Cyril and Methodius why they are saints. Russian holy lands

Their memory is celebrated on May 11 in honor of the consecration of the Slavic language with the Gospel, February 14. memory of St. Kirill on the day of his death, April 6. memory of St. Methodius on the day of his death

The siblings Cyril and Methodius came from a pious family that lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. They were the children of a governor, a Bulgarian Slav. St. Methodius was the eldest of seven brothers, St. Konstantin, monastically Kirill, is the youngest.

St. Methodius was at first in a military rank and ruled a Slavic principality subordinate to the Byzantine Empire, apparently Bulgarian, which gave him the opportunity to learn the Slavic language. Having stayed there for about 10 years, St. Methodius then became a monk in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus (Asia Minor). From an early age, St. Constantine was distinguished by his mental abilities and studied together with the young Emperor Michael from the best teachers of Constantinople, including Photius, later Patriarch of Constantinople. St. Constantine perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages; he studied the works of the saint especially diligently. For his intelligence and outstanding knowledge, St. Constantine was nicknamed the Philosopher.

At the end of the teaching of St. Constantine took the rank and was appointed keeper of the patriarchal library at the Church of Hagia Sophia, but soon left the capital and secretly went to the monastery. Found there and returned to Constantinople, he was appointed teacher of philosophy at the Higher School of Constantinople. The wisdom and strength of faith of the still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the iconoclast heretics, Annius, in a debate. After this victory, Constantine was sent by the emperor to debate about the Holy Trinity with the Saracens and also won. Soon Constantine retired to his brother Methodius on Olympus, where he spent time in constant prayer and reading the works of the holy fathers.

One day the emperor summoned the holy brothers from the monastery and sent them to the Khazars to preach the gospel. On the way, they stopped for some time in the city of Chersonese (Korsun), where they prepared for the gospel. There the holy brothers miraculously found the relics of the Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome. There, in Chersonesos, St. Konstantin found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in “Russian letters,” and a man speaking Russian, and began to learn from this man to read and speak his language.

Then the holy brothers went to the Khazars, where they won victories in debates with Jews and Muslims, preaching the gospel teaching. On the way home, the brothers again visited Chersonesos and, taking the relics of St. Clement, returned to Constantinople. St. Constantine remained in the capital, and St. Methodius received the abbess in the small monastery of Polychron, not far from Mount Olympus, where he had previously labored.

Soon, ambassadors from the Moravian prince Rostislav, oppressed by the German bishops, came to the emperor with a request to send teachers to Moravia who could preach in the native language of the Slavs. The emperor called Constantine to him and told him: “You need to go there, because no one will do this better than you.” St. Constantine, with fasting and prayer, began a new feat. With the help of his brother Methodius and his disciples Gorazd, Clement, Savva, Naum and Angelyar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavic the books without which worship could not be performed: the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter and selected services. This was in 863.

Having completed the translation, the holy brothers went to Moravia, where they were received with great honor, and began to teach worship in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers, arguing that divine services could only be performed in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin. St. Constantine answered them: “You recognize only three languages ​​worthy of glorifying God in them. But David said: “Let every breath praise the Lord!” The Lord came to save all nations, and all nations should praise the Lord in their own languages.” The German bishops were disgraced, but became even more embittered and filed a complaint to Rome. The holy brothers were called to Rome to resolve this issue. Taking with him the relics of St. Clement, Pope, St. Constantine and Methodius went to Rome. Having learned that the holy brothers were carrying holy relics with them, Pope Adrian and the clergy went out to meet them. The brothers were greeted with honor, the Pope approved the service in the Slavic language, and ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed for consecration in Roman churches and the liturgy to be performed in the Slavic language.

While in Rome, St. Constantine fell ill and, informed by the Lord in a miraculous vision of his approaching death, took the schema with the name Cyril. 50 days after accepting the schema, on February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril reposed at the age of forty-two. Going to God, St. Cyril commanded his brother St. Methodius to continue their common cause - the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples with the light of the true faith. St. Methodius asked the Pope to allow his brother’s body to be taken away for burial in his native land, but the Pope ordered the relics of St. to be placed. Cyril in the Church of St. Clement, where miracles began to occur from them.

After the death of St. Cyril Pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kocel, sent St. Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia, to the ancient throne of St. Apostle Andronikos. In Pannonia, St. Methodius, together with his students, continued to spread worship, writing and books in the Slavic language. This again angered the German bishops. They achieved the arrest and trial of Saint Methodius, who was exiled to prison in Swabia, where he endured much suffering for two and a half years. Released by order of the Pope and restored to his rights as archbishop, St. Methodius continued his gospel preaching among the Slavs and baptized the Czech prince Borivoj and his wife Lyudmila, as well as one of the Polish princes. For the third time, German bishops initiated persecution against the saint for not accepting the Roman teaching about the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and from the Son. Saint Methodius was summoned to Rome and proved before the Pope that he preserved the purity of Orthodox teaching, and was again returned to the capital of Moravia - Velehrad.

There, in the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated into Slavic the entire book except the Maccabean books, as well as the Nomocanon (Rules of the Holy Fathers) and the patristic books (Paterikon).

Anticipating the approach of death, St. Methodius pointed to one of his students, Gorazd, as his worthy successor. The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 at the age of about sixty years. The funeral service for the saint was performed in three languages: Slavic, Greek and Latin; The saint was buried in the cathedral church of Velegrad.

Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were canonized in ancient times. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners of the Slavs has been honored since the 11th century.

The lives of the holy Slovenian first teachers were compiled by their disciples in the 11th century. The most complete biographies of the saints are the lengthy, or so-called Pannonian, Lives. Our ancestors were familiar with these texts from the time of the spread of Christianity in Rus'. Solemn celebration of the memory of St. High Hierarchs Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were established in the Russian Church in 1863.

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Teachers of Slovenia Presentation on the topic: “Why were Cyril and Methodius canonized”

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Since elementary school, I have been interested in the question “Why were Cyril and Methodius canonized?” I began to understand this issue. I read a lot of books and a lot of other literature. While studying literature, I learned that Saint Methodius first served, like his father, in a military rank. The Tsar, having learned about him as a good warrior, made him governor of one Slavic principality of Slavinia, which was under the Greek power. This happened at the special discretion of God and so that Methodius could better learn the Slavic language, as the future spiritual teacher and shepherd of the Slavs. Having served in the rank of governor for about 10 years and having experienced the vanity of everyday life, Methodius began to dispose his will to renounce everything earthly and direct his thoughts to the heavenly. Leaving the province and all the pleasures of the world, he became a monk on Mount Olympus

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And his brother Saint Constantine, from his youth, showed brilliant success both in secular and in religious and moral education. I also learned from books that Constantine studied with the young Emperor Michael. They studied with the best teachers in Constantinople, including Photius, the future Patriarch of Constantinople. Constantine received an excellent education and perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages, but he especially diligently studied the works of St. Gregory the Theologian. Later he received the nickname Philosopher (wise). At the end of his studies, Saint Constantine accepted the rank of priest and was appointed keeper of the patriarchal library at the Church of Saint Sophia

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But, neglecting all the benefits of his position, he retired to one of the monasteries near the Black Sea. Subsequently, he was almost forcibly returned to Constantinople and appointed a teacher of philosophy at the higher school of Constantinople. After young Constantine managed to defeat the leader of the heretical iconoclasts, Aninius, in a debate, he retired to his brother Methodius and for several years shared monastic exploits with him in a monastery on Olympus, where he first began to study the Slavic language. Soon the emperor summoned both holy brothers from the monastery and sent them to the Khazars to preach the gospel. On the way, they stopped for some time in the city of Korsun, preparing for the sermon.

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In Korsun, Saint Constantine found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in “Russian letters,” and a man speaking Russian, and began to learn from this man to read and speak his language. After this, the holy brothers went to the Khazars, where they won the debate with Jews and Muslims, preaching the Gospel teaching. Subsequently, Constantine, with the help of his brother Saint Methodius and the disciples Gorazd, Clement, Sava, Naum and Angelyar, compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavic the books without which the Divine service could not be performed: the Gospel, the Psalter and selected services. According to some chroniclers, it is known that the first words written in the Slavic language were the words of the Apostle Evangelist John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word.” This was in 863. Studying further literature, I came to the conclusion that the brothers Cyril and Mythodiy really left a significant mark on the works of teachers

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After adopting the schema with the name Cyril, Constantine died at the age of 42, but before his death he asked his brother Mythodius: “You and I, like a friendly pair of oxen, drove the same furrow; I was exhausted, but don’t think about leaving the work of teaching and retiring to your mountain again.” Methodius fulfilled his brother’s will and continued the Gospel preaching among the Slavs. In the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated the entire Old Testament into Slavic, except for the Maccabean books, as well as the Nomocanon (Rules of the Holy Fathers) and the patristic books (Paterikon).

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Methodius died on April 6, 885 at the age of 60. The funeral service for the saint was performed in three languages ​​- Slavic, Greek and Latin; he was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad, the capital of Moravia. Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were canonized in ancient times. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of the Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners of the Slavs has been honored since the 11th century. The oldest services to saints that have survived to our time date back to the 13th century. Now, having learned about the enormous contribution of the brothers Cyril and Methodius, I can say that for Orthodox Russia the celebration of St. to the first teachers is of particular importance, since it was they who made an inexhaustible contribution to the development of the Slavic Divine Liturgy and writing.

The siblings Cyril and Methodius came from a pious family that lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki (in Macedonia). They were the children of the same governor, a Bulgarian Slav. Saint Methodius was the eldest of seven brothers, Saint Constantine (Cyril was his monastic name) the youngest.

Saint Methodius first served, like his father, in a military rank. The Tsar, having learned about him as a good warrior, made him governor of one Slavic principality of Slavinia, which was under the Greek power. This happened at the special discretion of God and so that Methodius could better learn the Slavic language, as the future spiritual teacher and shepherd of the Slavs. Having served in the rank of governor for about 10 years and having experienced the vanity of everyday life, Methodius began to dispose his will to renounce everything earthly and direct his thoughts to the heavenly. Leaving the province and all the pleasures of the world, he became a monk on Mount Olympus.

And his brother Saint Constantine, from his youth, showed brilliant success in both secular and religious-moral education. He studied with the young Emperor Michael from the best teachers in Constantinople, including Photius, the future Patriarch of Constantinople. Having received an excellent education, he perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages; he especially diligently studied the works of St. Gregory the Theologian, for which he received the nickname Philosopher (wise). At the end of his studies, Saint Constantine accepted the rank of priest and was appointed keeper of the patriarchal library at the Church of Saint Sophia. But, neglecting all the benefits of his position, he retired to one of the monasteries near the Black Sea. Almost by force, he was returned to Constantinople and appointed a teacher of philosophy at the highest school of Constantinople. The wisdom and strength of faith of the still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the iconoclast heretics, Aninius, in a debate.

Then Cyril retired to his brother Methodius and for several years shared monastic exploits with him in a monastery on Olympus, where he first began to study the Slavic language. In the monasteries that were on the mountain, there were many Slavic monks from various neighboring countries, which is why Constantine could have a constant practice here, which was especially important for him, since almost from childhood he spent all his time in the Greek environment. Soon the emperor summoned both holy brothers from the monastery and sent them to the Khazars to preach the gospel. On the way, they stopped for some time in the city of Korsun, preparing for the sermon.

Here the holy brothers learned that the relics of the Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome, were in the sea, and they miraculously found them.

There, in Korsun, Saint Constantine found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in “Russian letters,” and a man speaking Russian, and began to learn from this man to read and speak his language. After this, the holy brothers went to the Khazars, where they won the debate with Jews and Muslims, preaching the Gospel teaching.

Soon, ambassadors from the Moravian prince Rostislav, oppressed by the German bishops, came to the emperor with a request to send teachers to Moravia who could preach in the native language of the Slavs. The emperor called Saint Constantine and told him: “You need to go there, because no one will do this better than you.” Saint Constantine, with fasting and prayer, began a new feat. With the help of his brother Saint Methodius and his disciples Gorazd, Clement, Savva, Naum and Angelar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavic the books without which the Divine service could not be performed: the Gospel, the Psalter and selected services. Some chroniclers report that the first words written in the Slavic language were the words of the Apostle Evangelist John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word.” This was in 863.

After completing the translation, the holy brothers went to Moravia, where they were received with great honor and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers and filed a complaint to Rome. In 867 St. Methodius and Constantine were summoned by Pope Nicholas I to Rome for trial to resolve this issue. Taking with them the relics of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, Saints Constantine and Methodius went to Rome. When they arrived in Rome, Nicholas I was no longer alive; his successor Adrian II, having learned that they were carrying with them the relics of St. Clement, met them solemnly outside the city. The Pope approved the Divine Service in the Slavic language, and ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and the Liturgy to be celebrated in the Slavic language.

While in Rome, Saint Constantine, informed by the Lord in a miraculous vision of his approaching death, took the schema with the name Cyril. 50 days after accepting the schema, on February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril died at the age of 42. Before his death, he told his brother: “You and I, like a friendly pair of oxen, drove the same furrow; I’m exhausted, but don’t think about leaving the work of teaching and retiring to your mountain again.” The Pope ordered the relics of St. Cyril to be placed in the Church of St. Clement, where miracles began to be performed from them.

After the death of Saint Cyril, the pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kocel, sent Saint Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia, to the ancient throne of the holy Apostle Antrodin. At the same time, Methodius had to endure a lot of troubles from heterodox missionaries, but he continued the Gospel preaching among the Slavs and baptized the Czech prince Borivoj and his wife Lyudmila (September 16), as well as one of the Polish princes.

In the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated the entire Old Testament into Slavic, except for the Maccabean books, as well as the Nomocanon (Rules of the Holy Fathers) and the patristic books (Paterikon).

The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 at the age of about 60 years. The funeral service for the saint was performed in three languages ​​- Slavic, Greek and Latin; he was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad, the capital of Moravia.

Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were canonized in ancient times. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of the Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners of the Slavs has been honored since the 11th century. The oldest services to saints that have survived to our time date back to the 13th century.

The solemn celebration of the memory of the holy high priests Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius was established in the Russian Church in 1863.

The Iconographic Original for May 11 says: “Our Reverend Fathers Methodius and Constantine, named Cyril, Moravian bishops, Slovenian teachers. Methodius is in the likeness of an old man, with gray hair, wearing the cord of duty like Vlasiev, with the saint’s vestments and omophorion, holding the Gospel in his hands. Constantine - monastic vestments and in the schema, in his hands is a book, and in it is written the Russian alphabet A, B, C, D, D and other words (letters) all in a row...”

By decree of the Holy Synod (1885), the celebration of the memory of Slavic teachers was classified as a middle church holiday. The same decree determined: in prayers at litia, according to the Gospel at matins before the canon, at dismissals, as well as in all prayers in which the ecumenical hierarchs of the Russian Church are remembered, to remember after the name of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra the Wonderworker, the names: like our holy father Methodius and Cyril, Slovenian teachers.

For Orthodox Russia, the celebration of Sts. to the First Teachers has a special meaning: “By them, the Divine Liturgy and all church services began in the language of the Slovenians, which is akin to us, and all church services were performed, and thus an inexhaustible well of water flowing into eternal life was given to us.”

Saints Cyril and Methodius did a titanic job - they brought the Slavs to a fundamentally new level. Instead of disunited and heterogeneous paganism, the Slavs had a single Orthodox faith, from the people, not...

Saints Cyril and Methodius did a titanic job - they brought the Slavs to a fundamentally new level. Instead of disunited and heterogeneous paganism, the Slavs had a single Orthodox faith; from a people without writing, the Slavs became a people with their own unique writing, which for centuries was common to all Slavs.

In the 9th century, the history of the apostolic century repeated itself, just as the twelve disciples of Christ were able to change the world of the Mediterranean, so two selfless missionaries, with their preaching and scientific works, were able to bring the huge ethnos of the Slavs into the family of Christian peoples.

Beginning of ministry

The brothers Cyril and Methodius were born at the beginning of the 9th century in Thessaloniki, in a city in which, in addition to the native Greek inhabitants, many Slavs lived. Therefore, the Slavic language was practically their native language. The elder brother, Methodius, had a good administrative career; for some time he served as strategos (military governor) in the Byzantine province of Slavinia.

The younger, Constantine (that was the name Cyril had before becoming a monk) chose the path of a scientist. He studied at the University of Constantinople, which existed at the imperial court - in the capital of Byzantium, the university was founded long before the opening of similar educational institutions in Western Europe.

Among Constantine’s teachers were remarkable representatives of the “Macedonian Renaissance” Leo the Mathematician and Photius, the future patriarch of Constantinople. Constantine was promised a promising secular career, but he preferred science and service to the Church. He was never a priest, but was ordained a reader - this is one of the degrees of clergy. For his love of philosophy, Constantine received the name Philosopher.

As the best graduate, he was retained as a teacher at the university, and at the age of 24 he was entrusted with a matter of national importance - as part of a diplomatic embassy, ​​he went to Baghdad, to the court of Caliph Al-Mutawakkil. In those days, theological disputes with people of other faiths were common, so the theologian was certainly part of the diplomatic mission.

Today, at religious summits, representatives of different faiths talk about anything, but not about religion, but then issues of faith in society were a priority, and Constantine the Philosopher, having arrived at the court of the Caliph, testified to the Baghdad Muslims about the truths of Christianity.

Khazar mission: on the territory of modern Russia

The next mission was no less difficult, because... headed to the Khazar Kaganate, whose rulers professed Judaism. It began shortly after the siege of Constantinople and the plunder of its outskirts by the “Russian” squads of Askold and Dir in 860.

Probably, Emperor Michael III wanted to enter into allied relations with the Khazars and involve them in protecting the northern borders of the Byzantine Empire from the warlike Russians. Another reason for the embassy could be the situation of Christians in the territories controlled by the Khazars - in Taman and Crimea. The Jewish elite oppressed Christians, and the embassy had to resolve this issue.

The embassy from the Sea of ​​Azov ascended the Don to the Volga and descended along it to the capital of Khazaria - Itil. There was no kagan here, so we had to travel across the Caspian Sea to Semender (the region of modern Makhachkala).

Discovery of the relics of Clement of Rome near Chersonesus. Miniature from Menology of Emperor Basil II. XI century

Constantine the Philosopher managed to resolve the issue - freedom of religion was returned to the Christians of Khazaria, their church organization in Taman and Crimea (Fulla Archdiocese) was restored. In addition to important administrative issues to protect Khazar Christians, the embassy priests baptized 200 Khazars.

The Russians defeated the Khazars with the sword, and Constantine the Philosopher with the word!

During this journey, Saint Cyril, on one small island in a bay near Chersonesos (now called Cossack), miraculously found the relics of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, who died in Crimean exile in the year 101.

Moravian Mission

St. Cyril, endowed with great abilities for learning languages, differed from ordinary polyglots in that he was able to construct an alphabet. He carried out this complex work of creating the Slavic alphabet for a long time, in those months when he managed to stay in the monastic silence on Lesser Olympus.

The fruit of prayerful and intellectual hard work was the Cyrillic alphabet, the Slavic alphabet, which underlies the Russian alphabet and other Slavic alphabets and writing (it must be said that in the 19th century the opinion arose that St. Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet, but this issue still remains debatable ).

The work done by Kirill cannot be called simply professional; the creation of an alphabet and writing system that was brilliant in its simplicity was a matter of the highest and even divine level! This is confirmed by such an impartial expert of Russian literature as Leo Tolstoy:

“The Russian language and the Cyrillic alphabet have a huge advantage and difference over all European languages ​​and alphabet... The advantage of the Russian alphabet is that every sound in it is pronounced - and pronounced as it is, which is not in any language.”

Almost with the alphabet ready, Cyril and Methodius in 863 went on a mission to Moravia, at the invitation of Prince Rostislav. The prince was overwhelmed by Western missionaries, but the Latin in which the German priests conducted services was not understandable to the Slavs, so the Moravian prince turned to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III with a request to send them a “bishop and teacher” who would convey the truths of the faith in the Slavs’ native language language.

Basileus sent Constantine the Philosopher and his brother Methodius to Great Moravia, who by that time had left secular service and taken monasticism.

During their stay in Moravia, Cyril and Methodius translated those liturgical books that are used during worship, including the Gospel and the Apostle. In the Moravian mission, which lasted three years and four months, the holy brothers laid the foundations of the Slavic written tradition; the Slavs were able not only to participate in divine services performed in their native language, but also to better understand the foundations of the Christian faith.

Cyril and Methodius pass on the alphabet to the Slavs

One of the points of the Moravian mission program was the creation of a church structure, i.e. a diocese independent of Rome and its clergy. And the claims of the Bavarian clergy to Great Moravia were serious; Cyril and Methodius had a conflict with clergy from the East Frankish kingdom, who considered it permissible to conduct church services only in Latin, and argued that the Holy Scriptures should not be translated into the Slavic language. Of course, with such a position there could be no question of the success of Christian preaching.

Cyril and Methodius twice had to defend the correctness of their beliefs before the Western clergy, the second time - before Pope Adrian II himself.

The holy Slovenian teachers strove for solitude and prayer, but in life they constantly found themselves in the forefront - both when they defended Christian truths before Muslims, and when they took on great educational work. Their success sometimes looked like defeat, but as a result, it is to them that we owe the acquisition of “the gift of the most valuable and greater than all silver, and gold, and precious stones, and all transitory wealth.” This gift is Slavic writing.

Brothers from Thessalonica

The history of the activities of the holy brothers has been studied with all possible care: the surviving written sources have been commented on many times, and pundits argue about the details of the biographies and acceptable interpretations of the received information. And how could it be otherwise when we are talking about the creators of the Slavic alphabet? And yet, to this day, the images of Cyril and Methodius are lost behind the abundance of ideological constructions and simple inventions. The Khazar dictionary of Milorad Pavic, in which the enlighteners of the Slavs are embedded in a multifaceted theosophical mystification, is not the worst option.

Kirill, the youngest in both age and hierarchical rank, was simply a layman until the end of his life and received monastic tonsure with the name Kirill only on his deathbed. While Methodius, the elder brother, held great positions, was the ruler of a separate region of the Byzantine Empire, abbot of a monastery and ended his life as an archbishop. And yet, traditionally, Kirill takes honorable first place, and the alphabet - the Cyrillic alphabet - is named after him. All his life he bore another name - Constantine, and also a respectful nickname - Philosopher.

Konstantin was an extremely gifted man. “The speed of his abilities was not inferior to his diligence,” - the life compiled shortly after his death repeatedly emphasizes the depth and breadth of his knowledge. Translating into the language of modern realities, Constantine the Philosopher was a professor at the capital's University of Constantinople, very young and promising. At the age of 24 (!), he received his first important government assignment - to defend the truth of Christianity in the face of Muslims of other faiths.

Missionary politician

For Byzantium, Christianity was the doctrine. The strengthening and spread of Orthodoxy was perceived by the imperial authorities as a primary state task. Therefore, as a modern researcher of the Cyril and Methodius heritage writes A.-E. Tahiaos, “a diplomat who entered into negotiations with enemies or “barbarians,” was always accompanied by a missionary.” Constantine was such a missionary. That is why it is so difficult to separate his actual educational activities from his political ones. Just before his death, he symbolically resigned from public service and became a monk. “I am no longer a servant of the king or anyone else on earth; Only God Almighty was and will be forever,” Kirill will now write.

His life tells about his Arab and Khazar mission, about tricky questions and witty and deep answers. Muslims asked him about the Trinity, how Christians could worship “many gods,” and why, instead of resisting evil, they strengthened the army. Khazar Jews disputed the Incarnation and blamed Christians for non-compliance with Old Testament regulations. Konstantin's answers - bright, figurative and brief - if they did not convince all opponents, then, in any case, they delivered a polemical victory, leading those listening to admiration.

"Nobody else"

But the bustle of the world receded for a while. Already in 860, the Khazar Kagan decided to organize an “interreligious” dispute, in which Christians had to defend the truth of their faith before Jews and Muslims. According to the life, the Khazars were ready to accept Christianity if the Byzantine polemicists “won the upper hand in disputes with the Jews and Saracens.” They found Constantine again, and the emperor personally admonished him with the words: “Go, Philosopher, to these people and talk about the Holy Trinity with Her help. No one else can take on this with dignity.” On the trip, Konstantin took his older brother as his assistant.

The negotiations ended generally successfully, although the Khazar state did not become Christian, the Kagan allowed those who wished to be baptized. There were also political successes. We should pay attention to an important incidental event. On the way, the Byzantine delegation stopped in Crimea, where near modern Sevastopol (ancient Chersonesos) Constantine found the relics of the ancient saint Pope Clement. Subsequently, the brothers will transfer the relics of St. Clement to Rome, which will further win over Pope Adrian. It is with Cyril and Methodius that the Slavs begin their special veneration of Saint Clement - let us remember the majestic church in his honor in Moscow not far from the Tretyakov Gallery.

Birth of writing

And again at court they remember Constantine the Philosopher. If not he, then who else will be able to complete the task, the complexity of which both the emperor and the patriarch, Saint Photius, were aware of? The Slavs did not have a written language. But it was not even the fact of the absence of letters that presented the main problem. They did not have abstract concepts and the wealth of terminology that usually develops in “book culture.” High Christian theology, Scripture and liturgical texts had to be translated into a language that did not have any means to do so.

And the Philosopher coped with the task. Of course, one should not imagine that he worked alone. Konstantin again called on his brother for help, and other employees were also involved. It was a kind of scientific institute. The first alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet - was compiled on the basis of Greek cryptography. The letters correspond to the letters of the Greek alphabet, but look different - so much so that the Glagolitic alphabet was often confused with eastern languages. In addition, for sounds specific to the Slavic dialect, Hebrew letters were taken (for example, “sh”).

Then they translated the Gospel, checked expressions and terms, and translated liturgical books. The volume of translations carried out by the holy brothers and their direct disciples was very significant - by the time of the baptism of Rus', a whole library of Slavic books already existed.

The price of success

Dogmatics intertwined with politics, canon law with diplomacy and power ambitions - and Cyril and Methodius found themselves in the center of this tangle. The territory of Moravia was under the jurisdiction of the pope, and although the Western Church was not yet separated from the Eastern, the initiative of the Byzantine Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople (namely, this was the status of the mission) was still viewed with suspicion. The German clergy, closely associated with the secular authorities of Bavaria, saw in the brothers’ undertakings the implementation of Slavic separatism. And indeed, the Slavic princes, in addition to spiritual interests, also pursued state interests - their liturgical language and church independence would have significantly strengthened their position. Finally, the pope was in tense relations with Bavaria, and support for the revitalization of church life in Moravia against the “trilinguals” fit well into the general direction of his policy.

Political controversies cost the missionaries dearly. Due to the constant intrigues of the German clergy, Constantine and Methodius twice had to justify themselves to the Roman high priest. In 869, unable to withstand the overstrain, St. Cyril died (he was only 42 years old), and his work was continued by Methodius, who was ordained to the rank of bishop in Rome soon after. Methodius died in 885, having survived exile, insults and imprisonment that lasted several years.

The most valuable gift

So the next time, dotting the “e” or agonizing over the Russification of a new version of Photoshop, think about what wealth we have. Very few nations have the honor of having their own alphabet. This was understood already in the distant ninth century. “God has created even now in our years - having declared the letters for your language - something that was not given to anyone after the first times, so that you too would be numbered among the great nations who glorify God in their own language... Accept the gift, most valuable and greater than any silver, and gold, and precious stones, and all transitory wealth,” wrote Emperor Michael to Prince Rostislav.

And after this we are trying to separate Russian culture from Orthodox culture? Russian letters were invented by Orthodox monks for church books; at the very basis of Slavic book literature lies not just influence and borrowing, but a “transplantation” of Byzantine church book literature. The book language, cultural context, terminology of high thought were created directly together with the library of books by the Slavic apostles Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Deacon Nikolai SOLODOV