CYRIL and METHODIUS -Bible Translators Who Invented an Alphabet

"Like Rooks Upon a Falcon"

In 863 C.E.,Cyril and Methodius began their mission in Moravia, where they were warmly welcomed.  Their work included teaching a group of local people the newly invented Slavonic script, besides translating Biblical and liturgical texts.

All was not easy, however.  The Frankish clergy in Moravia fiercely opposed the use of Slavonic.  They held to a trilinguist theory, maintaining that only Latin, Greek, and Hebrew were  acceptable for use in worship.  Hoping to gain the support of the pope for their newly developed written language, the brothers journeyed to Rome in 867 C.E.

En route, in Venice, Cyril and Methodius has another encounter with a group of trilinguist Latin clergymen.  A medieval biographer of Cyril tells us that the local bishops, priests, and monks fell upon him "like rooks upon a falcon."  According to that account, Cyril retorted by citing 1 Corinthians 14:8, 9;  "For truly, if the trumpet sounds as an indistinct call, who will get ready for battle?  In the same way also, unless you through the tongue utter speech easily understood, how will it be known what is being spoken?  You will, in fact, be speaking into the air."

When the brothers finally reached Rome, Pope Adrian II granted full approval for their use of  Slavonic.  After some month is, and while still in  Rome, Cyril became seriously ill.  Less than two months later, he died at the age of 42.

Pope Adrian II encouraged Methodius to return to work in Moravia and around the town of Nitra,m in what is now Slovakia. Wishing to strengthen his influence over that area, the Pope gave Methodius letters approving the use of Slavonic  and appointed him archbishop.  However, in 870 C.E., the Frankish bisho0p Hermanrich,with the help of Prince Svatopluk of Nitra arrested Methodius.  He was imprisoned for two and half year in a monastery in southeastern Germany.  Finally, Adrian II's successor, Pope John VIII, ordered Methodius' release, reinstalled him in his diocese, and reaffirmed papal support for the use of Slavonic worship.

But opposition from the Frankish clergy continued.  Methodius successfully defended himself against accusations of heresy, and he eventually won from Pope John VIII a bull  expressly authorizing the use of Slavonic in the church. As the current pope, John Paul II, has admitted, Methodius' life was spent "amidst journeys, privations, sufferings, hostility and persecution,  . . .even a period of cruel imprisonment." Ironically, this was at the hands of bishops and princes favorably disposed toward Rome.

Next time: The Complete Bible Is Translated

The Watchtower, 2001