Sts. Cyril and Methodius and the Six Patrons of Europe
Introduction
In 1999 A.D., Pope John Paul II declared St. Benedict of Nursia [Pope Paul VI also named St. Benedict as patron protector of Europe in 1964] as one of the six patrons of Europe - together with St. Cyril and St. Methodius, St. Edith Stein, St. Bridget of Sweden, and St. Catherine of Siena. These six great men and women was a force for good in Europe's spirituality - influencing especially the political sphere of their respective countries and regions of apostolate and mission. With their great love for God, they have successfully sowed the seed of the Gospel on the good soil of many European cultures.
Their year of birth and death, and feast day
- St. Cyril, c. 825-884 A.D., feast day February 14
- St. Methodius, c. 826-884 A.D., feast day February 14
- St. Benedict of Nursia, c. 480-c. 547 A.D., feast day July 11
- St. Catherine of Siena, 1347-1380 A.D., feast day April 29
- St. Bridget of Sweden, 1303-1373 A.D., feast day July 23
- St. Edith Stein, 1891-1942, feast day August 9
Sts. Cyril and Methodius
Sts. Cyril and Methodius are blood brothers born at Thessalonika, Greece, and have their roots from a senatorial family. Both were living in a monastery on the Bosporus in 861 A.D., when Emperor Michael III sent them to convert the Khazars in the Dnieper-Volga regions of Russia. Learning the Khazar language, they gained numerous converts. After their mission, on their return to Greece, Methodius became abbot of a monastery. In 863 A.D., at the request of Prince Rotislav of Moravia, Photius, the patriarch of Constantinople, sent the two brothers to convert the Moravians. Since the two brothers knew the Slavonic tongue, they were very successful. They invented an alphabet, based largely on Greek capitals, marking the beginnings of Slavonic writing. This mission incurred the enmity of the German clergy because of their use of Slavonic in Church services. A second reason for enmity is they come from a region in Constantinople - a region suspect in the West because of the widespread heresy there.
When Cyril and Methodius were summoned to Rome by Pope Nicholas I, as they were on their way to Rome, the Pope passed away. They were then received by Pope Adrian II. Adrian welcomed the two brothers warmly, and was convinced of their orthodoxy. He approved their use of the Slavonic language and consecrated them as bishops. While in Rome, Cyril became a monk, but soon died on February 14. Methodius, on the other hand, returned to Moravia. Pope Adrian then created the archidiocese of Moravia and Pannonia, and made Methodius archbishop at Velehrad, Czechoslovakia. This move again angered the Germans. In 870 A.D., King Louis the German, and the German bishops deposed Methodius. He was released two years later by Pope John VIII and returned to his see. St. Methodius had to continuously convince John VIII of his orthodoxy. He eventually obtained permission from the Pope to use the Slavonic language in his teaching and mission. This struggle with the Germans continued all through the rest of St. Methodius' life until his death on April 6.
Sts. Cyril and Methodius are called "Apostles to the Slavs". To this day, the liturgical language of the Russians, Serbs, Ukrainians, and Bulgars is composed by the two brothers who brought the Catholic faith to them.
St. Benedict of Nursia
St. Benedict's spirituality attracted great numbers of disciples. He organized them into twelve monasteries, made manual work part of the community program, and built the monasteries as centers of learning and spirituality. St. Benedict wrote a rule composed of seventy-three sections. This Rule organized the monks into a single monastic community in the great Abbey of Monte Cassino. In the rule, Benedict prescribed common sense, a life of moderate asceticism, prayer, study, work, and community life under one superior. The Rule also stressed obedience, stability, zeal, and the recitation of the Divine Office as central to their monastic way of life. This rule influenced and still influence spiritual and monastic life in the West until the present time.
As St. Benedict governed this monastic movement and system, he also counselled rulers and Popes, ministered to the poor and the destitute around the monasteries, and repaired the damages wrought by the Totila the Lombard's invasion. Up to this time, the monastic system of St. Benedict has given the Church many great men and women - all holy saints and servants of God: 50 Benedictine Popes, 7,000 plus Benedictine bishops, and 40,000 plus Benedictine saints.
St. Catherine of Siena
St. Catherine was noted to be an apostle for the unity in the Church. In her political efforts, she was unsuccessful in attempting to mediate between the city-state of Florence and with the papal administration of Pope Gregory. But, her meeting with the Pontiff at Avignon and her pleas led the Pontiff to return the papacy to Rome in 1376 A.D. [the papacy was moved to Avignon, France, seventy years earlier]. Even if unsuccessful the first time, she again returned to Florence and this time she was successful in reconciling Florence and the Holy See. This ended a situation which had caused great turbulence throughout all of Italy.
This is how the Great Schism was finally resolved. After Pope Gregory's death in 1378 A.D., Urban VI was elected as pope. But dissident cardinals elected Robert of Geneva as antipope Clement VII at Fondi. This development created a papal court at Avignon, France. St. Catherine worked indefatigably for the support of Urban VI and the end of the schism. In this work, she finally suffered a paralytic stroke on April 21 and died a few days later in Rome on April 29.
St. Bridget of Sweden
St. Bridget of Sweden experienced visions and revelations early in life. After marrying and having children, she made a holy pilgrimage to St. Olaf at Norway. Upon her husband's death in 1344 A.D., she spent the next four years living in the Cistercian monastery of Alvastra. As a result of a revelation in her visions, she denounced the King and Queen of Sweden for their frivolous lives. She then founded a monastery at Vadstena in 1344 A.D. This marked the beginning of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity (the Brigettines) [other sources name her order as the Order of the Most Holy Savior]. Vadstena then became the intellectual center of fifteenth century Sweden.
St. Bridget was outspoken against King Magnus' crusade against the Letts and the Estonians. She also wrote to Pope Clement VI at Avignon, France - telling him that she saw a vision that demanded the return of the papacy from Avignon, France to Rome, Italy. Despite receiving much disfavor because of her outspokenness, she went to Rome in 1349 A.D. and impressed the whole city, especially the poor, with her holiness. Incessant in her Christian mission and never lacking zeal, she continued on - reforming monasteries around Rome. And despite her denunciation of people in high offices, including Pope Urban V, the constitutions of her Order was approved in 1370 A.D. Before she passed away in 1373 A.D., St. Bridget made a final journey to the Holy Land in 1371 A.D. Canonized in 1391 A.D., she is also known as Birgitta.
St. Edith Stein
Born to Orthodox Jewish parents in a region which was formerly part of Germany, Edith Stein renounced her faith and became an atheist. Her interest in philosophy spurred her to pursue studies in that area. Though her studies were interrupted by the First World War, after the war, she received her doctorate in philosophy from the University of Freiburg. Attracted to Catholicism during her studies, it was only upon reading the works of St. Teresa of Avila that her intellectual interest with leading Catholic philosophers blossomed well into faith. Eventually, she was baptized a Catholic in 1922 A.D. She began to teach at a Dominican school for girls, continued her studies, and started to write an extensive body of original works in Catholic philosophy. In 1933 A.D., she was forced to leave her position as lecturer at an Institute in Munster because of Nazi laws on the Jews. She decided to become a Carmelite nun - taking the religious name Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, in 1934 A.D. The persecution of the Jews led her to flee to Holland in the late 1930s. But the Nazis invaded Holland and so in August 1942 A.D., she was taken by the Gestapo and put to death in the Auschwitz gas chamber that same month.
Summary
Six great saints and pillars of holiness. All spiritual lighthouses that channel the light of Christ to the whole continent of Europe. Their spirituality leaves an important legacy to the Catholic faith: learning, prayer and work, peace and unity, prayer and prophetic witness, mission and community life, education and teaching, and the witnessing to Christ through martyrdom. These six great men and women have influenced many generations of Europeans. They are part of that great spiritual foundation that has Christianized Europe and continues to call Europe back to its Christian roots.
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