Saints Cyrille et Méthode
Apôtres des
Slaves (IXe siècle)
Fêtés le 14 février au martyrologe romain et le 11 mai pour les Eglises d'Orient.
C'étaient de purs enfants de Byzance, la capitale de l'Orient chrétien. Nés à Thessalonique, Méthode et son petit frère surdoué, Constantin (qui recevra sur son lit de mort l'habit monastique sous le nom de Cyrille) sont envoyés en mission par le patriarche de Constantinople, tout d'abord chez les Khazars, peuple venu de l'Asie lointaine et qui ont adhéré au judaïsme. Puis ils sont envoyés en Moravie où les Allemands s'installaient en maîtres. Pour évangéliser les peuples slaves, Cyrille crée un alphabet adapté à leur langue. Les Églises qui utilisent le slavon se remplissent et les autres se vident. Ce n'est pas l'actuel alphabet cyrillique qu'un autre religieux bulgare adaptera en se mettant sous le patronyme du célèbre moine. Cyrille traduit les textes bibliques et liturgiques. Mais ils sont très vite attaqués par des clercs germaniques qui leur reprochent de brader les textes sacrés et d'y mettre des germes d'hérésies en utilisant une langue vulgaire. Le Pape Hadrien II les soutient. C'est d'ailleurs à Rome que meurt Cyrille en 869. Son corps fut rapatrié à Salonique en 1976, en signe de la volonté de communion entre l'Église latine et les Églises orientales. Méthode va reprendre le flambeau. Moins brillant que Cyrille, mais d'une persévérance à toute épreuve, il enracine et fait fructifier, au milieu des tribulations, l'œuvre évangélisatrice de son frère. Dénoncé comme hérétique par ses adversaires, il sera mis en prison pendant deux ans par les Allemands. Lui aussi aura la confiance des papes qui l'ont nommé évêque de Moravie et Pannonie. Ils sont ainsi tous deux témoins de l'Église indivise dans la pluralité des rites et des langues, fidèles au pape comme au patriarche de Constantinople dont ils étaient les fils, Cyrille et Méthode ont été nommés copatrons de l'Europe, avec saint Benoît, sainte Catherine de Sienne, sainte Brigitte de Suède, et Sœur Thérèse Bénédicte de la Croix - Sainte Édith Stein.
- vidéo, Cyril
et Méthode, Statutární město Brno, site de la ville de Brno.
Les Églises d'Orient font mémoire de ces deux grands évangélisateurs de l'Europe orientale le 11 mai. L'Église d'Occident les fête le 14 février.
"De culture grecque et de tradition orientale, d'une mission à l'origine très politique, les deux frères vont faire un stage d'immersion culturelle permettant l'émancipation culturelle, concevant le nouvel alphabet le cyrillique. Ils adoptent la langue slave pour les offices. Ils ont rendu les slaves membres à part entière de l'Église, refusant de choisir Rome ou Constantinople." La Croix 08/04
Cyrille et Méthode, apôtres des slaves et copatrons de l'Europe, ont été évoqués par Benoît XVI à l'occasion de l'audience générale du 17 juillet 2009... "Le profil spirituel des frères de Salonique se révèle surtout dans l'attrait de Cyrille pour les écrits de Grégoire de Naziance, dont il apprit la valeur du langage pour la transmission de la Révélation... Cyrille et Méthode avaient travaillé au projet de traduire en slavon les dogmes chrétiens... d'où la nécessité d'utiliser des lettres plus conformes que celles du grec à la langue parlée. C'est ainsi que naquit l'alphabet glagolitique, plus tard appelé cyrillique en l'honneur de saint Cyrille... Cyrille et Méthode avaient compris qu'un peuple ne peut considérer avoir reçu pleinement la Révélation avant de l'avoir entendue et lue dans sa langue. Tous deux sont la référence de ce qu'on nomme inculturation, en vertu de laquelle les peuples doivent imprimer dans leur culture propre le message révélé et exprimer la vérité du salut dans leur langue... En cela l'Église voit en eux une source d'inspiration et d'action toujours valable".
...Saint Benoît, proclamé patron de l'Europe par Paul VI en 1964, saint Cyrille et Méthode proclamés copatrons en 1980 par Jean-Paul II et trois saintes proclamées copatronnes de l'Europe en 1999 par Jean-Paul II: sainte Brigitte de Suède, sainte Catherine de Sienne et sainte Thérèse-Bénédicte de la Croix (Edith Stein)...
Mémoire (en Europe: fête) des saints Cyrille, moine, et Méthode, évêque. Ces
deux frères de Thessalonique, envoyés par le patriarche de Constantinople,Photius,
en Moravie, y prêchèrent la foi chrétienne et composèrent un alphabet propre
pour transcrire du grec en slavon les livres saints. Quand ils vinrent à Rome,
Cyrille, qui jusque là s'appelait Constantin, atteint par la maladie se fit
moine et s'endormit dans le Seigneur en ce jour, l'an 869. Méthode, ordonné
évêque de Sirmium par le pape Adrien II, évangélisa infatigablement la
Pannonie, dut supporter bien des querelles qui lui furent infligées, mais
soutenu toujours par les pontifes romains, il reçut la récompense de ses
travaux à Valehred en Moravie, le 6 avril 885.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/638/Saints-Cyrille-et-Methode.html
.jpg)
Les deux frères
Constantin (né vers 827) et Méthode (né vers 815), originaires de
Thessalonique, furent envoyés chez les Khazars puis en Moravie par le
patriarche de Constantinople pour y annoncer le Christ. Pour évangéliser les
peuples slaves, Constantin (Cyrille, de son nom de religieux) créa un
alphabet adapté à leur langue, l'alphabet glagolitique (en son honneur, son nom
sera donné plus tard à l’actuel alphabet oriental : l'alphabet cyrillique). En
868, ils allèrent à Rome faire le point de leurs travaux avec le pape.
Constantin y mourut le 14 février 869. Quant à Méthode, ordonné archevêque de
Sirmium, il repartit évangéliser les Slaves auprès desquels il mourut à
Valehred en Moravie, le 6 avril 885. En butte à l’hostilité du clergé franc,
Cyrille et Méthode furent fidèles à Constantinople, leur Eglise d’origine, et
en étroite communion avec celle de Rome qui les appuya en la personne du pape
Adrien II. Cette double obédience justifie le titre de co-patrons de l’Europe
que leur donna le pape slave Jean-Paul II.
BENOÎT
XVI
AUDIENCE
GÉNÉRALE
Mercredi
17 juin 2009
Saints
Cyrille et Méthode
Chers frères et sœurs,
Je voudrais parler
aujourd'hui des saints Cyrille et Méthode, frères de sang et dans la foi,
appelés apôtres des slaves. Cyrille naquit à Thessalonique, du magistrat de
l'empire Léon en 826/827: il était le plus jeune de sept enfants. Dans son
enfance, il apprit la langue slave. A l'âge de quatorze ans, il fut envoyé à
Constantinople pour y être éduqué et fut le compagnon du jeune empereur Michel
iii. Au cours de ces années, il fut initié aux diverses matières
universitaires, parmi lesquelles la dialectique, ayant comme maître Photios.
Après avoir refusé un brillant mariage, il décida de recevoir les ordres sacrés
et devint "bibliothécaire" auprès du Patriarcat. Peu après, désirant
se retirer dans la solitude, il alla se cacher dans un monastère, mais il fut
bientôt découvert et on lui confia l'enseignement des sciences sacrées et
profanes, une fonction qu'il accomplit si bien qu'elle lui valut le surnom de
"philosophe". Entre-temps, son frère Michel (né aux alentours de
815), après une carrière administrative en Macédoine, abandonna le monde vers
850 pour se retirer dans la vie monastique sur le mont Olympe en Bithynie, où
il reçut le nom de Méthode (le nom monastique devait commencer par la même
lettre que le nom de baptême) et devint higoumène du monastère de Polychron.
Attiré par l'exemple de
son frère, Cyrille aussi décida de quitter l'enseignement et de se rendre sur
le mont Olympe pour méditer et prier. Quelques années plus tard, cependant
(vers 861), le gouvernement impérial le chargea d'une mission auprès des
khazars de la Mer d'Azov, qui demandèrent que leur soit envoyé un homme de
lettres qui sache dialoguer avec les juifs et les sarrasins. Cyrille,
accompagné de son frère Méthode, s'arrêta longuement en Crimée, où il apprit
l'hébreu. Là, il rechercha également le corps du Pape Clément i, qui y avait
été exilé. Il trouva sa tombe, et lorsque son frère reprit le chemin du retour,
il porta avec lui les précieuses reliques. Arrivés à Constantinople, les deux
frères furent envoyés en Moravie par l'empereur Michel iii, auquel le prince
moldave Ratislav avait adressé une requête précise: "Notre peuple - lui
avait-il dit - depuis qu'il a rejeté le paganisme, observe la loi chrétienne;
mais nous n'avons pas de maître qui soit en mesure de nous expliquer la véritable
foi dans notre langue". La mission connut très vite un succès insolite. En
traduisant la liturgie dans la langue slave, les deux frères gagnèrent une
grande sympathie auprès du peuple.
Toutefois, cela suscita à
leur égard l'hostilité du clergé franc, qui était arrivé précédemment en
Moravie et qui considérait le territoire comme appartenant à sa juridiction
ecclésiale. Pour se justifier, en 867, les deux frères se rendirent à Rome. Au
cours du voyage, ils s'arrêtèrent à Venise, où eut lieu une discussion animée
avec les défenseurs de ce que l'on appelait l'"hérésie trilingue":
ceux-ci considéraient qu'il n'y avait que trois langues dans lesquelles on
pouvait licitement louer Dieu: l'hébreu, le grec et le latin. Bien sûr, les
deux frères s'opposèrent à cela avec force. A Rome, Cyrille et Méthode furent
reçus par le Pape Adrien ii, qui alla à leur rencontre en procession, pour
accueillir dignement les reliques de saint Clément. Le Pape avait également
compris la grande importance de leur mission exceptionnelle. A partir du milieu
du premier millénaire, en effet, les slaves s'étaient installés en très grand
nombre sur ces territoires placés entre les deux parties de l'Empire romain,
orientale et occidentale, qui étaient déjà en tension entre elles. Le Pape
comprit que les peuples slaves auraient pu jouer le rôle de pont, contribuant
ainsi à maintenir l'union entre les chrétiens de l'une et l'autre partie de
l'Empire. Il n'hésita donc pas à approuver la mission des deux Frères dans la
Grande Moravie, en acceptant l'usage de la langue slave dans la liturgie. Les
livres slaves furent déposés sur l'autel de Sainte-Marie de Phatmé
(Sainte-Marie-Majeure) et la liturgie en langue slave fut célébrée dans les
Basiliques Saint-Pierre, Saint-André, Saint-Paul.
Malheureusement, à Rome,
Cyrille tomba gravement malade. Sentant la mort s'approcher, il voulut se
consacrer entièrement à Dieu comme moine dans l'un des monastères grecs de la
Ville (probablement près de Sainte-Praxède) et prit le nom monastique de
Cyrille (son nom de baptême était Constantin). Il pria ensuite avec insistance
son frère Méthode, qui entre-temps avait été consacré évêque, de ne pas
abandonner la mission en Moravie et de retourner parmi ces populations. Il
s'adressa à Dieu à travers cette invocation: "Seigneur, mon Dieu...,
exauce ma prière et conserve dans la fidélité le troupeau auquel tu m'avais
envoyé... Libère-les de l'hérésie des trois langues, rassemble-les tous dans
l'unité, et rends le peuple que tu as choisi concorde dans la véritable foi et
dans la droite confession". Il mourut le 14 février 869.
Fidèle à l'engagement
pris avec son frère, Méthode revint en 870 en Moravie et en Pannonie
(aujourd'hui la Hongrie), où il retrouva à nouveau la violente aversion des
missionnaires francs qui l'emprisonnèrent. Il ne perdit pas courage et
lorsqu'il fut libéré en 873, il se prodigua activement dans l'organisation de
l'Eglise, en suivant la formation d'un groupe de disciples. Ce fut grâce à eux
si la crise qui se déchaîna à la mort de Méthode, qui eut lieu le 6 avril 885,
put être surmontée: persécutés et mis en prison, certains de ces disciples
furent vendus comme esclaves et conduits à Venise, où ils furent rachetés par
un fonctionnaire constantinopolitain, qui leur permit de repartir dans les pays
des slaves balkaniques. Accueillis en Bulgarie, ils purent poursuivre la
mission commencée par Méthode, en diffusant l'Evangile dans la "terre de
la Rus'". Dieu, dans sa mystérieuse providence, utilisait ainsi la
persécution pour sauver l'œuvre des saints frères. De cette dernière, il reste
également la documentation littéraire. Il suffit de penser à des œuvres telles
que l'Evangéliaire (épisodes liturgiques du Nouveau Testament), le Psautier,
différents textes liturgiques en langue slave, auxquels travaillèrent les deux
frères. Après la mort de Cyrille, on doit à Méthode et à ses disciples, entre
autres, la traduction de toute l'Ecriture Sainte, le Nomocanon et le Livre des
Pères.
Voulant à présent résumer
brièvement le profil spirituel des deux frères, on doit tout d'abord remarquer
la passion avec laquelle Cyrille aborda les écrits de saint Grégoire de
Nazianze, apprenant à son école la valeur de la langue dans la transmission de
la Révélation. Saint Grégoire avait exprimé le désir que le Christ parle à
travers lui: "Je suis le serviteur du Verbe, c'est pourquoi je me mets au
service de la Parole". Voulant imiter Grégoire dans ce service, Cyrille
demanda au Christ de vouloir parler en slave à travers lui. Il introduit son
œuvre de traduction par l'invocation solennelle: "Ecoutez, ô vous tous les
peuples slaves, écoutez la Parole qui vint de Dieu, la Parole qui nourrit les
âmes, la Parole qui conduit à la connaissance de Dieu". En réalité, déjà
quelques années avant que le prince de Moravie ne demande à l'empereur Michel
iii l'envoi de missionnaires dans sa terre, il semble que Cyrille et son frère
Méthode, entourés d'un groupe de disciples, travaillaient au projet de
recueillir les dogmes chrétiens dans des livres écrits en langue slave. Apparut
alors clairement l'exigence de nouveaux signes graphiques, plus proches de la
langue parlée: c'est ainsi que naquit l'alphabet glagolithique qui, modifié par
la suite, fut ensuite désigné sous le nom de "cyrillique" en
l'honneur de son inspirateur. Ce fut un événement décisif pour le développement
de la civilisation slave en général. Cyrille et Méthode étaient convaincus que
chaque peuple ne pouvait pas considérer avoir pleinement reçu la Révélation
tant qu'il ne l'avait pas entendue dans sa propre langue et lue dans les
caractères propres à son alphabet.
C'est à Méthode que
revient le mérite d'avoir fait en sorte que l'œuvre entreprise avec son frère
ne soit pas brusquement interrompue. Alors que Cyrille, le
"Philosophe", avait tendance à la contemplation, il était plutôt
porté vers la vie active. C'est grâce à cela qu'il put établir les présupposés
de l'affirmation successive de ce que nous pourrions appeler l'"idée
cyrillo-méthodienne": celle-ci accompagna les peuples slaves pendant les
diverses périodes historiques, favorisant le développement culturel, national
et religieux. C'est ce que reconnaissait déjà le Pape Pie xi dans la Lettre
apostolique Quod Sanctum Cyrillum, dans laquelle il qualifiait les deux frères:
"fils de l'Orient, byzantins de patrie, grecs d'origine, romains par leur
mission, slaves par leurs fruits apostoliques" (AAS 19 [1927] 93-96). Le
rôle historique qu'ils jouèrent a ensuite été officiellement proclamé par le
Pape Jean-Paul ii qui, dans la Lettre apostolique Egregiae virtutis viri, les a
déclarés copatrons de l'Europe avec saint Benoît (AAS 73 [1981] 258-262). En
effet, Cyrille et Méthode constituent un exemple classique de ce que l'on
indique aujourd'hui par le terme d'"inculturation": chaque peuple
doit introduire dans sa propre culture le message révélé et en exprimer la
vérité salvifique avec le langage qui lui est propre. Cela suppose un travail
de "traduction" très exigeant, car il demande l'identification de
termes adaptés pour reproposer, sans la trahir, la richesse de la Parole révélée.
Les deux saints Frères ont laissé de cela un témoignage significatif au plus
haut point, vers lequel l'Eglise se tourne aujourd'hui aussi, pour en tirer son
inspiration et son orientation.
*
* *
Je suis heureux
d’accueillir les pèlerins de langue française. Je salue particulièrement les
paroisses et les jeunes ainsi que les étudiants de Nice. Que le témoignage des
saints Cyrille et Méthode soit pour vous une source de lumière et d’espérance
afin que vous demeuriez fidèles à la foi que vous avez reçue. Avec ma
Bénédiction apostolique !
©
Copyright 2009 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
SAINT
CYRILLE et SAINT MÉTHODE
Apôtres
des Slaves
(XIe
siècle)
Jusqu'à ces derniers
temps, saint Cyrille et saint Méthode n'étaient honorés qu'en certains lieux,
surtout aux divers pays slaves qu'ils avaient évangélisés et à Rome. Le pape
Léon XIII étendit leur culte à toute l'Église, et leur fête est fixée au 7
juillet.
Ces deux nobles frères,
nés à Thessalonique, allèrent s'instruire à Constantinople. Après de profondes
études, Méthode se fit moine; Cyrille reçut de l'impératrice Théodora la
mission de christianiser certains peuples voisins de la Grèce; de là, il fut
appelé avec son frère à l'évangélisation de la Moravie, où leur zèle produisit
des merveilles de conversions. Ils traduisirent la Bible en langue slave,
langue qui leur doit sa formation régulière.
Leur renommée les fit
appeler à Rome par le pape Nicolas Ier; ils y arrivèrent porteurs des reliques
du Pape saint Clément Ier, que Cyrille avait découvertes dans la Chersonèse.
Revenus à leur apostolat, ils furent accusés d'employer la langue slave dans
les cérémonies liturgiques; mais ils se défendirent victorieusement auprès du
pape Adrien II.
Cyrille étant mort à
Rome, dans la force de l'âge, eut son tombeau auprès de celui de saint Clément;
son frère retourna encore vers ses chers Slaves et évangélisa la Pannonie, la
Bulgarie, la Dalmatie, la Carinthie.
Accusé de nouveau à Rome, il se justifia si bien qu'il revint à son apostolat
revêtu du caractère épiscopal. Après avoir prêché l'Évangile à la Bohême et à
la Pologne, il alla mourir en Moravie, chargé de mérites et de gloire.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour
tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
SOURCE : http://www.forumreligioncatholique.com/t7617-saint-cyrille-moine-et-saint-methode-eveque-commentaire-du-jour-heureux-vous-les-pauvres-le-royaume-de-dieu-est-a-vous
Saints Cyril et Méthode
Puisqu'ils étaient frères et que les circonstances les avaient amenés à entreprendre la même tâche - l'évangélisation des pays slaves - les biographies de saint Cyrille et de saint Méthode ne peuvent être dissociés.
Les Francs s'étant rendus maîtres des territoires Croates et Slavons, après que Charlemagne eut soumis les Avars (vers 790), atteignirent ceux des Bulgares. C'est à l'évêque de Salzbourg que Charlemagne confia la juridiction sur les pays slaves auxquels il imposa le latin.
Le prince Rastislav qui régnait sur la Moravie, accrut sa puissance de telle façon que ses voisins Francs et Bulgares, Louis le Germanique et le prince Boris, s'allièrent contre lui et les Bulgares reçurent des missionnaires francs. Menacé par l'empire d'Occident, Rastislav s'allia avec l'empereur byzantin, Michel III, et lui demanda des missionnaires sachant la langue slave car le peuple de Moravie ne connaissait pas le grec : Notre pays est baptisé et nous n'avons pas de maître pour nous prêcher, nous instruire et nous expliquer les livres saints. Nous ne comprenons ni la langue grecque, ni la langue latine : les uns nous instruisent d'une façon et les autres d'une autre ; aussi ne comprenons-nous pas le sens des livres sacrés et leur énergie. Envoyez-nous dons des maîtres qui soient capables de nous expliquer la lettre des livres sacrés et leur esprit. Nous autres Slaves, nous sommes un peuple simple et nous n'avons personne pour nous enseigner la vérité. Désigne-nous donc, généreux monarque, un homme capable de nous parler.
Michel III fit appel à deux frères, Cyrille et Méthode, qui avaient fait leurs études à Constantinople, et les envoya en Moravie (861). Cyrille, né à Salonique en 827, polyglotte et grammairien, connaissait bien le dialecte slave.
Peu après, les Slaves de Moravie, alliés aux Byzantins, entrent en guerre contre les Bulgares, alliés aux Francs. Les Bulgares sont vite battus par les Byzantins et doivent renoncer à l'alliance franque, mais Louis le Germanique impose sa suzeraineté à la Moravie.
Cyrille et Méthode, en territoire slave, à la demande d'un prince slave, prêchant et écrivant en slavon, sont cependant isolés au milieu de l'Empire franc qui n'admettait que la liturgie latine. Le pape Nicolas I°, homme droit, simple et énergique, soucieux de l'évangélisation profonde des peuples slaves, encourage les Bulgares au point que le prince Boris renvoie les missionnaires grecs et francs pour les remplacer par des missionnaires romains. Cyrille et Méthode sont invités à se rendre à Rome où ils apportent les reliques du saint pape et martyr Clément qu'ils ont découvertes en Crimée.
On rapporte que, passant à Venise, Cyrille est pris à partie par des gens qui prétendent que Dieu ne peut être loué qu'en hébreu, en grec ou en latin ; il leur rétorque que depuis longtemps les Arméniens, les Éthiopiens, les Égyptiens, les Persans, les Syriens et bien d'autres encore emploient leur langue nationale tant pour la liturgie que pour la traduction des livres saints.
Lorsqu'ils arrivent à Rome, Nicolas I° est mort, mais son successeur, Adrien II, approuve entièrement leur action et les fait, dit-on, sacrer évêques. Le pape approuve l'usage de la liturgie slavonne dans l'Église de Moravie et fait déposer l'évangéliaire slavon sur l'autel de Sainte Marie Majeure.
Quelque temps plus tard, Cyrille fait sa profession monastique mais meurt cinquante jours plus tard, le 14 février 869, sans avoir pu rejoindre sa mission. Son tombeau est à Rome, dans l'Église Saint Clément.
Méthode part pour la Pannonie où il est évêque, puis archevêque de Sirmium. Or, à peine est-il arrivé dans son diocèse qu'il est arrêté par des troupes bavaroises ; accusé d'hérésie et d'imposture il comparaît devant un tribunal présidé par l'archevêque de Salzbourg où il est condamné à la captivité dans un monastère bavarois. Lorsque, deux et demi plus tard, le nouveau pape, Jean VIII, apprend l'incarcération de Méthode, il envoie un évêque et exige en termes violents que Méthode soit libéré (873). Provisoirement, jusqu'à être plus amplement informé, suspend l'emploi du slavon dans la liturgie, mais, deux ans plus tard, il écrit (880) : Ce n'est pas contraire à la foi, ni à la doctrine, de chanter la messe en langue slavonne ou de lire le saint Évangile, les leçons divines du Nouveau et de l'Ancien Testament ou encore de chanter les diverses parties de la liturgie en langue slavonne.
Méthode se rend près de l'empereur Basile I° pour rendre compte de sa juridiction spirituelle sur la Bulgarie et la Serbie qui dépendent alors de Byzance où il reçoit un accueil triomphal. De retour en Moravie, Méthode désigne son successeur, Gorazd, puis, le 6 avril 885, meurt, probablement à Velehrad.
De nos jours, l'alphabet dit cyrillique, en hommage au génie des deux frères, est utilisé par plus de 250 millions de personnes réparties entre le groupe oriental (russe et ukrainien) et le groupe méridional (bulgare et serbe) ; le groupe occidental (tchèque et polonais) emploie les caractères latins avec cependant quelques lettres modifiées par des signes destinés à préciser la prononciation.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/02/14.php
Monument des Saints Cyrille et Méthode, Ohrid, Macédoine du Nord
Ss. Cyrille et Méthode,
évêques et confesseurs
L’Église célèbre en ce jour la fête des Ss. Cyrille et Méthode, qui
s’engagèrent sous serment à persévérer dans la foi du bienheureux Pierre et des
Pontifes Romains [1], et amenèrent à Pierre en nombreuses recrues les Bulgares,
les Moraves et les Bohêmes [2].
Frères par le sang, ils naquirent à Thessalonique au IXème siècle. Saint
Cyrille mourut à Rome en 869 et fut enseveli près des reliques de St Clément,
qu’il avait apporté de Chéronèse. St Méthode mourut en 885.
En 1880, Léon XIII fixa leur fête le 5 juillet, dans l’octave des Sts Pierre et
Paul. La fête fut déplacée au 7 lors de la canonisation de St
Antoine-Marie-Zaccaria.
Le Pape Jean-Paul II les a déclaré co-patrons de l’Europe en 1980.
[1] 5è lecture des Matines avant 1962
[2] Hymne des vêpres
A Laudes.
Hymnus
Lux o decóra pátriæ
Slavísque amíca géntibus,
Salvéte, fratres : ánnuo
Vos efferémus cántico.
Quos Roma plaudens éxcipit,
Compléxa mater fílios,
Auget coróna præsulum
Novóque firmat róbore.
Terras ad usque bárbaras
Inférre Christum pérgitis ;
Quot vanus error lúserat,
Almo replétis lúmine.
Noxis solúta péctora
Ardor supérnus ábripit ;
Mutátur horror véprium
In sanctitátis flósculos.
Et nunc seréna Cælitum
Locáti in aula, súpplici
Adéste voto : Slávicas
Serváte gentes Númini.
Erróre mersos únicum
Ovíle Christi cóngreget ;
Factis ávitis æmula
Fides viréscat púlchrior.
Tu nos, beáta Trínitas,
Cælésti amóre cóncita,
Patrúmque natos ínclyta
Da pérsequi vestígia.
Amen.
V/. Sapiéntiam Sanctórum narrent pópuli.
R/. Et laudem eórum núntiet Ecclésia.
Ad Bened. Ant. In sanctitáte * et iustítia serviérunt Dómino ómnibus diébus suis : ídeo stolam glóriæ índuit illos Dóminus, Deus Israël.
Hymne
O Lumière splendide de la patrie,
lumière bienfaisante envers les peuples slaves,
Salut, ô frères : chaque année
nos chants sacrés vous exalteront.
Rome vous reçoit et applaudit,
comme une mère embrasse ses fils ;
elle met à votre front la couronne des Pontifes,
et vous revêt d’une force nouvelle.
Jusqu’en des contrées barbares
vous portez le Christ ;
ceux qu’une vaine erreur abusait
vous les remplissez d’une vivifiante lumière.
Les cœurs sont délivrés des liens du vice,
une ardeur céleste s’en empare ;
l’horreur des ronces se change
en fleurs de sainteté.
Et maintenant que vous êtes fixés
dans le palais serein de la cour céleste,
écoutez favorablement notre suppliante prière :
conservez à Dieu les populations slaves.
Que l’unique bercail du Christ
rassemble ceux qui sont plongés dans l’erreur ;
et que, rivalisant avec les temps passés,
la foi se montre de plus en plus florissante.
O Vous, Trinité bienheureuse,
animez-nous de votre amour céleste,
et faites que les enfants suivent
les nobles traces de leurs pères.
Amen.
V/. Que les peuples racontent la sagesse des saints [5].
R/. Et que l’Église publie leur louange.
Ant. au Benedictus Dans la sainteté * et la justice ils ont servi le Seigneur tous les jours de leur vie [6] : aussi le Seigneur d’Israël les a-t-il revêtus de la robe de gloire [7].
Emanuel
Max - Model for the Statue of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 1841-1842
Aux Vêpres.
Hymnus
Sédibus cæli nítidis recéptos
Dícite athlétas géminos, fidéles ;
Slávicæ duplex cólumen decúsque
Dícite gentis.
Hos amor fratres sociávit unus,
Unaque abdúxit píetas erémo,
Ferre quo multis célerent beátæ
Pígnora vitæ.
Luce, quæ templis súperis renídet,
Búlgaros complent, Móravos, Bohémos ;
Mox feras turmas numerósa Petro
Agmina ducunt.
Débitam cincti méritis corónam,
Pérgite o flecti lácrimis precántum ;
Prisca vos Slavis opus est datóres
Dona tuéri.
Quæque vos clamat generósa tellus
Servet ætérnæ fídei nitórem :
Quæ dedit princeps, dabit ipsa semper
Roma salútem.
Gentis humánæ Sator et Redémptor,
Qui bonus nobis bona cuncta præbes,
Sint tibi grates, tibi sit per omne
Glória sæclum.
Amen.
V/. Sacerdótes tui induántur iustítiam.
R/. Et Sancti tui exsúltent.
Ad Magnificat Ant. Isti sunt * viri sancti facti amíci Dei, divínæ veritátis præcónio gloriósi : linguæ eórum claves cæli factæ sunt.
Hymne
Chantez, fidèles, les deux athlètes
reçus au brillant séjour du ciel ;
chantez la double colonne
et cette gloire de la nation slave.
Un même amour a réuni ces frères,
une même piété les arrache au désert,
et les rend prompts à porter à beaucoup d’âmes
les gages de la vie bienheureuse.
De la lumière qui brille au temple d’en haut
ils inondent Bulgares, Moraves, Bohèmes ;
par eux sont amenées à Pierre, en nombreuses recrues,
ces foules sauvages.
Ceints de la couronne due à vos mérites,
continuez de vous laisser fléchir par les larmes de ceux qui vous prient :
les Slaves ont besoin que vous leur conserviez
les bienfaits que vous leur avez apportés autrefois.
Que la terre généreuse qui vous invoque
garde fidèlement la pureté de la foi éternelle :
c’est Rome qui, la première, lui a procuré le salut,
c’est Rome qui le lui procurera toujours.
Créateur et Rédempteur de la race humaine,
vous dont la bonté nous donne tous les biens,
à vous reconnaissance, à vous gloire
dans tous les siècles.
Amen.
V/. Que vos prêtres soient revêtus de justice [8].
R/. Et que vos saints exultent.
Ant. au Magnificat Ce sont là * de saints personnages, qui se sont faits les amis de Dieu, et se sont rendus glorieux en publiant la vérité divine : leurs langues sont devenues comme les clefs du ciel.
[5] Eccli. 44, 15.
[6] Luc. 1, 75.
[7] Eccli. 45, 9.
[8] Ps. 131, 9.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année Liturgique
Il convenait que l’Octave des Princes des Apôtres ne s’éloignât point, sans
qu’apparussent au Cycle sacré quelques-uns des satellites glorieux qui
empruntent d’eux leur lumière à travers les siècles. Deux astres jumeaux se
lèvent au ciel de la sainte Église, illuminant des feux de leur apostolat
d’immenses contrées. Partis de Byzance, on croirait tout d’abord que leur
évolution va s’accomplir indépendante des lois que l’ancienne Rome a puissance
de dicter aux mouvements des cieux, dont il est dit qu’ils racontent la gloire
de Dieu et les œuvres de ses mains [9]. Mais saint Clément Ier, dont les
reliques sont tirées par eux d’une obscurité de huit siècles, incline leur
marche vers la cité maîtresse ; et bientôt on les voit graviter avec un éclat
incomparable dans l’orbite de Pierre, manifestant une fois de plus au monde que
toute vraie lumière, dans l’ordre du salut, rayonne uniquement du Vicaire de
l’Homme-Dieu. Alors aussi, une fois de plus, se réalise magnifiquement la
parole du Psaume, que tout idiome et toute langue entendra la voix des
messagers de la lumière [10].
Au subit et splendide épanouissement de la Bonne Nouvelle qui marqua le premier
siècle de notre ère, avait succédé le labeur du second apostolat, chargé par
l’Esprit-Saint d’amener au Fils de Dieu les races nouvelles appelées par la
divine Sagesse à remplacer l’ancien monde. Déjà, sous l’influence mystérieuse
de la Ville éternelle s’assimilant par un triomphe nouveau ceux qui l’avaient
vaincue, une autre race latine s’était formée des barbares mêmes dont l’invasion,
comme un déluge, semblait avoir pour jamais submergé l’Empire. L’accession des
Francs au baptême, la conversion des Goths ariens et de leurs nombreux frères
d’armes achevaient à peine cette transformation merveilleuse, que les
Anglo-Saxons, puis les Germains, suivis bientôt des Scandinaves, venaient, sous
la conduite des moines Augustin, Boniface et Anschaire, frapper eux-mêmes aux
portes de l’Église. A la voix créatrice des apôtres nouveaux, l’Europe
apparaissait, sortant des eaux de la fontaine sacrée.
Cependant, le mouvement continu de la grande émigration des peuples avait amené
sur les rives du Danube une famille dont le nom commençait, au IXe siècle, à
fixer l’attention du monde. Entre l’Orient et l’Occident, les Slaves, mettant à
profit la faiblesse des descendants de Charlemagne et les révolutions de la
cour de Byzance, tendaient à ériger leurs tribus en principautés indépendantes
de l’un et l’autre empire. C’était l’heure que la Providence avait choisie,
pour conquérir au christianisme et à la civilisation une race jusque-là sans
histoire. L’Esprit de la Pentecôte se reposait sur les deux saints frères que
nous fêtons en ce jour. Préparés par la vie monastique à tous les dévouements,
à toutes les souffrances, ils apportaient à ces peuples qui cherchaient à
sortir de leur obscurité passée, les premiers éléments des lettres et la
connaissance des nobles destinées auxquelles le Dieu Sauveur conviait les
hommes et les nations. Ainsi la race Slave devenait digne de compléter la
grande famille européenne, et Dieu, dans cette Europe objet des éternelles
prédilections, lui concédait l’espace plus largement qu’il ne l’avait fait pour
ses devancières.
Heureuse, si toujours elle s’était tenue attachée à cette Rome qui, dans les
rivalités dont ses origines eurent à subir l’assaut, l’avait si grandement
aidée ! Rien, en effet, ne seconda plus ses aspirations à l’indépendance que la
faveur d’une langue spéciale dans les rites sacrés, obtenue pour elle du Siège
de Pierre par ses deux apôtres. Les réclamations de ceux qui prétendaient la
garder sous leurs lois montrèrent assez, dès lors, la portée politique d’une
concession aussi insolite qu’elle était décisive pour consacrer dans ces
régions l’existence d’un peuple nouveau, distinct à la fois des Germains et des
Grecs.
L’avenir le devait mieux prouver encore. Si aujourd’hui, des Balkans à l’Oural,
des rivages grecs aux bords glacés de l’Océan du Nord, la race Slave s’étend,
toujours forte, irréductible aux invasions, maintenant, au sein des empires qui
ont pu la terrasser un jour, ce dualisme que le peuple vainqueur doit se
résigner à porter en ses flancs comme une menace toujours vivante à travers les
siècles : un tel phénomène, qui ne se retrouve point ailleurs en pareille
mesure, est le produit de la démarcation puissante opérée il y a mille ans,
entre cette race et le reste du monde, par l’introduction dans la Liturgie de
sa langue nationale. Devenu sacré par cet usage, le Slavon primitif ne connut
point les variations inhérentes aux idiomes des autres nations ; tout en
donnant naissance aux dialectes variés de divers peuples issus de la souche
commune, il resta le même, suivant les moindres tribus slaves dans les
péripéties de leur histoire et continuant, pour le plus grand nombre, de les
grouper à part de toutes autres au pied des autels. Belle unité, gloire de
l’Église, si le désir, si l’espérance des deux Saints qui l’avaient établie sur
le roc immuable, avaient pu l’y maintenir ! Arme terrible au service de la
tyrannie, si jamais Satan la faisait tomber parle schisme entre les mains de
quelqu’un des suppôts de l’enfer. Mais ces considérations nous entraîneraient
trop loin.
En inscrivant la solennité des saints Cyrille et Méthodius au calendrier
universel, le Souverain Pontife Léon XIII a voulu donner lui-même leur
expression aux hommages et prières de l’Église, dans les deux Hymnes de la fête
(voir plus haut à l’Office).
A cet auguste hommage nous joignons nos vœux, ô saints frères. Avec le Pontife
suprême, nous osons chanter vos louanges, et vous recommander l’immense portion
de l’héritage du Christ où vos sueurs firent germer, à la place des ronces, les
fleurs de la sainteté. Préparés dans la solitude à toute œuvre bonne et utile
au Seigneur [11], vous ne craignîtes point d’aborder les premiers ces régions inconnues,
l’effroi du vieux monde, ces terres de l’aquilon où les Prophètes avaient
signalé le trône de Satan [12], la source intarissable des maux ravageant
l’univers [13]. L’appel de l’Esprit-Saint vous faisait apôtres, et les Apôtres
ayant reçu ordre d’enseigner toutes les nations [14] vous alliez, dans la
simplicité de votre obéissance, à celles qui n’étaient pas encore évangélisées.
Cette obéissance, Rome, c’était son devoir, voulut l’éprouver, et reconnut
qu’elle était sans alliage. Satan aussi le reconnut, à sa défaite ; car
l’Écriture avait dit : « L’homme obéissant racontera ses victoires » [15].
Autre puissance qui fut la vôtre, et que nous révèle encore l’Écriture, disant
: « Le frère aidé par le frère est comme une ville forte, et leurs conseils sont
comme les barres des portes des villes » [16]. Chassé par plus fort que lui, le
fort armé vit donc avec rage passer au Christ le domaine qu’il croyait posséder
la paix [17], et ses dernières dépouilles, les peuples de l’aquilon, devenir
comme ceux du midi l’ornement de l’Épouse [18]. Louez le Seigneur, toutes les
nations ; louez-le, tous les peuples [19] : toute langue confesse le Seigneur
Jésus-Christ [20] ! Comme monument de la victoire, le septénaire des langues
sacrées se complète en ce jour [21]. Mais, ô Méthodius, ô Cyrille, au milieu
même des Hymnes saintes que vous dédiait le Pontife souverain, un cri d’alarme
a retenti : « Gardez à Dieu les peuples Slaves ! Il est urgent à vous de
protéger vos dons. » Levez vos yeux, pourrions-nous en effet dire avec le
prophète ; considérez, vous qui venez de l’aquilon : où est le troupeau qui
vous fut donné, ce troupeau magnifique ? Quoi donc ! Est-ce contre vous que
vous l’avez instruit ? L’avez-vous armé pour votre perte [22] ? Profondeurs de
Satan [23] ! le prince de l’aquilon a trop su réparer sa défaite ; et vos
bienfaits, et la condescendance de Pierre, sont devenus par ses soins une arme
de mort pour ces peuples auxquels vous aviez donné la vie. Détournée de sa
voie, l’unité sainte que vous aviez fondée s’est traduite de nos jours, en
caractères de sang, dans la formule d’un hideux panslavisme. Entre Byzance déjà
de vos temps travaillée par le schisme, et l’Occident latin que l’hérésie
devait lui-même plus tard affaiblir et démembrer, elle pouvait être, à son
heure, un appui pour l’Église, un espoir de salut pour le monde. Perspectives
séduisantes, que votre cœur sans doute avait rêvées, et qui, hélas ! ont abouti
à ces atroces persécutions, scandale de nos temps, opprobre de la terre.
Réconfortez les exilés, soutenez les martyrs, gardez les restes d’un peuple de
héros ; écartez de quelques autres la fatale illusion qui les solliciterait à
courir d’eux-mêmes au-devant de la tyrannie ; pour tous que luise enfin le jour
des justices du Seigneur, mais bien plutôt s’il se peut, tout est possible à
Dieu, celui de sa miséricorde, assez puissante pour changer les bourreaux sans
frustrer leurs victimes. Serait-il donc arrêté que le poids des crimes d’un
grand empire a trop fait pencher la balance du côté de la condamnation, pour
que ses chefs ouvrent maintenant les yeux, et comprennent quel rôle pourrait
être le leur en l’état présent du monde, si Pierre, qui leur tend les bras,
voyait revenir à lui l’immense troupeau que paralyse le schisme ? Apôtres des
Slaves, et en même temps citoyens de cette Rome où reposent près de celles de
Clément vos reliques saintes, aidez les efforts du Pontife suprême cherchant à
replacer sur la base où vous l’aviez établi l’édifice qui fut votre gloire.
[9] Psalm. XVIII, 2.
[10] Ibid. 4.
[11] II Tim. II, 21.
[12] Isai. XIV, 13.
[13] Jerem. I, 14 ; XLVII, 2 ; etc.
[14] Matth. XXVIII, 19.
[15] Prov. XXI, 28.
[16] Ibid. XVIII, 19.
[17] Luc. XI, 21-22.
[18] Isai. XLIX, 12, 18.
[19] Psalm. CXVI, 1.
[20] Philipp. II, 11.
[21] Latine, Grecque, Syriaque, Copte, Ethiopienne, Arménienne et Slavonne.
[22] Jer. XIII, 20-21.
[23] Apoc. II, 24.
Monument des Saints Cyrille et Méthode, Kiev, Ukraine
Bhx cardinal Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Voici deux célèbres missionnaires orientaux, qui toutefois appartiennent aussi
à plus d’un titre à l’histoire de la Rome papale. En effet, les peuples slaves
sont redevables à Cyrille et à Méthode de leur civilisation, de leur foi et,
plus encore, de leur primitive communion avec la Chaire de Pierre, communion
qui a laissé dans l’histoire des traces nombreuses et indélébiles. Aujourd’hui
encore, le pèlerin slave qui arrive à Rome et va se prosterner sur le tombeau
du Prince des Apôtres y voit un tableau représentant le Sauveur entre les
saints Pierre et Paul. Or cette icône vénérée sur laquelle est tracée une
inscription slave fut, dit-on, déposée là par les saints Cyrille et Méthode, en
hommage de leur dévotion au Siège apostolique.
On connaît la vie des deux frères. Au temps d’Hadrien II, Rome les vit entrer
triomphalement dans ses murs, suivis d’une troupe choisie de disciples chargés
d’un précieux fardeau : les reliques du martyr Clément trouvées par eux en
Chersonèse.
Cyrille et Méthode justifièrent devant le concile romain leur mission, et
reçurent la consécration épiscopale des mains du Pape. Cependant les
difficultés soulevées contre eux par leurs adversaires furent loin d’être
légères ; si bien que Cyrille (appelé d’abord Constantin), à bout de forces,
préféra abandonner à son frère le soin de la mission slave et rester à Rome à
l’ombre de Saint-Clément, où il prépara son propre tombeau. La mort ne tarda
pas à l’atteindre, le 14 février 869, âgé seulement de quarante-deux ans. De
son sépulcre primitif, dans le narthex du titulus clementis, il reste une
peinture intéressante. L’âme de l’apôtre défunt est présentée au Juge suprême
par ses saints protecteurs. Michel et Gabriel, l’apôtre André et Clément
entourent le trône divin, tandis que Méthode élève, suppliant, le calice
eucharistique pour le repos de l’âme de son frère Cyrille.
Une autre peinture évoque également Cyrille et Méthode dans le titulus
clementis. Elle se trouve elle aussi dans le narthex, à gauche de la porte, et
représente la translation du corps du martyr Clément dans la basilique qui
porte son nom. Derrière le cercueil porté par des diacres, marche d’abord le
pape Nicolas Ier avec les deux frères Cyrille et Méthode, à droite et à gauche.
Le Pontife est revêtu de la chasuble et du pallium, et son front est couronné
du regnum ; tandis que les apôtres des Slaves ont une simple chasuble sous
laquelle descendent, sur la tunique, les bandes de l’étole. Deux clercs portent
les férules épiscopales des deux frères, et le Pape n’en a pas. Il est
remarquable que le nimbe rond orne seulement la tête de Nicolas et de saint
Cyrille ; on s’explique d’ailleurs facilement l’absence de ce signe de
vénération liturgique autour de la tête de Méthode. Le peintre romain du XIe
siècle n’avait connaissance que de la vénération dont était l’objet dans la
Ville la mémoire de Nicolas Ier et de Cyrille, et il ignorait entièrement le
sort de l’autre apôtre des Slaves mort en 885 en Moravie.
Un troisième monument très important existait autrefois à Rome, et se
rapportait à l’apostolat slave des deux saints Évêques et à l’œuvre zélée de
missionnaire qu’avait aussi accomplie chez les Bulgares le pape Formose avant
de monter sur la Chaire apostolique. Il s’agit de l’oratoire de Saint-Laurent
supra sanctum clementem, aménagé dans les constructions du Cœlius qui jadis
supportaient le grand temple de Claude. Là, en 1689, Ciampini découvrit pour la
première fois une abside peinte où l’on voyait le Sauveur entre les deux
Princes des Apôtres Pierre et Paul, Laurent et Hippolyte. Le Seigneur donnait à
Pierre le volume de la Loi, et on lisait ces mots :
DÑUS (le)GEM (dat) [24]
L’on voyait aussi le pape Formose et le roi des Bulgares, Michel, prosternés
devant lui, dans l’attitude de l’adoration.
Ce Michel est le même que Boris ou Bogoris, premier roi chrétien des Bulgares,
qui, converti à la foi par saint Méthode, attira au Christ presque tout son
peuple.
Pour ne pas communiquer avec l’intrus Photius de Constantinople, Boris envoya
des messagers au pape Nicolas Ier dont, en 867, il reçut la célèbre lettre
répondant à ses questions. Boris échangea par la suite le diadème royal pour le
froc monastique et mourut saintement dans l’état religieux le 2 mai 907. Chez
les Bulgares il est honoré du culte liturgique des saints.
Nous devons mentionner ici cinq autres personnages, tous disciples et
coadjuteurs des saints Cyrille et Méthode dans l’évangélisation des Bulgares.
Saint Nahum, avant de s’associer à l’évêque Clément pour convertir la Bulgarie,
aida dans leur mission les saints Cyrille et Méthode. Il travailla avec eux à
la traduction des livres liturgiques en slave, et alla avec les deux saints à
Rome voir le pape Hadrien II.
Saint Clément partagea à l’origine les travaux et les persécutions des deux
frères apôtres de la Moravie ; chassé ensuite également de la Pannonie, il
entra en Bulgarie et mourut en 916 évêque de Tibériopolis.
Saint Gorazd succéda en 885 à Méthode en qualité de métropolite de la Moravie
et de la Pannonie. Chassé l’année suivante, l’exilé porta son activité
missionnaire chez les Bulgares ; dans cette entreprise il eut pour imitateurs
Sabba et Angelaire, dont on sait seulement qu’ils étaient l’objet d’un culte
liturgique.
La fête des saints Cyrille et Méthode ne fut introduite dans le Missel romain
que par Léon XIII. La messe Sacerdótes est la même que pour la translation de
saint Léon le Grand le 28 juin (voir la fête de St Léon II), sauf les
particularités suivantes.
Voici la première collecte : « Seigneur tout-puissant et éternel qui avez
daigné appeler à la lumière de votre Nom les peuples slaves grâce à l’œuvre des
saints Pontifes Cyrille et Méthode ; faites que, comme aujourd’hui nous
célébrons leur fête, ainsi un jour nous soyons admis au ciel dans leur heureuse
société ».
La lecture évangélique est la même que le 25 avril pour la fête de saint Marc.
La vertu de l’apostolat est un des charismes qui distingue toujours la
véritable Église de Jésus-Christ dont la mission est en effet de continuer le
ministère évangélique du Verbe de Dieu fait chair.
Seule l’Église catholique a ce droit et cette charge, car c’est à elle qu’il
fut dit en la personne des Apôtres : Euntes, docete omnes gentes [25].
L’antienne pour l’offrande des oblations par les fidèles est la même que le 22
janvier.
Suit la collecte sur les oblations : « Regardez, Seigneur, nos prières et les
offrandes de vos fidèles ; afin qu’en ce jour de la fête de vos saints elles
vous soient agréables et nous obtiennent le secours de votre propitiation ».
L’antienne pour la Communion du peuple est semblable à celle du 15 février. Les
Apôtres accomplissent exactement tout ce que leur prescrivit le Divin Sauveur,
et ils annoncent sans crainte à toutes les nations de la terre la doctrine
évangélique qui leur a été enseignée dans les étroites limites des rives du lac
de Tibériade, en Galilée et en Judée.
Voici la collecte d’action de grâces après la Communion : « Par l’intercession
de vos saints Cyrille et Méthode, accordez-nous, Seigneur, que, élevés à la
grâce du don céleste, nous apprenions à mépriser les choses caduques et
terrestres ».
La divine Eucharistie n’est pas seulement l’antidote contre les péchés commis,
elle est aussi un levier puissant attirant l’âme vers le ciel. On peut la
comparer à ce jet d’eau dont parle l’Évangile qui s’élève impétueux. Ainsi
parlait de lui-même saint Ignace d’Antioche : Je sens en moi quelque chose qui
me soulève, tandis que résonne à mes oreilles comme une voix qui me dit : viens
au Père.
[24] Le Seigneur donne la loi.
[25] Matth. 28, 19 : Allez enseigner toutes les nations.
Saints Cyril and Methodius, Třebíč, Czech Republic
Dom Pius Parsch, Le Guide dans l’année liturgique
Qu’ils sont beaux les pas de ceux qui annoncent la paix !
1. Les Saints. — Jour de leur mort : saint Cyrille : 14 février 869 ; saint
Méthode : 6 avril 885. Tombeau : saint Cyrille : à Saint-Clément de Rome ;
saint Méthode : à Velehrad (Tchécoslovaquie), dans l’église Notre-Dame, Vie :
Les deux saints sont les apôtres des Slaves ; frères germains, ils étaient
originaires de Thessalonique ; après avoir fait de solides études, ils furent
envoyés par l’empereur d’Orient, Michel III (842-856), dans le royaume de
Grande-Moravie et ils convertirent les peuples slaves au prix de nombreuses
peines et de grandes difficultés dont ils triomphèrent ; ils traduisirent la
Sainte Écriture en langue slave et inventèrent des caractères d’écriture
(appelés glagolitiques) qui sont encore en usage aujourd’hui dans certaines
liturgies orientales. En 867, les deux frères vinrent à Rome et le pape Adrien
II (867-872) se porta à leur rencontre avec un imposant cortège. Ils rendirent
compte de leur apostolat ; mais la jalousie leur suscita dans les rangs du
clergé une opposition, motivée, soi-disant, par leurs innovations en matière
liturgique. Ils justifièrent leur conduite et reçurent des mains du pape
lui-même la consécration épiscopale (868). Peu de temps après. Cyrille mourait
à Rome, âgé de 42 ans ; son corps fut déposé d’abord dans le tombeau d’Adrien
II, puis plus tard dans l’église Saint-Clément où il repose encore aujourd’hui.
Ses funérailles eurent l’éclat d’un cortège triomphal. Méthode retourna en
Moravie et évangélisa les Hongrois, les Bulgares, les Dalmates et les
Carinthiens. Victime de nouvelles suspicions, il se rendit à Rome où il
justifia l’usage de la langue slave dans les offices liturgiques. Le Pape lui
conféra la dignité d’archevêque. A son retour en Moravie, il convertit le duc
de Bohême et son épouse, répandit la foi en Bohême et en Pologne ; puis, après
avoir érigé le siège épiscopal du Lemberg, il serait allé à Moscou et aurait
fondé l’évêché de Kiev. Il mourut à son retour en Moravie et fut solennellement
enterré dans l’église Notre-Dame, à Velehrad.
2. La Messe (Sacerdotes) est empruntée en partie au commun des confesseurs
pontifes ; le reste est propre. C’est avec intention que dans toutes ses
parties la messe parle des saints au pluriel, étant donné qu’elle est célébrée
en l’honneur de deux saints (la liturgie tient compte même de détails aussi
minimes) : voir Introït, Épître, Graduel, Évangile, Offertoire. — L’avant-messe
honore nos saints comme évêques qui tiennent leur dignité du Christ, souverain
prêtre (Épître, Alléluia). Cette pensée donne à la messe actuelle un sens
singulièrement profond : le Christ, souverain prêtre, offre son sacrifice et,
en union avec lui, les deux saints évêques offrent le sacrifice de leur vie ;
le prêtre tient à l’autel la place du Christ et des saints, et le corps
sacerdotal s’unit à ce sacrifice.
L’Évangile qui raconte la mission des 72 disciples évoque l’apostolat
missionnaire des deux saints. La même remarque s’applique aux antiennes de
l’offertoire et de la communion. Nous admirons les succès des deux apôtres des
Slaves et nous glorifions Dieu à cause des merveilles qu’il a opérées dans ses
saints (Offert.) ; nous apprenons aussi où ces saints ont puisé leur force :
c’est dans le silence et l’obscurité de la messe matinale que le Christ leur
parle (Comm.).
La liturgie se plaît à célébrer ainsi les apôtres des différents peuples
convertis au Christianisme ; aujourd’hui nous voyons sur l’arbre de l’Église la
puissante branche de la chrétienté slave ; la messe d’aujourd’hui est un
sacrifice d’action de grâces et de supplication : Action de grâces, parce que
les Slaves sont par nature religieux et attachés au Christianisme ;
Supplication, parce que beaucoup de Slaves — ils atteignent les cent millions —
sont séparés de l’unité de l’Église. Puisse le peuple russe, si profondément
croyant, qui supporte actuellement la plus dure des épreuves, retrouver le
chemin de l’unique bercail ! Puisse le peuple tchèque lui aussi triompher de sa
pénible crise religieuse !
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/Ss-Cyrille-et-Methode-7-juillet
30 septembre 1880
Lettre encyclique Grande
Munus
Sur les saints Cyrille et
Méthode apôtres des slaves
Vénérables frères, salut
et bénédiction apostolique
L’auguste charge de
propager le nom chrétien, confiée d’une manière particulière au bienheureux
Pierre, Prince des apôtres, et à ses successeurs, a porté les Pontifes romains
à envoyer, à différentes époques, aux diverses nations de la terre des
messagers du saint Evangile, selon que les circonstances et les conseils du
Dieu de miséricorde paraissaient le demander. C’est pourquoi, de même qu’ils
déléguèrent pour l’instruction des âmes Augustin aux Bretons, Patrice aux
Irlandais, Boniface aux Germains, Willibrod aux Frisons, aux Bataves, aux
Belges, et bien d’autres encore à d’autres peuples, ainsi ils conférèrent aux
saints Cyrille et Méthode le pouvoir de remplir le ministère apostolique auprès
des peuples slaves, qui, grâce à leur zèle et à leurs grands travaux, virent la
lumière de l’Évangile et passèrent de la vie barbare à la civilisation.
Si la renommée, fidèle au
souvenir de leurs bienfaits, n’a jamais cessé de célébrer dans tout le pays
slave Cyrille et Méthode, couple illustre d’apôtres, l’Eglise romaine non plus
ne les a pas entourés d’un culte moindre, elle qui, de leur vivant, les a
honorés l’un et l’autre dans beaucoup de circonstances, et ne voulut pas se
priver des cendres du premier des deux qui mourut. Aussi, dès l’année 1858, les
Bohèmes, les Moraves et les Croates de race slave, qui avaient coutume de
célébrer chaque année, le 9 mars, une solennité en l’honneur de Cyrille et de
Méthode, obtinrent de la faveur de Pie IX, Notre prédécesseur, d’immortelle
mémoire, de faire désormais leur fête le 5 juillet, et de réciter l’office en
mémoire de Cyrille et de Méthode.
Peu après, dans le temps
que se tenait le grand Concile du Vatican, beaucoup d’évêques demandèrent
instamment au Siège apostolique que leur culte et leur fête du rite déterminé
fussent étendus à toute l’Eglise. Mais l’affaire n’ayant pas encore abouti
jusqu’à ce jour et un changement étant survenu par les vicissitudes du temps
dans l’état politique de ces contrées, l’occasion Nous parait favorable d’être
utile aux peuples slaves, dont Nous avons grandement à cœur la conservation et
le salut. C’est pourquoi, si Nous voulons que Notre paternelle affection ne
leur manque en rien, Nous voulons aussi que s’étende et s’accroisse le culte de
ces hommes saints qui, de même qu’autrefois ils amenèrent les populations
slaves de la mort au salut en propageant la foi catholique parmi elles, de même
aujourd’hui les défendront puissamment par leur céleste patronage.
La vie des deux frères
apôtres
Début de leur vie
Cyrille et Méthode,
frères germains, nés dans la célèbre ville de Thessalonique, vinrent de bonne
heure à Constantinople pour étudier les sciences humaines dans la capitale même
de l’Orient. On ne tarda pas à remarquer l’étincelle de génie qui brillait déjà
dans ces jeunes gens ; l’un et l’autre firent de grands progrès en peu de
temps, mais surtout Cyrille qui se distingua tellement dans les sciences qu’il
mérita comme un honneur particulier d’être appelé le Philosophe. Peu
de temps après, Méthode embrassa l’état monastique ; de son côté, Cyrille
fut jugé digne d’être chargé par l’impératrice Théodora, à la demande du
patriarche Ignace, d’instruire dans la foi chrétienne les Khazares, peuples
situés au-delà de la Chersonèse qui demandaient à Constantinople des prêtres
instruits. Il accepta volontiers cette charge. Aussi s’étant rendu d’abord en
Chersonèse, il consacra quelque temps, comme plusieurs le racontent, à l’étude
de la langue du pays ; et à cette époque il lui arriva, par le plus heureux
des présages, de découvrir les restes sacrés du pape saint Clément Ier, qu’il
n’eut pas de peine à reconnaître, grâce à l’antique tradition aussi bien qu’à
l’ancre avec laquelle on savait que le magnanime martyr fut précipité dans la
mer par ordre de l’empereur Trajan et ensuite enseveli. Maître d’un si précieux
trésor, il pénétra dans les villes et les résidences des Khazares, et bientôt,
après avoir aboli divers genres de superstition, il gagna à Jésus-Christ ces
peuples, instruits par ses enseignements et mus par l’esprit de Dieu. La
nouvelle communauté chrétienne étant heureusement constituée, il donna un
mémorable exemple de continence et de charité à la fois, en refusant tous les
présents que lui offraient les habitants, à l’exception des esclaves, dont il
se réserva l’affranchissement s’ils se convertissaient au christianisme.
Bientôt il revint à Constantinople. Dans le monastère de Polychrone, où Méthode
s’était déjà retiré, Cyrille se retira aussi.
L’évangélisation de la
Moravie
Pendant ce temps-là, la
renommée avait apporté à Rastiz, prince de Moravie, le bruit des événements
heureux arrivés chez les Khazares. Celui-ci, excité par leur exemple, négocia
avec l’empereur Michel III l’envoi par Constantinople de quelques ouvriers
évangéliques, et il obtint sans peine ce qu’il désirait. Le mérite insigne de
Cyrille et de Méthode, et leur dévouement bien connu pour le prochain, les firent donc désigner pour la mission de Moravie.
S’étant mis en route à
travers la Bulgarie, qui était déjà initiée à la foi chrétienne, ils ne
négligent en aucun lieu l’occasion d’y accroître la religion. En Moravie, la
foule étant venue à leur rencontre jusqu’aux limites de la principauté, ils
sont reçus avec le plus grand empressement et avec une joie insigne. Sans
retard, ils s’appliquent à pénétrer les esprits des enseignements chrétiens et
à les élever vers l’espérance des biens célestes, et cela avec tant d’ardeur,
avec un zèle si laborieux, qu’en peu de temps la nation des Moraves s’était
donnée spontanément à Jésus-Christ.
L’invention du cyrillique
et du glagolitique
La connaissance que
Cyrille avait antérieurement acquise de l’idiome slave ne contribua pas peu à
ce résultat ; l’influence de la littérature sacrée des deux Testaments,
qu’il avait traduits en langue populaire, fut considérable. Aussi toute la
nation des Slaves doit-elle beaucoup à celui de qui elle a reçu non seulement
la foi chrétienne, mais aussi le bienfait de la civilisation ; car Cyrille
et Méthode furent les inventeurs de l’alphabet qui a fourni à la langue des
Slaves ses signes et ses moyens d’expression, et pour cette raison ils passent
avec raison pour les fondateurs de la langue elle-même.
Découverte des reliques
de saint Clément Ier
La renommée avait apporté
de ces provinces si éloignées et si isolées jusqu’à Rome la gloire de ces
actions. Aussi le Souverain Pontife Nicolas Ier ayant ordonné aux saints
frères de se rendre à Rome, ceux-ci s’empressent d’exécuter sans retard ses
ordres, et ayant pris avec ardeur le chemin de Rome, ils apportent avec eux les
reliques de saint Clément. A cette nouvelle, Adrien II, qui avait été élu à la
place du feu pape Nicolas, s’avance au milieu du concours du clergé et du
peuple et avec les apprêts d’une réception solennelle à la rencontre de ces
hôtes illustres. Le corps de saint Clément, honoré sur l’heure même de prodiges
insignes, fut porté en grande pompe à la basilique élevée au temps de
Constantin sur les ruines mêmes de la maison paternelle de l’invincible martyr.
Consacrés évêques par le
Pape Adrien
Ensuite Cyrille et
Méthode rendent compte, en présence du clergé, au Souverain Pontife de la
mission apostolique dont ils s’étaient acquittés si saintement et si
laborieusement. Et comme ils étaient accusés d’avoir agi contre les usages
antiques et contre les rites les plus saints, en employant la langue slave pour
la célébration des mystères sacrés, ils plaidèrent leur cause par des raisons
si justes et si probantes, que le Pontife et tout le clergé avec lui les
louèrent et les approuvèrent. Tous deux alors ayant prêté serment, selon la
formule de la profession catholique, et ayant juré qu’ils resteraient dans la
foi du bienheureux Pierre et des Pontifes romains, furent créés et consacrés
évêques par Adrien lui-même, et plusieurs de leurs disciples furent promus aux
différents Ordres sacrés.
Le dessein de la
Providence était que Cyrille terminât le cours de sa vie à Rome, le 14 février
de l’an 869, plus mûr en vertu qu’en âge. Il eut des funérailles publiques et
solennelles, célébrées avec la même pompe que pour les Pontifes romains, et il
fut placé en grand honneur dans le tombeau qu’Adrien s’était fait construire
pour lui-même. Le corps saint du défunt, que le peuple romain ne laissa pas
transporter à Constantinople, malgré les désirs d’une mère désolée, fut conduit
à la basilique de Saint-Clément et déposé près des cendres de celui que Cyrille
lui-même avait conservé avec vénération pendant tant d’années. Et pendant qu’il
était porté à travers la ville, au milieu des chants joyeux des psaumes, on eût
dit que le peuple romain, en lui décernant les honneurs célestes, lui faisait
plutôt un triomphe que des funérailles.
Labeur apostolique en
Moravie
Après cela, Méthode retourna comme évêque, par l’ordre et sous les auspices du Souverain Pontife, reprendre ses fonctions apostoliques en Moravie. Dans cette province, « devenue par son âme l’informateur de son troupeau », il s’appliqua de plus en plus à servir la cause catholique ; on le vit combattre énergiquement les novateurs pour les empêcher de ruiner le nom catholique par la folie des opinions ; instruire dans la religion le prince Swentopolk, qui avait succédé à Rastiz, le reprendre quand il manquait à son devoir, le gourmander jusqu’à le punir même de l’excommunication. Pour ces raisons, il s’attira la haine du cruel et impudique tyran, qui l’envoya en exil. Mais rappelé d’exil peu de temps après, il obtint, par d’habiles exhortations, que le prince donnât des preuves de meilleures dispositions et qu’il comprit la nécessité de racheter ses anciennes habitudes par un nouveau genre de vie. Ce qu’il y a de plus admirable, c’est que la vigilante charité de Méthode ayant dépassé les limites de la Moravie, comme elle atteignait du vivant de Cyrille les Liburniens et les Serbes, ainsi elle embrassait maintenant les Pannoniens, dont il convertit le prince à la religion catholique et le retint dans le devoir ; et les Bulgares, qu’il confirma dans la foi chrétienne avec leur prince Boris ; et les Dalmates, auxquels il distribuait et dispensait les grâces célestes ; et les Carinthiens, qu’il travailla ardemment à amener à la connaissance et au culte du seul vrai Dieu.
La liturgie en slavon
Mais cela devint pour lui
une source d’épreuves : car quelques membres de la nouvelle société des
chrétiens, jaloux des actes courageux et de la vertu de Méthode, l’accusèrent,
malgré son innocence, auprès de Jean VIII, successeur d’Adrien, d’avoir une foi
suspecte et de violer la tradition des aïeux, lesquels, dans la célébration des
Saints Mystères, se servaient de la langue grecque ou de la langue latine
seule, à l’exclusion de toute autre. Alors le Pontife, dans son zèle pour le
maintien de l’intégrité de la foi et de l’ancienne tradition, appelle Méthode à
Rome et lui enjoint de repousser l’accusation et de se justifier.
Méthode, toujours prêt à
obéir et fort du témoignage de sa conscience, comparut en l’année 880 devant le
pape Jean, plusieurs évêques et le clergé romain ; et là il remporta une
facile victoire en prouvant qu’il avait toujours gardé et fidèlement enseigné
aux autres la foi qu’en présence et avec l’approbation d’Adrien il avait
professée et promis de garder par son serment juré au tombeau du Prince des
apôtres, et que, s’il s’était servi pour les Saints Mystères de la langue
slave, c’était pour de justes motifs, par licence spéciale du pontife Adrien
lui-même, et sans que le texte sacré y répugnât. Par cette défense, il se
justifia si bien de tout soupçon de faute, que sur-le-champ le Pontife embrassa
Méthode, et voulut bien confirmer son pouvoir archiépiscopal et sa mission chez
les Slaves. En outre, le Pontife ayant délégué plusieurs évêques sur qui devait
présider Méthode et qui devaient l’aider dans l’administration des affaires
chrétiennes, le renvoya en Moravie avec des lettres très flatteuses et des
pleins pouvoirs. Et plus tard, lorsque de nouveau l’envie des méchants
s’attaqua à Méthode, le Souverain Pontife voulut bien encore par de nouvelles
lettres confirmer toutes ces faveurs.
C’est pourquoi,
pleinement rassuré et uni au Souverain Pontife et à toute l’Eglise romaine par
le lien très étroit de la foi et de la charité, Méthode persévéra avec beaucoup
plus de vigilance encore dans l’accomplissement de la charge qui lui avait été
dévolue, et il ne fit point attendre les fruits remarquables de son zèle. Car
après avoir lui-même, à l’aide d’un prêtre, converti à la foi catholique
Borzivoy, prince des Bohêmes, et un peu après Ludmille, l’épouse de ce prince,
il sut en peu de temps faire en sorte que le christianisme se répandit partout
dans cette nation. Dans le même temps il s’appliqua à faire parvenir la lumière
de l’Evangile dans la Pologne, ou, ayant lui-même pénétré en Galicie, il fonda
un siège épiscopal à Léopol.
Etablissement du siège
épiscopal de Kiev
De là, étant entré, comme
quelques-uns le rapportent, dans la Moscovie proprement dite, il établit le
siège épiscopal de Kiev. S’étant ainsi couvert d’immortels lauriers, il
retourna en Moravie, auprès des siens ; sentant qu’il approchait de sa fin
dernière, il désigna lui-même son successeur et, après avoir, par ses derniers
conseils, exhorté à la vertu son clergé et son peuple, il quitta avec une
grande paix cette vie, qui pour lui avait été le chemin du ciel. De même que
Rome pleura Cyrille, ainsi la Moravie témoigna son chagrin de la mort de
Méthode et ses regrets de sa perte en honorant de toutes manières ses
funérailles.
Leur lien avec Rome
C’est une grande joie, Vénérables Frères, que Nous donne la mémoire de ces événements, et Nous ne sommes pas peu ému de contempler, si loin, derrière nous, l’union magnifique dans ses belles origines des nations slaves avec l’Eglise romaine. Car si c’est de Constantinople que ces deux propagateurs du nom chrétien, dont Nous venons de parler, sont partis pour pénétrer chez les infidèles, c’est de ce Siège apostolique, centre de l’unité catholique, qu’ils ont dû recevoir l’investiture de leur mission, ou plus simplement la sainte et nécessaire approbation de cette mission. En effet, c’est ici, dans cette ville de Rome, qu’ils ont rendu compte de leur mission et qu’ils ont répondu à leurs accusateurs ; c’est ici, au tombeau de Pierre et de Paul, qu’ils ont juré de garder la foi catholique, qu’ils ont reçu la consécration épiscopale en même temps que le pouvoir de constituer la hiérarchie sacrée en observant la distinction des Ordres. Enfin c’est ici qu’on a sollicité et obtenu la licence d’employer la langue slave dans les rites sacrés, et il y a cette année dix siècles que le Souverain Pontife Jean VIII écrivait à Swentopolk, prince de Moravie : « A bon droit Nous louons les lettres slaves lesquelles retentissent des louanges dues à Dieu, et Nous ordonnons que dans cette même langue soient célébrées les louanges et les œuvres de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ. Et rien, dans la foi orthodoxe est ici à comprendre et dans la doctrine, n’empêche soit qu’on chante la messe en la langue slave, soit qu’on lise dans cette langue le saint Evangile ou les leçons divines du Nouveau et de l’Ancien Testament bien traduites et interprétées, ou qu’on psalmodie tous les offices des Heures. » Cette coutume, après bien des vicissitudes, fut sanctionnée par Benoît XIV, par des lettres apostoliques datées du 25 août 1754.
Mais les Pontifes
romains, chaque fois que leur assistance fut sollicitée par les princes qui
gouvernaient les peuples que le zèle de Cyrille et de Méthode avait amenés au
christianisme, agirent de telle sorte qu’on ne put jamais les accuser de
manquer, soit de tendresse en secourant, de douceur en enseignant, soit de
bienveillance dans leurs conseils et, en toutes choses où cela était possible,
de la plus grande condescendance. Rastiz surtout et Swentopolk, et Cocel,
sainte Ludmille, et Boris connurent l’insigne charité de Nos prédécesseurs dans
des circonstances et à des époques différentes.
La sollicitude paternelle
des Pontifes romains pour les peuples slaves ne s’est ni arrêtée ni relâchée
depuis la mort de Cyrille et de Méthode ; elle s’affirma toujours en
protégeant chez eux la sainteté de la religion et la conservation de la
prospérité publique. En effet, Nicolas envoya de Rome aux Bulgares des prêtres
chargés d’instruire le peuple, ainsi que les évêques de Populonie et de Porto,
chargés d’organiser la nouvelle société chrétienne. Le même Pape répondit avec
beaucoup d’amour aux nombreuses controverses des Bulgares sur le droit sacré,
de telle façon que ceux qui sont les moins bien disposés pour l’Eglise romaine
remarquent et louent la haute prudence de ces réponses.
Travail des pontifes pour
le retour des schismatiques
Et depuis la douloureuse
calamité du schisme, c’est la gloire d’Innocent III d’avoir réconcilié les
Bulgares avec l’Eglise catholique, et c’est la gloire de Grégoire IX,
d’Innocent IV, de Nicolas IV, d’Eugène IV, d’avoir maintenu cette
réconciliation. De même à l’égard des Bosniaques et des Herzégoviniens, trompés
par la contagion d’opinions perverses, on vit briller avec éclat la charité de
Nos prédécesseurs, Innocent III et Innocent IV, Grégoire IX, Clément VI, Pie
II, qui s’efforcèrent, les deux premiers d’arracher l’erreur des esprits, les
trois autres d’affermir solidement dans ces contrées les degrés de la
hiérarchie sacrée. On doit estimer qu’Innocent III, Nicolas IV, Benoit XI,
Clément V, ne consacrèrent pas la plus petite ou la dernière part de leurs
soins aux Serbes ; car c’est avec une grande prévoyance qu’ils réprimèrent
les fraudes astucieusement combinées en ce pays pour la destruction de la
religion. De même aussi les Dalmates et les Liburniens reçurent de Jean X,
Grégoire VII, Grégoire IX, Urbain IV, des témoignages de faveur particulière et
les plus grandes louanges pour leur constance dans la foi en échange de leurs bons
services.
Enfin, il y a de nombreux
monuments de la bienveillance de Grégoire IX et de Clément XIV dans l’église de
Sirmium, détruite au VIe siècle par les incursions des barbares et
restaurée plus tard par le zèle pieux de saint Etienne, roi de Hongrie.
C’est pourquoi Nous
comprenons que Nous devons rendre grâces à Dieu de ce qu’une bonne occasion
Nous est donnée d’accorder une faveur à la nation slave et de pourvoir à son
bien, général, et cela certes avec un zèle non moindre que celui dont ont témoigné
Nos prédécesseurs.
Car ce que Nous avons en
vue, ce que Nous désirons uniquement, c’est de n’épargner aucun effort pour que
les nations slaves soient enseignées par un plus grand nombre d’évêques ;
pour qu’elles soient affermies dans le culte de la vraie foi, dans l’obéissance
à la véritable Eglise de Jésus-Christ ; pour qu’elles sentent davantage,
par l’expérience de chaque jour, quelle force pour le bien rejaillit des
préceptes de l’Eglise catholique sur le foyer domestique et sur toutes les classes
du pays.
Extension du culte de
Cyrille et Méthode à l’Eglise Universelle
En vérité, ces Eglises
prennent la plus nombreuse, la plus grande part de nos pensées, et il n’est
rien que Nous désirions plus vivement que d’être à même de pourvoir à leur
intérêt, à leur prospérité, et de les unir à Nous par le nœud perpétuel de la
concorde, ce qui est le plus grand et le meilleur lien de salut. Il Nous reste
à obtenir que le Dieu riche en miséricorde favorise Nos projets et
seconde Nos entreprises. En attendant, Nous invoquons comme intercesseurs
auprès de lui Cyrille et Méthode, docteurs des pays slaves ; car comme
Nous voulons agrandir leur culte, Nous avons confiance que leur céleste
protection ne Nous fera point défaut.
C’est pourquoi Nous
ordonnons qu’au cinquième jour du mois de juillet fixé par Pie IX, d’heureuse
mémoire, soit insérée dans le calendrier de l’Eglise romaine et universelle et
annuellement célébrée, la fête des saints Cyrille et Méthode, avec l’office du
rite double mineur, et la messe propre, que la Sacrée Congrégation des Rites a
approuvés.
A vous, donc, Vénérables Frères, Nous ordonnons que vous veilliez à la publication de cette Encyclique, et que vous prescriviez l’observation de ce qui y est édicté par tous ceux de l’Ordre des prêtres qui célèbrent les offices de l’Eglise romaine, dans leurs églises, provinces, cités, diocèses et couvents de réguliers. Nous voulons enfin, vos conseils et vos exhortations aidant, que Cyrille et Méthode soient priés et invoqués dans le monde entier, afin que de toute la faveur dont ils jouissent auprès de Dieu ils protègent la religion chrétienne dans tout l’Orient, en obtenant la constance pour les catholiques et en inspirant aux dissidents le désir de se réconcilier avec la véritable Eglise.
Nous décrétons que ce qui
est écrit ci-dessus soit ratifié et confirmé nonobstant la Constitution de
saint Pie V, notre Prédécesseur, et les autres Constitutions apostoliques
publiées sur la réforme du Bréviaire et du Missel romain, nonobstant les
décrets et coutumes, même les plus reculés, et toutes autres choses contraires.
Comme gage des faveurs
célestes et de Notre particulière bienveillance, Nous vous accordons, avec
beaucoup d’amour, dans Notre-Seigneur, à vous tous, Vénérables Frères, à tout
le clergé et à tout le peuple confiés à vos soins, la bénédiction apostolique.
Donné à Rome, près
Saint-Pierre, le trentième jour de septembre, en l’an 1880, de notre Pontificat
le troisième.
LÉON XIII, PAPE.
Source : Lettres apostoliques de S. S. Léon XIII, tome VII, La Bonne Presse. Les titres ont été ajoutés par La Porte Latine
Statue
of Saint Cyril on the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc in Olomouc (Czech
Republic).
Socha Svatého
Cyrila na sloupu Nejsvětější Trojice v Olomouci.
Also
known as
Apostle of Bulgaria
Apostle of the Slavs
Apostle of the Southern
Slavs
Constantin
Constantine the
Philospher
Constantine
Cyril the Philosopher
Equal of the Apostles
Slavorum Apostoli
formerly 7 July
formerly 9 March
27 July as one
of the Apostles of
Bulgaria
6 April (Velehrd,
Moravia)
Profile
Brother of Saint Methodius.
Born to the Greek nobility;
his family was connected with the senate of Thessalonica, and his mother Maria
may have been Slavic. Studied at
the University of Constantinople,
and taught philosophy there. Deacon. Priest. Librarian at
the church of Santa Sophia. Monk,
taking the name Cyril. Sent with Methodius by
the emperor in 861 to convert the
Jewish Khazars of Russia,
a mission that
was successful, and which allowed him to learn the Khazar’s language. In 863, sent
with Methodius to convert Moravians in
their native tongue. Though some western clergy opposed
their efforts and refused to ordain their
candidates for the priesthood,
they did good work. Developed an alphabet for the Slavonic language that
eventually became what is known today as the Cyrillic. After initial
criticism for their use of it, the brothers achieved approval of the Liturgy in
the Slavonic language. May have been bishop,
but may have died before
the consecration ceremony.
Born
827 at
Thessalonica, Greece as Constantin
14 February 869 at Rome, Italy of
natural causes
Slavic
peoples (given in 1863 by Pope Pius IX
unity of
the Eastern and Western Churches
—
Europe (given
in 1980 by Pope John
Paul II)
Ljubljana, Slovenia, archdiocese of
Maribor, Slovenia, archdiocese of
Saints
Cyril and Methodius of Toronto, Ontario, diocese of
Oriental monk holding
a church with the help of Methodius
surrounded by Bulgarian converts
wearing a long philosopher‘s coat
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by Father Lawrence
George Lovasik, S.V.D.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Grande
Munus, by Pope Leo XIII
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
Pope
Benedict XVI, General Audience, 17 June 2009
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Slavorum
Apostoli, by Pope John
Paul II
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian
Catholic Truth Society
images
audio
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
spletne
strani v slovenšcini
Readings
When the time came for
Cyril to set out from this world to the peace of his heavenly homeland, he
prayed to God with his hands outstretched and his eyes filled with tears: “O
Lord, my God, you have created the choirs of angels and
spiritual powers; you have stretched forth the heavens and established the
earth, creating all that exists from nothing. You hear those who obey your will
and keep your commands in holy fear. Hear my prayer and protect your faithful
people, for you have established me as their unsuitable and unworthy servant.
“Make your people known for the unit and profession of their faith. Inspire
the hearts of your people with your word and your teaching. You called us to
preach the Gospel of your Christ and to encourage them to lives and works
pleasing to you. “I now return to you, your people, your gift to me. Direct
them with your powerful right hand, and protect them under the shadow of your
wings. May all praise and glorify your name, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen. – from an old Slavonic biography of Saint Cyril
MLA
Citation
“Saint Cyril“. CatholicSaints.Info.
21 January 2022. Web. 14 February 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-cyril/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-cyril/
Statue
de Saint Methode,
Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc, Moravia
Also
known as
Apostle of Bulgaria
Apostle of the Slavs
Apostle of the Southern
Slavs
Equal of the Apostles
Slavorum Apostoli
27 July as
one of the Apostles
of Bulgaria
6 April (Velehrd,
Moravia)
Profile
Brother of Saint Cyril. Born
to the Greek nobility. Studied at
the University of Constantinople,
and taught philosophy there. Priest.
Sent with Cyril by
the emperor in 861 to convert the
Jewish Khazars of Russia,
a mission that was successful, and which allowed him to learn the Khazar’s
language. In 863, he
was sent with Cyril to convert Moravians in
their native tongue. Though some western clergy opposed
their efforts and refused to ordain their
candidates for the priesthood,
they did good work. Helped develop an alphabet for the Slavonic language that
eventually became what is known as the Cyrillic today. After initial
criticism for their use of it, they achieved approval of the Liturgy in the
Slavonic language. Bishop. Evangelized in Moravia, Bohemia,
Pannonia, and Poland. Baptized Saint Ludmilla and Duke Boriwoi. Archbishop of
Velehred (in the modern Czech
Republic), but deposed and imprisoned in 870 due
to the opposition of German clergy with
his work. Often in trouble over his use of Slavonic in liturgy, some claiming
he preached heresy;
repeatedly cleared of charges. Translated the
Bible into the Slavonic languages. Pioneered the use of local and vernacular
languages in liturgical settings.
Born
6 April 885 at Moravia (modern Czech
Republic)
Slavic
peoples (given in 1863 by Pope Pius IX
unity
of the Eastern and Western Churches
—
Europe (given
in 1980 by Pope John
Paul II
Ljubljana, Slovenia, archdiocese of
Maribor, Slovenia, archdiocese of
Saints
Cyril and Methodius of Toronto, Ontario, diocese of
Oriental bishop holding
up a church with Saint Cyril
Oriental bishop holding
a picture of the Last Judgement
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by Father Lawrence
George Lovasik, S.V.D.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Grande
Munus, by Pope Leo XIII
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Pope
Benedict XVI, General Audience, 17 June 2009
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Slavorum
Apostoli, by Pope John
Paul II
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
1001 Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian
Catholic Truth Society
images
audio
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
nettsteder
i norsk
spletne
strani v slovenšcini
MLA
Citation
“Saint Methodius“. CatholicSaints.Info.
21 January 2022. Web. 14 February 2022. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-methodius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-methodius/
Sts. Cyril and Methodius
(Or CONSTANTINE and
METHODIUS).
These brothers, the
Apostles of the Slavs,
were born in Thessalonica,
in 827 and 826 respectively. Though belonging to a senatorial family they
renounced secular honours and
became priests.
They were living in amonastery on
the Bosphorous, when the Khazars sent to Constantinople for a Christian teacher.
Cyril was selected and was accompanied by his brother. They learned the Khazar
language and converted many
of the people. Soon after the Khazar mission there was a request from the Moravians for
a preacher of the Gospel.German missionaries
had already laboured among them, but without success. The Moravians wished
a teacher who could instruct them and conduct Divine
service in the Slavonic
tongue. On account of their acquaintance with the language, Cyril and
Methodius were chosen for their work. In preparation for it Cyril invented an
alphabet and, with the help of Methodius, translated the Gospels and
the necessary liturgical
books into Slavonic.
They went to Moravia in
863, and laboured for four and a half years. Despite their success, they were
regarded by theGermans with
distrust, first because they had come from Constantinople where schism was
rife, and again because they held the Church services
in the Slavonic
language. On this account the brothers were summoned toRome by Nicholas
I, who died, however, before their arrival. His successor, Adrian
II, received them kindly. Convinced of their orthodoxy,
he commended their missionary activity, sanctioned the Slavonic
Liturgy, and ordained Cyril
and Methodius bishops.
Cyril, however, was not to return to Moravia.
He died in Rome,
4 Feb., 869.
At the request of
the Moravian princes,
Rastislav and Svatopluk, and the Slav Prince
Kocel of Pannonia, Adrian
IIformed an Archdiocese of Moravia and Pannonia, made it independent of
the German Church,
and appointed Methodius archbishop.
In 870 King Louis and the German bishops summoned
Methodius to a synod at Ratisbon.
Here he was deposed and condemned to prison. After three years he was liberated
at the command of Pope
John VIII and reinstated as Archbishop of Moravia.
He zealously endeavoured to spread the Faith among theBohemians,
and also among the Poles in Northern Moravia.
Soon, however, he was summoned to Rome again
in consequence of the allegations of the German priest Wiching,
who impugned his orthodoxy,
and objected to the use of Slavonic in
the liturgy. But John
VIII, after an inquiry, sanctioned the Slavonic
Liturgy, decreeing, however, that in the Mass the Gospel should
be read first in Latin and
then in Slavonic.
Wiching, in the meantime, had been nominated one
of the suffragan bishops of
Methodius. He continued to oppose hismetropolitan,
going so far as to produce spurious papal
letters. The pope,
however, assured Methodius that they were false.
Methodius went to Constantinople about this time, and with the
assistance of several priests,
he completed the translation of the Holy
Scriptures, with the exception of the Books
of Machabees. He translated also the "Nomocanon",
i.e. the Greek ecclesiastico-civil
law. The enemies of Methodius did not cease to antagonize him. His health
was worn out from the long struggle, and he died 6 April, 885, recommending as
his successor Gorazd,
a Moravian Slav who
had been his disciple.
Formerly the feast of
Saints Cyril and Methodius was celebrated in Bohemia and Moravia on
9 March; but Pius
IXchanged the date to 5 July. Leo
XIII, by his Encyclical "Grande
Munus" of 30 September, 1880, extended thefeast to
the universal Church.
[Note: The feast of
Sts. Cyril and Methodius is currently celebrated on February 14 in the Latin
Church.]
Abraham, Ladislas. "Sts. Cyril and Methodius." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company,1908. 14
Feb. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04592a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Angela Meady.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John
M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04592a.htm
Venerable Brothers,
Greetings and Apostolic Blessing.
Cyril and Methodius,
Missionaries to the Slavs
The great duty of
spreading the Christian name was entrusted in a special way to Peter, the
head of the apostles, and to his successors. It urges the popes to send
messengers of the Gospel to the various peoples of the earth, as the affairs of
the merciful God demand. For this reason they sent Augustine to the Britons,
Patrick to the Irish, Boniface to the Germans, and Willebrord to the Flemish,
Dutch, and Belgians. Often they sent other men to other peoples to care for
their souls. So in the exercise of their apostolic duty, they commissioned the
holy men Cyril and Methodius to go to the Slavic people. Through their presence
and more especially through their labors, those people have seen the light of
the Gospel and have been led from their barbarian ways to a humane and
civilized culture.
Extension of the Feast of
Cyril and Methodius
2. All Slovenia has
continued to celebrate the work of Cyril and Methodius, well-known peers
of the apostles, and the Roman Church has honored both of them with just as
much fervor. The Church honored both of them in many ways while they lived, and
in death it did not want to be without the remains of one of them. The
Bohemians, Moravians, and Croatians were accustomed to celebrating religious
feasts annually on March 9. Since 1863 Pius IX granted them permission to hold
their feasts on July 5 and to discharge due prayers in memory of Cyril and
Methodius. Not long after that, when the great council was held at the Vatican,
many bishops humbly requested from this Apostolic See that their cult and
appointed feast be extended to the whole Church. Until now the matter has been
under study. But because of the change in the status of the government in those
areas over the years, it seems like an excellent opportunity to help the people
of Slovenia, whose well-being and salvation greatly concern Us. Therefore, We
shall not allow Our paternal love to fail. We wish to promote and increase the
devotion to these most holy men who once spread the Catholic faith and recalled
the Slavic people from ruin to salvation. They now serve as our heavenly
advocates and will powerfully defend us. Moreover, in order to bring out more
fully what kind of men We propose for the veneration and worship of the
Catholic world, We wish to give a brief history of their deeds.
Youth and Cyril's First
Mission
3. The brothers Cyril and
Methodius, born in Thessalonica, went as boys to Constantinople in order to
study the humanities in the chief city of the East. The spark of genius already
discerned in these young men soon became apparent. They both advanced quickly,
especially Cyril, who became so distinguished in learning that he won for
himself the title of "The Philosopher." Soon after this, Methodius
undertook the monastic life. Under the influence of the Patriarch Ignatius, the
Empress Theodora commissioned Cyril to teach the Christian faith to the Khazer
tribes who dwelt beyond the Chersonese. These people had asked that suitable
priests might be sent to them from Constantinople. Cyril accepted the mission
willingly and departed for Tauric Chersonese so that, as some relate, he could
study the language of the people. It was at this time that he had the good
fortune to discover the remains of Pope Clement I. This courageous martyr was
thrown into the sea by order of the Emperor Trajan and was afterwards buried
with the anchor to which he had been fastened. The anchor, together with the
ancient tradition, made it very easy to identify the remains. With this
priceless treasure, Cyril went into the towns and homes of the Khazars. In a
short time, after abolishing many superstitions, he won for Jesus Christ these
people, who were taught by his word and moved by the spirit of God. To the new
Christian community Cyril gave an example of self control and charity by
refusing all the gifts offered to him by the inhabitants, except the slaves
whose liberty he restored to them when they embraced Christianity. He soon
returned to Constantinople to enter the monastery of Polychronius, which
Methodius had entered.
The Mission to Moravia
4. Meanwhile, reports of
the great events happening among the Khazars reached Rastislav, Prince of
Moravia. Aroused by their example, he negotiated with the Emperor Michael III
for an evangelizing mission to be sent from Constantinople, and his wish was
granted. Thus, the great worth of Cyril and Methodius as seen in their previous
accomplishments, together with their zeal for helping their neighbors, caused
their selection for the Moravian mission.
5. As they began their
journey through Bulgaria, which had already been converted to Christianity,
they let pass no opportunity for increasing the faith. Upon reaching Moravia,
they were met by a large crowd who had come with great desire and joy to greet
them. Without delay the apostles strove to penetrate their minds with the
doctrines of Christianity and to raise their hopes to heavenly things. They did
this with so much force and with such energetic zeal that in a very short rime
the Moravian people gave themselves to Jesus Christ.
6. Much of their success
was due to Cyril's knowledge of the Slavic language, which he had acquired
earlier. The influence of the Old and New Testaments as translated by him into
the vernacular was also considerable. The whole Slavic people owe much to the
man who gave them the Christian faith and with it the advantages of
civilization. Cyril and Methodius were also the inventors of the alphabet which
afforded the Slavic tongue the means for a written language, and they are even
looked upon as having formed the language.
Journey to Rome
7. Another report from
these remote provinces announced to Dome the glory of their deeds. And so, when
Pope Nicholas I ordered the brothers to Rome, they obeyed without hesitation.
They began their Roman journey quickly, bringing with them the remains of St.
Clement. At this news Adrian II, who was elected to replace the late Pope
Nicholas, went out with the clergy and the people to greet the illustrious
visitors. The body of St. Clement was brought with great portents into the
basilica constructed at the time of Constantine, in the very tracks of the
ancestral home of that invincible martyr.
8. Cyril and Methodius
then recounted to the Supreme Pontiff and his clergy the apostolic mission they
had fulfilled with so much holiness and labor. They were accused of acting in
opposition to ancient customs and contrary to holy rites in making use of the
Slavic language for religious matters. However, they pleaded their cause with
such indisputable and noble reasoning that the pope and all the clergy praised
them and approved their course of action. Both then took an oath in the Catholic
manner and swore that they would remain in the faith of St. Peter and of the
popes. After that they were created bishops and consecrated by Adrian himself,
and many of their disciples were raised to different grades in Holy Orders.
Death of Cyril
9. However, it was divine
foresight that Cyril should die on February 14, 869, more mature in virtue than
in age. After a splendid public funeral like that given to popes, he was buried
with honors in a tomb which Adrian had built for himself. Because the Roman
people could not bear to send the holy corpse to Constantinople though his
grieving parent asked for it, it was brought to the basilica of St. Clement and
buried near him whom Cyril had held in reverence for so many years. As he was
taken through the city among festal songs and psalms - not so much in the
manner of a funeral as that of a triumph - the Roman people made offerings of
heavenly honor to the holy man.
Methodius' Return to
Moravia
10. After these things
had taken place, Methodius returned under Papal orders to Moravia as bishop. In
that province, having become a spiritual model for his flock, he began to serve
Catholicism more keenly every day. He strongly resisted the factions of reform,
lest the Catholic name fall through unsound thinking. He educated prince
Svatopluk, who succeeded Rastislav in religious matters. He warned him about
shirking his duties, rebuked him, and finally excommunicated him. For these
reasons he incurred the anger of that revolting and wicked tyrant; then he was
sent into exile. He was recalled a short time later, and his efforts produced a
change of heart in the prince and an understanding that he should return to a
new purity of life.
11. It is remarkable that
Methodius' vigilant love had crossed the borders of Moravia and reached the
Liburnians and Serbs, since he was Cyril's successor. Now it reached the
Pannonians, whose prince, Kocel, he disposed to the Catholic religion and
retained in his duties. It also reached the Bulgarians, whom he confirmed in
the faith along with their leader Boris. Then he dispensed the gifts of heaven
to the Dalmatians. Finally, he worked strenuously that the Carinthians
might be brought to the knowledge and the worship of the one true God.
Methodius' Trip to Rome
12. But this became a
source of trial to Methodius. Some members of the new Christian community
became jealous of his accomplishments and virtue. They accused him, to Pope
John VIII, Adrian's successor, of being unsound in faith, though he was
innocent. They also accused him of violating the traditions of the Fathers who
used only the Latin or Greek languages in discharging their religious duties.
Wanting to preserve the integrity of the faith and to maintain the ancient
traditions, the pope then summoned Methodius to Rome to justify himself.
Methodius appeared before Pope John, several bishops, and the Roman clergy in
880, for he was ever ready to obey and confident in the testimony of his
conscience. He obtained an easy victory by proving that he had followed
Catholic teachings himself. He showed that he had always taught others the
faith which he had sworn on the tomb of St. Peter, the prince of the Apostles,
an oath given in the presence of Adrian and with his approval. If he had used
the Slavic language in the celebration of the sacraments, he had done so for
good reasons, since he had the special permission of Pope Adrian himself and
the Holy Scriptures did not forbid it. Methodius freed himself so completely
from every suspicion of guilt that the pope embraced him then and there and
confirmed his archiepiscopal jurisdiction and his mission to the Slavs.
Methodius returned to Moravia in the company of several bishops who were to be
his coadjutors, with letters of recommendation and freedom of action in his
work.
Return to Moravia
13. To confirm those
things, the pope sent letters to Methodius so that he would not again become
subject to the envy of his detractors. For this reason, Methodius performed his
assigned duties more vigilantly, confident that he was joined to the pope and
to the whole Roman church in a close bond of faith and love. His labor soon
produced an exceptional harvest. With the assistance of a priest, he converted
prince Boriwoj of Bohemia, then his wife Ludmilla, and before long Christianity
spread throughout that land. At the same time he brought the light of the
Gospel to Poland; he penetrated Galicia, where he established the episcopal see
of Lwdw. Then, as some report, he penetrated into Muscovy and established the
episcopal See of Kiev.
Death of Methodius
14. Having crowned
himself with imperishable laurels, he returned to Moravia and his own people.
He felt his death approaching and named his successor, and his last words
exhorted the clergy and people to practice virtue. He departed in peace from
this life, which had been the path to heaven for him. As Rome mourned Cyril, so
Moravia mourned the loss of Methodius, showing its grief by giving his burial
every honor.
Papal Concern for the
Slavs
15. Venerable brothers,
the memory of these events causes Us great joy. We are deeply moved by the
magnificent association of the Slavic nation and the Roman church, an
association with the noblest beginnings. Though these two apostles of the
Christian faith went from Constantinople to preach to people in foreign lands,
it was from this Apostolic See, the center of Catholic unity, that they
received the investiture of their mission or, as happened more than once, its
solemn approbation. Truly it was here in this city of Rome that they rendered
an account of their mission and answered their accusers. It was here at the
tombs of Peter and Paul that they swore to keep the Catholic faith. It was here
that they received episcopal consecration and the power to establish the sacred
hierarchy, while observing in it the distinction of each order. Finally, it was
here that they sought and obtained permission to use the Slavic language in
holy rites. This year, ten centuries will have passed since Pope John VIII
wrote to prince Svatopluk of Moravia: "It is right that we praise the
Slavic language, which re-echoes with the praises due to God. We ordain that
the proclamations and works of our Lord Jesus Christ should be said in that
language. Nothing in true faith, or doctrine forbids us to sing the Mass in the
Slavic language, or to read the Gospel lessons (correctly translated and
interpreted) in it, or to chant in it the Divine Hours." After many
changes, Pope Benedict XIV sanctioned this custom in an apostolic letter dated
August 25, 1754. Whenever the rulers of the peoples evangelized by Cyril
and Methodius asked them, the popes gave generously of their humanity in
teaching, kindness in giving advice, and singular good will wherever possible.
Above all, Rastislav, Svatopluk, Kocel, Saint Ludmilla, and Boris have
experienced the remarkable love of Our predecessors.
16. The paternal concern
of the popes for the Slavic people did not stop with the death of Cyril and
Methodius. Rather, it has always shone forth in preserving among them the
holiness of religion and public prosperity. In fact, Nicholas I sent priests
from Rome to the Bulgarians to educate the people, and he also sent the bishops
of Populonia and Ostia to govern the new Christian community. He gave a loving
response in the frequent controversies of the Bulgarians concerning holy law.
In this matter, even those who do not favor the Roman Church praise and admire
its prudence. After this calamitous disagreement, We must praise Innocent III
for reconciling the Bulgarians with the Catholic Church, and We must praise
Gregory IX, Innocent IV, Nicholas IV, and Eugene IV for preserving them in
reconciled grace. Similarly the love of Our predecessors shines forth in their
contacts with the Bosnians and Erzevovinenses, who were deceived by evil
opinions. We make special note of Innocent III and Innocent IV, who eradicated
this spiritual error, and of Gregory IX, Clement VI, and Pius II who were eager
to establish firmly the levels of sacred authority in those areas. Innocent III,
Nicholas IV, Benedict XI, and Clement V conferred neither the last nor the
least of their cares on the Serbs, who cunningly prepared deceptions to harm
religion, deceptions which the popes prudently contained. The Dalmatians and
the Liburnians received singular favor because of the constancy of their faith
and their changing duties. John X, Gregory VII, Gregory IX, and Urban IV held
them up as examples for all. Finally, there are many evidences of the good will
of Gregory IX and Clement XIV toward the church of Sirmium, which was destroyed
in the sixth century by barbarians and later rebuilt through the care of St.
Stephen I, king of Hungary.
Papal Decree
17. For this reason, We
thank God for giving Us this suitable occasion to thank the Slavic people and to
effect a common benefit for them. Indeed We do this no less eagerly than Our predecessors.
Certainly We foresee and desire that the Slavic nation should learn from the
great abundance of bishops and priests. May they be strengthened in the
profession of the true faith, in true obedience to the Church of Jesus Christ.
May they understand more each day how great a force of good comes from the
customs of the Catholic Church in family life and in all the orders of
government. Certainly those churches vindicate the many great cares We showed
toward them. There is nothing We desire more than to take the appropriate
measures for their comfort and prosperity and to have all their relations with
Us be in perpetual harmony. This is the greatest and the best bond of safety.
It remains that God, who is rich in mercy, might look upon Our plans
and favor what We have begun. Meanwhile, We have Cyril and Methodius, the
teachers of Slovenia, as intercessors with Him. As We wish to promote their
veneration, so We trust in their future heavenly patronage.
18. Therefore, We decree
that July 5 be set aside in the calendar of the universal Roman Church, as Pius
IX ordained. On this day the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius shall be
celebrated annually with the office and mass proper to a double minor rite, as
approved by the holy council.
19. And We entrust to all
of you, venerable brothers, the publication of this letter. Order every priest
who celebrates the divine office according to the rites of the Roman Church to
observe everything that is prescribed in this letter in each church, province,
city, diocese, and monastery. We persuade and encourage you to stimulate
prayer to Cyril and Methodius, so that they might intercede with God and watch
over Christianity in the East. May there be constancy in all Catholic men and
the will to reconcile all dissidents to the true Church.
20. We order this to be
established and fixed as written above, notwithstanding the constitutions of
Pope St. Pius V and other apostolic documents on the reform of the breviary and
the Roman Missal, or other statutes and customs - even very old ones - or anything
else to the contrary.
21. As a pledge of Our
good wishes and of divine favor, venerable brothers, We lovingly impart Our
apostolic blessing to each one of you, to all the clergy, and to each and every
person committed to your care.
Given in Rome, at St.
Peter's, on September 30, 1880, in the third year of Our Pontificate.
LEO XIII
© Copyright 1880 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Veneration
of SS. Cyril and Methodius
Only fifty years after
the death of the Apostles of the Slavs did Pope John IX (914-328) canonize
them. However, devotion to them did not become universal until 1880, when Pope
Leo XIII (1878-1903) extended the feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius to the
Catholic Church as a whole by his encyclical "Grande Munus."
The Slavs initiated the
veneration of their Apostles, right after their death. But because of the
adverse political and religious climate over the centuries, they were
forgotten. It was not until the Cyrillo-Methodian millennial celebrations, at
the end of the last century, that devotion to the saintly Brothers was once
again restored.
Unfortunately, this
restoration coincided with the millennial celebration of the Hungarians, who
were determined to destroy our national life. They denounced the renewal of
veneration of SS. Cyril and Methodius by our people, since "it could
easily develop into a Slavic national holiday, of which on Hungarian territory
there is no need" (cfr. art. "Oborona Kiriliki," in Naukovyj
Zbirnyk Prosvity, Uzhorod 1936, p. 109). For this reason our magyarized clergy
boycotted the feast and failed to perpetuate the veneration of the Slavic
Apostles. Consequently, the Cyrillo-Methodian cult was not known in our
Mukachevo and Prjashev Eparchies until after World War I.
St. Cyril "fell
asleep in the Lord" on February 14, 869, after making his monastic vows.
During his last illness he had "a heavenly vision" and began to sing:
"My heart is glad and my soul rejoices, because they said to me: 'We will
go up to the house of the Lord' (comp. Pss. 15:9; 121:1)."
As the hour of his death
drew near, lifting up his hands to the Lord and weeping, he prayed:
"O Lord, my God, Who
has created the Angelic Choirs and all the Heavenly Powers, Who brought all
things from non-being to being, You always hear the prayers of those who do
Your Holy Will and who in fear of You keep Your Commandments. Hear, therefore,
O Lord, my humble prayer, preserve Your faithful flock You have entrusted to
me, a humble and unworthy servant. Deliver them from the godless and heathen
malice of those who blaspheme against You, destroy trilinguistic heresy, expand
Your Church and keep her firmly united. Make Your chosen people unanimous in
the profession of their Faith and inflame their hearts with the truth of Your
Word. You bestowed on us a great favor by calling us to preach the Gospel of
Your Christ and they (i.e. Methodius and his disciples) are now ready to do
their good work pleasing to You. All those, whom You have placed in my care, I
render up to You, since they are Yours. Guide them by Your strong right hand
and protect them that all may praise and glorify Your Holy Name, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit Amen."
After having exchanged a
kiss of peace with all present, St. Cyril continued: "Blessed be the Lord,
Who did not leave us a prey to our enemies, but breaking their snares has set
us free" (comp. Ps. 123:6-7). Saying these words, he expired.
St. Methodius intended to
return his brother's remains to their native land, as they had promised their
mother, but Pope Adrian II insisted that St. Cyril be buried in Rome. His
relics were placed "on the right hand side of the main altar in the
basilica of St. Clement and soon many miracles were reported." Grateful
people "painted his image over his grave and burned candles in front of
it." In this manner the veneration of St. Cyril began. (The above
description of St. Cyril's death was taken from-the Slavic Life of
Constantine).
With similar reverence
and sobriety the Slavic Life of Methodius describes the death of the older
brother, who ended his earthly pilgrimage on April 6, 885 and was buried in his
cathedral at Velehrad, Moravia.
After having appointed
one of his best disciples, the priest Gorazd, as his successor, St. Methodius
became ill. Nevertheless, on Palm Sunday he went yet to church, where he bade
farewell to the prince, the clergy, and the people. Three days later, uttering
Christ's words: "Lord, into Your hands I commend my soul" (Lk.
23:46), he died surrounded by his clergy.
St. Methodius was buried
with great solemnity in the presence of a great multitude, who accompanied his
bier with the burning candles all the way to his resting place in the
cathedral. Men and women, young and old, poor and rich, free and bonded, widows
and orphans mourned their "Good Shepherd and Teacher" who truly had
been "all things to all men, that he might save all" (comp. I Cor.
9:22).
As in Rome at the grave
of St. Cyril, so also at Methodius' sepulchre in Velehrad many miracles were
wrought. His resting place became the center for numerous pilgrims, who came
from near and far to implore his intercession.
In a short time the
veneration of the saintly Brothers became common among the Slavs. However, the
Byzantine Church, which was their "Alma Mater," never inscribed their
names into the diptychs of her Saints. For their fidelity to Rome, the Church
of Constantinople completely ignored two of her most prominent sons.
Early devotion to SS.
Cyril and Methodius can be proven by Slavic liturgical manuscript
("Sluzhby"), dating from the XI and XII centuries, but preserving
much earlier tradition. They may have originated even at the end of the IXth
century. There are services composed separately as well as some common offices
in honor of St. Cyril and St. Methodius. The Slavists Lavrov, Pavic, and Kostic
analyzed the offices preserved in Codex Zographensis and Menologion of Moscow,
both from the XIIIth century and concluded, that they most probably were
composed by the disciples of SS. Cyril and Methodius.
In the canon of the
office honoring St. Methodius, Professors J. Pavic and D. Kostic independently
discovered an acrostic, the first letters of which formed the sentence: "I
sing of you well, Methodius!-Constantine." Thus the author of the Methodian
Office would be Presbyter Constantine, who had come from Constantinople with
the Brothers. Having been exiled from Moravia after the death of St. Methodius,
he became bishop of Preslav, Bulgaria. The office must have been composed about
833, when Constantine became Bishop. It was written exactly according to the
Byzantine pattern of liturgical veneration of a Saint.
From internal criteria
and the somewhat corrupted acrostic of St. Cyril's office, Professor Kostic
concluded, that it was most probably composed by his disciple Sava, at the end
of the IXth century. The common office, as it can be derived from the internal
criticism of text, was composed either in Bulgaria or Macedonia, during the
tenth or eleventh century.
Parallel with the
Byzantine-Slavonic offices Roman- Glagolitic offices were also composed in
honor of SS. Cyril and Methodius, as early as the Xth century. They contain in
their "Lectionaries" rich historical information on the life and work
of the saintly Brothers. Written in the Glagolitic alphabet, these manuscripts
more faithfully preserved the original text, although the manuscripts are dated
from the XVth century (e.g. Glagolitic Breviary in the Vatican, dated 1465;
another in Moscow's Lenin Museum, dated 1443). These copies were made from the
manuscripts originating in Bohemia and later transferred to Croatia.
Because of Schism and the
Byzantine influence, the Slavs ceased to venerate SS. Cyril and Methodius. It
was only in the middle of the last century, under the influence of the Panslavic
movement, that the Holy Synod of Moscow in 1863 restored the veneration of the
Slavic Saints and reprinted their common office from an old Menea. Their common
feast was established on May 11th, believed to be the day of Methodius' death
(cfr. Bulgakov, Nastolnaja Kniga, Kharkov 1900, p. 167-168).
Pope Leo XIII, in 1880,
ordered the feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius to be celebrated by the Catholic
Church on July 5th. But in 1885, the Holy Synod on the occasion of the
millennial celebrations of St. Methodius' death, issued the following
liturgical decree for the Eastern Rite:
1) Since St. Methodius
died on April 6 and not on May 11, his commemoration will be made in the
Menologion on April 6th.
2) The 14th of February,
the anniversary of St. Cyril's death and the 6th of April, the anniversary of
St. Methodius' death, will be celebrated with the Polijelej.
3) The common
commemoration of SS. Cyril and Methodius will be celebrated on May 11th, as a
feast-day of middle solemnity.
4) The common office will
be taken according to the services reprinted in 1869,'Sluzhba Prepodobnym
Methodiju i Kirillu, Uchitelem Slovianskim' (cfr. Nikolskij, Ustav
Bogosluzhenija, S. Peterburg 1900, p. 524-525)."
These changes were
accepted by the Liturgical Commission in Rome and introduced into our
Menologion, in 1950 (cfr. Chasoslov, Rome-Grotta Ferrata, 1350). They bind us
today. We used to observe a Seminary Day in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on May
11th as the feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius. We only hope that this practice
will be revived again and spread among our people in the United States.
SOURCE : http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/spirit/chap8.htm
Jan Matejko, SS. Cyril and Methodius,1885
SAINTS
CYRIL AND METHODIUS
Cyril and Methodius were
brothers who became evangelists to the Slavic people. There were born in
Thessalonica, Greece, of a well to do family . Cyril went to school in
Constantinople and later became a professor in that city. Methodius was a
governor in Slavic territory. Methodius entered into a monastery. Together they
travelled Russia and worked on converting the Khazars to the Catholic faith.
Cyril and Methodius invented the Cyrillic language which in the language used
in Russia and other Slavic countries. Pope Adrian II (reigned 858-867) approved
their mission among the Slavic people.
Cyril died in Rome on
Febraury 14, 869 after being ordained. Methodius became the archbishop of
Velebrod in the Czech Republic. Methodius had made enemies in Germany due to
the jealousy of German bishops and in 870 Methodius was imprisoned by King
Louis of Germany and was imprisoned for two years before being released through
the intervention of Pope John VIII. Methodius and Cyril tranlated the
Scriptures into the Cyrilic language. The liturgical language of the Slavic
people was created by Cyril and Methodius.
SOURCE : http://jesus-passion.com/saints_cyril_and_methodius.htm
SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library, Sofia, Bulgaria
Cyril,
Monk, and Methodius B (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 Dnieper-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. The travelled 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 was 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 SS. Boniface and Alexus 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 (I don't know which two of the
countries this is now part of).
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, Ukranians, and Bulgars is that designed by the two brothers. Their
feast was extended to the universal Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1880. Methodius
is regarded as a pioneer in the use of the vernacular in the liturgy and as a
patron of ecumenism (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer,
Schamoni, Walsh, White). In art, the two can be identified as an Oriental
bishop and monk (anonymous Russian icon) holding up a church between them.
Sometimes Bulgarian
converts surround them; at other times Methodius holds up a picture of the Last
Judgement (Roeder). Cyril is sometimes portrayed in a long philosopher's coat
(White). They are especially venerated by the Bulgarians (Roeder). Their
patronage includes Europe and the former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia (White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0214.shtml
Statue des Saints Cyrille et Méthode, National Palace of Culture, Sofia
December
22
SS.
Cyril and Methodius, Confessors
CONSTANTINE, who was
afterwards called Cyril, was born at Thessalonica, of an illustrious senatorial
Roman family. He had his education at Constantinople, and by his great progress
in learning deserved to be surnamed The Philosopher; but piety was the most
shining part of his character. He was promoted to the priesthood, and served
the church with great zeal. St. Ignatius being advanced to the patriarchal
dignity in 846, Photius set himself to decry his virtues, and disputed that
every man has two souls. St. Cyril reproved him for this error. Photius
answered him, that he meant not to hurt any one, but to try the abilities and
logic of Ignatius. To which wretched excuse Cyril replied: “You have thrown
your darts into the midst of the crowd, yet pretend no one will be hurt. How
great soever the eyes of your wisdom may be, they are blinded by the smoke of
avarice and envy. Your passion against Ignatius deprived you of your sight.”
This is related by Anastasius the bibliothecarian, and the aforesaid error was condemned
in the eighth general council. 1 The
Chazari at that time desired baptism. These were a tribe of Turci, the most
numerous and powerful nation of the Huns in European Scythia. In the sixth
century they were divided into seven, sometimes into ten tribes, governed by so
many independent chagans, that is, chams or kings. 2 They
drove the Abares, and other nations of the Huns, from the banks of the Ethel,
since called Volga, towards the Danube, in the reigns of the Emperors Mauricius
and Tiberius, who both honoured them with their alliance, and two pompous
embassies, described at large by the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenetta, 3 and
by Theophylactus Simocatta. The chazari, who descended from the Turci, 4 had
possessed themselves of a territory near Germany, upon the banks of the Danube,
which Porphyrogenetta describes in his time to have had the Bulgarians on the
east, the Patzinacitæ (who came also from the Volga) on the north, Moravia on
the west, and on the south the Scrobati, a tribe of Bulgarians settled in the
mountains. This nation, by a solemn embassy, addressed themselves to the
Emperor Michael III. and his pious mother Theodora, begging that some priests
might be sent to instruct them in the faith, the empress sent for St. Ignatius,
the patriarch, and by his advice and authority St. Cyril was charged with this
important mission. This happened in the year 848, as Henschenius and Jos.
Assemani prove; not in 843, as Cohlius writes. The language of the Chazari was
not the Sclavonian, as Henschenius thinks, but that of the Huns or Turci, which
was entirely different, says Assemani. That Cyril understood the Sclavonian,
Greek, and Latin languages, is clear from the two histories of his life. That
for this mission he learned also the Turcic, which was spoken by the Huns,
Chazari, and Tartars, we cannot doubt. In a short time he instructed and
baptized the cham, and his whole nation, and having settled his church under
the care of able pastors, returned to Constantinople, absolutely refusing to
accept any part of the great presents with which the prince would have honoured
him.
The saint’s second
mission was to the Bulgarians, in which his devout brother, Methodius, a monk,
was his chief assistant. The Bulgari were a Scythian nation, not of the Huns,
but of the Sclavi, whose language was quite different from that of the Turci
and all the Huns. They seem to have been originally planted near the Volga, and
to have retired at the same time with the Abaras upon the coming of the
numerous swarm of the Turci from the coasts of the Caspian sea, under their
cham Turaathus, as Evagrius, Theophanes, and Simocatta relate. The Bulgari are
first mentioned near the Danube, about the year 634, when Cobratus their king,
made an alliance with the emperor Heraclius against the Abares, as Theophanes
and the patriarch Nicephorus inform us. The Servii were another nation of the
Sclavi, who accompanied the Bulgari, and founded the kingdom of Servia. The
Bulgari possessed themselves of the ancient Mysia and Dacia, on both sides of
the Danube, now Wallachia, Moldavia, and part of Hungary. They came from the
banks of the Volga, in the reign of Anastasius, and erected here a mighty
kingdom. 5
The first seeds of the
conversion of this barbarous nation were sown by certain Grecian captives taken
at Adrianople, in the reign of the emperor Basil the Macedonian: but this great
work was completed many years after by the following means. Boigoris, king of
the Bulgarians, was inclined to the faith by the assiduous long persuasions of
his sister, who had zealously embraced it at Constantinople, having been taken
captive, and detained a long time in the court of the pious empress Theodora.
But human motives hardened his heart till God was pleased to awaken him by a
more powerful call. The prince, who was passionately fond of hunting, desired
the emperor to procure him a picture which should be a curious hunting piece.
Methodius, according to the custom of many devout monks of that age, employed
himself in drawing pious pictures, and excelled in that art. He was, therefore,
sent to the court of the king, who, having built a new palace, was desirous to
adorn it with paintings. He gave the good monk an order to draw him some piece,
which, by the very sight would strike terror into those that beheld it.
Methodius, thinking nothing more awful than the general judgment, represented
in the most lively colours, and with exquisite art, that awful scene, with
kings, princes, and people standing promiscuously before the throne of the
great Judge, who appeared armed with all the terrors of infinite majesty and
justice, attended by angels: some were placed on the right hand, and others on
the left. The moving sight, and still much more the explication of every part
of this dreadful scene, strongly affected the mind of the king, who, from that
moment, resolved to banish all other suggestions, and to be instructed in the
faith: in which Methodius was ready to assist him. He was baptized by Greek
priests, not at Constantinople, as some mistake, but in Bulgaria: for all our
historians add, that upon the news that the king had been baptized in the
night, the people took arms the next morning, and marched in open rebellion
towards the palace. But the king, taking a little cross which he carried in his
breast, put himself at the head of his guards, and easily defeated the rebels.
At his baptism he took the name of Michael. In a short time his people imitated
his example, and embraced the faith. 6 Pagi
places the baptism of this king in 861. Baronius and Henschenius in 845. Joseph
Assemani in 865. The newly converted king sent ambassadors to Pope Nicholas I.,
with letters and presents, begging instructions what more he ought to do. 7 The
pope, with letters, sent legates to congratulate with him, in 867. The legates,
being bishops, gave the sacrament of confirmation to those who had been
baptized by the Greek priests, though these had before, according to the rite
of their church, anointed them with chrism: which the Latins indeed have always
done, but on the head, in baptism, not on the forehead. The same legates also
taught the Bulgarians to fast on Saturdays: which points gave offence to
Photius, who, in 866, had schismatically usurped the patriarchal see, and
banished St. Ignatius. Some Bulgarians had been baptized in cases of necessity
by laymen, and even by infidels. Pope Nicholas I. declared this baptism to be
good and valid, and answered several other difficulties in the beginning of the
year 867. 8 SS.
Cyril and Methodius had laboured in the conversion of the Bulgarians, though
jointly with several other priests, not only Greeks, but also Armenians: concerning
whose different rites of discipline the Bulgarians consulted Pope Nicholas I.
as he testifies in his answer. Our two saints passed from this country into
Moravia, so called from a river of that name.
The first mention of the
Moravians we find made in 825, by Pope Eugenius II. in an epistle to the bishop
of Faviana, 9 now
called Vienna, anciently Vindobona, in which he appoints the archbishop of Lorc
(which see was since removed to Saltzburg) vicar of the apostolic see in that
nation. The Moravians and Carinthians were Sclavonian nations which had seized
on these countries. The latter were governed by dukes, the former by kings,
having first chosen Samo, a Frenchman from Senogagus, a country near Brussels,
who had valiantly defended them against the Avares or Huns of Pannonia, in 622.
The most powerful of these kings was Swetopelech, whose kingdom extended to
Pomerania, in the end of the seventh age, according to Assemani. Two contending
dukes, Moymar and Priwina, or Prinnina, ruled in Moravia, in 850, though this
country had been certainly subject to Charlemagne, no less than Bavaria and
Pannonia, as Eginhard relates. Moymar being slain, Rastices, his nephew,
received the crown of Moravia from Lewis, king of Germany, in 846. He is by
Henschenius called also Suadopluch, but falsely, as Assemani proves from the
annals of Fulda. This pious prince invited the two missionaries into Moravia,
and was baptized by them, with a considerable part of his subjects, who had
been inclined to think favourably of Christianity by the example of the
Bavarians, whom St. Robert, bishop of Worms, and founder of the archbishopric
of Saltzburg, had begun to convert to the faith. Rastices dying, his nephew and
successor Swadopluch persecuted the church. Augustine, in his catalogue of the
bishops of Olmutz 10 and
Dubravius, 11 says
St. Cyril was ordained first archbishop of the Moravians. 12 This
latter relates that Boriway or Borivorius, duke of Bohemia, was converted by
hearing Cyril and Methodius preach the faith, and, being baptized by the
latter, he called him into Bohemia, where his wife Ludmilla, his children, and
a great part of his people received the sacrament of regeneration, which,
according to Cosmas of Prague, in his chronicle, happened in 894. St. Methodius
founded at Prague the church of our Lady; another of SS. Peter and Paul, and
many others over the kingdom. 13 The
two brothers Cyril and Methodius are styled bishops of the Moravians in
Muscovite calendars, and in the Roman Martyrology. But in the Polish Breviary
and other monuments it is said that Cyril died a monk, and that only Methodius
was consecrated archbishop after his brother’s death. And their second life,
published by Henschenius, says expressly that the two brothers, being called by
Pope Nicholas to Rome, upon their arrival found him dead, and Adrian II. pope:
that Cyril put on the monastic habit, and died soon after in that city, before
he received the episcopal consecration. And Pope John VIII. in 879, wrote as
follows to the Moravians: “Methodius, your archbishop, ordained by our
predecessor Adrian, and sent to you,” &c. Whereas he calls Cyril only the
philosopher, of whom he writes to Count Sfentopulk, “The Sclavonian letters or
alphabet invented by Constantine the philosopher, that the praises of God may
be sung, we justly commend.” 14
From this testimony of
John VIII. and the ancient lives of St. Cyril, it is evident that the
Sclavonian alphabet was invented, not by St. Jerom, but by those two apostles
of that nation: 15 which
is also related by an ancient author, who wrote in 878, published by Freher. 16 Cyril
and Methodius translated the liturgy into the Sclavonian tongue, and instituted
mass to be said in the same. The archbishop of Saltzburg and the archbishop of
Mentz, jointly with their suffragans, wrote two letters, still extant, to pope
John VIII. to complain of this novelty introduced by the archbishop Methodius.
Hereupon the pope, in 878, by two letters, one addressed to Tuvantarus, count
of Moravia, and the other to Methodius, whom he styles archbishop of Pannonia,
cited the latter to come to Rome, forbidding him in the mean time to say mass
in a barbarous tongue. Methodius obeyed, and, repairing to Rome, gave ample
satisfaction to the pope, who confirmed to him the privileges of the
archiepiscopal see of the Moravians, declared him exempt from all dependence on
the archbishop of Saltzburg, and approved for the Sclavonians the use of the
liturgy and breviary in their own tongue, as he testifies in his letter to
Count Sfendopulk, still extant. 17 It
is clear from the letters of Pope John, and from the two lives of this saint,
that this affair had never been discussed either by Pope Nicholas or Pope
Adrian, as Bona and some others have mistaken. The Sclavonian tongue is to this
day used in the liturgy in that church. The Sclavonian missal was revised by an
order of Urban VIII. in 1631, and his brief and approbation are prefixed to
this missal printed at Rome, in 1745, at the expense of the Congregation De
Propaganda Fide. By the same Congregation, in 1688, was printed at Rome, by
order of Innocent XI. the Sclavonian breviary, with the brief of Innocent X.
prefixed, by which it is approved and enjoined. 18 The
Sclavonians celebrate the liturgy in this tongue at Leghorn, Aquileia, and in
other parts of Italy.
When St. Methodius was
returned from Rome he had much to suffer from the invective and opposition of
some neighbouring bishop, perhaps of Passau or Saltzburg, in Bavaria. For St.
Rodbert or Rupert, bishop of Worms, in 699, had converted the Boij or Baivarij,
and having established the archbishopric of Juva, or Saltzburg, returned to Worms,
and there St. Rupert’s successors, especially St. Virgilius, converted the
Carinthians, who were also Sclavonians, 19 and
their successors complained of the erection of the archbishopric of Moravia as
a curtailing of their ancient jurisdiction. But Pope John VIII. supported the
exemption of the archbishopric of Moravia, and justified the conduct of St.
Methodius. Hearing of the persecution he met with from the neighbouring
bishops, he wrote to him in 881, congratulating with him upon the success of
his labours and the purity of his faith, tenderly exhorting him to patience,
and to overcome evil with good, and promising to support him in his dignity,
and in all his undertakings for the honour of God. 20 St.
Methodius planted the faith with such success, that the nations which he
cultivated with his labours became models of fervour and zeal. Boigoris or
Michael, the first Christian king of Bulgaria, renounced his crown about the
year 880, and putting on the monastic habit, led an angelical life on earth.
Stredowski, in his Sacra Moraviæ Historia, styles SS. Cyril and Methodius the
apostles of Moravia, Upper Bohemia, Silesia, Cazria, Croatia, Circassia,
Bulgaria, Bosnia, Russia, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Dacia, Carinthia, Carniola, and
of almost all the Sclavonian nations. St. Methodius lived to an advanced old
age, though the year of his death is not certain. The Greeks and Muscovites
honour St. Cyril on the 14th of February; and St. Methodius on the 11th of May.
The Roman Martyrology joins them both together on the 9th of March. Dubravius
and others attribute to them many miracles; which Baronius also mentions in his
notes on the Roman Martyrology. He adds, that the relics of these two brothers
were lately found under the altar of a very ancient chapel in the church of St.
Clement in Rome, and are still honourably preserved in that church. Octavius
Panciroli, in Thesauris absconditis Almæ Urbis, and Henschenius say the same;
but the latter shows that some small portions have been translated into
Moravia, and are enshrined in the collegiate church at Brune. See the two lives
of SS. Cyril and Methodius, published by Henschenius ad diem 9 Martij. See also
Kohlius in Historia Codicis sacri Sclavonici, and in his Introductio in
Historiam et Rem literariam Sclavorum. Altonaviæ, 1729. Also at length
Stredowski, in Sacra Moraviæ Historia, Kulcynzki, Specimen
Eccl. Ruthenicæ, 1733.
Note 1. Can. 11,
Conc. t. 8, p, 1132. [back]
Note 2. Jos. Assem.
Orig. Eccl. Slav. t. 2 et 3. [back]
Note 3. Pandextæ
Hist. de Legationibus, p. 161. [back]
Note 4. From these
ancient Turci among the Huns in Sythia, some think the Turks among the Oygyzian
Tartars in Asia to be descended; likewise the Tartars of Crimea. But
Constantine Porphyrogenetta (l. de regendo imperio ad Romanum filium) and other
Byzantine writers, call also the Hungari, and other northern nations, whether
of Europe or Asia, by the same name, Turci. [back]
Note 5. Their
kingdom flourished till John, their last king, being slain in 1018, Basil II.
added Bulgaria to the empire: upon which also the Chazari, Patzinacæ, and
Croats voluntarily submitted to him. [back]
Note 6. See the two
lives of St. Cyril, Constantine Porphr. Curopalates, Cedrenus, Zonaras. [back]
Note 7. Anastas.
Bibl. in Nicolao I. et ipse Nicolaus ep. 70. ad Hincmar, &c. [back]
Note 8. See his
Responsa ad Consulta Bulgarorum, Conc. t. 7, p. 1542. [back]
Note 9. See
Hansizius, in Germania Sacra, t. 1, p. 71. [back]
Note 10. Inter rerum
Bohemic Scriptores Hannoviæ, 1632. [back]
Note 11. Hist.
Bohemicæ, l. 4. [back]
Note 12. Moravia
derives its name from the river Mahar, which, crossing this country, falls into
the Danube near Poson, and gave the denomination of Mahar Sclavonians to those
Sclavonians who settled in this province, conquered by Charlemagne, under whose
successors several princes governed it. Bohemia took its name Beheim from the
Boii, and retained it after the Marcomanni had expelled them, as Tacitus
observes; also after a tribe of Sclavonians had expelled the latter, before
Charlemagne’s troops subdued it in 805. See D’Anville, p. 37. The Boii passed
into Boiaria, called in the country Bayer, in modern Latin Bavaria, ib. p. 45.
Poland, called from Pole, a plain or open country, then not reaching
beyond the Vistula, was conquered by Otho I., was subject to Otho III., St.
Henry II., &c. became independent under elective dukes. A tribe of
Sclavonians invaded it; but a very different language, which has several words
derived from the Latin, reigns in Lithuania, Samogitia, and Prussia, which
points out a nation of a different original. [back]
Note 13. The Sclavi,
according to Kohlius, Kulcinius, Hofman, and Jos. Assemani, took their name
from their military achievements or glory. Whence are derived the names Winceslas,
Stanislas, Ladislas, &c. This was a modern name of a Sarmatian people who
dwelt from the Sarmatian sea to the Palus Mæotis, and were in some kind of
subjection to the Huns or Tartars. A numerous troop of those Sclavi swarming
abroad, fell upon the north of Germany, and, expelling the Vandals, a Teutonic
or German nation, &c. settled themselves in Pomerania, now Brandenburg,
&c. Another numerous colony seized on Illyricum, subduing there the Goths,
a German people, and Huns, about the time when Justinian filled the imperial
throne, as Constantine Porphyrogenetta, Procopius, &c. testify. Salona, the
capital of Dalmatia, being destroyed, two new cities arose which disputed the
preeminence, Ragusa and Spalatum; the latter of which sprung and took its name from
the palace of Dioclesian built there. (See Jos. Assemani, t. 3, p. 309.
Bundurius in the history of his own country, Ragusa; and John Lucius, l. de
regno Dalmatiæ et Creatiæ.) The Sclavi also acquired new settlements in Poland
and Bohemia, as the affinity of the languages of those countries demonstrates.
Helmoldus, in his Chronicon Sclavorum, (c. 1,) says, “The Danes and Suenones,
or Swedes, whom we call Northmanni, inhabit the northern coast of the (Baltic)
sea. But the southern coast is peopled by the Sclavi, among whom the first
towards the east are the Russi, then the Poloni, who have on the north the
Pruzi, on the south the Boemi, and those that are called Moravi and Carinthij.”
Assemani demonstrates that the Sclavonians were original inhabitants of part of
Scythia and Sarmatia; but strangers in Germany, Poland, Bohemia, Pannonia,
Dalmatia, and Illyricum. (See his Origines Sclavorum, t. 2 et 3.) The
Patzinacitæ were also Sclavonians by extraction, who, pouring down upon the
borders of the empire, made themselves masters of part of the ancient Dacia,
where they were often troublesome to the Roman and Greek emperors, till they
were subdued by John Comnenus. Their name was by the Greeks softened into
Ulahi, at present Valachi. (See Lucius de regno Dalmatiæ et Croatiæ, l. 6,
c. 5. Allatius, &c.) Many derive the
name Valachi from Italici; because in Valachia and Moldavia
the language is a corrupted Latin like the modern Italian; for this people
descended from Trajan’s broken legions and colonies of Ulpia Trajana and
others, which that prince established here in his war against Decebalus, king
of Dacia, when he built his bridge of wood over the Danube. The Valachian
language has a mixture of Sclavonian and several Hungarian, Greek, and Turkish
words. Zechus and Checus, who founded the Bohemian state about the year 650,
were Sclavonians, and are said by some to have been brothers. [back]
Note 14. Ep. 194, ad
Tuvantarum. [back]
Note 15. Ep. 247, ad
Sfendopulchrum Comitem. [back]
Note 16. Inter
Scriptor. Rerum Bohemic. See De Peysonnel, Observ. Histor. et Geogr.
Paris, 1765. [back]
Note 17. See
Hansizius, t. 1, Germ. Sacr. p. 163, et Assemani, Orig. Eccl.
Sclavor. t. 3, p. 173, et Joan. VIII. ep. 247, ann. 880, ad Sfendopulchrum
Comitem Moraviæ. [back]
Note 18. The
Sclavonian tongue is the most extensive of any extant, except the Arabic. The
Goths and Vandals were both Teutonic or German nations, though originally
settled in the countries beyond the Baltic. Sclavonians have been only
confounded with the Vandals; because they expelled that nation from several
countries which they had conquered, and settled themselves in them. The
Sclavonians were, on the contrary, of a different original, from Sarmatia, on
the coasts of the Sarmatian sea, and the Sinus Codanus, or straits of the Sound
and Belt in Denmark, to the Taurica Chersonesus. For the Finni or Vinni, in
Finland, and the Venedi or Vendi, who, expelling the Vandals, inhabited the
coast of Pomerania as far as Cimbrica Chersonesus, were Sclavonians from
Sarmatia. These latter changed the German, i. e. the Vandalic, names
of places, to substitute others of their own Sarmatian language, as Lubeck,
Rostock, Wismar, Stargradt, &c. In like manner, when they reached
Illyricum, they banished the Latin names of the towns Segeste, Delminium,
Salone, Promona, Terponum, Metulium, &c., to give others of their own,
Zagrabia, Cluz, Camenigrad, Bielograd, Norigrad, Cremen, &c., and in the
rivers Naro and Jaum, which they called Reka and Dobra. Whence it is manifest
that they were strangers, not original inhabitants, in Illyricum and Sclavonia.
In St. Jerom’s time, Latin was the common language in Dalmatia and Illyricum:
and this that father evidently means when he speaks of his own tongue.
The Patainacites
were a nation of the Venedi and Sclavonians, who took their name from the city
of Posnania in Poland, as Leun-Clavius tells us: they were situate between the
Volga and Circassia. About the year 800, the Uzes and Magdiars, from the coast
of the Caspian sea about Usbeck, and the Cazares, from Taurica Chersonesus, all
originally Turks or Huns from Great Tartary or Asiatic Scythia, drove out the
Patzinacitæ, who fled between the Nieper and the Donn, and as far as the
Danube, and penetrated into Walachia, Moldavia, and even Moravia; some time
after, Bosnia became their last asylum, called from them by changing P. into B:
in which province the language is a dialect of the Sclavonian. The Uzes and
Magdiars succeeded them in Moldavia and Walachia, and penetrated into
Transylvania and Hungary. The Uzes are the Housards at this day.
The Bulgarians
from the coast of the Caspian sea founded Great Bulgary on the banks of the
Volga, from which river, or their capital city Bulgar, near its banks, their
name is derived. They seized on Scythia Pontica, (separated by Constantine the Great,)
the second or Oriental Mœsia near the Euxine sea. Upper Mœsia reached on the
south banks of the Danube to the conflux of the Saave; and Dacia comprised the
northern bank of the Danube from the Euxine sea, now Moldavia, Walachia, and
Transylvania. Aurelian gave to the Daci also a territory on the south of the
Danube, between the two Mœsias. These extended southwards to Mount Hæmus and
Romania, which comprised the Thracian provinces of Europa, Hæmi Mons, and the
coast of the Propontis to the Isle of Samothrace. The Bulgarians, who were
Asiatic Scythians, took up the Sclavonian language in Sarmatia. The Servii were
part of the Bulgarians who inhabited the country from the Saave to Nissa, on
the confines of Bulgaria. This name was given them because, soon after their
first settlement, they became subject to the Greek emperors. Bulgary was only
conquered by the Emperor Basil in 1017, and again recovered its liberty.
Amurath I. and Bajazet subjected it to the Turkish empire. Nicopolis, near the
Danube, was its ancient capital; Sophia now enjoys that dignity: as of Servia
Belgrade, i. e. in the Sclavonian language Bel Castle. Before the
Romans distinguished Dacia and Mœsia, these countries about the Danube were
called European Scythia, having been inhabited from Great Scythia in Asia,
which Justin originally confined to the country between the Caspian and Euxine
seas; from the Riphæan mountains to the river Halys, though the name was soon
after extended to all great Tartary. Among these Scythians the Getæ inhabited the
north bank of the Danube, near the Euxine sea, now Bessarabia.
The Sclavonian
tongue is used in the liturgy by the churches of Dalmatia and Illyricum, who
follow the Latin rite; and by those of the Russians, Muscovites, and
Bulgarians, who follow the Greek rite. And by this the Russian and Sclavonian
rites are distinguished. The use of the Sclavonian language in the liturgy and
office of the church is approved in the Synod of Zamosci, in 1720, under
Clement XI., confirmed by Innocent XIII. and by Benedict XIV. Inter Plures.
Const. 98, datâ an. 1744, in his Bullary, (t. 1, p. 376.) The second use of
that tongue both in those Sclavonian churches which follow the Greek, and in
those which follow the Latin rite was approved by John VIII., Urban VIII., Innocent
X., and by Benedict XIV. (Const. 66, Et si dubitare non possumus, an. 1742, in
his Bullar. t. 1, p. 217.) Whence in Moravia, Dalmatia, and Illyricum, in some
places mass and the divine offices are celebrated in the Sclavonian tongue; in
others in Latin, but in several of these, after the gospel has been read in
Latin, it is again read to the people in a Sclavonian translation. (See Jos.
Assemani, Præf. in t. 4, comm. in Kalendaria Univ. t. 4, par. 2, c. 4, p.
4416.) Pope Benedict XIV. confirms this approbation of the Sclavonian liturgy.
(Const. Ex pastoraii munere, anno 1754.) As he had before confirmed the use of
the Greek tongue in the liturgy and divine offices to the Italian Greeks, and
Greek Melchites. Const. 57. Et si Pastoralis, and Const. 87. Demandatum
cœlitus, in his Bullary, (t. 1, pp. 167, 290.) A synod held at Spalatro, under
John, the archbishop of Salona (which see was soon after translated to
Spalatro) and Maynard, the pope’s legate, about the year 1070, forbade the use
of the Sclavonian tongue in the divine office, which decree was confirmed by
Alexander II.; but this must be restrained to the churches lying towards Poland
and Moravia, or it was never carried into execution. Even in the diocess of
Spalatro itself ten chapters and collegiate churches, besides thirty parishes,
celebrate mass and the divine office in the Sclavonian tongue, as we are
assured by Orbinus, (n. 32,) quoted by Caraman, the learned archbishop of
Jadra, (Diss. De Linguâ Sclavicâ literali in divinis celebrandis, n. 32.) The
same is testified by Robert Sala, (Observationes ad Card. Bona Rer. Liturg. l.
1, c. 9, § 4, p. 152,) who adds, that in the aforesaid diocess only eight
parishes use the Latin tongue in the church. Pope Gregory VII. forbade the use
of the Sclavonian tongue in the mass, but to the Bohemians, (l. 7, ep. 2, ad
Uratislaum Bohemiæ Ducem.) The grant of John VIII. for the sacred use of this
tongue was obtained by St. Methodius after the death of his brother Cyril, and
was never extended to Poland and Bohemia. Whence it was prohibited when some
began to introduce it there, probably Moravian priests, whose kingdom was
extinguished by the Turks, that is, Hungarians, in the tenth age, as
Constantine Porphyrogenetta relates.
Cardinal Bona,
among other mistakes on this head, calls this Sclavonian the Illyrican tongue.
(Liturg. l. 1, c. 9, § 4.) Whereas this name can only be given to the modern
dialect of the Sclavonian now in use in that country. The Sclavonian which is
allowed in the liturgy, is the ancient Sclavonian, mother of the modern
dialects, and called the Sclavonian language of the schools or of the learned.
“Idiomate, quod nunc Sclavum literale appellant,” says Benedict XIV., which
Urban VIII. and Innocent X., &c., also express. Caraman, afterwards archbishop
of Jadra, revised the Breviary and Missal of this rite, printed at Rome in
1741, according to the rules of the ancient Sclavonian tongue, of which a
dictionary is extant for the use of their clergy,
called Azbuquidarium, that is, Abecedarium. There is also a grammar
of the same, composed by Smotriski, a Russian Basilian monk, printed at Vilna
in 1619, and at Moscow in 1721, &c. How much the ancient Sclavonian, or
that of the Litterati, differs from all the modern dialects derived from it,
appears from specimens of them exhibited from the different translations of the
Bible given by Le Long, (Bibl. Sacra, t. 1, art. 6, sect. i.–v. p. 435,
&c.) and of the Lord’s Prayer given in the thirteen dialects of the
Sclavonian tongue, (ibid.) and in Reland, (ad calcem partis iii. diss.
Miscell.)
The learned Car.
Stanislas Hosius, bishop of Warmia in Poland, (Dial. De Sacro Vernacule
Legendo,) observes, that though the Bohemians, Moravians, Poles, Muscovites,
Russians, Bosnians, Servians, Croatians, Bulgarians, and some other nations use
the Sclavonian tongue, (which is extended through one quarter of Europe,) yet
these dialects differ so much, that a Pole understands no more of the language
of a Dalmatian than a High German, or a native of Switzerland, understands the
Low Dutch. This author thinks the Sclavonian the most extensive of all
languages; but the Arabic reaches much further, being used not only by the
Christians who inhabit Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, but also by the Mahometans in
Asia, Africa, and a considerable part of Europe. The church, to prevent the
frequent changes to which modern languages are subject, allows in her office
only the Chaldaic or modern Hebrew, which is the ancient sacred language; the
Greek, the language of the philosophers and all the Oriental schools; Latin,
the language of the learned in the West; and the Sclavonian. Herbinius (de
Religiosis Kioviensibus Chryptis) contends that it is a primitive language,
being the mother of the Russian, Muscovite, Polish, Vandalic, Bohemian,
Croatian, Dalmatian, Valachian, and Bulgarian. It is esteemed that it holds a
middle place between the Hebrew and other Oriental languages, and those used in
the West; and it suits all climates. Some add, that it seems most adapted of
all others, to be made an universal language. Some have attributed the
Sclavonian alphabet and translation of the Bible to St. Jerom, but erroneously.
For the Latin was in his time the language of that country; and this St. Jerom
calls his translation into his own tongue, as Banduri (Animadv. in Constant.
Porphyrog. de administ. imper. p. 117,) takes notice. The Sclavonian letters
have no affinity with the Gothic; but were invented by SS. Cyril and Methodius,
who derived them from the large Greek alphabet. The Sclavonians have another
alphabet of smaller characters for common use, particularly in esteem in
Dalmatia, Carniola, and Istria; also a third alphabet almost wholly different,
which they seem to have borrowed from the Croatians and Servians. This last is
falsely ascribed to St. Jerom. (See Cohlij Introductio in Historiam Sclavorum;
Jos. Assemani, l. 4.) Of all the Sclavonian dialects the Polish has been most
cultivated. The Lithuanians are of a very different extraction, as their
language, which is a dialect of the Sarmatian, demonstrates.
N. B.—The
particle ski, ending Polish names, signifies of, and
corresponds to the French De, the German Von, the
Dutch Van. Hence count Jablonski, is count of Jablon;
Stredowski, of Stredow: and to add of or de, as
is done by some, is a solecism. [back]
Note 19. See Hansiz.
German. Sacra, t. 2, p. 15; also Historia Conversionis Baivariorum et
Carantanorum Sclavorum, published by Canisius, t. 2, et Du Chesne,
Script. Franc. t. 2. See likewise the lives of St. Rupert, and the first
archbishops of Saltzburg, published by Canisius, in his Lectiones
Antiquæ. [back]
Note 20. John VIII.
ep. 268, ad Meth. archiep. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume XII: December. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/12/222.html
Santi
Cirillo e Metodio Apostoli degli Slavi
sec.
IX
Cirillo e Metodio,
fratelli nel sangue e nella fede, nati a Tessalonica (attuale Salonicco,
Grecia) all’inizio del sec. IX, evangelizzarono i popoli della Pannonia e della
Moravia. Crearono l’alfabeto slavo e tradussero in questa lingua la Scrittura e
anche i testi della liturgia latina, per aprire ai nuovi popoli i tesori della
parola di Dio e dei Sacramenti. Per questa missione apostolica sostennero
prove e sofferenze di ogni genere. Papa Adriano II accreditò la loro
opera, confermando la lingua slava per il servizio liturgico. Cirillo morì a
Roma il 14 febbraio 869. Giovanni Paolo II con la lettera apostolica
"Egregiae virtutis" del 31 dicembre 1980 li ha proclamati, insieme a
San Benedetto abate, patroni d'Europa. (Mess. Rom.)
Patronato: Europa
Martirologio Romano: Memoria dei santi Cirillo, monaco, e Metodio, vescovo. Questi due fratelli di Salonicco, mandati in Moravia dal vescovo di Costantinopoli Fozio, vi predicarono la fede cristiana e crearono un alfabeto per tradurre i libri sacri dal greco in lingua slava. Venuti a Roma, Cirillo, il cui nome prima era Costantino, colpito da malattia, si fece monaco e in questo giorno si addormentò nel Signore. Metodio, invece, ordinato da papa Adriano II vescovo di Srijem, nell’odierna Croazia, evangelizzò la Pannonia senza lesinare fatiche, dovendo sopportare molti dissidi rivolti contro di lui, ma venendo sempre sostenuto dai Romani Pontefici; a Staré Mešto in Moravia, il 6 aprile, ricevette il compenso delle sue fatiche.
Vai alla scheda di:
- San
CIRILLO, Monaco
- San
METODIO, Vescovo
Santi CIRILLO e METODIO,
patroni d’Europa
Non pochi sono i casi di fratelli venerati come santi dalla Chiesa, fra i quali
vogliamo ricordare in particolare i patriarchi Mosè ed Aronne, gli apostoli
Pietro ed Andrea, i martiri Cosma e Damiano, i protomartiri russi Boris e Gleb,
Sant’Annibale Maria ed il Servo di Dio Francesco Maria Di Francia, San Paolo
della Croce ed il Venerabile Giovanni Battista Danei, i Beati Giovanni Maria e
Luigi Boccardo, i Venerabili Antonio e Marco Cavanis, i Servi di Dio Flavio e
Gedeone Corrà. Papa Giovanni Paolo II, il 31 dicembre 1980 con la lettera
apostolica "Egregiae virtutis" volle porre due fratelli, Cirillo e
Metodio, quali patroni d’Europa insieme con San Benedetto, in quanto
evangelizzatori dei popoli slavi e dunque della parte orientale del vecchio continente.
Trattasi di due santi mai canonizzati dai papi, dei quali soltanto nel 1880 il
pontefice Leone XIII aveva esteso il culto alla Chiesa universale.
Originari di Tessalonica, città greca a quel tempo facente parte dell'Impero Bizantino, Cirillo e Metodio evangelizzarono in particolar modo la Pannonia e la Moravia nel IX secolo. Poco notizie ci sono state però tramandate circa Cirillo e suo fratello Metodio. Sappiamo che Cirillo in realtà si chiamava Costantino ed adottò in seguito il nome Cirillo come monaco, verso il termine della sua vita. Ulteriori informazioni circa le loro attività sono pervenute sino a noi grazie a due “Vitæ”, redatte in paleoslavo, nota anche come “Leggende Pannoniche”. Si conservano inoltre le lettere che l’allora pontefice indirizzò a Metodio e la “Leggenda italica”, scritta in latino. Quest’ultima narra che a Velletri il vescovo Gauderico, devoto del papa San Clemente, le cui reliquie furono traslate in Italia proprio da Cirillo, volle redarre un resoconto sulla vita di quest'ultimo. A causa della innegabile scarsità di fonti storicamente attendibili, sono fiorite numerose leggende attorno alle figure di Cirillo e Metodio.
Nativi di Salonicco (in slavo Solun), rampolli di una nobile famiglia greca, loro padre Leone era drungario della città, posizione che gli conseguiva un elevato status sociale. Secondo la “Vita Cyrilli”, quest’ultimo era il più giovane di sette fratelli e già in tenera età pare avesse espresso il desiderio di dedicarsi interamente al perseguimento della sapienza. In giovane età si trasferì a Costantinopoli, ove intraprese gli studi teologici e filosofici. La tradizione vuole che tra i suoi precettori vi fu il celebre patriarca Fozio ed Anastasio Bibliotecario riferisce dell'amicizia che intercorreva fra i due, così come di una disputa dottrinaria verificatasi tra loro. La curiosità tipica di Cirillo dimostrava il suo eclettismo: egli coltivò infatti nozioni di astronomia, geometria, retorica e musica, ma fu nel campo della linguistica che poté dar prova del suo genio. Oltre al greco, Cirillo parlava infatti correntemente anche il latino, l'arabo e l'ebraico. Da Costantinopoli, l'imperatore inviò i due fratelli in varie missioni, anche presso gli Arabi: fu durante la missione presso i Càsari che Cirillo rinvenne le reliquie del papa San Clemente, un Vangelo ed un salterio scritti in lettere russe, come narra la “Vita Methodii”. La missione più importante che venne affidata a Cirillo e Metodio fu quella presso le popolazioni slave della Pannonia e della Moravia.
Il sovrano di Moravia, Rostislav, poi morto martire e venerato come santo, chiese all'imperatore bizantino di inviare missionari nelle sue terre, celando dietro motivazioni religiose anche il fattore politico della preoccupante presenza tedesca nel suo regno. Cirillo accettò volentieri l’invito e, giunto nella sua nuova terra di missione, incominciò a tradurre brani del Vangelo di Giovanni inventando un nuovo alfabeto, detto glagolitico (da “глаголь” che significa “parola”), oggi meglio noto come alfabeto cirillico. Probabilmente già da tempo si era cimentato nell’elaborazione di un alfabeto per la lingua slava. Non tardarono però a manifestarsi contrasti con il clero tedesco, primo evangelizzatore di quelle terre. Nel 867 Cirillo e Metodio si recarono a Roma per far ordinare sacerdoti i loro discepoli, ma forse la loro visita fu dettata da un’esplicita convocazione da parte del papa Adriano II insospettito dall’amicizia tra Cirillo e l’eretico Fozio. Ad ogni modo il pontefice riservò loro un'accoglienza positiva, ordinò prete Metodio ed approvò le loro traduzioni della Bibbia e dei testi liturgici in lingua slava. Inoltre Cirillo gli fece dono delle reliquie di San Clemente, da lui ritrovate in Crimea. Durante la permanenza nella Città Eterna, Cirillo si ammalò e morì: era il 14 febbraio 869. Venne sepolto proprio presso la basilica di San Clemente.
Metodio ritornò poi in Moravia, ma durante un successivo viaggio a Roma venne consacrato vescovo ed assegnato alla sede di Sirmiun (odierna Sremska Mitroviča). Quando in Moravia a Rostislav successe il nipote Sventopelk, favorevole alla presenza tedesca nel regno, iniziò così la persecuzione dei discepoli di Cirillo e Metodio, visti come portatori di un'eresia. Lo stesso Metodio fu detenuto per due anni in Baviera ed infine morì presso Velehrad, nel sud della Moravia, il 6 aprile 885. I suoi discepoli vennero incarcerati o venduti come schiavi a Venezia. Una parte di essi riuscì a fuggire nei Balcani e non a caso in Bulgaria si venerano come Sette Apostoli della nazione proprio Cirillo, Metodio ed i loro discepoli Clemente, Nahum, Saba, Gorazd ed Angelario, comunemente festeggiati al 27 luglio. Il Martyrologium Romanum ed il calendario liturgico dedicano invece ai fratelli Cirillo e Metodio la festa del 14 febbraio, nell’anniversario della morte del primo.
Se l’immane opera dei due fratelli di Tessalonica fu cancellata in Moravia,
come detto trovò fortuna e proseguimento in terra bulgara, anche grazie al
favore del sovrano San Boris Michele I, considerato “isapostolo”, che abbracciò
il cristianesimo e ne fece la religione nazionale. La vastissima attività dei
discepoli di Cirillo e Metodio in questo paese diede origine alla letteratura
bulgara, ponendo così le basi della cultura scritta dei nuovi grandi stati russi.
Il cirillico avvicinò moltissimo i bulgari e tutti i popoli slavi al mondo
greco-bizantino: questo alfabeto si componeva di trentotto lettere, delle quali
ben ventiquattro prese dall’alfabeto greco, mentre le altre appositamente
ideate per la fonetica slava. Ciò comportò una grande facilità nel trapiantare
in slavo l’enorme tradizione letteraria greca. La nuova lingua soppiantò
ovunque il glagolitico e rese celebre sino ai giorni nostri il nome del suo
ideatore.
DALLA “VITA” IN LINGUA SLAVA DI COSTANTINO
Costantino Cirillo, stanco dalle molte fatiche, cadde malato e sopportò il
proprio male per molti giorni. Fu allora ricreato da una visione di Dio, e
cominciò a cantare così: Quando mi dissero: «andremo alla casa del Signore», il
mio spirito si è rallegrato e il mio cuore ha esultato (cfr. Sal 121, 1).
Dopo aver indossato le sacre vesti, rimase per tutto il giorno ricolmo di gioia e diceva: «Da questo momento non sono più servo né dell'imperatore né di alcun uomo sulla terra, ma solo di Dio onnipotente. Non esistevo, ma ora esisto ed esisterò in eterno. Amen».
Il giorno dopo vestì il santo abito monastico e aggiungendo luce a luce si impose il nome di Cirillo. Così vestito rimase cinquanta giorni.
Giunta l'ora della fine e di passare al riposo eterno, levate le mani a Dio, pregava tra le lacrime, dicendo: «Signore, Dio mio, che hai creato tutti gli ordini angelici e gli spiriti incorporei, che hai steso i cieli e resa ferma la terra e hai formato dal nulla tutte le cose che esistono, tu che ascolti sempre coloro che fanno la tua volontà e ti temono e osservano i tuoi precetti; ascolta la mia preghiera e conserva nella fede il tuo gregge, a capo del quale mettesti me, tuo servo indegno ed inetto.
Liberali dalla malizia empia e pagana di quelli che ti bestemmiano; fa' crescere di numero la tua Chiesa e raccogli tutti nell'unità.
Rendi santo, concorde nella vera fede e nella retta confessione il tuo popolo, e ispira nei cuori la parola della tua dottrina. E' tuo dono infatti l'averci scelti a predicare il Vangelo del tuo Cristo, a incitare i fratelli alle buone opere e a compiere quanto ti è gradito.
Quelli che mi hai dato, te li restituisco come tuoi; guidali ora con la tua forte destra, proteggili all'ombra delle tue ali, perché tutti lodino e glorifichino il tuo nome di Padre e Figlio e Spirito Santo. Amen».
Avendo poi baciato tutti col bacio santo, disse: «Benedetto Dio, che non ci ha dato in pasto ai denti dei nostri invisibili avversari, ma spezzò la loro rete e ci ha salvati dalla loro voglia di mandarci in rovina».
E così, all'età di quarantadue anni, si addormentò nel Signore.
Il papa comandò che tutti i Greci che erano a Roma e i Romani si riunissero
portando ceri e cantando e che gli dedicassero onori funebri non diversi da
quelli che avrebbero tributato al papa stesso; e così fu fatto.
INNO (dalla Liturgia delle Ore)
Risuoni nella Chiesa
da oriente ad occidente
l'ecumenica lode
di Cirillo e Metodio.
Maestri di Sapienza
e padri nella fede
splendono come fiaccole
sul cammino dei popoli.
Con la potenza inerme
della croce di Cristo
raccolsero le genti
nella luce del Regno.
Nella preghiera unanime
delle lingue diverse
si rinnovò il prodigio
della Chiesa nascente.
O Dio trino e unico,
a te l'incenso e il canto,
l'onore e la vittoria,
a te l'eterna gloria. Amen.
ORAZIONE
O Dio, ricco di misericordia,
che nella missione apostolica dei santi fratelli Cirillo e Metodio
hai donato ai popoli slavi la luce del Vangelo,
per la loro comune intercessione fa' che tutti gli uomini accolgano la tua
parola
e formino il tuo popolo santo concorde nel testimoniare la vera fede.
Per il nostro Signore Gesù Cristo, tuo Figlio, che è Dio,
e vive e regna con te, nell’unità dello Spirito Santo,
per tutti i secoli dei secoli. Amen.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/22825
San
Cirillo Monaco, apostolo degli Slavi
Tessalonica
(attuale Salonicco), Grecia, inizio sec. IX - Roma, 14 febbraio 869
Cirillo e Metodio, fratelli nel sangue e nella fede,
nati a Tessalonica (attuale Salonicco, Grecia) all’inizio del sec. IX,
evangelizzarono i popoli della Pannonia e della Moravia. Crearono l’alfabeto
slavo e tradussero in questa lingua la Scrittura e anche i testi della liturgia
latina, per aprire ai nuovi popoli i tesori della parola di Dio e dei
Sacramenti. Per questa missione apostolica sostennero prove e sofferenze di
ogni genere. Papa Adriano II accreditò la loro opera, confermando la
lingua slava per il servizio liturgico. Cirillo morì a Roma il 14 febbraio 869.
Giovanni Paolo II con la lettera apostolica "Egregiae virtutis" del
31 dicembre 1980 li ha proclamati, insieme a San Benedetto abate, patroni
d'Europa. (Mess. Rom.)
Patronato: Europa, Ecumenisti
Etimologia: Cirillo = che ha forza, signore, dal greco
Martirologio Romano: Memoria dei santi Cirillo, monaco, e Metodio, vescovo. Questi due fratelli di Salonicco, mandati in Moravia dal vescovo di Costantinopoli Fozio, vi predicarono la fede cristiana e crearono un alfabeto per tradurre i libri sacri dal greco in lingua slava. Venuti a Roma, Cirillo, il cui nome prima era Costantino, colpito da malattia, si fece monaco e in questo giorno si addormentò nel Signore. Metodio, invece, ordinato da papa Adriano II vescovo di Srijem, nell’odierna Croazia, evangelizzò la Pannonia senza lesinare fatiche, dovendo sopportare molti dissidi rivolti contro di lui, ma venendo sempre sostenuto dai Romani Pontefici; a Staré Mešto in Moravia, il 6 aprile, ricevette il compenso delle sue fatiche.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/22800
A
depiction of the St. Methodius. St. Naum's church in Ohrid.
Prikaz
svetog Metoda. Crkva sv. Nauma u Ohridu.
San Metodio Vescovo,
apostolo degli Slavi
Tessalonica (attuale
Salonicco), Grecia, inizio sec. IX - Velehrad, Moravia, 6 aprile 885
Cirillo e Metodio,
fratelli nel sangue e nella fede, nati a Tessalonica (attuale Salonicco,
Grecia) all’inizio del sec. IX, evangelizzarono i popoli della Pannonia e della
Moravia. Crearono l’alfabeto slavo e tradussero in questa lingua la Scrittura e
anche i testi della liturgia latina, per aprire ai nuovi popoli i tesori della
parola di Dio e dei Sacramenti. Per questa missione apostolica sostennero prove
e sofferenze di ogni genere. Papa Adriano II accreditò la loro opera,
confermando la lingua slava per il servizio liturgico. Metodio, consacrato
vescovo di Sirmio (Jugoslavia) e nominato legato presso gli Slavi, morì a
Velehrad (Cecoslovacchia) il 6 aprile 885. Giovanni Paolo II con la
lettera apostolica "Egregiae virtutis" del 31 dicembre 1980 li ha
proclamati, insieme a San Benedetto abate, patroni d'Europa. (Mess. Rom.)
Patronato: Europa,
Ecumenisti
Emblema: Bastone
pastorale
Martirologio Romano: Memoria dei santi Cirillo, monaco, e Metodio, vescovo. Questi due fratelli di Salonicco, mandati in Moravia dal vescovo di Costantinopoli Fozio, vi predicarono la fede cristiana e crearono un alfabeto per tradurre i libri sacri dal greco in lingua slava. Venuti a Roma, Cirillo, il cui nome prima era Costantino, colpito da malattia, si fece monaco e in questo giorno si addormentò nel Signore. Metodio, invece, ordinato da papa Adriano II vescovo di Srijem, nell’odierna Croazia, evangelizzò la Pannonia senza lesinare fatiche, dovendo sopportare molti dissidi rivolti contro di lui, ma venendo sempre sostenuto dai Romani Pontefici; a Staré Mešto in Moravia, il 6 aprile, ricevette il compenso delle sue fatiche.
(6 aprile: A Staré Mešto in Moravia, nei confini dell’odierna Slovacchia, anniversario della morte di san Metodio, vescovo, la cui memoria si celebra insieme a quella del fratello san Cirillo il 14 febbraio).
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/22850
GRANDE MUNUS
Venerabili Fratelli,
salute e Apostolica Benedizione.
Il grande compito di
diffondere il nome cristiano, affidato in modo particolare al Beato Pietro,
Principe degli Apostoli, ed ai suoi successori, spinse i Pontefici Romani a
mandare annunziatori del Santo Vangelo in tempi diversi ai vari popoli della
terra, come era richiesto dalle circostanze e dalla volontà del misericordioso
Iddio. Pertanto, come destinarono Agostino curatore di anime presso gli
Inglesi, Patrizio presso gli Irlandesi, Bonifacio presso i Germani, Villebrordo
presso i Frisii, i Batavi e i Belgi, ed altri sovente presso altri popoli, così
concessero a Cirillo e a Metodio, uomini santissimi, di esercitare l’apostolico
ministero presso i popoli Slavi, i quali, grazie alla loro premura e al loro
impegno, conobbero la luce del Vangelo, e da una vita selvatica furono condotti
ad una società umana e civile.
Se gli Slavi, memori dei
benefici, non cessarono mai di celebrare Cirillo e Metodio, Apostoli
nobilissimi, con non minore studio la Chiesa Romana li ebbe sempre in grande
culto, rendendo onore all’uno e all’altro in molte occasioni mentre vissero, e
custodendo le ceneri di uno di essi quando morì.
Fin dall’anno 1863 agli
Slavi della Boemia, Moravia e Croazia, i quali solevano festeggiare ogni anno
Cirillo e Metodio il 9 marzo, fu concesso dalla benignità di Pio IX, Nostro
Predecessore di immortale memoria, di celebrare per l’avvenire quella festa il 5
luglio, e di onorare la memoria di Cirillo e Metodio con la sacra officiatura.
Né passò molto tempo che, all’epoca del grande Concilio Vaticano, molti Vescovi
supplicarono questa Sede Apostolica affinché il culto di quei Santi e la
decretata solennità si estendessero a tutta la Chiesa. Ma poiché la proposta
fino ad oggi non ha avuto seguito, ed essendosi in quelle contrade mutato lo
stato della cosa pubblica, Ci parve giunta l’opportunità di soddisfare i popoli
Slavi, della cui incolumità e salute siamo grandemente solleciti. Dunque,
poiché non possiamo permettere che in alcuna cosa venga meno ad essi la Nostra
paterna carità, vogliamo ampiamente estendere ed accrescere il culto religioso
di quegli uomini santissimi, i quali, come una volta, spargendo il seme della
fede cattolica tra le genti Slave, le richiamarono dalla morte alla salvezza,
così ora col celeste loro patrocinio le difenderanno validamente. E perché più
chiaramente emerga quali sono questi personaggi che proponiamo alla venerazione
ed al culto dell’orbe cattolico, Ci piace narrare brevemente la storia delle
loro gesta.
Cirillo e Metodio,
fratelli germani, nati a Tessalonica da nobilissima famiglia, in tenera età si
trasferirono a Costantinopoli per imparare le umane discipline nella principale
città dell’Oriente. Né stette nascosta la scintilla dell’ingegno, che già fin
d’allora splendeva nei due giovanetti; infatti l’uno e l’altro impararono
moltissimo e rapidamente, soprattutto Cirillo, il quale conseguì nelle scienze
tale lode che in segno di onore singolare fu chiamato Filosofo. Non andò molto
che Metodio si fece monaco. Cirillo fu poi ritenuto degno dall’imperatrice
Teodora, su consiglio del Patriarca Ignazio, di istruire nella fede cristiana i
Khazari, che abitavano oltre il Chersoneso, i quali avevano chiesto a
Costantinopoli ministri idonei nelle cose sacre. Egli accettò tale incarico di
buon grado. Pertanto, recatosi in Crimea tra i Tauri, studiò per qualche tempo,
come alcuni affermano, la lingua di quel popolo, e nello stesso tempo gli avvenne,
e fu ottimo auspicio, di trovare le ceneri di San Clemente I P. M., che non gli
fu difficile riconoscere, sia per il ricordo degli anziani, sia per l’ancora
con la quale quel fortissimo martire fu gettato in mare per ordine
dell’imperatore Traiano e, come si sapeva, successivamente tumulato.
Impadronitosi di questo
tesoro così prezioso, penetrò nelle città e nelle case dei Khazari; i quali,
istruiti dai suoi precetti e mossi dalla grazia di Dio, distrutte le tante
superstizioni, furono da lui condotti a Gesù Cristo. Ottimamente costituita
questa nuova comunità cristiana, egli diede una memorabile prova di temperanza
e di carità, rifiutando tutti i doni offerti dagli indigeni, eccettuato
l’affrancamento degli schiavi che professassero il cristianesimo. Poscia
Cirillo ritornò rapidamente a Costantinopoli e si rinchiuse nel monastero di
Policrone, nel quale Metodio si era già ritirato.
Frattanto la fama delle
cose da lui felicemente operate presso i Khazari era giunta a Ratislao,
Principe della Moravia. Questi, mosso dall’esempio dei Khazari, chiese
all’imperatore Michele III alcuni operai evangelici di Costantinopoli; né ebbe
difficoltà ad ottenere quello che richiedeva. Pertanto la virtù nobilitata da
tanti fatti e la manifesta volontà che Cirillo e Metodio avevano di giovare al
prossimo fecero sì che essi venissero destinati alla missione nella Moravia.
Mentre viaggiavano per la Bulgaria, già iniziata alla religione cristiana, in
nessun luogo si lasciarono sfuggire l’opportunità di diffondere la religione.
Incontrati ai confini del Principato da gran moltitudine di popolo, furono
ricevuti in Moravia da moltissima disponibilità e con straordinaria gioia. Né
tardarono un momento dall’intraprendere ad educare gli animi nelle dottrine
cristiane ed a confortarli con la speranza dei beni celesti. Ciò fecero con
tanta efficacia e con tanto operoso impegno, che in poco tempo il popolo Moravo
abbracciò con tutto l’animo la religione di Gesù Cristo.
A tale opera non poco
giovò la conoscenza della lingua Slava, che Cirillo aveva imparato prima, e
molto servirono i libri del nuovo e dell’antico Testamento che egli aveva
tradotto nella lingua di quel popolo. Per la qual cosa tutta la nazione degli
Slavi deve moltissimo a questo uomo, poiché da lui ricevette non solo il
beneficio della fede cristiana, ma anche quello della civiltà: infatti Cirillo
e Metodio trovarono per primi quelle lettere con le quali è rappresentata ed
espressa la lingua Slava, della quale, non a torto, sono ritenuti i padri.
Da così lontane e separate
province la fama aveva recato a Roma il felice annunzio di quelle imprese. E
avendo Nicolò I, Pontefice Massimo, ordinato ai due ottimi fratelli di venire a
Roma, questi senza indugio obbedirono e, messisi in viaggio per Roma, portarono
con sé le reliquie di San Clemente. A tale notizia, Adriano II, che era
succeduto al defunto Nicolò, accompagnato dal Clero e dal popolo per
testimoniare un grande onore, uscì incontro agli illustri ospiti. Il corpo di
San Clemente, glorificato da improvvisi prodigi, con solenne pompa fu portato
nella Basilica innalzata al tempo di Costantino sui ruderi della casa paterna
del coraggiosissimo martire. Poi Cirillo e Metodio, presente il Clero, resero
conto al Pontefice Massimo dell’Apostolica missione alla quale santamente e
laboriosamente si erano dati. E poiché fu loro contestato che avevano operato
contro il costume degli antichi e contro regole santissime, in quanto avevano
usato la lingua Slava negli uffici sacri, addussero ragioni così forti e sicure
che il Pontefice e tutto il Clero li lodarono ed approvarono.
Allora ambedue, dopo aver
fatto, secondo la formula cattolica, la professione di fede e aver giurato che
si sarebbero mantenuti fedeli al Beato Pietro e ai Romani Pontefici, furono
creati e consacrati Vescovi dallo stesso Adriano, e molti loro discepoli furono
iniziati a vari gradi dei sacri Ordini.
Era però divinamente
stabilito che Cirillo finisse in Roma il corso della sua vita il 14 febbraio
869, maturo più nella virtù che negli anni. Furono fatti pubblici funerali, e
con magnifico apparato, quello stesso che si usa per i Romani Pontefici; fu
posto con ogni onore in quel sepolcro che Adriano aveva preparato per se
stesso. Il sacro corpo del defunto, poiché il popolo romano non permise che si
trasportasse a Costantinopoli, benché ne facesse accorata domanda la madre, fu
portato alla Chiesa di San Clemente e sepolto vicino alle ceneri di questi, che
Cirillo aveva per tanti anni custodite con venerazione. E mentre si portava la
sua salma per la città, tra il canto solenne dei salmi, con una pompa piuttosto
di trionfo che di funerale, parve che il popolo romano volesse tributare
all’uomo santissimo un saggio degli onori celesti.
Ciò fatto, Metodio, per
ordine e sotto gli auspici del Pontefice Massimo, ritornò Vescovo in Moravia,
ad esercitarvi i consueti uffici del ministero apostolico. In quella provincia,
divenuto con tutto l’animo un esemplare del gregge, si diede tutto
agl’interessi cattolici con uno zelo che cresceva di giorno in giorno;
resistette fortemente a faziosi innovatori, perché con insane opinioni non
guastassero il nome cattolico; istruì nella religione il principe Suentopolco
che era succeduto a Ratislao; ammonì il medesimo, che non curava il proprio
dovere, lo riprese e infine lo punì con l’interdetto da ogni cosa sacra. Per
tali motivi si attirò l’odio dell’empio e impurissimo tiranno, dal quale fu
cacciato in esilio. Ma richiamato dopo poco tempo, con opportune esortazioni
ottenne che il Principe desse segno di ravvedimento e comprendesse il bisogno di
riacquistare con un nuovo tenore di vita l’antico comportamento. È poi
meraviglioso che la vigilante carità di Metodio, superati i confini della
Moravia, come già ai tempi di Cirillo era arrivata ai Croati e ai Serbi, così
ora abbracciava gli Ungari, il cui Principe, di nome Cocelo, egli istruì nella
religione cattolica e mantenne nella carica; i Bulgari, i quali unitamente al
loro re Bogoris confermò nella fede cristiana; i Dalmati, con i quali divideva
e ai quali comunicava i celesti carismi, e i Carinzi, per i quali molto operò
al fine di condurli alla conoscenza ed al culto dell’unico vero Dio.
Ma ciò gli procurò dei
guai. Infatti, alcuni della nuova comunità cristiana, portando invidia ai fatti
preclari e alla virtù di Metodio, intervennero presso Giovanni VIII, successore
di Adriano, accusando lui, innocente, di sospetta fede e di violata tradizione
dei maggiori, i quali nelle sacre funzioni avevano solitamente usato soltanto
la lingua latina o la greca, e nessun’altra. Allora il Pontefice, assai preoccupato
dell’integrità della fede e dell’antica disciplina, comandò a Metodio di
recarsi a Roma per difendersi e liberarsi delle accuse. Questi, sempre pronto a
obbedire e confortato dalla testimonianza della propria coscienza, nell’anno
880, presentatosi dinanzi a Giovanni, ad alcuni Vescovi ed al Clero urbano,
facilmente provò che egli aveva sempre professato ed insegnato quella fede che,
in presenza di Adriano e con la sua approvazione, aveva dichiarato e confermato
con giuramento presso il sepolcro del Principe degli Apostoli. Quanto alla
lingua Slava, usata nelle sacre funzioni, lo aveva fatto per giuste ragioni,
con il consenso dello stesso Pontefice Adriano, non contraddicendovi le Sacre
Scritture. Con tale discorso egli si liberò da ogni sospetto, tanto che il
Pontefice subito lo abbracciò, e di buon grado gli conferì la potestà
arcivescovile e approvò la sua missione nella Slavonia.
Inoltre, scelti alcuni
Vescovi che dovevano dipendere da Metodio, e della cui opera egli si sarebbe
giovato nell’amministrazione delle cose sacre, il Pontefice, munitolo di
lettere commendatizie, lo rimandò in Moravia con pieni poteri. Tutte queste
cose il Sommo Pontefice volle poi confermare con lettere mandate a Metodio,
quando di nuovo egli dovette subire l’invidia dei malevoli.
Pertanto, sicuro
nell’animo, unito con strettissimo vincolo di carità e di fede al Sommo
Pontefice e alla Chiesa Romana, Metodio perseverò con sempre maggior impegno ad
espletare la missione assegnatagli; né il positivo frutto della sua opera si
fece a lungo desiderare. Infatti, avendo dapprima egli stesso condotto alla
fede cattolica Borzivoio, Principe dei Boemi, e poscia Ludmilla, sua moglie,
con l’aiuto di un sacerdote, in breve ottenne che fra quella gente il nome
cristiano si divulgasse assai e per ogni dove.
Nello stesso tempo si
adoperò per introdurre la luce del Vangelo nella Polonia, dove entrò e dove
fondò la sede episcopale di Leopoli, dopo avere attraversato la Galizia.
Successivamente, come alcuni raccontano, recatosi nella Moscovia propriamente
detta, fondò il trono pontificale di Kiev. Con questi allori non certo caduchi,
tornò ai suoi in Moravia. Sentendo avvicinarsi la morte, scelse il proprio
successore, e dopo avere esortato alla virtù il Clero e il popolo con le ultime
raccomandazioni, placidamente uscì da quella vita che per lui era stata la via
verso il cielo.
Come Roma pianse Cirillo,
così la Moravia pianse la morte di Metodio; celebrò con dolore la sua perdita e
onorò in tutti i modi i suoi funerali.
Di questi fatti, Venerabili
Fratelli, torna a Noi graditissimo il ricordo; Ci commuoviamo non poco quando
osserviamo splendidamente iniziata fin da tempi remoti l’unione delle genti
Slave con la Chiesa Romana.
Effettivamente questi due
propagatori del nome cristiano, dei quali abbiamo parlato, se ne andarono da
Costantinopoli presso popoli pagani, tuttavia fu necessario che la loro
missione fosse intieramente comandata da questa Sede Apostolica, centro
dell’unità cattolica, o regolarmente e santamente approvata, come fu fatto più volte.
Infatti qui, nella città di Roma, essi resero ragione dell’opera intrapresa e
risposero alle accuse; qui, presso i sepolcri di Pietro e Paolo effettuarono il
giuramento della fede cattolica e ricevettero la consacrazione episcopale,
insieme con il potere di costituire la sacra gerarchia, conservando la
diversità degli Ordini.
Infine, qui fu
autorizzato l’uso della lingua Slava nei santissimi riti, e quest’anno si
compie il decimo secolo dacché Giovanni VIII, Pontefice Massimo, scrisse a
Suentopolco, Principe della Moravia, queste parole: "Approviamo
giustamente che le lodi dovute a Dio risuonino nella lingua slava, e comandiamo
che nella medesima lingua si narrino gli elogi e le opere di Gesù Cristo Signor
Nostro. Né alcunché si oppone alla sana fede o alla dottrina, sia che si
cantino le messe nella stessa lingua slava, si che si leggano il santo Vangelo
o le lezioni divine del Nuovo e Antico Testamento, bene tradotte ed
interpretate, e si salmeggi nelle altre ore della ufficiatura". Dopo molte
vicende, Benedetto XIV sanzionò tale consuetudine con lettera apostolica del 25
agosto 1754. I Pontefici Romani, poi, tutte le volte che furono richiesti di
aiuto dai Principi che comandavano sui popoli convertiti al cristianesimo per
opera di Cirillo e Metodio, non permisero mai che si avesse a desiderare la
loro benignità nel soccorrere, la loro umanità nell’istruire, la loro
benevolenza nel consigliare, la loro buona volontà in tutte le cose che
potevano. Fra gli altri, Ratislao, Suentopolco, Cocelo, santa Ludmilla, Bogoris
sperimentarono, secondo le circostanze e il tempo, l’insigne carità dei Nostri
Predecessori.
Né con la morte di
Cirillo e di Metodio cessò o si indebolì la paterna sollecitudine dei Romani
Pontefici per i popoli Slavi, ma sempre rifulse nel tutelare presso di loro la
santità della religione e nel conservare la prosperità pubblica. Infatti Nicolò
I mandò da Roma, presso i Bulgari, sacerdoti che istruissero il popolo, e i
Vescovi di Populonia e di Porto perché ordinassero quella nuova comunità di
cristiani. Del pari, a proposito delle frequenti controversie dei Bulgari
intorno al diritto sacro diede amorevolissime risposte, nelle quali anche
coloro che per nulla sono favorevoli alla Chiesa Romana, lodano ed ammirano la
somma prudenza. E dopo la luttuosa calamità dello scisma, è merito di Innocenzo
III l’avere riconciliato con la Chiesa Cattolica i Bulgari; e poi di Gregorio
IX, di Innocenzo IV, di Nicolò IV, di Eugenio IV di averli mantenuti nella
compiuta riconciliazione. Similmente verso i popoli della Bosnia e
dell’Erzegovina, ingannati dal contagio di prave opinioni, in modo insigne
risplendette la carità dei Nostri Predecessori, cioè di Innocenzo III e di
Innocenzo IV, i quali si adoperarono per sradicare l’errore dagli animi; di
Gregorio IX, Clemente VI e Pio II, che si adoperarono per fermare stabilmente
in quelle regioni i gradi della sacra gerarchia.
Né si deve credere che
Innocenzo III, Nicolò IV, Benedetto XI e Clemente V abbiano rivolto piccola od
ultima parte delle loro cure ai Serbi, dai quali tennero provvidissimamente
lontane le frodi, escogitate astutamente per contaminarne la religione. Anche i
Dalmati e i Liburni, per la costanza nella fede e per l’adempimento dei loro
doveri, si meritarono singolare favore e grandi lodi da Giovanni X, Gregorio
VII, Gregorio IX e Urbano IV. Infine, nella stessa Chiesa di Srijem, distrutta
nel sesto secolo da invasioni barbariche e successivamente ricostruita con
amorosa pietà da Santo Stefano I, re dell’Ungheria, sono molti i monumenti
della benevolenza di Gregorio IX e di Clemente XIV.
Pertanto Ci pare doveroso
rendere grazie a Dio che Ci ha offerto l’occasione opportuna di far cosa
gradita alla gente Slava e di esserle utile certamente con non minore premura
di quella che mostrarono in ogni tempo i Nostri Predecessori. A questo Noi miriamo,
questo desideriamo unicamente: di adoperarci in ogni modo affinché tutte le
genti Slave vengano istruite dal maggior numero di Vescovi e di Sacerdoti;
affinché si confermino nella professione della vera fede, nell’obbedienza alla
vera Chiesa di Gesù Cristo e ogni giorno di più sentano per esperienza quanta
ricchezza di beni ridondino dalle istituzioni della Chiesa Cattolica sulla
società domestica e su tutti gli ordini della cosa pubblica.
Quelle Chiese certamente
esigono gran parte delle Nostre cure; né vi è cosa che più desideriamo quanto
il provvedere alla loro comodità e alla loro prosperità, a unirle tutte a Noi
con quel perpetuo legame di concordia che è il massimo e migliore vincolo di
salute. Resta che Iddio, ricco di tutte le misericordie, arrida ai Nostri
propositi e assecondi quanto abbiamo intrapreso. Frattanto Noi poniamo quali
intercessori presso di Lui Cirillo e Metodio, maestri della Slavonia, dei
quali, come vogliamo amplificarne il culto, così confidiamo non Ci mancherà il
patrocinio celeste.
Pertanto ordiniamo che il
5 luglio, giorno stabilito da Pio IX di felice memoria, sia inserita nel
Calendario Romano e della Chiesa universale e si faccia ogni anno la festa dei
santi Cirillo e Metodio con Officio e Messa propria, di rito doppio minore,
come venne approvato dalla Sacra Congregazione dei Riti.
A Voi tutti poi,
Venerabili Fratelli, ordiniamo che curiate la pubblicazione di questa Nostra
Lettera e comandiate che le cose in essa prescritte siano osservate da tutti i
sacri ministri che celebrano l’Ufficio divino della Chiesa Romana, ciascuno
nelle proprie chiese, province, città, diocesi e case dei Regolari. Infine
vogliamo che per Vostra esortazione e Vostro consiglio, in tutto il mondo si
preghino Cirillo e Metodio, perché con quel favore di cui godono presso Dio, in
tutto l’Oriente tutelino gli interessi cristiani, implorando costanza per i
cattolici e il proposito di riconciliarsi con la vera Chiesa per i dissidenti.
Queste cose, come furono
sopra scritte, così comandiamo siano stabili e ferme, nonostante le
Costituzioni apostoliche emanate dal Pontefice San Pio V, Nostro Predecessore,
e da altri sulla riforma del Breviario e del Messale romano, e nonostante gli
statuti e le consuetudini, anche immemorabili, e ogni altra cosa contraria.
Auspice dei doni celesti
e pegno della Nostra particolare benevolenza, a Voi tutti, Venerabili Fratelli,
e a tutto il Clero e al popolo affidato ad ognuno di Voi, impartiamo con tutto
l’affetto nel Signore la Benedizione Apostolica.
Dato a Roma, presso San
Pietro, il 30 settembre 1880, anno terzo del Nostro Pontificato.
LEONE PP. XIII
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Saints
Cyril and Methodius monument, Mikulčice, Czech Republic
ANONYME. VIES DE CONTANTIN (Cyrille) ET DE METHODE. Oeuvres numérisées par Marc Szwajcer : http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/eglise/anonyme/methode.htm
Voir aussi : http://logismoitouaaron.blogspot.com/2010/05/our-sacred-pair-of-enlightenersss-cyril.html
