Day of Cyril and Methodius in the Czech Republic
Description:
On this day, solemn services are held in churches and cathedrals of the Czech Republic, including the Orthodox Cathedral of Cyril and Methodius in Prague.
The creators of the Slavic alphabet brothers Cyril and Methodius are rightly called first teachers and apostles. They not only initiated the broad development of Slavic writing and translated many books from the Greek language, but also contributed to the fact that the newly baptized peoples heard more clearly the “verbs of eternal life”, felt the universal breath of Christianity. It is no coincidence that both the Orthodox and the Catholic Church listed them as saints. The Slavs heard the word of the Lord in their native language and were able to praise Him with dignity.
Brothers Cyril and Methodius were from the Macedonian city of Soluni. Now it is the city of Thessaloniki on the Aegean Sea in Greece. Methodius was the eldest of seven brothers, and the youngest was Constantine. He received the name Cyril when he was tonsured into monasticism just before his death.
Father Methodius and Cyril held a high post of assistant governor of the city. There is an assumption that their mother was Slavic, because the brothers from childhood knew the Slavic language as well as Greek. They received an excellent upbringing and education. Constantine from infancy discovered extraordinary mental gifts. The rumor of this reached Constantinople, and then he was taken to the court, where he studied with the son of the emperor with the best teachers of the capital of Byzantium. Constantine expected a brilliant career at the imperial court, wealth and marriage to a noble beautiful girl. But he chose to retire to a monastery on Mount Olympus to his brother Methodius.
Constantine’s whole life was filled with frequent difficult, difficult trials and hard work. This undermined his strength, and at 42 he became very ill. Shortly before his death, he accepted monasticism with the name Cyril and died quietly in 869. Fearing that his brother would have the intention to return to his former monastic life in the monastery, before his death, Cyril said to him: We led the same furrow like two oxen. And I fall on my line, my day is over. And you will not abandon the labors of teaching to retire to your mountain. No, here, among the Slavs, you can rather find salvation. Methodius survived his brother by 16 years. Suffering deprivation and reproach, he continued the great work of translating the sacred books into Slavic, preaching the Orthodox faith, and baptizing the Slavic people.
The Church today is very sensitive to the phenomena associated with language, which can (and should) be in unity with church life. The translation activity of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius once again showed that any language, the language of any people on earth is pleasing to God and can serve as a liturgical language.