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Celerinus of Carthage
Deacon and confessor, died of natural causes, c. 250.
Celerinus is revered for his sufferings while imprisoned by Emperor Trajanus Decius in Rome. He was freed and returned to Carthage, where Cyprian ordained him a deacon.
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Luke
Deacon and martyr, with bishop Silvanus of Emesa in Phoenicia (now Lebanon) and reader Mucius, martyred under Maximian after long imprisonment, in 312.
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Stephen of Grandmont
Deacon, hermit, and founder of the (Benedictine) Order of Grandmont at Muret, near Toulouse in France, died in 1124.
The early life of Stephen, born in 1046 in Thiers, France, is uncertain due to historical inaccuracies in the medieval biography of the saint. Nonetheless, his undertaking of consecrated life as a hermit is related in moving and convincing detail. Having built a small hermitage on the mountain of Muret, Stephen vowed to God: “I, Stephen, renounce the devil and all his pomps, and offer myself to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the one true God in three Persons.” He also prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, declaring, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, I commend my body, soul, and senses to your Son and to you.” Thereafter, Stephen spent the next forty-eight years of his life in this wilderness, devoting himself to prayer and penitential self-denial. When on one occasion two papal legates visited him, they inquired as to whether he was a monk, a hermit, or a canon. He replied, “I am a sinner.” Other men intending to imitate Stephen came to join him, so that the hermitage of Muret grew into a monastic community and a new religious congregation that would later be known as the Order of Grandmont. He refused ordination as a priest to remain a deacon.
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Primus and Donatus
Deacons and martyrs, put to death by Donatist heretics at Lavallum in northwest Africa, in 362. The two deacons were killed after they resisted the takeover of a catholic church in Lavallum.
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Modestus
Deacon and martyr, a native of Sardinia, killed in 304.
Modestus was tortured on the rack and then burned alive by order of Emperor Diocletian. His relics were brought to Benevento in southern Italy around 785 and buried in a church named after him.
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Constantine (later Cyril)
Deacon, scholar, philologist, linguist, and (with his brother Methodius) missionary to the southern Slavs, died 14 February 869.
Cyril and Methodius were born in Thessaloniki to a Greek drungarios (a military officer) named Leon and to Maria. Cyril was reputedly the youngest of seven brothers, according to the Vita Cyrilli (The Life of Cyril). He is said to have given himself to the pursuit of heavenly wisdom at the age of seven, but at fourteen was made an orphan by the death of his parents.
An influential official, possibly the eunuch Theoktistos (Θεόκτιστος), brought him to Constantinople where he studied theology and philosophy. Theoktistos was a logothetes tou dromou, a powerful Byzantine official, responsible for the postal services and the diplomatic relations of the Empire. He was also responsible, along with the regent Bardas, for initiating a far-reaching educational program within the Empire, which culminated in the establishment of the University of Magnaura, where Constantine/Cyril was to teach. Photius is said to have been among his teachers; Anastasius Bibliothecarius mentions their later friendship, as well as a conflict between them on a point of doctrine. Cyril learned an eclectic variety of knowledge including astronomy, geometry, rhetoric, and music. It was in the field of linguistics, however, that Cyril particularly excelled. Besides his native old Macedonian (Slavonic), he was fluent in Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek; according to the Vita, the Byzantine Emperor Michael III claimed that “all Thessalonians speak perfect Slavonic” (ch. 86).
After the completion of his education Cyril was ordained deacon and became a monk. He seems to have held the important position of chartophylax, or secretary to the patriarch and keeper of the archives, with some judicial functions also. This influential position required that he be in holy orders. After six months’ quiet retirement in a monastery he began to teach philosophy and theology. Cyril also took an active role in relations with the other great monotheistic religions, Islam and Judaism. He penned fiercely anti-Jewish polemics, perhaps connected with his mission to the Khazars, a tribe who lived near the Sea of Azov under a Jewish king who allowed Jews, Muslims, and Christians to live peaceably side by side. He also undertook a mission to the Arabs with whom, according to the Vita, he held discussions. He is said to have learned the Hebrew, Samaritan and Arabic languages during this period. The account of his life presented in the Latin Legenda claims that he also learned the Khazar language while in Chersonesos, in Taurica (today Crimea). (It has been claimed that Methodius also accompanied him on the mission to the Khazars, but this is probably a later invention.)
In 862 Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia requested that the emperor Michael III and the patriarch Photius send missionaries to evangelize his Slavic subjects. His motives in doing so were probably more political than religious. Rastislav had become king with the support of the Frankish ruler Louis the German, but subsequently sought to assert his independence from the Franks. He is said to have expelled missionaries of the Roman Church and instead turned to Constantinople for ecclesiastical assistance and, presumably, a degree of political support. The request provided a convenient opportunity to expand Byzantine influence, and the task was entrusted to Cyril and Methodius. Their first work seems to have been the training of assistants.
In 863 they began the task of translating the Bible into the language now known as Old Church Slavonic and traveled to Great Moravia to promote it. They enjoyed considerable success in this endeavor. However, they came into conflict with German ecclesiastics who opposed their efforts to create a specifically Slavic liturgy. It is impossible to determine with certainty what portions of the Bible the brothers translated. The New Testament and the psalms seem to have been the first, followed by other lessons from the Old Testament. The Translatio speaks only of a version of the gospels by Cyril, and the Vita Methodii only of the evangelium Slovenicum, though other liturgical selections may also have been translated.
Nor is it known for sure which liturgy, that of Rome or that of Constantinople, they took as a source. They may well have used the Roman, as suggested by liturgical fragments which adhere closely to the Latin type. The Glagolitic alphabet, which was based on the Greek uncial writing of the 9th century, has been traditionally attributed to Cyril’s work. That fact has been confirmed explicitly by the papal letter Industriae tuae (880) approving the use of Old Church Slavonic, which says that the alphabet was “invented by Constantine the Philosopher.” It is unclear, however, whether Cyril himself was the originator of the eponymous Cyrillic alphabet. More probably, it was invented by later followers of Cyril and Methodius. In 867, Pope Nicholas I invited the brothers to Rome.
Their evangelizing mission in Moravia had by this time become the focus of a dispute with Theotmar, the archbishop of Salzburg and bishop of Passau, who claimed ecclesiastical control of the same territory and wished to see it use the Latin liturgy exclusively. Traveling with the relics of Saint Clement and a retinue of disciples, they were warmly received in Rome on their arrival in 868. The brothers were praised for their learning and cultivated for their influence in Constantinople. Their project in Moravia found support from Pope Adrian II, who formally authorized the use of the new Slavic liturgy.
Cyril fell ill late in 868, retired to a monastery, and after fifty days of illness died on 14 February 869. The Translation asserts that he was made a bishop before his death, but there is little credible evidence for this. Over time, Cyrillic eventually spread through much of the Slavic world to become the standard alphabet in the Orthodox Slavic countries. Their evangelizing efforts also paved the way for the spread of Christianity throughout eastern Europe.
Cyril was canonized as a saint by the eastern Church, with the Roman Catholic Church canonizing him separately in 1880 along with Methodius. The two brothers are known as the “Apostles of the Slavs” and are still highly regarded by Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Cyril’s feast day is celebrated on 14 February (Catholic and Anglican) or 11 May (Orthodox). The two brothers were declared “Patrons of Europe” in 1980.
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Joseph of Antioch (sometimes called Josippus)
Deacon and martyr, with seven companions, slain at Antioch in Syria, date unknown.
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Flavian
Deacon and martyr, with Montanus, Julian, Lucius, presbyter Victoricus, and five companions, tortured and beheaded at Carthage in 259. They were disciples of Cyprian of Carthage, who had been martyred the previous year. According to the Acta, Flavian had received a reprieve at the people’s request. When the executioner was ready to give the stroke, Montanus prayed aloud to God that Flavian might follow them on the third day. And, to express his assurance that his prayer was heard, he ripped in half the handkerchief with which his eyes were to be covered, asked that one part of it to be reserved for Flavian, and desired that a place might be kept for him where he was to be interred, that they might not be separated even in the grave. Flavian, seeing his crown of martyrdom delayed, made it the object of his ardent desires and prayers. He continued to insist that he was a deacon, and so he was beheaded three days later.
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Deacons of Alexandria
With presbyters and many others, died ministering to the sick during the plague, in 262
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