Cyril, accompanied by his brother Methodius, stayed for a long time in Crimea where he learned Hebrew and sought the body of Pope Clement I who had been exiled there. A few years later (in about 861), the imperial government sent him on a mission to the Khazars on the Sea of Azov who had asked for a scholar to be sent to them who could converse with both Jews and Saracens. In the meantime, his brother Michael (born in about 815), left the world after an administrative career in Macedonia, and withdrew to a monastic life on Mount Olympus in Bithynia, where he was given the name "Methodius" (a monk's monastic name had to begin with the same letter as his baptismal name) and became hegumen of the Monastery of Polychron.Īttracted by his brother's example, Cyril too decided to give up teaching and go to Mount Olympus to meditate and pray.
He carried out this office so well that he earned the nickname of "Philosopher". Shortly afterwards, wishing to retire in solitude, he went into hiding at a monastery but was soon discovered and entrusted with teaching the sacred and profane sciences. After refusing a brilliant marriage he decided to receive holy Orders and became "librarian" at the Patriarchate. In those years Cyril was introduced to the various university disciplines, including dialectics, and his teacher was Photius. When he was 14 years old he was sent to Constantinople to be educated and was companion to the young Emperor, Michael III. As a child he learned the Slavonic language. Cyril was born in Thessalonica to Leo, an imperial magistrate, in 826 or 827. Today I would like to talk about Sts Cyril and Methodius, brothers by blood and in the faith, the so-called "Apostles to the Slavs".
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