9 ғасырдағы византиялық христиан дін уағыздаушылары Кирилл мен Мефодий

9th century Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries

Cyril (Greek: Κύριλλος; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (Greek: Μεθόδιος; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "equal to apostles". In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1980, the first Slav pope, Pope John Paul II declared them co patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia.

The two brothers were born in Thessalonica, at that time in the Byzantine province of the same name (today in Greece) – Cyril in 827–828, and Methodius in 815–820. According to the Vita Cyrilli ("The Life of Cyril"), Cyril was reputedly the youngest of seven brothers; he was born Constantine, but was given the name Cyril upon becoming a monk in Rome shortly before his death. Methodius was born Michael and was given the name Methodius upon becoming a monk in Polychron Monastery at Mysian Olympus (present day Uludağ in northwest Turkey). Their father was Leo, a droungarios of the Byzantine theme of Thessalonica, and their mother's name was Maria. The exact ethnic origins of the brothers are unknown; there is controversy as to whether Cyril and Methodius were of Slavic or Greek origin, or both. The two brothers lost their father when Cyril was fourteen, and the powerful minister Theoktistos, who was logothetes tou dromou, one of the chief ministers of the Empire, became their protector. He was also responsible, along with the regent Bardas, for initiating a far reaching educational program within the Empire which culminated in the establishment of the University of Magnaura, where Cyril was to teach. Cyril was ordained as priest some time after his education, while his brother Methodius remained a deacon until 867/868.

About the year 860, Byzantine Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius (a professor of Cyril's at the University and his guiding light in earlier years), sent Cyril on a missionary expedition to the Khazars who had requested a scholar be sent to them who could converse with both Jews and Saracens. It has been claimed that Methodius accompanied Cyril on the mission to the Khazars, but this may be a later invention. The account of his life presented in the Latin "Legenda" claims that he learned the Khazar language while in Chersonesos, in Taurica (today Crimea). After his return to Constantinople, Cyril assumed the role of professor of philosophy at the University. His brother had by this time become a significant figure in Byzantine political and administrative affairs, and an abbot of his monastery.

In 862, the brothers began the work which would give them their historical importance. That year Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia requested that Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch Photius send missionaries to evangelize his Slavic subjects. His motives in doing so were probably more political than religious. Rastislav had become king with the support of the Frankish ruler Louis the German, though he subsequently sought to assert his independence from the Franks. That Cyril and Methodius might have been the first to bring Christianity to Moravia is a common misconception; Rastislav's letter to Michael III states clearly that his people "had already rejected paganism and adhere to the Christian law." Rastislav is said to have expelled missionaries of the Roman Church and instead turned to Constantinople for ecclesiastical assistance and, presumably, a degree of political support. The Emperor quickly chose to send Cyril, accompanied by his brother Methodius. The request provided a convenient opportunity to expand Byzantine influence. Their first work seems to have been the training of assistants. In 863, they began the task of translating the Gospels and essential liturgical books into what is now known as Old Church Slavonic, This endeavour was amply rewarded. However, they came into conflict with German ecclesiastics, who opposed their efforts to create a specifically Slavic liturgy. For the purpose of this mission, they devised the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet to be used for Slavonic manuscripts. The Glagolitic alphabet was suited to match the specific features of the Slavic language. Its descendant script, the Cyrillic, is still used by many languages today. Their project in Moravia found support from the new Pope Adrian II (867 872), who formally authorized the use of the new Slavic liturgy. Subsequently, Methodius was ordained as priest by the pope himself, and five Slavic disciples were ordained as priests (Saint Gorazd, Saint Clement of Ohrid and Saint Naum) and as deacons (Saint Angelar and Saint Sava) by the prominent bishops Formosus and Gauderic. Since the 10th century Cyril and Methodius along with these five disciples are collectively venerated by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as the "Seven Saints". The newly made priests officiated in their own language at the altars of some of the principal churches. Feeling his end approaching, Cyril became a Basilian monk, and was given the new name Cyril. He died in Rome fifty days later (14 February 869). There is some question whether he had been made a bishop, as is asserted in the Translatio (ix.). Upon Cyril´s death Methodius was given the title of Archbishop of Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia) with jurisdiction over all of Moravia and Pannonia, and authority to use the Slavonic Liturgy. The statement of the "Vita" that Methodius was made bishop in 870 and not raised to the dignity of an archbishop until 873 is contradicted by the brief of Pope John VIII, written in June 879, according to which Adrian consecrated him archbishop; John includes in his jurisdiction not only Great Moravia and Pannonia, but Serbia as well.

Methodius now continued the work among the Slavs alone; not at first in Great Moravia, but in Pannonia (in the Balaton Principality). Political circumstances in Greater Moravia were insecure. Rastislav had been taken captive by his nephew Svatopluk in 870, then delivered over to Carloman of Bavaria, and condemned in a diet held at Regensburg at the end of 870. Meanwhile, the East Frankish rulers and their bishops decided to try and depose Methodius. The archiepiscopal claims of Methodius were considered so threatening to the rights of Salzburg that he was captured and forced to answer to East Frankish bishops: Adalwin of Salzburg, Ermanrich of Passau, and Anno of Freising. After heated discussion, they declared the intruder deposed, and ordered him to be sent to Germany. There he was kept prisoner in a monastery for two and a half years. Notwithstanding strong representations of the Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum, written in 871 to influence the pope, though not conceding this purpose, Rome declared emphatically for Methodius. He sent a bishop, Paul of Ancona, to reinstate him and punish his enemies, after which both parties were ordered to appear in Rome with the legate. Thus in 873, new Pope John VIII (872 882) secured the release of Methodius, but instructed him to stop using the Slavonic Liturgy.

The papal will prevailed, and Methodius secured his freedom and his archiepiscopal authority over both Great Moravia and Pannonia, albeit without the use of Slavonic for Mass in the Catholic Church. His authority in Pannonia was restricted after Koceľ's death, when the principality was administered by German nobles. However, Svatopluk now ruled practically independently in Great Moravia, and he expelled the German clergy. It seems this secured an undisturbed field of operation for Methodius, and the Vita (x.) depicts the next few years (873–879) as a time of fruitful progress. Methodius seems to have disregarded, wholly or in part, the prohibition of the Slavonic liturgy. When Frankish clerics again ventured into the country, revealing a permissive Svatopluk at odds with his punctilious archbishop, this was made a cause of complaint against him at Rome, coupled with charges regarding the Filioque. In 878, Methodius was summoned to Rome on charges of heresy and using Slavonic. This time Pope John was convinced by the arguments that Methodius made in his defence and sent him back cleared of all charges, and with permission to use Slavonic. The Carolingian bishop who succeeded him, Wiching, a Swabian, suppressed the Slavonic Liturgy and forced the followers of Methodius into exile. Many found refuge with Knyaz Boris the Baptizer in Bulgaria, under whom they reorganized a Slavic speaking Church. Meanwhile, Pope John's successors adopted a Latin only policy which lasted for centuries. Methodius vindicated his orthodoxy and promised to obey with regard to the liturgy. He could the more easily defend his omission of Filioque from the creed as this also pertained in Rome at the time. Though Filioque could, by the 6th century, be heard in some Latin speaking churches in the west, it was not to be until 1014 that Rome followed suit (see Nicene Creed). Methodius' critics were mollified by Methodius having to accept the appointment of Wiching as his coadjutor. When relations between the two factions again became strained, John VIII steadfastly supported Methodius. After his death (December 882) it was the archbishop himself whose position looked insecure. His need for political support, visiting the Eastern emperor, inclined Goetz to accept the account in the Vita (xiii.). After Methodius died on 6 April 885, animosity erupted into open conflict. Gorazd, whom Methodius had designated as his successor, was not recognised by Pope Stephen V. This pope now also forbade the Slavic liturgy and placed as Methodius' successor the infamous He promptly sent disciples of Cyril and Methodius into exile from Great Moravia. They fled to the First Bulgarian Empire, to be welcomed and commissioned to establish two theological schools the Ohrid Literary School in Ohrid and the Preslav Literary School in Preslav. This had been originally established in Pliska, but was moved in 893. In Preslav the Cyrillic script was devised from the Greek and Glagolitic alphabets. Cyrillic gradually replaced Glagolitic as the alphabet of the Old Church Slavonic language, which became the official language of the First Bulgarian Empire and later spread to the Eastern Slav lands of Kievan Rus'. Cyrillic eventually spread throughout most of the Slavic world to become the standard alphabet in the Eastern Orthodox Slavic countries. In this way the work of Cyril and Methodius and their disciples enabled the spread of Christianity throughout Eastern Europe. Methodius' body was buried in the main cathedral church of Great Moravia. It still remains an open question which city was capital of Great Moravia. As a result the location of Methodius' remains remains uncertain.

The Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets are the oldest known Slavic alphabets, and were created by the two brothers and/or their students, to translate the Gospels and liturgical books into the Slavic languages. The early Glagolitic alphabet was used in Great Moravia between 863 (the arrival of Cyril and Methodius) and 885 (the expulsion of their students) for government and religious documents and books, and at the Great Moravian Academy (Veľkomoravské učilište) founded by Cyril, where followers of Cyril and Methodius were educated, by Methodius himself among others. The alphabet has been traditionally attributed to Cyril. That seems confirmed explicitly by the papal letter Industriae tuae (880) approving the use of Old Church Slavonic, which says that the alphabet was "invented by Constantine the Philosopher". "Invention" need not exclude the brothers having possibly made use of earlier letterforms. Before that time the Slavic languages had no distinct script of their own. The early Cyrillic alphabet was developed by the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius at the Preslav Literary School (previously in Pliska as Pliska Literary School) at the end of the 9th century as a simplification of the Glagolitic alphabet which more closely resembled the Greek alphabet. After the death of Cyril, Clement of Ohrid accompanied Methodius from Rome to Pannonia and Great Moravia. After the death of Methodius in 885, Clement headed the struggle against the German clergy in Great Moravia along with Gorazd. After spending some time in jail, he was expelled from Great Moravia, and in 885 or 886 reached the borders of the Bulgarian Empire together with Naum, Angelar, and possibly Gorazd (other sources suggest Gorazd had already died by that time). Clement and Naum were afterwards sent to the Bulgarian capital of Pliska, where they were commissioned by Boris I to instruct the future clergy of the state in the Slavonic language. After the adoption of Christianity in 865, religious ceremonies in Bulgaria were conducted in Greek by clergy sent from the Byzantine Empire. Fearing growing Byzantine influence and weakening of the state, Boris viewed the adoption of the Old Slavonic language as a way to preserve the political independence and stability of Bulgaria, so he established two literary schools (academies), in Pliska and Ohrid, where theology was to be taught in the Slavonic language. While Naum of Preslav stayed in Pliska working on the foundation of the Pliska Literary School, Clement was commissioned by Boris I to organise the teaching of theology to future clergymen in Old Church Slavonic at the Ohrid Literary School. Over seven years (886 893) Clement taught some 3,500 students in the Slavonic language and the Glagolitic alphabet.

Compared to nowadays, the process leading to canonization was less involved in the decades following Cyril's death. Cyril was regarded by his disciples as a saint soon after his death. His following spread among the nations he evangelized, and subsequently to the wider Christian Church. With his brother Methodius, he was famous as a man of holiness. From the crowds lining the Roman streets during his funeral procession, there were calls for Cyril to be accorded saintly status. The brothers' first appearance in a papal document is in Grande Munus of Leo XIII in 1880. They are known as the "Apostles of the Slavs", and are still highly regarded by both Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Their feast day is currently celebrated on 14 February in the Roman Catholic Church (to coincide with the date of St Cyril's death); on 11 May in the Eastern Orthodox Church (though for Eastern Orthodox Churches which use the Julian Calendar this is 24 May according to the Gregorian calendar); and on 7 July according to the old sanctoral calendar before the revisions of the Second Vatican Council. The celebration also commemorates the introduction of literacy and the preaching of the gospels in the Slavonic language by the brothers. The brothers were declared "Patrons of Europe" in 1980. The first recorded secular celebration of Saints Cyril and Methodius' Day as the "Day of the Bulgarian script", as traditionally accepted by Bulgarian history, was held in the town of Plovdiv on 11 May 1851. At the same time a local Bulgarian school was named "Saints Cyril and Methodius". Both acts had been instigated by the prominent Bulgarian educator Nayden Gerov. However, an Armenian traveller referred to a "celebration of the Bulgarian script" when he visited the town of Shumen on 22 May 1803. Cyril and Methodius are remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival and with a lesser feast on the Episcopal Church calendar Previously it had only been celebrated in the schools. It is also known as the day of the "Solun Brothers" In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the two brothers were originally commemorated on 9 March, but Pope Pius IX changed this date to 5 July for several reasons. In Russia, it is celebrated on 24 May and is known as the "Slavonic Literature and Culture Day" (Russian: День славянской письменности и культуры), celebrating Slavonic culture and literature as well as the alphabet. Its celebration is ecclesiastical (11 May in the Church's Julian calendar). It is not a public holiday in Russia. The saints' feast day is celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church on 11 May and by the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion on 14 February as "Saints Cyril and Methodius Day". The Lutheran Churches of Western Christianity commemorate the two saints either on 14 February or 11 May. The Byzantine Rite Lutheran Churches celebrate Saints Cyril and Methodius Day on 24 May.

The national library of Bulgaria in Sofia, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje in the North Macedonia, and St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria and in Trnava, Slovakia, bear the name of the two saints. Faculty of Theology at Palacký University in Olomouc (Czech Republic), bears the name "Saints Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology". In the United States, SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan, bears their name. The Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius established in 1846 was short lived a pro Ukrainian organization in the Russian Empire to preserve Ukrainian national identity. Saints Cyril and Methodius are the main patron saints of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana. Ljubljana Cathedral stands at Cyril and Methodius Square They are also patron saints of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Košice (Slovakia)

The Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius, originally founded in 1909, is part of the national award system of Bulgaria. In 2021, a research vessel newly acquired by the Bulgarian Navy was re christened Ss. Cyril and Methodius after the saints, with actress Maria Bakalova as the sponsor.