Жизнь и труды преподобных отцов наших Мефодия и Константина, в монашестве Кирилла, учителей славянских

In the days of the iconoclastic Greek kings Leo the Armenian 3092, Michael Travl 3093, or Balbus, and then the son of Michael - Theophilus 3094 in the city of Thessaloniki, in Macedonia, there lived a noble and wealthy nobleman, with the rank of warrior-centurion, named Lev. His wife's name was Maria. He lived piously, fulfilling all the commandments of God, as Job once did. They had seven sons: the eldest was called Methodius, and the youngest was Constantine, or Cyril in monasticism. Saint Methodius first served, like his father, in a military rank. The Tsar, having learned about him as a good warrior, appointed him as a governor in one Slavic principality, Slavinia, which was under the Greek power. This happened at the special discretion of God and so that Methodius could better learn the Slavic language, as the future spiritual teacher and shepherd of the Slavs 3095. Having served in the rank of governor for about 10 years and having experienced the vanity of everyday life, Methodius began to dispose his will to renounce everything earthly and direct his thoughts to the heavenly. Moreover, at this time, the iconoclast Tsar Theophilus initiated a persecution of holy icons. This persecution even more revealed the vanity of worldly life to Methodius, and he, leaving the voivodeship and all the pleasures of the world, became a monk on Mount Olympus 3096, where with great obedience and humility he tried to fulfill his monastic vows, while studying the sacred books. Blessed Constantine, the youngest of the sons of Leo, already in infancy showed something marvelous. When his mother, upon birth, gave him to a nurse so that she could feed him, he did not want to feed on someone else's milk, but only on his mother's milk. Obviously, a godly industry was not supposed to feed on other people's milk. With the birth of Konstantin, the good parents made a promise to live as brother and sister, as they lived for 14 years before their death. Before her husband's death, Mary cried, saying: – I don’t grieve for anything as much as for Konstantin: how will he manage in life? “Believe me, wife,” answered Leo, “I hope in God that the Lord God will make him such a father and builder that he will build all Christians.” When he was seven years old, Konstantin had a dream, which he told his parents. “I dreamed,” said Konstantin, “that the governor gathered all the girls of the city and told me: choose one of them as your bride. I examined and chose the most beautiful of them, with a fair face and decorated with many golden things and expensive stones, named Sophia.” The parents understood that the Lord was giving the maiden Sophia to the boy 3097, i.e. the wisdom of God, rejoiced in spirit and diligently began to teach Constantine not only book reading, but also godly good behavior - spiritual wisdom. “Son,” they said to Constantine in the words of Solomon, “honor the Lord and you will be strong; keep the commandments and you will live; write the words of God on the tablet of your heart: “Say to wisdom: you are my sister! And call understanding your own” (Prov. 7:1-4). Wisdom shines brighter than the sun, and if you have it as your assistant, it will save you from much evil.” Parents sent Konstantin to book education. He was distinguished by a good memory and intelligence, so that he was better than all his peers in learning. The following incident happened to him: As the son of wealthy parents, Konstantin once went falconry with his comrades. As soon as Konstantin released his falcon, a strong wind arose, which carried the falcon to an unknown location. Konstantin was so sad about the falcon that he did not eat anything for two days, not even bread. The humane Lord, not wanting the young man to be so sad about everyday things, caught him with this falcon, as Placis once did with a deer. Reflecting on the joys of this life, Saint Constantine said: “What is this life like, that joy certainly causes sadness. From this day on, I will take a different path, better than this one, so that I can avoid the vanity of life.” From that time on, he began to almost always be at home, trying with great diligence to study the sciences, especially the teachings of St. Gregory the Theologian. Constantine had great love for this saint and knew much of his teaching by heart. Having drawn an image of the Holy Cross on the wall, under this cross he wrote praise to Saint Gregory in the following words: “O Saint of God, Gregory the Theologian! You were a man in body, but an Angel appeared in life, for your lips, like the lips of the Seraphim, glorified God with praises and enlightened the universe with your Orthodox teaching. I pray you, accept me, who falls towards you with faith and love, and be my teacher and enlightener.” Diligently studying books, Constantine saw how insignificant his knowledge was due to the lack of a good teacher, which is why he fell into great despondency. In their city there lived one man (a wanderer) who knew grammar. Constantine went to him, begged him and, falling on his face before him, said: - Do a good deed for me: teach me grammar. The wanderer answered him: - Boy, don’t ask me. I made a promise not to teach anyone anymore. Again Konstantin began to tell him with tears: “Take that part from my father’s house that belongs to me, just teach me.” But this did not convince this man. Then Constantine went home and here he began to pray fervently that the Lord would fulfill the desire of his heart and find a teacher for him. The Lord soon fulfilled his wish. At this time, King Theophilus died in the Greek land, and his son Michael began to reign with his mother, the pious queen Theodora. This king remained a minor after his father and three nobles were appointed as his tutor: the domestic 3098 Manuel, the patrician 3099 Theoktistus and the logothete 3100 Dromi, who was well acquainted with the parents of Methodius and Constantine. Logothetus, knowing about the successes and diligence of Constantine, sent for him so that he could study the sciences together with the young Tsar Michael, who would imitate the efforts of Constantine. The youth perked up and joyfully set out on the road, praying to God with the prayer of Solomon: “God of the fathers and Lord of mercy,” prayed Constantine, “who created man. Give me the wisdom that sits on Your throne and do not exclude me from among Your children, for I am Your servant and the son of Your servant. Grant that I may know everything that pleases You and work for Your name throughout my life.” In Constantinople, Constantine lived either in the boyar’s house or in the royal palace. At 3 months he learned grammar, then studied Homer 3101 and geometry, dialectics and philosophy studied with Leo and Photius 3102. In addition to these sciences, he studied rhetoric, arithmetic, astronomy, musical art, and in general all other Hellenic sciences. He knew well not only Greek, but also others: Latin, Syriac and some foreign ones. With his intelligence and diligence, he amazed his teachers, for which he later received the title of philosopher-sage. But he was wise not only in the sciences, but also in life, he tried to be humble, talked with those from whom he wanted to receive instruction, and avoided those who could seduce him into evil. In a word, he tried to change earthly things into heavenly things and live with God. Logothetes, seeing the good life of Constantine and his successes in the sciences, made him manager of his house, and also allowed him to enter the royal chambers without report. One day the logothete asked Constantine: – Tell me, philosopher, what is called philosophy? “Philosophy,” answered Constantine, “is the understanding of divine and human affairs, which teaches a person through virtue, as far as possible, to approach God, who created man in His image and likeness.” After this, the logothete loved Constantine even more and wanted to receive instruction in philosophy from him. Constantine, in a few words, outlined his philosophical teachings to him, for which the logothete showed him special respect and even offered him a lot of gold, but Constantine refused. This nobleman had a goddaughter - a maiden of a rich and glorious family. Logothetes planned to marry Konstantin to her and persuaded him to do so. “Your beauty and wisdom,” said the logothete, “involuntarily makes me love you.” I have a spiritual daughter, a beautiful, rich girl of good and noble birth. If you want, take her as your wife. From the king you will receive great honor and a principality, and soon you will be appointed governor. “This gift is great for those who wish,” answered Constantine, “but for me there is nothing more precious than teaching, through which I can acquire reason, true honor and wealth.” After these words, the logothete went to the queen and said: – The young philosopher does not like the vanity of this life. We will try to keep him near us, and for this we will persuade him to be ordained to the priesthood and be the patriarchal librarian at the Church of St. Sophia. This is the only way to keep him. So they did. Constantine became a priest and librarian at the Church of St. Sophia. But even in this rank, Konstantin was not with them for long. Without telling anyone, he went to the Golden Horn 3103 and hid there in a monastery. They searched for Konstantin for a long time and only found him 6 months later. They could not persuade him to take his previous position and only begged him to be a teacher of philosophy at the main school of Constantinople. At this time, Patriarch John 3104 initiated a persecution of holy icons. Then a council was convened, at which it was decided to remove this patriarch from the throne. To this definition of the council, John said: “They removed me by force, but they could not expose me, since no one can resist my words. The king and the new patriarch sent Constantine to John with the following words: “If you are able to expose this young man, then you will take the throne again.” Seeing such a young philosopher and not knowing his strong mind, John said to Constantine and the messengers: “You are not worth my foot.” How can I argue with you? “Do not adhere to human customs,” answered Constantine, “but look at the commandments of God.” Just as you and we were created from the earth, the soul is from God. Therefore, looking at the earth, man, do not be proud! “It’s stupid to look for flowers in the fall,” said John, “and also to send an old man to war.” “You expose yourself,” answered the philosopher. – Tell me, at what age is the soul stronger than the body? “In old age,” answered John. “What kind of war are we calling you to,” asked the philosopher, “physical or spiritual?” “Spiritual,” answered John. “If you are now the strongest in spirit,” said the philosopher, “then don’t give us such comparisons.” We do not look for flowers without time, and we also do not challenge you to an argument without time. After that we moved on to conversation. The elder asked: “Tell me, young man: if the cross breaks, we no longer worship it, nor kiss it.” How can you, if there is only one person before the Persians, are not ashamed to do him iconic honor? “The cross has four parts,” answered the philosopher, “and if one part is missing, then the cross will lose its appearance, but an icon has its appearance and likeness if the face of the one they wanted to depict is written.” The beholder looks not at the face of a lion or a lynx, but at the prototype. “Here you bow to the cross,” said the elder, “even if there is no inscription on it, but if there is no inscription on the icon, do not honor it.” “Every cross,” answered the philosopher, “has the likeness of the Cross of Christ, but icons do not have the same image, but are different.” – Why do you bow to icons when God told the prophet Moses: “Do not create... any likeness” (Exodus 20:4)? “If the Lord had said: do not create any likeness,” the philosopher answered this, “then you would have spoken correctly; but the Lord said: everyone, i.e. except worthy. The elder could not object to this and fell silent. Around this time, ambassadors came to Constantinople from the infidel Hagarenes or Saracens who owned Syria. These Saracens, even under the former king Theophilus, with God's forgiveness for their sins, approached the Greek land and destroyed the beautiful city of Amoria 3105. From that time on, they began to be proud of their strength before Christians and sent a letter to Constantinople with blasphemy against the Holy Trinity. “How do you, Christians,” wrote the Saracens, “say that there is one God, but you divide Him into three: you confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit?” If you can prove this, then send to us such men who could talk with us about faith and convince us 3106. At this time, Blessed Constantine was 24 years old. The king and the patriarch convened a council, to which they called Constantine and told him: – Do you hear, philosopher, what the bad Hagarians say about our faith? If you are a servant and disciple of the Holy Trinity, go and convict them. And God, the doer of every work, glorified in the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, gives you grace and power in words, to reveal you as another David, with three stones defeating Goliath (1 Sam. 17), and then will safely return you back to us. Hearing these words, the philosopher replied: - I am glad to go for the Christian faith. What could be better for me: to die or to stay alive for the sake of the Holy Trinity? They gave Constantine two deacs 3107 and sent them to the Saracens. They came straight to the capital of the Saracen principality - Samara, located near the Euphrates River, in which the Saracen prince Amirmushna lived. Here they saw strange and vile things that the Hagarites did to mock and ridicule the Christians living in those places. By order of the Saracen authorities, images of demons were inscribed on the outside of the doors where Christians lived. By this the Hagarians wanted to show that they abhor Christians as if they were demons. As soon as Constantine arrived to them, the Saracens, pointing to the demons, asked him: – Can you, philosopher, understand what these images say? “I see a demonic image,” answered the philosopher, “and I think that Christians live here.” Demons cannot live with Christians and run away from them (they are outside the doors). Where this image is not on the outside of the doors, there are obviously demons living inside the building. The Saracens invited Constantine to the princely chamber for dinner. At dinner sat smart and bookish people who had studied geometry, astronomy and other sciences. They, tempting Constantine, asked him: “You see, philosopher, a wonderful thing: the prophet Mohammed brought good teaching from God and converted many people. We all adhere equally firmly to his law and do not change anything. Among you, Christians who keep the law of Christ, one believes one way, the other another, and lives as he wants. There are many teachers among you who teach in different ways, and there are monks who wear black clothes and lead a special way of life. However, you are all called Christians. “They asked me two questions,” answered Blessed Constantine, “about the Christian faith and about the Christian law, or: how Christians believe and how they fulfill their faith in life.” I will say first of all about faith. Our God is like the depths of the sea - immeasurable breadth and depth, incomprehensible to the human mind and inexplicable in human words, as the holy prophet Isaiah says about Him: “Who can explain His generation?” (Isa.53:8); On the basis of this, our teacher, the holy Apostle Paul, cries out, saying: “Oh, the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his destinies and his ways unsearchable” (Rom. 11:33). Many who want to seek God enter this abyss, and those of them who are strong in mind and have acquired the help of the Lord Himself sail safely on the sea of ​​God’s incomprehensibility; those who are weak in mind and due to their conceit, deprived of God’s help, want to swim across this abyss in leaky ships, drown, falling into heresies and delusions, or with difficulty remain in one place, worried about the unknown and doubts. Therefore, many (as you say) of Christians differ in faith. I said this about faith, and about works of faith I will say the following: The Law of Christ is not any other, but the one that God gave to Moses at Sinai (Exodus 20:1-18), not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to covet the things of others, etc. Our Lord said: “I came not to destroy the law... but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17). For a more perfect life and better pleasing to God, the Lord gave advice to lead a purer, virgin life and perform special deeds that lead to eternal life along a narrow and sad path. However, the Lord does not force one into this life, and this does not happen through violence. God created man between heaven and earth: man differs in reason and sense from the dumb, and in anger and lust he differs from the Angels. Then God gave man free will, so that he would do what he wanted and whatever he would approach - with that he would have fellowship: either he would be a fellow angel, working for God, as his mind, enlightened by faith, teaches man, or he would have fellowship with senseless beasts, if he fulfilled all carnal lusts without any abstinence. And since God created man with free will, He wants us to be saved not by violence, but by His own desire and says: “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24); and: “Whoever can contain it, let him contain it” (Matthew 19:12). Some of the faithful Christians walk in this life in a more comfortable way, living according to the laws of nature chastely in an honest marriage, while others, more zealous and wanting to be more perfect, try to live like the Angels and follow the narrow path. Therefore, Christians lead different lives. Your faith and law,” continued Konstantin, “have no inconvenience; They are not like a sea, but like a small stream, which everyone, great and small, can jump over without any difficulty. There is nothing Divine or inspired in your faith and your law, but only human customs and carnal wisdom that can be easily carried out. After all, your legislator Mohammed did not give you any difficult commandment: he did not even turn you away from anger and lawless lust, but allowed everything. Therefore, you all uniformly fulfill your law, as given according to your lusts. Our Savior Christ did not do this. He Himself, the Most Pure One and the source of all purity, wants His servants to live holy, moving away from all lust and the pure to join only the pure, since “nothing unclean will enter His kingdom” (Rev. 21:27). Then the Saracen sages asked Constantine: – Why do you, Christians, divide the One God into three: you call it Father, Son and Spirit. If God can have a Son, then give Him a wife, so that there may be many gods? “Do not blaspheme the Most Divine Trinity,” answered the Christian philosopher, “Which we learned to confess from the ancient prophets, whom you also recognize as holding the circumcision together with them.” They teach us that the Father, Son and Spirit are three hypostases, but their essence is one. A similarity to this can be seen in the sky. So in the sun, created by God in the image of the Holy Trinity, there are three things: a circle, a light ray and warmth. In the Holy Trinity, the solar circle is the likeness of God the Father. Just as a circle has neither beginning nor end, so God is beginningless and endless. Just as a light ray and solar warmth come from the solar circle, so the Son is born from God the Father and the Holy Spirit emanates. Thus, the solar ray, enlightening the entire universe, is the likeness of God the Son, born of the Father and manifested in this world, while the solar warmth emanating from the same solar circle along with the ray is the likeness of God the Holy Spirit, Who, together with the begotten Son, pre-eternally emanates from the Father, although in time it is sent to people by the Son! 3108, as for example, it was sent to the apostles in the form of tongues of fire. And just as the sun, consisting of three objects: a circle, a bright ray and heat, is not divided into three suns, although each of these objects has its own characteristics, one is a circle, the other is a ray, the third is heat, however, not three suns, but one, so the Holy Trinity, although it has Three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, however, is not divided by the Divinity into three gods, but there is One God. Do you remember what Scripture says about how God appeared to the forefather Abraham at the oak of Mamre, from which you keep circumcision? God appeared to Abraham in Three Persons. “He (Abraham) lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood against him. Seeing, he ran towards them from the entrance to the tent and bowed to the ground. And he said: Lord! If I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass Your servant past” (Gen. 18:2-3). Please note: Abraham sees three men before him, but talks as if with one, saying: “Lord! If I have found favor before You." Obviously the holy forefather confessed One God in Three Persons. The Saracen sages, not knowing what to say regarding the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, remained silent, and then asked: – How do you Christians say that God was born of a woman? Can God be born from a woman's womb? “Not from a simple wife,” answered the philosopher, “but from the unmarried Most Pure Virgin, God the Son was born through the action of the Holy Spirit, Who in the Most Pure Virgin Womb indescribably founded the flesh of Christ the God and arranged the supernatural incarnation and birth of the Word of the Father. Therefore, the Virgin who conceived the Son from the Holy Spirit, both before birth and during birth and after birth, remained a pure Virgin, according to the will of God, to Whom every created being obeys, in the words of the church song: “Wherever God wills, the order of nature is overcome” 3109. And that Christ was born from a pure Virgin by the Holy Spirit, your prophet Mohammed also testifies, writing the following: “The Holy Spirit was sent to the pure Virgin, so that by His will She would give birth to a Son.” “We do not argue,” said the Saracens, “that Christ was born of a pure Virgin, but we do not call Him God.” – If Christ were a simple man, and not God at the same time, then why should His conception have taken place from the Holy Spirit? A simple man will be born from a married woman, and not from an Unartificial Virgin, and is conceived by nature from a husband, and not by a special influx and action of the Holy Spirit. After this the Saracens asked: – If Christ is your God, then why don’t you do what He tells you? After all, it is written in the Gospel: pray for your enemies, do good to those who hate and oppress you, and turn your cheek to those who beat you. You are doing the wrong thing: you are sharpening your weapons against your opponents. To this the philosopher responded like this: – If in any law two commandments are written and given to people to fulfill, then which of the people will be the true executor of the law: the one who fulfills one commandment, or the one who fulfills two? “Of course, the best performer will be the one,” answered the Saracens, “who fulfills the two commandments.” “Christ our God,” said the philosopher, “commanded us to pray for those who offend us and do good to them, but He also said this: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). We endure insults if they are directed only against someone individually, but we intercede and even lay down our souls if they are directed at society, so that our brothers do not fall into captivity, where they could be seduced into ungodly and evil deeds. – Your Christ gave tribute for Himself and for others (for the Apostle Peter). Why don’t you do this and don’t want to pay tribute? If you really stood up for each other, you would certainly pay tribute for your brothers to such a great and strong Ishmaelite people. “If someone follows in the footsteps of his teacher and wants to always walk,” answered Constantine, “and someone else seduces him from this path, is such a person his friend or enemy?” “Without a doubt, an enemy,” answered the Saracens. “When Christ gave tribute,” Constantine asked then, “what kind of kingdom was it: Ishmaelite or Roman?” “Roman,” answered the Saracens. “That’s why we,” answered the philosopher, “following Christ, pay tribute to the king who lives in new Rome (Constantinople) and owns ancient Rome.” But you, when you seek tribute from us, lead astray from the path of Christ and become our enemies. After this, they asked Konstantin many other questions from the sciences that they knew. Constantine answered all questions in such a way that the Saracens could not say anything. Then they asked him: - Why do you know all this? Then Konstantin made the following comparison: “One man,” he said, “drew water from the sea and then carried it in a bag. Moving far from the sea, he pointed to a bag of water and said to everyone: “Do you see the water that no one except me has?” One seaside resident approached him and said: “Aren’t you ashamed to boast about some bag of water, which we have a whole sea of?” This is what you do when you ask questions from those sciences that you learned from us (the Greeks). Then, like something marvelous, the Saracens showed Constantine a vineyard, once planted with diligence and well grown 3110. Konstantin explained how this is done. Then the Saracens showed him all their wealth: palaces decorated with gold, silver and precious stones and said: “Do you see, philosopher, what power and what wealth Omar, the ruler of the Saracens, has? “There is nothing marvelous in this,” answered the philosopher. - For all this we should glorify God, who gave these riches for people to enjoy. All this belongs to God and no one else. In the end, Saracens showed themselves for what they are. They gave Blessed Constantine poison in his drink. But the Lord, who promised all who work in His name, “if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them” (Mark 16:18), kept His servant safe and sound. The Saracens, seeing this miracle, sent Constantine along with others sent in their direction with honor and gifts from their prince. In Constantinople, the king and patriarch met blessed Constantine with praise for the godly work that he performed. But Konstantin was not in Constantinople for long. Soon he went to a quiet and remote place, where he began to care only about his own salvation. He did not take any food with him, but in this case placed his hope in the Providence of God, which through Christ-loving people brought him food. Of the food he brought, Constantine did not leave anything for the next day, but after the usual meal, he distributed everything else to the poor, trusting in God, who opens His generous hand and feeds all living things with His goodness. One day, on the occasion of a big holiday, Constantine did not have any food, about which his servant began to greatly lament. Blessed Constantine told him: “The One who once fed the Israelites in the desert for many years will not also feed us on this great day?” Be sure to go and invite at least five beggars to join us for dinner and we will wait for God’s mercy, because He will not leave us. Indeed this is what happened. At lunchtime a man came and brought a lot of all kinds of food and ten gold coins. The blessed one took it and gave praise to God, his Nourisher. From here Constantine went to Olympus, to his elder brother Methodius, with whom he began to live together, performing monastic feats in fasting, spending time in prayer or reading books 3111. At this time, ambassadors from the Kozars 3112 came to the Greek king Michael, with the following words: – We first of all know One God, Who rules over everything, and we pray to Him, bowing to the east, but at the same time we also maintain some obscene customs. Jews are trying to get us to accept their faith and works, and many of us have already become Jews by faith. The Saracens, entering into an alliance with us and offering us gifts, force us to accept the Mohammedan faith and say that the faith of the Saracens is better than the faith of all other peoples. Therefore, from you, with whom we maintain old love and friendship, we wish to receive useful advice and ask you to send us some learned man and, if he exposes the Jews and Saracens, we will accept your faith. Then Tsar Michael, on the advice of His Holiness Patriarch Ignatius 3113, who was after Saint Methodius 3114, decided to send Blessed Constantine, who was summoned from Mount Olympia, to the Kozars. Having conveyed the request to the Kozars, the king said to Constantine: - Go, philosopher, to these people and, with the help of the Holy Trinity, preach to them the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity. No one can fulfill this assignment better than you. “If you order, sir,” answered Constantine, “I will gladly go there on foot, barefoot and without everything that the Lord did not order His disciples to take when sending them to preach.” “If you did this on your own,” answered the king, “then I would have nothing against it, but since you are leaving us, then go with honor and royal help.” After this, Constantine persuaded his brother, Blessed Methodius, who knew the Slavic language, to go with him to apostolic service, to enlighten the infidels with the light of the Christian faith. Methodius agreed, and they set off together. Their path lay through the steppes, and in the steppes at that time lived the Ugrians, the current Hungarians or Magyars. These Ugrians were so terrible that they didn’t even look much like people: they wore their clothes with the fur upside down, did not sow grain and lived by robbery. When the holy brothers stopped here to pray, they were attacked by Ugrians, who howled like wolves, wanting to tear them to pieces. Constantine was not afraid, did not give up his prayer and, crying out to the Lord, often repeated: “Lord have mercy!” At the end of the prayer, the Ugrians, seeing Constantine, according to Divine vision, became meek and began to bow to him, Constantine told them a few instructive words, after which the Ugrians sent them on their way. First of all, the holy brothers went to the Greek city of Kherson, adjacent to the Kozars, which stood on the seashore not far from (present-day) Sevastopol. Here they spent a lot of time studying Kozar 3115 and Greek. Constantine also translated eight parts of Jewish grammar here. They studied it in order to more successfully educate the Khazars and compete with the Jews, of whom there were many among the Khazars 3116. A Samaritan lived here, who went to Constantine and talked with him about faith. One day he brought Samaritan books and showed them to Constantine. Constantine begged them from a Samaritan and, shutting himself up in his room, began to fervently pray to God to help him study them. With God's help, Constantine quickly and well studied these books. Having learned about this, the Samaritan exclaimed: “Truly, whoever believes in Christ will soon receive the grace of the Holy Spirit.” The Samaritan's son was immediately baptized; after him the Samaritan also accepted the faith of Christ. In Kherson, Constantine managed to find the “Gospel and Psalter written in Russian,” as well as a person who spoke this language. Constantine, talking with him, learned this speech and, based on the conversations, divided the letters into vowels and consonants and, with the help of God, soon began to read and explain the books he found. Many, seeing such wisdom, marveled and praised God. Here the holy brothers learned that the relics of the holy martyr Clement, Pope of Rome 3117, were in the sea. They began to convince the Kherson bishop to open the holy relics. The following is described about these relics: When Saint Clement was imprisoned from Rome to Kherson and converted many there to the Christian faith, then hegemon Aufidian, by order of King Trajan 3118, ordered him to be drowned in the sea, tying a ship's anchor around his neck so that Christians could not find his body. The saint's faithful disciples stood on the shore and looked with sobs at the drowning of their teacher. Then the two most faithful disciples, Cornelius and Thebes, said to the Christians: “Let us all pray with one accord that the Lord will reveal to us the body of the holy martyr.” Through the prayer of Christians, the sea retreated back three miles 3119. The people, like the Israelites of old in the Red Sea, walked along the dry bottom, and found a marble tomb made like a church, and there they saw the holy body lying and the anchor with which the saint was drowned. The Christians intended to take the holy body from there, but the above-mentioned disciples were honored to receive a revelation that the holy relics would be left inviolable, and that every year, in remembrance of the saint, the sea would recede back for seven days, making way for those who wished to venerate the holy relics. This continued for 700 years from the reign of Trajan until the reign of the Greek king Nicephorus in 3120. Due to the sins of people, the sea stopped receding back during the reign of Nicephorus, which brought great sorrow to Christians. Saints Constantine and Methodius arrived in Kherson when more than 50 years had passed since the final hiding of the holy relics. George, the blessed bishop of Kherson, whom the holy brothers convinced to open the holy relics, first of all went to Constantinople to the king and the patriarch to get their permission for this discovery. Together with the bishop from Constantinople, the entire clergy of the Church of St. Sophia arrived for the opening of the holy relics. Then all together, as well as Saints Constantine and Methodius, accompanied by the people, went to the seashore, hoping to get what they wanted. But the sea did not recede. Then, after sunset, they boarded the ship and sailed out to sea. Suddenly at night, at midnight, a light shone from the sea and the honest head appeared, and then the whole body of Saint Clement became visible. The holy relics were placed in a ship and taken with great honor to the city and placed in the Apostolic Church 3121. Saints Constantine and Methodius took part of the holy relics and carried them everywhere they went until they took this part to Rome. From Kherson, Constantine and Methodius went to the Kozars, where they were honorably received by the Kozars Khagan, who was given a letter from the Greek king. Blessed Constantine had to conduct lengthy conversations with the Kozars, Jews and Saracens. Methodius took almost no part in these conversations, since he was less trained than Constantine: he, as a former governor, knew better how to deal with the people than how to conduct learned conversations. Therefore, Constantine, who from an early age was skilled in the sciences, knew the Holy Scriptures well and was a good preacher, ready to give an answer to any question, had to conduct conversations about faith alone; Methodius helped Constantine with his godly prayer. The Kozars sent one crafty and cunning man to Constantine, who said to him: “You Greeks have the bad custom of appointing instead of one king another, from a simple, non-royal family. So, after Nicephorus, they installed the boyar Mikhail Kuropalat as king and, leaving him, they elevated Leo the Armenian from a simple family to the throne, after whose death they installed Mikhail Travlus, originally from Amorium. This is not the case with us: all our kagans are from the kagan clan, and no one can reign among us unless he is from this clan. To this Konstantin answered briefly: “Did God act wrongly when He rejected King Saul, whom He disliked, and from among the shepherds of the flocks chose the man David after His heart?” Kozarin could not object to this and proposed another question: “You pronounce moral teachings from the books that you hold in your hands, but we do not, but we pronounce all the wisdom from it, not being proud of our writings, as you do.” All wisdom seems to be within us. “If you meet a naked man,” answered Constantine, “who will assure you that he has a lot of clothes and gold and estates, will you believe him, seeing him naked and having nothing in his hands?” “No,” said Kozarin. “If I had anything, I wouldn’t go naked.” “If you, as you boast, have swallowed up all wisdom,” said Constantine to Kozarin, “then tell me: how many generations were there from Adam to Moses and where did each generation live on earth?” Kozarin could not say anything. Konstantin continued: - Therefore, I do not believe you that you have learned all wisdom and do not need books. The holy brothers were invited to dinner with the kagan. Before sitting down at the table, the Kagan asked them: “Tell me what kind of person you are, so we can know where to put you.” “Our grandfather,” answered Constantine, “was of a great and glorious family and was close to the Tsar. But he did not know how to retain the great glory given to him, he was expelled from the Tsar and withdrew to a foreign country, where he gave birth to us. We are now looking for the ancient glory of our grandfather and do not want to have any other. Our grandfather was Adam. “You speak decently and correctly, guest,” said the Kagan, after which he began to have special respect for Konstantin. When they sat down at the table, the kagan took the cup and said: – I drink in honor of the One God, who created all creation. Konstantin took the cup with the words: – I drink to the glory of the One God and His Word, by Whom the heavens are established, and the Life-giving Spirit, Who sustains the existence of created creation. “Here we are,” said the Kagan to Konstantin, “we contain the same teaching about God, the Creator of all creation, we only differ in that you glorify the Trinity, and we glorify the One God, as the Jewish books teach about this.” “If you,” answered Constantine, “learned from Jewish books that there is one God, then from the same books you will learn the Holy Trinity.” Jewish books in their prophecies preach, in addition to the Father, the Word and the Spirit. So the king and prophet David says: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were created, and by the breath of His mouth all their host” (Ps. 32:6). Here in this place the unity and trinity are quite clearly indicated: the Lord, His Word and the Spirit. The Lord is God the Father, the Word is God the Son, the Spirit of the mouth of the Lord is God the Holy Spirit. However, there are not three Lords, but One Lord with His Word and Spirit, and also not three gods in divinity, but One revered God. Pay attention also to this: which of the two would be the better admirer of your royal person, the one who would show only honor to you and despise your word and the spirit of your lips, or the one who would equally honor you, your word, and the spirit of your lips? “Without a doubt, the last,” answered the Kagan. “Therefore,” the philosopher continued, “we, equally honoring the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are better and truer worshipers of God than you.” We learned such worship of God from the prophetic books. In addition to the above places, I will give others. So the holy prophet Isaiah speaks about God the Son in the following words: “Listen to Me, O Jacob and Israel, My called: I am the same, I am the first and I am the last... and now the Lord God and his Spirit have sent Me” (Is. 48:12, 16). Our ancient fathers 3122 explained this passage of Holy Scripture as follows: -Who is the one sent if not the Son? From whom is it sent if not from the Father and the Holy Father's Spirit? There were many Jews at this dinner. Some of them said to Blessed Constantine: “Tell us, Christian philosopher: how can the female sex accommodate in the womb God, Whom not even the Angels can look upon?” The philosopher, pointing his finger to the Kagan at the first adviser, said: - If someone said that this first adviser cannot accept the kagan into his house and treat him when the last slave can do this, then what would we call him: crazy or reasonable? “Even very mad,” answered the Jews. Then the philosopher asked the following question: – Which of all the creations visible in heaven is the most honest? “Man is the most honest creation,” answered the Jews, “because he has a rational soul, created in the image of God.” “Therefore, those are unreasonable,” answered the philosopher, “who recognize it as impossible for God to fit in a human womb, while they know that He fit into a thorn bush (bush) under Moses.” Is the bush, a soulless and insensitive creation, more honest than a sensual and rational creature with a god-like soul? In addition to the bush, God was contained in cloud, smoke and fire when he appeared to Job, Moses and Elijah. What is especially wonderful is that God entered into the most honest animate creature, wanting to appear on earth and live with people in order to save them from the mortal plague inflicted on the human race by the sin of Adam. From whom, if not from the Creator Himself, tell me, should the most honest creature, that is, the human race, expect healing and renewal? Wasn’t it David who predicted: “He sent His word and healed them” (Ps. 106:20). Therefore, the Word of the Father, God the Son, came and healed human nature. How could the Word of the Father heal a person if he had not united with the person through incarnation and applied himself to the person like a healing plaster? Does a doctor, wanting to heal a wounded person, apply a plaster to a tree or a stone, and not to the patient? Therefore, God applied His Only Begotten Word, like a plaster, not to a tree, although He had previously appeared between the trees in a bush, not to a stone, although it was visible in the stone mountains of Sinai and Horeb by Moses and Elijah, but to a man overcome by sinful illness. The connection became inextricable, for the Lord deigned to dwell in a pure, virgin, and not just a woman’s womb, as Isaiah prophesied about this: “Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel, which means: God is with us” (Is. 7:14). Here the prophet clearly says that God the Son will be born on earth from a pure and unmarried Virgin. And that it was possible for God to move into a virgin’s womb for the sake of our salvation, remember what is written in your books. Your Rabbi Achilla says: - In the thunder of stone and in the voice of a trumpet, do not appear to us, O Lord, do not appear to us, O generous Lord, but dwell in our womb, take away our sins. - If Moses prayed to God to move into our wombs, then why do you blame us, who confess that God moved into a woman’s womb, and not just a woman’s, but a virgin’s, pure, immaculate and unadulterated? He also dwells in our wombs when we, Christians, partake of the mystical sacrifice. As you can see, the ancient prayer of Moses, recorded in your books according to the testimony of Rabbi Achilles, has been fulfilled: God has moved into our wombs, taking away our sins. After lunch, everyone dispersed and set a day on which they would again talk about faith. On the appointed day, everyone gathered and, at the invitation of the Kagan, sat down in the designated places. Konstantin made the following preface to the conversation: “Here I am the only foreigner among you, and we are all having a conversation about God, in whose hands everything is, including our hearts.” When we talk, let the one of you who is strong in words, if he understands, confirm our words, and if not, let him ask again and we will try to explain. The Jews began the conversation with this question: - Tell us: God first gave which law: the Mosaic one, or the one you, Christians, maintain? “Isn’t that why,” answered Blessed Constantine, “you asked me what the first law is, so that you could then say that the first is the best?” “Yes,” answered the Jews. “And therefore one should obey the first law, as the first and the best.” “If you want to fulfill only the first law, then refuse circumcision,” Constantine told the Jews. - Why are you saying this? - asked the Jews. “Tell me truly,” Constantine said to the Jews, “was the first law given in circumcision or in non-circumcision?” “We think,” answered the Jews, “that it is in circumcision.” “Didn’t God give the first law to Noah,” said Constantine? And this was before circumcision and after the commandment given in paradise to Adam after his fall. God commanded Noah that human blood should not be shed: “Whoever sheds human blood, his blood will be shed” (Gen. 9:6). Then, speaking about eating herbal potions, animals, livestock, birds and fish, God said to Noah: “I establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you” (Gen. 9:9). “But a covenant is not a law,” said the Jews. - God did not say to Noah: My law, but My covenant. We are talking about the law. – Do you observe circumcision as a law or not? – asked Konstantin. “We maintain it as the law,” answered the Jews. “Circumcision,” continued Constantine, “God also did not call it a law, but only a covenant, when He said to Abraham: “You shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations... all your males will be circumcised... and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you... and My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant” (Gen. 17:9-13). Look,” said Constantine, “God never once called circumcision a law, but a covenant.” Will you therefore renounce circumcision as unlawful? If you keep the covenant of circumcision as a law, then you must keep the covenant given to Noah as a law and call it the first law, which God gave to the human race, expelled from paradise and preserved from the waters of the flood. “No,” answered the Jews. – Only the law given to Moses is the law, and we fulfill it. “If the covenant given to Noah,” said Constantine, “is not a law, but only a covenant, because God did not call it a law, but a covenant, then the law given to Moses is not a law, because God in the 11th chapter of the book of the prophet Jeremiah does not call it a law, but a covenant: “Hear the words of this covenant... thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: cursed is the man who does not listen to the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers when I brought forth them from the land of Egypt" (Jer. 11:2-4). If this covenant is a law for you, then the covenant given to Noah is also a law. And since this law was given before circumcision, you must observe it as the first and not listen to other laws that came after it, that is, Abraham and Moses. After all, you yourself said that the first law is the best and must be obeyed. The Jews then evaded this question, began to talk about something else and said: “Whoever kept the law of Moses pleased God.” Therefore, by observing it, we also hope to be pleasing to God. You adhere to the new law, which you yourself invented for yourself, and despise the old law. “By adopting the new law,” answered the philosopher, “we did well.” For even Abraham, if he had not accepted circumcision, but only fulfilled the covenant of Noah, would not have been called a friend of God. Also, Moses after Abraham, not content with the laws previously given to Noah and Abraham, wrote a new law. We follow their example. However, just as they, following each other, did not destroy the previous laws, Abraham did not reject Noah, and Moses both, but, filling in what was missing, they set out in more extensive laws the more perfect will of God, so that the commandment of the Lord would be firm, so we do not deny the Old Testament, written on the tablets of Moses, but we maintain everything in order to know the One God, the Creator of all creation, and also: not to kill, do not steal and other commandments. We only abstain from everything that is not written on the Tablets of Moses, for example: circumcision, sacrifices of dumb people and others like that. They were only a shadow and a likeness of the new law that was to come, and therefore with its coming they had to be abandoned. What is the need to keep a shadow when we have the thing itself in our hands? “If what you say about the Old Testament,” the Jews objected, “the institutions and covenants, except for the tablets of Moses, were only a shadow and likeness of your new Testament, then the ancient legislators would have known this and would have spoken about your new law, which will be in the future. After all, the shadow and likeness must outline the thing that one expects to see with the eyes. The legislators did not expect your law, and therefore all the Old Testament institutions and covenants, like the Tablets of Moses, are not a shadow and a likeness, but the very truth (thing), which you, like what is written on the Tablets of Moses, must be kept as the truth. Against this, the philosopher responded like this: – If the ancient legislators who were in the Old Testament did not know that according to their law a new law would come, then I would ask you: when at first God gave Noah the covenant that we talked about earlier, did he then tell him that he would give another law after him to His saint Abraham? Of course not, but confirmed the first covenant to those existing for eternal generations. Did he also tell Abraham when he gave him the covenant that he would later give another law to Moses? He announced our new covenant in detail through His holy prophets. So listen to Jeremiah speaking: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not such a covenant as I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; They broke that covenant of mine, although I remained in covenant with them, says the Lord” (Jer. 31:31-32). You see the well-known prophecy about our new covenant. Likewise, the prophet Isaiah predicted a new covenant on behalf of the Lord, saying: “But you do not remember the former things, and do not think about the ancient things. I am creating a new thing, but today it will appear” (Is. 43:18–19). So, the ancient legislators knew about the new grace law, waited for it and prophesied about it. Therefore, your Old Testament institutions and covenants are a shadow and likeness of our expected law, and not the truth itself, and therefore they must be discarded as unnecessary. “Every Jew recognizes as true that there will be a new law,” said the Jews, “but the time has not yet come for the Anointed One to appear.” “What are you still waiting for,” answered Konstantin. - Has not the power of your kingdom and reign, which, according to the prophecy of the forefather Jacob, should exist only until the coming of Christ the Messiah, ceased, has not Jerusalem been destroyed, has not the sacrifices been rejected, has not the glory of the Lord moved from you to the pagans, as the prophet Malachi clearly predicted about this, saying: “My favor is not with you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will not accept sacrifices from your hands. For from the east of the sun to the west my name will be great, and in every place they will offer incense to my name, a pure sacrifice; My name will be great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty" (Mal. 1:10-11). “We understand this passage in such a way,” the Jews answered, “that the Gentiles will be blessed through us, just as we, the seed of Abraham, are blessed; they will be circumcised in the city of Jerusalem.” “Through Whom Abraham’s seed is blessed,” answered Constantine, “through Him we are, namely through the Messiah, who came from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesse and David.” After all, God said to Abraham: “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3), and to Isaac: “In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 26:4) and the same to Jacob (Gen. 28:14); Давид же говорит: «благословятся в нем племена; все народы ублажают его» ( Пс.71:17 ). And that the Messiah had to come both for the sake of the tribe of Abraham and for the salvation of the pagans, Jacob once said about this, blessing Judah: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until the Reconciler comes, and to him the submission of the nations” (Gen. 49:10). And the prophet Zechariah, announcing the coming of the meek King, sitting on a donkey and a colt, to the daughter of Zion - Jerusalem, says: “Then I will destroy the chariots of Ephraim and the horses in Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken, and He will proclaim peace to the nations” (Zechariah 9:10). You see that not only for the sake of you Jews, but also for the sake of the Gentiles, the Messiah had to come. It seems to me that He came more for the sake of the pagans than for your sake, for you did not accept Him, but the pagans accepted Him, you killed Him, the pagans believed in Him, you rejected Him, but the pagans loved Him; That is why He rejected you, but He called the pagans and is glorified in them. And that the truly awaited Messiah has already come, you can be convinced of this through the holy prophet Daniel. The Angel of the Lord Gabriel appeared to this prophet in Babylon in the first year of the reign of Darius, and from that time until the coming of the Messiah into the world he appointed 70 weeks. Each week contains 7 years, and all - 490 years. Your Talmud thinks so too. How long have these years passed? If you look, you will find out that more than 800 years have passed since the weeks spoken to Daniel were fulfilled (Dan. 2:1-49). “I’ll also ask you,” said Constantine, “what kind of kingdom of iron do you think Daniel spoke about to Nebuchadnezzar when he explained to him the dream about the great idol?” “The Iron Kingdom meant the Roman Kingdom,” answered the Jews. “Who,” asked the philosopher, “means the stone that was torn from the mountain without human hands and crushed this idol?” “The stone means the Messiah,” the Jews answered and added, “if, according to the legends of the prophets and other events, as you say, the Messiah has already come, then why does the Roman kingdom have power to this day?” “No,” answered the philosopher, “it no longer holds power, but it has passed by, like other kingdoms.” Our kingdom is not Roman, but Christ’s, as the prophet said: “The God of Heaven will erect a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be transferred to another people; it will crush and destroy all kingdoms, but it itself will stand forever” (Dan. 2:44). Is this not a Christian kingdom, so called by the name of Christ? The Romans served idols, and these Christians, partly consisting of this people, partly from other tribes and peoples, reign in the name of Christ, as the prophet Isaiah describes it, saying: “Leave your name to My chosen for curse; But the Lord will kill you, and call his servants by another name, by which whoever blesses himself on earth will swear by the true God” (Is. 65:15-16). Have not all the prophecies spoken about Christ been fulfilled? Isaiah predicted His birth from a Virgin, saying this: “Behold, a Virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel” (Is. 7:14). And the holy prophet Micah says about his birth in Bethlehem: “And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrath, are you small among the thousands of Judah? From you will come to me one who is to be ruler in Israel, and whose origin is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Therefore He will leave them until the time when she who is about to give birth has given birth” (Mic. 5:2-3). “We,” said the Jews, “are the blessed descendants of Shem, who received a blessing from his father, Noah.” You didn't receive a blessing. “Noah’s blessing of Shem has nothing to do with you,” said Constantine, “but there is only the glorification of God, for Noah said: “Blessed is the Lord God of Shem” (Gen. 9:26). Here the Lord God is blessed through the lips of Noah for the sake of the virtuous Shem and nothing more. And to Japheth, from whom we descend, Noah said: “May God spread Japheth; and let him dwell in the villages of Shem” (Gen. 9:27). You yourself can see how Christianity is spreading by the grace of God and how you are losing importance more and more. Even where you once lived, there the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is now blessed and glorified by Christians.” “Here you are,” said the Jews, “trusting in man, thinking to be blessed, while the books curse such people.” To this, the philosopher asked the Jews the following question: – Is David cursed or blessed? “Very blessed,” answered the Jews. “This means,” said Constantine, “blessed are we too, because we trust in the One in Whom he also trusted when he said in the psalm: “the man of my peace, in whom I trusted” (Ps. 40:10). This man is Christ God. Whoever puts his trust in the common man, we consider him cursed. After this, the Jews asked another question: – Why do you Christians reject circumcision when Christ did not reject it, but fulfilled it according to the law? - Who first said to Abraham: there will be a sign between Me and you, He, having come, performed it (circumcision), which is why it was observed from that (Abraham) to this (Christ) 3123. Instead of circumcision, Christ instituted baptism. – Why did some please God by not receiving that sign (baptism), but Abraham’s (circumcision)? “None of those,” answered the philosopher, “had two wives except Abraham.” And therefore God gave him circumcision in order to set a limit not to transgress further, but to live according to the first example of Adam’s life (to have one wife). And he gave Jacob similar instructions when he injured his leg, because he had two wives. When Jacob realized the guilt of why this was done to him, he then received the name “Israel,” that is, seeing with the mind of God. Abraham did not understand this. “How do you,” the Jews asked a new question, “by bowing to idols, do you think that you are pleasing God?” “First of all,” answered the philosopher, “learn to distinguish between names, what is an icon and what is an idol, and then you will see that you are incorrectly reproaching Christians. Lots of guidance is in your books about images. I will ask you about some: What - did Moses build the tabernacle according to the image that he saw on the mountain, or according to the image that was presented to his art, he built a tabernacle from trees, leather, wool and worthy Cherubim? But since the first is true, shall we say that you do honor and bow to trees, leather and wool, and not to God, who gave Moses such an image (image) of the tabernacle in his time? I will say the same about the Temple of Solomon, in which there were many images of Cherubim, Angels and others. So we Christians, by honoring the rituals of those who pleased God, give honor to God. “Why do you eat pork and hare,” said the Jews, “when it is disgusting to God?” “The first covenant (Noah),” said the philosopher, “decreed: “everything that moves, that lives, will be your food; I give you everything like green grass” (Gen. 9:3), because everything is pure to the pure, but the bad have an unclean conscience. Likewise, God says about everything created: “everything is very good” 3124 (Gen. 1:31). For your gluttony and for your edification, God took away the most insignificant things from you. And how harmful overeating is for you, it is written about this: “and Israel was satisfied and left God” (Deut. 32:15), or “the people sat down to eat and drink, and then stood up to play” (Exod. 32:6). The blessed philosopher Constantine had such conversations with the Jews about the Christian faith. These conversations took place every day in the presence of the Kagan himself and lasted for quite a long time. They were subsequently written down by Blessed Methodius and divided into eight parts, of which very little is given here. Blessed Constantine had conversations not only with the Jews, but also with the Saracens, whom he also exposed with the help of our Lord, who promised to give His servants “a mouth and wisdom, which all who oppose will not be able to contradict or resist” (Luke 21:15). Hearing such sweet words befitting the faith of Christ, the Kagan and his main advisers said to Constantine: – God sent you to us for our teaching. From Him you learned books, spoke everything correctly, and fed us to the full with the honeyed words of the holy books. Although we are unlearned people (“unlearned children”), we nevertheless believe that this teaching is from God. If you want to finally calm our souls, then tell us not only from books, but also through comparisons (parables) about everything that we will ask you about faith. After that, everyone went off to rest. The next day they gathered again and said to Constantine: - Prove to us, most honest husband, by reasoning and comparisons, which faith is the best? “One King,” answered the philosopher, “had a husband and wife in great honor.” When they sinned, He drove them out of the land where they lived (from paradise). They lived there for many years and gave birth to children in poverty. While getting ready, the children thought about how they could regain the dignity of their parents. One said one thing, the other said another, each gave advice that, in his opinion, should be followed. Which of these pieces of advice should I have followed? Isn't it the best? – finishing his comparison, said Konstantin. - Why do you say that? - answered the Kozars. – Each of his advice is better than the other. Tell us so we can understand which of these pieces of advice is the best? “Fire,” answered the philosopher, “purifies gold and silver, but man distinguishes lies from truth with his mind.” Tell me why the first fall occurred: was it not from the vision of a sweet fruit and the desire to be gods? “Yes,” answered the Kozars. – If any patient would be harmed by honey or cold water, then which doctor will give the best advice; Is it the one who will tell someone who honey is harmful - eat honey, and whoever cold water is harmful - drink cold water and stand naked in the cold, or the one who will give the medicine opposite to the harm: instead of honey - a bitter drink with caution, instead of cold water - a warm and warming drink? “Of course,” they all said, “whoever gives the opposite medicine will give the best advice.” Likewise, sinful lust should be mortified with the sorrow of life, and pride with humility; in general, the opposite should be treated with the opposite. We notice that if a berry bush stands in the spring with prickly needles, then in the fall it produces good, sweet fruits. “You said it well,” answered Konstantin. – And the law of Christ says that to live according to God means to lead a harsh life (to walk a narrow path), which in an eternal dwelling will increase the fruit a hundredfold. After this, one of the main advisers of the Kagan, who knew well the wicked teachings of Mohammed, asked the philosopher: - Tell me, guest, why don’t you honor Mohammed? After all, he highly praised Christ in his books and spoke about Him: from the Virgin, the sister of Moses, was born a great prophet, who raised the dead and healed every disease with great power. “Let the Kagan himself judge us,” said the philosopher. - Tell me, if Mohammed is a prophet, will we believe Daniel, who said that with Christ all vision and prophecy will cease. How then can he be a prophet? Therefore, if we call Mohammed a prophet, it means we reject Daniel. To this many of those present said: “We know that Daniel prophesied by the Spirit of God, but we know about Mohammed that he is a liar and the destroyer of the salvation of many. Then the first adviser to the kagan turned towards the Jews and said: “With God’s help, the guest threw all Saracen pride to the ground, and threw yours out like filth.” Then he turned to everyone present and said: - God gave power over all nations and perfect wisdom to the Christian king; Their faith is the best and without it it is impossible to achieve eternal life. After this, the philosopher, with tears in his eyes, turned to everyone and said: - Brothers, fathers, friends and children! So, with God’s help, we explained and answered everything according to its merits. If even now any of you do not understand something, let him come and ask me about it. Whoever listens to this teaching, let him be baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, and whoever does not listen, I will have no sin in this, he will see his sin on the Day of Judgment, when the Judge, the Ancient of Days, sits to judge all nations. To this the Kozars and the Kagan replied: “We are not enemies to ourselves, and so we decree: from now on, whoever wants and whoever can, after thinking it over, should proceed to baptism.” And whoever bows to the west (pagans), or performs Jewish prayers (Jews), or maintains the Saracen faith (Mohammedans), will suffer a quick death. Having made this decision, everyone happily dispersed. Two hundred Kozars left idolatry and lawless cohabitation and accepted the Christian faith. Having planted the Christian faith in the Kozarian kingdom, the venerable teachers Constantine and Methodius decided to return to their own direction. At the kozars they left the priests who had come with them from Kherson. The Kagan instructed the holy brothers to convey the following letter to the Greek king: “Lord! You sent to us such a man who announced to us the Christian faith and preached the Holy Trinity. Through him we learned that this faith is the true faith and commanded everyone who wished to accept holy baptism without restraint, hoping to receive it themselves. We are all friends and acquaintances of your Kingdom and are ready, if you want, to serve you.” Seeing off the holy brothers, the kagan offered them many gifts, but they refused, saying: “Release with us all the Greek captives who are here - this will be the best gift for us.” More than 200 prisoners gathered and they all happily set off. The travelers had to pass through deserted and waterless places. Everyone here was exhausted from thirst. Occasionally there were lakes, but it was impossible to drink from them, since there was a lot of salt in the water, which made it bitter, like bile. Everyone dispersed to look for good water, except for Konstantin, who was so weak that he could not go further. He turned to his brother Methodius with these words: “I can’t stand the thirst anymore.” Draw up this water, for I believe that He who once changed bitter water for the Israelites into sweet water will also sweeten the bitterness of this water for us, who are exhausted from thirst. When they scooped up the water and tasted it, it turned out to be sweet, like honey, and cold, like winter. With this water everyone quenched their thirst and glorified God. Arriving in Kherson, the holy brothers visited the bishop. While having supper, Constantine said to the bishop: “Pray for me, Vladyka, and bless me, as a father blesses his child with the last blessing.” Those who heard thought that Konstantin was getting ready to set off the next morning and asked him about it. He secretly told some that the bishop would leave the world in the morning and go to the Lord. And so it happened. In the morning the bishop died. On the way to Constantinople we had to pass through the country where the Ful people lived 3125. These people made sacrifices under a large oak tree fused with cherry trees, which was called Alexander. Women were forbidden to approach this oak tree, as well as to participate in sacrifices. Blessed Constantine went to this people, stood among them and said: - The Hellenes did not escape eternal torment by worshiping heaven and earth - such great and good creations; Moreover, when you bow to the oak tree, an immeasurably worse creation, you will not escape the eternal fire. “We,” answered the pagans, “not only began to do this now, but we adopted this custom from our fathers.” By making sacrifices before the oak tree, we receive what we ask for: rain and much more. And how can we give up this worship when none of us can do it? And if anyone dares, he will die without seeing any more rain. The philosopher began to admonish them with these words: – God speaks about you in the holy books, how can you reject Him? So the prophet Isaiah cries out from the face of the Lord, saying: “I will come to gather all nations, and they will see My glory. And I will put a sign on them, and I will send those who are saved from them to the nations: to Tarshish, to Pul and Ludah, to Tubala and Yavana, to the distant islands, which have not heard of Me and have not seen My glory; and they will proclaim My glory to the nations...” says the Lord: “I will send a multitude of fishermen and they will catch them on every mountain and on every hill and in the clefts of the rocks” (Isa. 66:18-19; Jer. 16:16). “Listen, brothers,” continued Constantine, “to God, who created you.” This is the Gospel of the New Testament of God, according to which you must receive holy baptism. With similar words, Blessed Constantine convinced the pagans to cut down and burn this oak tree. The elder of this people approached Constantine and kissed the Holy Gospel. Other pagans followed this example. Then the philosopher distributed white candles, and everyone, with lit candles and singing, went to the oak tree. Konstantin took an ax and hit the oak tree 33 times, and after that others chopped the oak tree down to the roots and burned it. That same night the Lord sent heavy rain. Everyone, rejoicing, praised God, who rejoices in the salvation of sinners. In Constantinople, Constantine and Methodius were received with great honor as apostles. They were offered the rank of bishop, but they did not want to accept it. Methodius became abbot of the Polychronian Monastery, and Constantine settled at the Church of the Holy Apostles. Soon both were called to new jobs. Boris or Bogoris, the Bulgarian king, after the war with the Greeks, wished to accept the Christian faith. Boris's sister, who had been captured in Tsarrada several years earlier, returned to Bulgaria as a Christian and tried to convince her brother to accept the same faith. He did not agree for a long time; but famine and a deadly plague devastated his state. Then, on the advice of his sister, he turned with prayer to the Christian God and the disasters stopped. Boris sent to Constantinople to ask for mentors. Methodius took a trip to Bulgaria. He depicted the Last Judgment on the wall of the royal chamber and explained to the king the bliss of the righteous and the torment of sinners. The king, already prepared by the words and example of his sister and the miraculous cessation of disasters, accepted the Christian faith. This was in 860 or 861 3126 Before Constantine and Methodius had time to finish the work they had begun of baptizing the Bulgarian people, a new field opened up for their apostolic activity. The Moravian prince Rostislav, according to the teaching of God, held a council with his princes 3127 and with all the Moravian people to send ambassadors to the Greek king Michael with a request to send Christian teachers. At the council, it was decided to send ambassadors with the following words: “Our people 3128 have rejected paganism and maintain Christian law. But we don’t have a teacher who could explain the faith of Christ to us in our language. Other countries (Slavic), seeing this, will want to follow us. In view of this, Vladyka, send to us such a bishop and teacher: from you the good law comes to all countries” 3129. Tsar Michael convened a council, to which the philosopher Constantine was invited. The king announced to him the desire of the Slavs and said: – Philosopher, I know that you are unwell; but you need to go there, since no one can do this job better than you. “Although I am physically unwell and sick,” answered the philosopher, “I will gladly go there if only they have letters in their language.” “My grandfather, and my father, and many others,” answered the king, “they searched, but did not find them; how can I find them? - How will I preach to them? - said the philosopher. “It’s like recording a conversation on the water.” Besides, if the Slavs misunderstand me, I could be branded a heretic. To this the king, together with his uncle Varda, said to the philosopher: “If you want, God will give you what you ask, for He gives to all who ask Him in faith and He opens it to those who ask.” Constantine left the king and told all this to his brother Methodius and some of his disciples 3130. According to his custom, Constantine first began with prayer, and then imposed a forty-day fast on himself. Soon God, listening to the prayers of His servants, fulfilled what Constantine asked for. He invented the Slavic alphabet, containing 38 letters, and then began to translate the Greek sacred books into the Slavic language. Blessed Methodius and his disciples helped him in this. The translation of the sacred books began with the first chapter of the Gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” - the first words translated into the Slavic language. The holy brothers presented their translation for consideration by the tsar, the patriarch and the entire spiritual council. The king rejoiced and, together with the entire spiritual council, glorified God for the mercies shown. After this, Constantine, together with his brother Methodius and his disciples, went to the Slavic lands. The king gave them a sufficient amount of all necessary things for the journey, and wrote the following message to Rostislav: “God, Who desires that everyone have true understanding and ascend to the highest dignity, having seen your faith and your diligence, wanted to fulfill your desire now in our years. He discovered the letters of your language, which until now were not known (“it was not known except in the first summer”), so that you too could be counted among the great nations who glorify God in their language. And so we send you the one to whom God revealed them (the letters), an honest man, a faithful man, a scientist and a philosopher. Accept this gift, which is much more valuable than all gold and silver, precious stones and transitory wealth, and help him quickly complete his assignment. Seek God and common salvation with all your heart, and for this, do not be lazy to encourage everyone (your subjects) to care about their salvation and follow the true path. Then you, too, having labored to bring your people into the mind of God, will receive a reward for this both in this age and in the future for all souls who want to believe until death in Christ our God. With this you, like Grand Duke Constantine, will leave behind a true memory for subsequent generations.” When Constantine and Methodius came to Moravia, they were greeted there with great honor. First of all, Rostislav gathered many youths and ordered them to learn the Slavic alphabet and newly translated books from the holy brothers. Then Rostislav, under the guidance of the holy brothers, began to build churches. A year later, the first church in the city of Olomouc was completed, then several more churches appeared in Moravia. Constantine consecrated these churches and served in them in Slavic. While he was here, Constantine translated with his disciples all the church rites and taught them matins and the hours, mass and vespers, compline and the “secret service.” And according to the prophetic word the ears of the deaf were opened to hear the words of the book, and the tongue of the deaf became eloquent. God, rejoicing over the salvation of a single sinner, looked with joy at the correction of an entire people. When the Divine teaching began to spread among the Slavs and worship was performed in their language, then the first and malicious envier, the devil, unable to bear this, entered his vessels and began to excite many, telling them: “God is not glorified by this. If it had pleased Him, could He not have made sure that from the very beginning, for His glorification, the preaching of the word of God was written down in the language of the people to whom it was preached? But God only chose three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Latin, in which it is proper to send glory to God.” This is what the Latin and German bishops, priests and their disciples said. Constantine entered into a dispute with them, as David once did with foreigners, and with the words of the holy books he won and called them trilinguals, like Pilate, who wrote the title on the Cross of the Lord in three languages. Not only this one, but also many other wickednesses were taught to the people by German and Latin priests. They said: “Under the earth live the people of the Great Chapter 3131, all reptiles are the creation of the devil; if anyone kills a snake, he will be forgiven nine sins for this; If anyone kills a person, let him drink from a wooden cup, but not touch a glass one.” They did not forbid the people to offer pagan sacrifices or polygamy according to the old custom. The holy brothers tried to eradicate these false teachings like weeds with verbal fire. “Sacrifice to God,” they denounced the words of the prophet, “praise and give your prayers to the Most High” (Ps. 49:14). “Take care of your spirit, and no one act treacherously against the wife of your youth: if you hate her, let her go, says the Lord Almighty, and cover wickedness from your thoughts; therefore take heed to your spirit... and do not leave your wives. And now, if you hate, remember that the Lord was a witness between you and the wife of your youth... she is your friend and your lawful wife" (Mal. 2:15-16, 13-14). In the Gospel, the Lord says: “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you: everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). “I say to you, whoever divorces his wife for reasons other than adultery and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Matthew 19:9) Thus the holy brothers lived in Moravia for 40 months, moving from one place to another, everywhere teaching the people in the Slavic language. Presenting the Slavs with a priceless gift - the word of God in their native language, Constantine in the preface to the Holy Gospel tells them: “Hear, all Slavs, the word that strengthens hearts and minds.” By establishing schools for Slavic youths, they acquired many students who were ready to be good teachers and worthy clergy among their people. For this purpose, in order to ordain their disciples to the priesthood, the holy brothers decided to go to Rome. In addition, the former Pope Nicholas 3132, having learned about the successes of the preaching of Saints Constantine and Methodius, wanted to see them in Rome as Angels of God 3133. On the way to Rome, Saints Constantine and Methodius entered Pannonia 3134. There was Prince Kocel, the son of Pribina, who invited the holy brothers to the city of Blatno in order to learn the Slavic alphabet from them himself, and also so that they could teach it to those 50 students whom the prince had gathered from his people. At farewell, Kocel showed great honor to the holy preachers and offered them great gifts. But Constantine and Methodius, both from Rostislav of Moravia and from Kocel, did not want to take either gold, silver, or any other thing. They preached the Gospel word without reward and only from both princes they begged freedom for 900 Greek captives. In addition to Pannonia, Saints Constantine and Methodius also visited Venice. Here Latin and German priests and monks pounced on Constantine like crows on a falcon, preaching the trilingual heresy: “Tell us, man,” they said to Constantine, “why did you translate the sacred books to the Slavs and teach them in this language, while no one did this before: neither the apostles, nor the Pope, nor Gregory the Theologian 3135, nor Jerome, nor Augustine?” 3136 We know only three languages ​​in which it is appropriate to glorify God: Hebrew, Greek, Roman. – Doesn’t the rain come from God equally for everyone, or the sun doesn’t shine for everyone, or doesn’t all creation breathe the same air? Aren’t you ashamed to think that except for three languages, all other tribes and languages ​​must be blind and deaf? Don’t you think, tell me, that God is not omnipotent, and therefore cannot do this, being envious that he does not want to do it? We know many peoples who have their own books and give glory to God, each in their own language. Of these, the following are known: Armenians, Persians, Abkhazians, Ivers (Georgians), Sugds, Goths, Obras, Turks, Kozars, Arabians, Egyptians, Syrians and many others. If you do not want to agree with this, then the holy books will be your judge. For David cries, “Sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” (Ps. 95:1), and in another place: “Shout to the Lord, all the earth, sing and rejoice, and sing” (Ps. 97:4), and again: “Let all the earth worship You and sing to You, let them sing to Your name” (Ps. 65:4), and again: “Praise the Lord, all nations, praise, all nations... Every breath praises the Lord” ( Ps.116:1, 150:6). The Gospel says: “And to those who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God...” (John 1:12). “I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in Me through their word: that all may be one, just as you, Father are in Me, and I in You” (John 17:20-21). The Gospel of Matthew says: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me; Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you: and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matthew 28:18–20). Evangelist Mark also says: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned, but these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues” (Mark 16:15-17). Let us say in the words of Scripture and in relation to you (German and Latin priests): “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you close the Kingdom of Heaven to people; for you do not enter in yourselves, and you do not allow those who want to enter in” (Matthew 23:13). “Woe to you lawyers, because you took the key of understanding; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering” (Luke 11:52). The Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians: “I desire that you all speak in tongues; but it is better that you prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:5), or again: “and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:11). With these and many other similar words Saint Constantine denounced the Latin and German priests. From Venice, Constantine and Methodius went straight to Rome. While they were still in Venice, Pope Nicholas died and Adrian II was elected in his place 3137. The new pope, having learned that Constantine and Methodius were in Venice, invited them to Rome. When the holy brothers approached Rome, the pope himself, with his clergy and citizens, with lighted candles, came out to meet the holy preachers, because they were carrying the relics of St. Clement the Martyr and the Pope of Rome, discovered in Chersonesos. The Lord glorified the transfer of holy relics with many miracles. So one paralytic received healing and many other sick people were freed from their ailments. The Pope accepted the Slavic books, consecrated them and placed them in the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary, called “Fatni” (nursery), and they began to conduct divine services using these books. After this, the pope ordered two bishops to initiate the Slavic disciples who arrived with Constantine and Methodius. The dedication of the disciples on the first day was performed in the Church of St. Peter the Apostle and the liturgy was sung in the Slavic language, on the next day in the Church of St. Petronilla and on the third day in the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle. Then they sang the all-night vigil in the Slavic language in the church of the great teacher of nations - the Apostle Paul, and in the morning they performed the liturgy over the holy tomb. In serving the two indicated bishops, Arseny, one of the seven bishops, and the librarian Anastasy assisted. Constantine and Methodius and their disciples did not cease to give glory to God for everything, but the Romans did not cease to come to them, and especially to Constantine, and ask them about everything. Some came two or three times and received instruction. One day a Jew came to Constantine and said that Christ, about whom the prophets say that He would be born of a Virgin, had not yet come. Constantine counted for him how many generations there were from Adam to Christ, proved that Christ had already come and how many years had passed since then. Soon after this, the previously weak Constantine, exhausted by labor and a long journey, fell seriously ill, and during his illness the Lord revealed to him about his death. Constantine, having learned of his death, began to sing the following church hymn: - “Of those who commanded me, let us enter into the courts of the Lord; my spirit rejoices and my heart rejoices” 3138. Then he dressed himself in his best clothes, spent the whole day with joy and said: - From now on, I am not a servant of anyone on earth, but only of God Almighty, and I was and am and will be forever, amen. The next day, Constantine wished to accept the schema, and was named Cyril. His illness lasted 50 days. Once, during his illness, Cyril turned to Methodius with the following words: “Here, brother,” he told him, “you and I were like a friendly pair of oxen cultivating the same field, and now I fall on the reins, having finished my day. I know that you have greatly loved Mount Olympus, but for the sake of the mountain do not think of leaving your teaching. With this feat you can better achieve salvation.” When the time approached to accept repose and depart to another life, Saint Cyril raised his hands to God and prayed with tears: “Lord my God! You, who formed the ethereal Angelic forces, spread out the sky, founded the earth and brought everything on it from non-existence into existence, who always and in everything listens to those who do Your will, those who fear You and keep Your commandments: hear my prayer and preserve Your faithful flock, to shepherd which You have made me a sinner and unworthy of Your servant. Deliver this flock from all godlessness and wickedness and from every long-winded heretical tongue that speaks blasphemy against You. Destroy the trilingual heresy and grow Your Church in numbers. Unite everyone in unanimity and make everyone of the same mind about Your true faith and right confession. Breathe into their hearts the word of Your teaching, for this is Your gift. If You have vouchsafed me, unworthy, to preach the Gospel of Your Christ, trying to do good deeds and everything pleasing to You, then allow me to give You, as Yours, all that You have given me. Establish them with Your mighty right hand, cover them with Your covering, so that everyone may praise and glorify the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever, amen.” Then, having kissed everyone, he said: “Blessed is our God, who did not give us as prey to our invisible enemies, but destroyed their snares and delivered us from corruption.” With these words, Saint Cyril rested in the Lord on February 14, 869. Pope Adrian ordered all the Greeks who were in Rome, as well as the Romans, to be present at the burial and stand at the coffin of Cyril with lighted candles, and he ordered the farewell to be arranged in the same way as during the burial of the pope himself. Saint Methodius, having learned that they were going to bury the honorable body of Saint Cyril in Rome, came to the pope and told him: “Our mother conjured us, saying that if one of us dies first, let the other take his brother to his monastery (on Olympus) and bury him there. After this, the pope ordered to put Kirill’s honest body in a shrine, nail it with iron nails and prepare it for the journey. The holy relics remained in this position for seven days. The Roman bishops said to the pope: “Since God brought Cyril here, who walked through many lands, and took his soul here, it is necessary to bury him here as an honest man. “If so,” said the Pope, “I will change the Roman custom and bury Cyril for his holiness and love in my tomb, in the Church of St. Peter the Apostle.” Then Saint Methodius said: - If you did not listen to me and did not give it to me, since you yourself would like to have it at home, then in that case put it in the church of St. Clement, with whom he arrived here. The Pope ordered to do as Saint Methodius said. All the bishops, monks and people gathered again, and with honor they carried the holy relics to the church of St. Clement. Before lowering the coffin, the bishops said: – Let’s open the shrine and see: has anything been taken from the holy relics? But no matter how hard they tried, they could not, at the discretion of God, open the shrine, and then the holy relics were lowered to the right side of the altar in the church of St. Clement. Then many miracles began to happen here. Seeing this, the Romans began to glorify Saint Cyril more and more and, having painted his icon, began to light candles before it day and night, giving praise to God, who glorifies those who love Him. After the death of Saint Cyril, ambassadors from Kocel, prince of Pannonia, came to the pope, asking him to release blessed Methodius to them. The Pope answered the ambassadors like this: “I send him not only to you, but to all the Slavic peoples, as a teacher from God and from St. Peter, the first patron and keyholder of the Heavenly Kingdom. Sending Saint Methodius to the Slavs, the pope handed him the following message to the Slavic princes: “Adrian, bishop and servant of God, to Rostislav, Svyatopolk and Kotsel: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). We learned with joy that the Lord raised up your hearts to seek Him and showed you that you should serve Him not by faith alone, but also by good works: “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Therefore, those who think that they know God and do not want to fulfill His law sin. Not only from this holy table did you ask for teachers, but also from the blessed Tsar Michael: you asked him to send the blessed philosopher Constantine and his brother to you. The holy brothers, when they learned that your country was under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic See, did nothing contrary to the canon, but came to us and brought the relics of St. Clement. We, rejoicing, thought of sending our son Methodius, a man of perfect intellect and true believer, to your countries, ordaining him and his disciples to the priesthood. He can teach you as you ask, and translate the holy books into your language, and according to them perform the holy service (liturgy) and baptism and the entire church rite, which was started, with the help of God and for the sake of the prayers of St. Clement, by the holy philosopher Constantine. Also, if someone else is able to correctly and faithfully translate the holy books into your language, so that you can more easily understand the commandments of God, then let this work be holy and blessed by God, ours and the entire Catholic Church. Just keep the custom that at the Liturgy the Apostle and the Gospel are first read in Roman, and then in Slavonic, so that the word of Scripture is fulfilled: “Praise the Lord, all nations” (Ps. 116:1) and also: “begin to speak in other tongues...” the greatness of God, “as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). If anyone dares to reproach these teachers and seduce you from the truth to fables, or, corrupting you, will blaspheme the books of your language, let him be excommunicated and presented to the court of the church and will not receive forgiveness until he corrects himself. For these are wolves, not sheep, and we must recognize them by their fruits and beware of them. But you, beloved children, listen to the teachings of God and do not refuse church teachings, and then you will be true worshipers of your heavenly Father with all the saints. Amen". Kotsel received Methodius with great honor, but soon sent him back to the pope, and with them 20 men of noble family, asking the pope to consecrate Saint Methodius as a bishop in Pannonia, to the throne of Saint Andronicus, an apostle of the seventy. Dad did just that. After this, the old enemy and opponent of truth raised up the Moravian prince 3139 and the German and Latin bishops of this region against Methodius. Saint Methodius was called to a council, at which he was asked the following question: – Why do you teach in our area? “If I had known,” answered Saint Methodius, “that this was your region, then I would not have taught here, but this region belongs to the holy Apostle Peter.” If, for the sake of quarrels and covetousness, you do not act according to the rules, forbidding to preach the teachings of God, beware so that when you break through an iron mountain with your head bone, you do not break your own head. “Speaking with anger,” the bishops answered, “you are bringing trouble upon yourself.” “I am not ashamed to speak the truth before kings,” answered Saint Methodius. - You do whatever you want regarding me, do so. I am no better than those who endured many torments in this life for the truth. Many speeches were made at this meeting, but his opponents could not say anything against Methodius. Then the prince said with mockery: – Don’t bother my Methodius. He began to sweat, as if he were near a hot stove. “Yes, sir,” answered Methodius. “Once we met a sweating philosopher and asked him: “Why are you sweating?” “I argued with rude servants,” answered the philosopher. The bishops spoke a lot about Methodius. Finally they exiled him to Swabia, where they kept him in prison for two and a half years 3140. The news of the imprisonment of Saint Methodius reached the pope. Having learned about this, Pope John VIII, the successor of Adrian II, sent a curse on the German bishops and a ban on them performing the liturgy until Methodius was released. Then the bishops released Methodius, but said to Kotsel, the Pannonian prince: “If you take Methodius to you, do not consider us as well-wishers” 3141. However, these bishops themselves did not escape the Judgment of God and the Apostle Peter. Four of them soon died. In Moravia at this time there was a quarrel between the Slavs and the German priests. The Moravians realized that the German priests who lived with them were enemies of the Slavs and were trying to betray them to the Germans. They expelled them, and sent the following request to the pope: “As before our fathers received baptism from St. Peter, so now we have the archbishop and teacher Methodius.” The pope immediately sent Saint Methodius to Moravia, where Prince Svyatopolk, now separated from the Germans, and the Moravians received him and entrusted to him all the churches and clergy in all the Slavic cities. In place of the expelled German priests, Saint Methodius installed Slavic priests. Due to the fact that Saint Methodius and the priests performed divine services and taught the people in the Slavic language, the teaching of God began to grow greatly. Many of the pagans renounced their errors and believed in the true God 3142. At this time, the Moravian state was as strong as never before 3143. Saint Methodius possessed the gift of prophecy. Many of his prophecies came true; We will indicate some of them. One pagan prince who lived along the Vistula River cursed Christians and caused them hardships. Saint Methodius sent to him to say: “It is better for you, son, to be baptized of your own free will and in your own land, than to be baptized involuntarily as a captive on a foreign land.” Once Svyatopolk fought with the pagans and the war dragged on. The day of remembrance of the Holy Apostle Peter was approaching, and Saint Methodius sent to say to Svyatopolk: “If you promise to be with me on Peter’s day with your troops, I believe that God will soon betray the pagans to you.” One rich man married his daughter-in-law. Saint Methodius taught and mentored him a lot, however, he could not convince them to divorce. Others, because of their wealth, flattered them. Then Methodius said to this rich man: “The time will come when the flatterers will not be able to help you and you will remember my words, but it will be too late.” Suddenly, at God's discretion, these rich people were attacked by such a disease that they could not find a restful place for themselves. They died in this state. The old enemy and envious man of the human race again raised open and secret enemies against Methodius, just as Dathan and Abiron once did against Moses (Num. 16). At this time, heretics appeared who taught that the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son. These heretics seduced the faithful from the true path, and about Saint Methodius, who denounced their wicked teaching, they said: “The Pope gave us power and ordered us to expel Methodius and his teaching.” All the Moravians gathered and ordered to read in front of all the people the message by which Methodius was supposedly expelled. The people grieved a lot, deprived of such a shepherd and teacher, excluding those who are controlled by flattery, like the wind by leaves. In the same message from the pope it was written: “Our brother, Methodius, is faithful and performs apostolic ministry. All Slavic countries are subordinate to him from the apostolic throne, and whomever he curses is cursed, and whomever he sanctifies will be holy 3144." After this, all Methodius’ enemies dispersed in shame. The malice of the enemies of Saint Methodius did not end there. Wanting to annoy the saint, they said that the Greek king was angry with him, and if Methodius had been under his power, he would not have been alive. The merciful God, not wanting his servant to be blasphemed by this, put it in the heart of the king - for the heart of the king is always in the hands of God - to send the following message to Saint Methodius: “Honorable Father, I greatly desire to see you. Do a good deed and take the trouble to come to us so that we can see you while you are alive and receive a blessing from you 3145." Saint Methodius went to Constantinople and was received here by the king and patriarch with great honor and joy. The king praised his teaching and, having kept two disciples of Saint Methodius, a priest and a deacon, with Slavic books, he sent Methodius himself back to Moravia with great gifts. Saint Methodius had to endure a lot of troubles: in the deserts - from robbers, in the seas - from strong waves, in rivers - from sudden whirlpools, so that the apostolic word was fulfilled on him: “troubles in the rivers, troubles from robbers... troubles in the sea, troubles from the pagans; in labor and exhaustion, often in fasting, in hunger and thirst” (2 Cor. 11:26-27). Then, leaving all worries and placing all sorrow on God, Saint Methodius, together with his two priest disciples, began to translate those books that he did not have time to translate with his brother, Blessed Constantine. Together with them, he managed to translate the entire Old Testament, except for the books of the Maccabees, and also translated the Nomocanon (the rules of the holy fathers) and the books of the fathers (Paterikon). Saint Methodius began his translation in the month of March, and completed it in October, on the 26th. Having completed the translation, Saint Methodius gave worthy praise and glory to God and Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki, on whose memory day he completed the translation and to whom, as a native of Thessalonica, he was especially reverent. Around this time, the Hungarian king, who was in the Danube countries, wished to see Saint Methodius. Many urged Methodius, for fear of torment, not to go to this king, but Saint Methodius went. The Hungarian prince, as befits a king, met Methodius with honor, talked with him and sent him away with great gifts. Saying goodbye, the king said to the saint: “Remember me, honest father, always in your holy prayers.” This is how Saint Methodius took care of his flock, looking for faithful followers of Christ in all countries and stopping long-winded lips. He, together with the apostle, could say: “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, but now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:7, 8). When the time approached for Saint Methodius to receive peace from suffering and reward for his many labors, they began to ask him: – Who, honest father and teacher, will you name from among your students as your successor? Pointing to one of his disciples, Gorazd, the saint said: “Here is a man of your land, a true believer and well versed in Latin books.” If it is the will of God and your love, I wish him to be my successor. On Color Week, Saint Methodius came to church and could not serve due to weakness, but only prayed for the Greek king, the Slavic princes, the clergy and all the people and said: - Watch me, children, until the third day. And indeed, at dawn of the third day, Saint Methodius, with the words: “In Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit,” fell asleep in the Lord in the priestly arms. It was April 6, 885. The funeral service was performed in Latin, Greek and Slavic, and was held in the cathedral church in Velehrad. Countless people gathered for the burial. There were men and women, big and small, rich and poor, free and slaves, widows and orphans, strangers and natives, sick and healthy. Everyone saw off with tears such a good teacher and shepherd, who was everything to everyone, “that he may gain everything.” You are a holy and honest leader! From above, in your prayers, remember us, who call you, and deliver from all misfortunes your disciples, spreading Christ’s teaching and denouncing heresies, so that, having fulfilled their calling in this life with dignity, your flock may stand with you at the right hand of Christ our God, receiving from him eternal life. For to Him belongs glory and honor forever and ever. Amen. As the apostle of unanimity and the Slovenian countries, the teacher, Cyril and Methodius of God of Wisdom, pray to the Lord of all, to establish all Slovenian languages ​​in Orthodoxy and unanimity, to pacify the world and save our souls. We honor the sacred duo of our enlighteners, who, by translating the Divine Scriptures, poured out the source of knowledge of God for us, from whom we draw endlessly even to this day; we bless you, Cyril and Methodius, who stand before the throne of the Most High and pray warmly for our souls. Leo V the Armenian reigned from 813 to 820. Michael II Balba, or tongue-tied, reigned from 820 to 829. Theophilus reigned from 829 to 842. It is unknown when the Slavs arrived in Europe. Around the 2nd century. according to R. X. The Slavs were known along the middle and lower reaches of the river. Danube. Here they had to endure a lot from the Volokhs, i.e. the Romans, during the time of Trajan, so that the Slavs were forced to leave their Danube homes. After this, the Slavs stopped in the Carpathian Mountains from the 2nd to the 7th centuries. From here, under the leadership of Prince Dulebov, the Slavs waged long wars with Byzantium and from here, as a result of the invasion of the Avars, they settled in different directions. There is a legend that Heraclius, king of the Greeks, in the 7th century. invited the Slavs to the Balkan Peninsula to fight the Avars. Other tribes of the same Slavic tribe, under the onslaught of the Avars, went up the tributaries of the Danube and began to live there under different names. Along the Morava River are the Moravians, to the west of them are the Czechs. To the north of the Czechs are the Serbs - Lusatians, to the east along the river. Vistula - Poles. Some of the Slavs from the Carpathians went to the east and northeast and took places along the river. Dnieper, Oka and all the way to Novgorod - these are the glades, Drevlyans, northerners, etc., who inhabited the Russian plain. Olympus is a mountain in Asia Minor, on the borders of Phrygia and Bithynia. Sophia – from Greek means “wisdom”. Domestik - the highest military dignitary who permanently lived at the royal court. His duty was to protect the person of the emperor. In ancient times, patricians were people of noble birth. Logothet is the custodian of the seal, the same as our state chancellor. Homer is a famous ancient Greek writer, author of the Iliad and Odyssey, who lived 3000 years before our time. Former patriarch later. The Golden Horn is a long narrow bay that forms a bay of the Bosphorus Strait. John VII was patriarch from 832 to 842. The story about this is found in the description of the sufferings of St. Martyrs of Amorite on March 6th. Those. for the sake of Christ's merits on the cross: “for the Holy Spirit was not yet on them, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). From Dogmatist 7th Tone. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” Obviously, this refers to a special type of vineyard cultivation by some artificial means. On Olympus, Blessed Constantine first began to study the Slavic language. The environment in which he had to be was conducive to this. In the monasteries that were on the mountain, there were many Slavic monks from various neighboring countries, which is why Constantine could have a constant practice here, which was especially important for him, since almost from childhood he spent all his time in the Greek environment. The fact that here the holy brothers were studying the Slavic language is evidenced by the testimony of the Bulgarian Slav Monk Khrabra. The Kozars, whom the Greeks called Khazars and the Romans Gazars, were known under the general name of Scythians. They spoke a Slavic or Russian language and lived near the Meotian or Dead (Azot) Lake, into which the Don River flows, separating (in ancient times) Europe from Asia. In this country, at first lived the tribe of the first son of Japheth Gamer, called the Gemers, in Greek the Chimers, and in Russian the Cymbrians, and from them the mouth of the Meotian Lake, flowing into the Pontus Euxine (Black Sea), was called the Chimerian Bosphorus, i.e. bottleneck in the Chimerian Sea. When the Cymbrians went to the midnight countries (to the north) and mixed with various peoples, called Lithuanians, Zhmudi, Goths, etc., then in their place near the Meotian Lake or the Cimmerian Bosphorus one of the Scythian tribes of Turkic origin began to live, named Alans (from the Alan Mountains), which later received the name Kozars (from the Kozara River). This tribe multiplied greatly and began to live on both banks of the Don River: in Asia - to the Volga, which flows into the Caspian or Khvalynsk Sea, in Europe - to the Dnieper, which flows into the Black Sea, and even further - to Pannonia, but already called by other names: Avars, Huns, etc. The Kozars had rude morals and were ugly in appearance. They, like nomadic people, lived in tents, moving from place to place. They ate more vegetables and half-raw meat than bread; they were very brave in war and feared everyone. The ruler of the Kozars was called “Kagan” (khagan or hayan), like our king or prince. There are many indications from Greek and Roman chroniclers about the courage of this people. The Kozars caused much grief to Constantinople during the reign of Heraclius, during the patriarchate of Sergius, when they were miraculously defeated by the invincible power of the Most Pure Mother of God, Who protected Her city from the filthy Kozars and the Persians who united with them, as this event is described at length in the Synaxar, on the 5th Saturday of Lent. Long later, the Greek king Leo the Isaurian, wishing to live in peace with the Kozars, married his son Constantine (Copronimus) to the daughter of the Kagan of Kozars, who was named Irina after baptism. They had a son Leo, who was called Kazarin or Khazaris by his mother (this Leo had a wife Irina, who, after the death of her husband, restored Orthodoxy, rejecting the iconoclastic heresy at the VII Ecumenical Council). After this marriage, the Greeks began to live in peace with the Kozars, and the latter began to become acquainted with the Christian faith. Christianity began to spread among the Kozars mainly from the Khersonians (Kherson is a Greek colony) and especially after St. teachers Constantine and Methodius. For a long time, the Kozars took tribute from the Russian Slavs: from every house a squirrel skin and from every plow a shell. This tribute was stopped by Askold and Dir, who took it from the Kozars, northerners and Radimichi. Svyatoslav, the father of St., finally defeated the (European) kozars. Vladimir, who took their city of Belaya Vezha and imposed tribute on them, while the Asian Kozars (who lived between the Don and Volga) were conquered by the Polovtsians and Pechenegs. Ignatius was patriarch from 847 to 857; then again from 867 to 877. Memory of St. Methodius is celebrated on October 23. The Kozars spoke Slavic. The influence of the Jews was so strong here that even the dynasty of the Kozar Khagans with their court, i.e. the upper class of Kozar society, accepted Judaism. His memory is celebrated by St. Church on November 25. Trajan reigned from 98 to 117. The race consisted of a thousand large steps, and in each such step five feet are counted. Nikephoros I reigned from 802 to 811. According to the Pannonian list of lives, the discovery of St. the relics happened like this: everyone went in the ship to the place where they assumed that St. power. When the sea completely calmed down, they began to search and sing church songs at this time. First, a great fragrance spread, as if from many incense, and after that the holy relics appeared. Athanasius the Great, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa. Circumcision was given as a sign from the time of Abraham until its fulfillment by Christ (“between Me and you”), which is why it had to end with Christ. Circumcision, as an unnecessary yoke for Christians, was completely abolished at the Apostolic Council (Acts 15:1–41). At the Apostolic Council, Christians were commanded to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, blood, and things strangled (Acts 15:29). A pagan tribe that lived near the Sea of ​​Azov. The baptism of all Bulgaria followed in 869. Rostislav’s nephew Svyatopolk, Prince of Moravia (city of Nitra), and Kocel, Prince of Blatno (in Pannonia) took part in this council. In Moravia there were formerly preachers from Constantinople and the West who baptized, but few were considered Christians. Then German priests arrived and began to baptize everyone in a row. These priests performed services in Latin, and spoke German to the people. Therefore, the Slavs, who did not understand these languages, did not know what they were being baptized into and did not understand Christian teaching. This embassy dates back to 862. When Konstantin was on Olympus, he already had students with whom he studied the Slavic language. Of these students the following are known: Gorazd, Clement, Savva, Naum and Angelar. It can be assumed that the pope summoned holy preachers to Rome at the instigation of German and Latin priests. The most famous father of the Eastern Church, who lived in the 4th century. – See his life under January 25 Teacher of the Western Church; lived in quarter IV and beginning. V centuries Adrian II reigned from 867 to 872. At this time, Rostislav, who was helping St. brothers, died in captivity, and his successor was his nephew Svyatopolk, who at the first time of his reign was in great friendship with the German emperor. Swabia is located in Germany. – In prison, the Germans mocked St. in every possible way. Methodius: they were not allowed to eat for several days; when it was winter, they took him, barefoot, with his head uncovered, into the prison yard, stood him in the snow and forced him to stand in one place for a day, or even more. They even beat Saint Methodius with batogs. But the Lord preserved and strengthened the saint. Great consolation was brought to the saint by his disciples, who often visited him in prison. Obviously, Kocel also took part in the liberation of Saint Methodius. So Borivoy, the prince of the Czechs, sent messengers to Svyatopolk to say that the Czech prince wanted to be baptized and was asking for priests. Svyatopolk said to the Czech messengers: “Ask Bishop Methodius; let him choose two or three priests and send them with you to your prince.” St. Methodius himself went to the Czech Republic and baptized Borivoy, his wife Lyudmila and their two sons. Saint Methodius remained in the Czech Republic for about a year and consecrated the first two Czech churches: one in the city of Litomysl, and the other in Levy Hradec. Then Methodius left several Slavic priests in the Czech Republic and returned to Moravia. St. Methodius sent priests to Poland, where they baptized the king and many Poles. This was the time after the Battle of Velegrad, when Svyatopolk defeated the Germans and united almost all the Slavs. By this time circumstances had completely changed. German priests, many of whom were infected with this heresy, began to appear again in Moravia and win over Svyatopolk to their side. Svyatopolk, although he was baptized, did not live like a Christian: he drank a lot of wine, had many wives and could not control himself in anger. Methodius tried in every possible way to convince the prince to abandon his vices, denounced him in private and in front of everyone, but nothing helped. When the German priests began to visit Svyatopolk, they began to tell him about Methodius: “Why are you, prince, listening to this old man; you see, he is not like other people, he gives everything to everyone and lives like a beggar. You, prince, are the ruler of your land." With many similar flattering words, the German priests completely quarreled Svyatopolk with St. Methodius. Then they began to complain about Methodius to Pope John, accusing him of heresy, and mainly trying to eradicate Slavic worship. Pope John, wanting at this time to receive help against the Saracens from the German king, took the side of the German priests and sent a message to Moravia that prohibited Slavic service and only allowed preaching in the Slavic language. Methodius, having read this message, said: “What will happen now? People will come to church and stand there, not understanding anything. And the teachings of Christ will be forgotten and pagan customs will resurrect in Moravia. No, I will not serve in Latin, it will be harmful to people.” The German priests reported this to the pope, and the pope demanded Methodius to Rome. Saint Methodius arrived in Rome and the pope instituted a trial over him. At this time, the pope received help in the war with the Saracens from the Greek king Basil the Macedonian, and therefore took the side of Methodius. At this trial, St. Methodius was acquitted, restored as archbishop in the Slavic lands and received permission to perform divine services in the Slavic language. But, not wanting to offend Svyatopolk, the pope wrote him the following message: “If you, prince, do not like the Slavic mass, you can listen to the Latin mass in your palace, from German priests.” Together with Methodius, as his assistant, the Viking priest, a protege of the German king and a fierce enemy of the Slavs, went to Moravia. This Viking became the main enemy of Saint Methodius. The German priests began to tell Svyatopolk that Methodius did not bring a real letter, but there was another one, according to which Methodius should be expelled and Viking installed as archbishop. Then Saint Methodius wrote the following letter to Pope John: “Whom, father, have you installed as archbishop: me or Viking?” It was in response to this letter that dad sent the indicated message. At this time Basil the Macedonian was emperor. You might be interested in: