faith and right confession.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.