www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Ss. Cyril and Methodius

...are featured on the main page of EWTN at the moment. By clicking on the texts of their name you can find information about them.

ChristTeen287

Because St Cyril's feastday is tomorrow on the Roman calendar.

The icon is pretty cool. I visited the site yesterday and thought that EWTN became Russian Orthodox for a moment. Then I realised it was their feast on the Roman calendar soon, and my joy fizzled out. :p It's still cool, though.

A Blessed St. Cyril and Methodius Day to all!!!

But the death of St. Cyril is also recognized by the Ruthenians tomorrow.

rose

As it is in the Romanian Church.

Peter

In the Roman Church it is St. Valentine's and Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day today. So I guess it is therefore ' Love a Slav' day!

Dear Friends,

And in addition to Sts. Cyril and Methodius, let's not leave out their five disciples:

St Clement, St Naum, St Sava, St Angelar and St Gorazd.

The Moravian Prince who received Sts Cyril and Methodius there has recently been glorified a saint as well - Saint Rostislav.

AND let's not forget the Serbian bishop who worked in Prague during World War II and died a martyr at the hands of the Nazis - he took the name of one of the "Holy Seven" and is today the Holy Hieromartyr Saint Gorazd of Prague.

Let's also remember Jan Hus, the Czech reformer who worked in the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition trying to bring back Slavonic in the liturgy, a married priesthood and Communion in Both Kinds. He is widely honoured as a Pan-Slavic martyr.

And the RC Church is rehabiitating him today.

"Hus" is Slavic for "Goose."

When he was under arrest, Emperor Sigismund wrote him a letter telling him he and his entire people were worried for his safety.

Hus wrote back and said, "Don't worry, YOUR GOOSE ISN'T COOKED YET!"

That is the origin of that famous and oft-repeated English phrase . . .

Believe it or not . . .

Alex

Dear All,

This morning at the monastic office of Vigils [Matins] our community heard the moving account of Blessed Cyril's death. Let me share with you a passage that I found very inspiring:

"Once he (Cyril) had exchanged the gift of peace with everyone, he said: �Blessed be God, who did not hand us over to our invisible enemy, but freed us from his snare and delivered us from perdition�. He then fell asleep in the Lord at the age of forty-two.
The Patriarch commanded all those in Rome, both the Greeks and Romans, to gather for his funeral. They were to chant over him together and carry candles; they were to celebrate his funeral as if he had been a pope. This they did."

Let us mystically, both Eastern and Western Christians - Catholic & Orthodox, join in praise to our heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ and the life-giving Holy Spirit in thanksgiving to these great apostles of the Gospel!

Saints Cyril and Methodius pray for us and the unity of the churches.

PAX

Benedictine

Dear Benedictine,

And let us thank God for sending us a Slavic Pope, a later fruit of the preaching of the Thessalonian Brothers, who declared their feast truly Universal in the Church AND ordained them patrons of Europe.

In addition, Father Holweck in his "Dictionary of Saints" says that the idea that the Popes of Rome were thrilled with a Slavonic liturgy is most certainly a myth . . .

But I wasn't there!

Pax!

Alex

Dear Mor Ephrem:

Quote

. . . the relics of these two brothers were found under the altar of a very ancient chapel in the church of St. Clement in Rome, and are still honorably preserved in that church.

The Russians and all the Slavs now know their Mother Church!

AmdG

Dear All,

Here's another great quote, this time about the passing of St. Methodius. This is from Pope John Paul II's encyclical SLAVORUM APOSTOLI :

"In his Cathedral, filled with the faithful of different races, the disciples of Saint Methodius paid solemn homage to their dead pastor for the message of salvation, peace and reconciliation which he had brought and to which he had devoted his life: "They celebrated a sacred office in Latin, Greek and Slavonic", adoring God and venerating the first Archbishop of the Church which he established among the Slavs, to whom he and his brother had proclaimed the Gospel in their own language. This Church grew even stronger when through the explicit consent of the Pope it received a native hierarchy, rooted in the apostolic succession and remaining in unity of faith and love both with the Church of Rome and with that of Constantinople, from which the Slav mission had begun."

Enjoy!

PAX

Dear Benedictine,

It is just that the idea of "explicit approval" of the popes of the time is something that is a point of disagreement among scholars.

Not that it wasn't part of their vision - the German Church at the time was very much against the Slavonic liturgy and caused no end of trouble for the Slavic missions and for the Brothers at Rome.

In addition, the full feast of the Brothers was not made truly universal except during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.

Alex

Dear Amado,

The Mother Church for all East Slavs is . . .Kyiv!

The Relics of St Clement, Pope of Rome, were brought to Kyiv and placed in the Royal Chapel of St Vladimir - the icon of St Clement was written on the wall of the Cathedral of St Sophia by his son, St Yaroslav the Wise.

Some of these relics were brought to Rome by Sts Cyril and Methodius as well as placed under the high altar of San Clemente.

This year is the anniversary year of Pope St Clement's death and Kazachya Bay on the Black Sea has been renamed for him. There are also icons of him with pieces of rock glued to them from beneath the waves of Kazachya Bay where St Clement was drowned.

Would anyone know where to get such icons?

I would get one for both myself AND Amado!

Alex

Dear Alex:

My sincerest thanks in advance!

This thread shows that, in the first millenium Church, we are ONE big family.

After suffering from the estrangement that persisted in the 2nd millenium, it is not unrealistic, I believe, to dream of a re-convergence of all Christians in the 3rd.

AmdG