Today, in the only Saturday match-up of Lent Madness, it's the Slavic Smackdown® as Cyril takes on Methodius. While much of the world is preparing for Valentine's Day (named for a confusing muddle of murky, martyred saints in ancient Rome), the church actually celebrates Cyril and Methodius on February 14, not Saint(s) Valentinus. So go ahead and cast your vote and then show your devotion to your "Valentine" by writing a love poem in Cyrillic or serving up a big bowl of borscht.
Yesterday, Absalom Jones defeated Matthias 82% to 18% (in other words, by A LOT--get it?) in the first genuine blowout of Lent Madness 2016. He'll go on to face the winner of Christina Rossetti vs. Joseph in the next round. Really, it's bad luck for Matthias. He certainly drew the short straw in the match-up calendar.
Tomorrow, enjoy Sunday (we highly encourage church attendance) and then be ready to go bright and early on Monday morning as Lent Madness returns with what should prove to be a hotly contested battle between Julian of Norwich and William Wilberforce.
Cyril
Cyril was born in Thessalonica (located in today’s Macedonia) around 827. Educated in Constantinople, he studied theology, Hebrew, and Arabic and became a priest. He was sent on two missions to the Middle East. Cyril’s most influential mission took him and his brother Methodius to the Slavs of Great Moravia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia). Although missionaries from Rome had already evangelized Moravia, Prince Rastislav wanted to place his state firmly under the influence of the church in Constantinople.
To translate the Bible and the liturgy into the local language, Cyril and Methodius used a number of mostly Greek characters to create the Glagolitic alphabet. This was the first Slavic alphabet and is closely related to the more recent Cyrillic alphabet—named after Cyril. Using their new alphabet, Cyril and Methodius translated the Bible, the Slavic Civil Code, and possibly a Slavic liturgy. Cyril and Methodius were successful in converting many Slavs to Christianity and establishing the use of their alphabet; because of jurisdictional issues, they could not establish the Slavic liturgy without the pope’s approval.
Cyril and his brother traveled to Rome, where they were well received, in part because they brought with them some of Saint Clement’s relics. Pope Adrian II authorized the new Slavic liturgy, and Slavic priests were ordained and allowed to celebrate the liturgy in their native language. Cyril became a monk and died shortly afterward, in 869.
Along with his brother Methodius, Cyril is known as one of the two apostles to the Slavs. Celebrations in memory of these brothers are held across Eastern Europe every year.
Methodius
Quietly, and without any fanfare, Methodius helped shape Europe and Asia in ways that have often gone largely unnoticed by Western Christianity.
Methodius (Michael) was born to a Christian family in the city of Thessalonica in the early ninth century. Methodius was the eldest of seven brothers, and he either learned the Slavic language from Slav migrants in Macedonia, or possibly from his mother (who may have been a Slav).
After a brief career in the public sphere, Methodius entered a monastery at Mount Olympus (present day Uludağ). Eventually his youngest brother Constantine (later taking the name Cyril) joined Methodius at the monastery. From the monastery, the brothers set out on a series of missionary journeys.
They shared a passion to share the good news in the native language of the people to whom they were ministering, not relying solely on Hebrew, Greek, and Latin translations of the Bible. And so they set about translating portions of scripture into Slavic and to create a Slavic liturgy. To do this, they invented an alphabet unique to the Slavic tongue. The later evolution of this script is known as the Cyrillic Alphabet and is still widely used across Eastern Europe.
While traveling and sharing the gospel, Methodius and Cyril created a code of law that is still in use to this day. The brothers also discovered the remains of Pope Clement I. They returned the earthly remains of Clement to Rome, where Methodius was ordained a priest by Pope Adrian II. Following the death of Cyril in Rome, Methodius continued the work of carrying the gospel to the Slavs.
Collect for Cyril and Methodius
Almighty and everlasting God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you moved your servant Cyril and his brother Methodius to bring the light of the Gospel to a hostile and divided people: Overcome all bitterness and strife among us by the love of Christ, and make us one united family under the banner of the Prince of Peace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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405 comments on “Cyril vs. Methodius”
So conflicted--the part of me that likes to honor the underdog and the quiet ones is fighting with the part that says "underdogness" is not a truly reasonable qualification. So in the end I had to vote for Cyril. What an amazing mind that created that mysterious alphabet! And making scripture and worship accessible to the masses is what it means to share the Gospel and faith!
Rather than repeating the brother -vs- brother theme that pitted the Wesleys of prior year against each other, why not a brothers -vs- brothers dual; Cyril and Methoious -vs- John and Charles. A challenge of brothers in arms.
That's a terrific idea, Duke!
Tough choice. Next up: Jesus vs Christ. Athens vs Sparta. Lennon vs McCartney. Lenin vs Trotsky. Coke vs Pepsi. Where does the Madness end??
I choose to appoint a Superdelegate to vote in place of me today.
Methodius because he was the oldest. We all need to stick together
This contest definitely went into overtime . . . several overtimes!
Again, well said Davis Dassori, Since you cannot vote for both, I am voting for the eldest, Methodius. I am going to assume(not good to assume) that Methodius was an influence on Cyril
Really? You put brothers who worked as a team against each other? Not fair. Just sayin'
Not voting today. Their ministry was together.
Carolyn Mack and I think alike. In this impossible "choice" I'm going for Methodius. His brother got the alphabet named after him...Methodius deserves the win in this Madness!
It all rather depends what you mean by "the church" : those of us who follow the 1662 BCP and its derivatives, such as our current Canadian prayer book - do indeed have the black-letter day of S. Valentine on the 14 (though obviously not this year).
Thinking of birth order and family dynamics, that Methodius was oldest and Cyril the youngest, thinking of the quiet leadership Methodius exercised in his ministry, and likely his family--wondering about the other five brothers and how they were influenced by both C and M, that M was a monk, was recognized by the Pope and ordained, and lived long beyond Cyril to continue his witness and ministry. Voting for Methodius.
You're asking us to choose between two brothers? As a mother of two, how can my experience in life prepare me for this dilemma. Sophie's choice.
After much deliberation I went with Methodius...only because he was the elder brother ant that's not a good reason, but there it it.
How is it even possible to vote when the saints were in ministry together and the write ups are practically identical? My only options are to vote for both or not vote. Though the Supreme Exec essentially broke the rules of Lent Madness order by putting two people with the same bio against each other, I will abide by the rules and not cast a vote.
An impossible choice. I voted for Methodius simply because he was the elder brother and as compensation for Cyril's getting to have his name attached to the alphabet which derives from the brothers' work.
The feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius is the anniversary of my ordination, so I carry a certain devotion to these brothers. Heartily agree that they might have been presented together in fraternal collegiality, as the exercised their ministry that way. Voting, though reluctantly, for one of them.
This is wonderful! Clearly in life these brothers were close and shared everything, even to their means of acting on their devotion to God. Whoever wins this match will take his brother with him. As an eldest sibling, I know that it is hard to give up on "babying" the younger sibs and letting them have all the glory, and I doubt that Methodius would care that their alphabet was named after his younger brother. My decision is based on the new knowledge that Cyril is the origin of the Cyrillic alphabet, so he gets my vote, knowing he will share the honor with his older brother.
I abstain. It is impossible for me to decide. Maybe if their mother could tell me who was her favorite child, it would be easier to decide, but that wouldn't be fair. UNFAIR!!!
A hard choice. I hope my choice will not cause me nightmares, but alas I vote for Cyril the younger of the bros.
After all the Cyrillic alphabet was named for him. I think he put the most work into developing it and getting the pope to approve it. Who doesn't love another language that doesn't use the Arabic letters designed to baffle English speakers. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Given the number of people who feel this is an unfair match-up, may I make the following evil suggestion:
1. Before casting your vote, see who is losing. (I didn't realize you could see the results before voting until someone mentioned it in one of the posts.)
2. Vote for the person with fewer votes.
3. Once there is a tie, nobody else vote.
4. The two brothers will then advance together to the next round.
(Aren't you glad I do not work at a polling place!)
Simon, I followed steps 1 and 2. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that step number 3 will occur, since it depends on the voters a) realizing that they can check to see who is winning and b) reading comments long enough to read your post (or all coming up with the same idea on their own). I would love to see step number 4 be the result, but I won't hold my breath.
I don't think it's a fair contest to have the two brothers compete against each other when they accomplished establishment of the Cyrillic alphabet and their missionary work amongst the Slavs together. There's almost nothing to distinguish them. It's a very contrived competition and unfair to the loser due to the arbitrariness of the selection between them.
Today represents a tough decision: two brothers whose lives were so entwined. Should they have been allowed to battle each other with such similar biographies? I voted for Methodius, because he had been around longer. But it was tough to draw this conclusion!
Sometimes when I cast my ballot in political campaigns I really don't want either candidates. Both may be losers in my opinion. But, I vote because it is my right. Those of you who sit out today are disenfranchising someone who might be great. Please reconsider and vote.
Cyril and (not vs.) Methodius were favorites of mine when studying church history and splitting them up is insensible. So, just as one person voted for Methodius because he was the older, I voted for Cyril because I'm the youngest in my family. Perhaps this will help even out the vote. I'm all for a tie. Then we can say "Take that, SEC heartless swine!"
Very difficult choice. I chose Cyril in honor of Sr. Cyril , my high school teacher who Struck fear in her freshman students, but who taught me how to diagram sentences, thus tying in with the alphabet in some odd way.
While I'll use a methodi(us)cal approach, I"m not saying it's a good one. First, there must be SOME reason that it was named the Cyrillic alphabet and not the Methodical alphabet. Second, Cyril was the younger brother, and as the youngest of seven I must stand up for all the youngers out there. So I'm going with Cyril.
And a shared Collect, no less...
I agree....this one is a "chicken or egg" dilemma. How to resolve it? I've known a lot of guys named Methodius (Michael), but only one with the moniker, Cyril. Mine is actually a sympathy vote for the younger Cyril, who not only had to endure an older brother, but had to live with that name as well.
Today's comments are rightfully critical of the SEC. Forcing a coin flip or worse is no way to honor two deserving saints. I choose not to add to your record vote totals today.
Yeah, it makes as much sense as asking us to pick our favourite of the 40 Holy Martyrs of Sebaste.
As indicated above, this was a tough one. Their stories are more alike than the Wesley brothers. Since it looks like most have chosen Methodius for various sketchy/slim reasons,
I am giving my vote to Cyril, The vote should reflect their closeness, and Cyril could not help dying first, thereby cutting his ministry short.
You cannot force me to vote for one of these two brothers. Together or not at all. Loved to visit the church in Lebanon PA devoted to both, on Holy Thursday 'way back when that was the thing to do in the Catholic Church. My children used to wonder why it was so much prettier than our own parish - all that lovely color!!!