- Condition: **
- Year: 2013-06-12
Joint issue with Slovakia, Bulgaria and Vatican.
he miniature sheet depicts the oldest known portrait of St. Cyril and Methodius in the Basilica of Saint Clement in Rome.
It shows St. Cyril and Methodius facing Jesus Christ with angels and St. Andrew and St. Clement. Below the stamp is a scene from another fresco in the Basilica of Saint Clement in Rome featuring the arrival of St. Cyril and Methodius at Rome during the burial of Pope Nicholas I. The background of the sheet contains texts written using the Glagolitic alphabet from the Asseman Codex in the Vatican Library. St. Cyril (born Constantine) and St. Methodius are brothers known as the “Apostles to the Slavs” or “Missionaries to the Slavs”.
Their father was a dignitary in the Byzantine empire; their mother may have been a Slav because of the command of the Slavic language by both brothers. They created the Glagolitic alphabet and introduced the Old Church Slavonic language into the liturgy in Great Moravia as an effort on the part of the Slavs to counteract the influence of the Western Christian church.
Constantine was born in 827 in Thessaloniki, Greece and died in 869 in Rome. He was a professor of philosophy at the university in Constantinople and in 855, he joined a monastery and adopted the religious name Cyril. Methodius was born in 813 in Thessaloniki, Greece and died in 885 in Moravia. Like his father, he started his career as a civil servant in the Byzantine empire; later on, he joined his brother’s community and became a monk. Although Pope Leo XIII appointed 5 July as St. Cyril and Methodius Day in 1880, no significant event in their life coincides with this date. St. Cyril and Methodius Day is therefore currently celebrated by the Orthodox Church on 11 May according to the Orthodox calendar, i.e. 24 May of the civic calendar. It is the day of their arrival in Great Moravia. The brothers were declared “Patrons of Europe” in 1980 by Pope John Paul II. In 862, Rostislav, Prince of Great Moravia, asked the Byzantine emperor to send him priests able to celebrate mass in the Old Church Slavonic language. The emperor sent Cyril and Methodius who had a command of the language. During the year leading to their mission, Cyril created a new alphabet known as Glagolitic, suitable for preaching in the local language. The brothers also translated the main liturgical texts necessary for divine services. In 863, they arrived in Great Moravia and started to spread their teaching. Unfortunately, in 864, because of the political instability and power struggle of the times, Louis II the German attacked Great Moravia and confronted Prince Rostislav, which led to the ongoing struggle between the Old Church Slavonic and Latin concepts.
In 867, Pope Nicholas I invited Cyril and Methodius to Rome to explain why they had been spreading Christianity in a language which had not been permitted. At that time, only the three languages (Hebrew, Greek and Latin) which were inscribed on Christ’s cross were permitted to be used for preaching. While the brothers were on their journey to Rome, Nicholas I died and was replaced by Adrian II. As an experienced diplomatist, Cyril was able to use learned discussions to convince the pope about the usefulness of Old Church Slavonic for divine services in Moravia. The pope formally authorised the use with a papal bull. This good-will gesture might have been used by the pope because he was seeking an alliance with the Byzantine emperor against Muslim attacks on Italy. While in Rome, Cyril became seriously ill and joined a religious community; after fifty days, he died there in 869. Methodius took the papal bull back to Great Moravia where he continued his mission. In 873, Pope John VIII named Methodius archbishop.