Slavs

When the first POLISH Pope, Pope Saint John Paul II, was elected to the Pontificate, his understanding of the native text allowed the cause for Sainthood to be reopened for Faustina and allowed the text to be considered and studied correctly.

Saints Cyril and Methodius (Icon)

I have been reading about two missionaries who preached the Gospel to the Slavs.  Saints Cyril and Methodius were sent to Great Moravia in 863.  When they arrived, they very quickly realised that preaching in Latin or Greek was fairly useless as none of the people to whom they were preaching actually understood what they were saying.  As a result they began to preach by adapting their mission to the people.  This was not a quick or easy solution.  First Saint Cyril retreated to pray and study and learn.  During this time he invented a new alphabet, which was called the Glagolitic script.  He translated the Bible and liturgy into Slavic using this alphabet and began teaching and preaching in the Slavic tongue.

There were some in the clergy who opposed this translated liturgy and Bible.  In those days the Bible was produced in Latin only and the Sacraments and liturgy were administered in Latin only.  This meant that many people – the majority of people in fact – were unable to understand the liturgy or prayers or Bible.  Thus, it was no extraordinary thing so the translation of the liturgy and Bible to be opposed.  After all, the purpose for preventing this was to prevent the miscommunication of Christ’s original message.  If translations were made without any authority, words could be misinterpreted and thus translations could lose the full meaning of the original text.

For example, when the Diary of Saint Faustina was originally translated from Polish so that the revelations within it could be considered and the Saint, Faustina, could be considered for Sainthood, the original translation was so bad that the text and Saint were disregarded by the Church.  However, when the first POLISH Pope, Pope Saint John Paul II, was elected to the Pontificate, his understanding of the native text allowed the cause for Sainthood to be reopened for Faustina and allowed the text to be considered and studied correctly.

Thus, some trepidation in terms of translations was natural and even advisable within the early Church.  Saints Cyril and Methodius did not hide away from these opponents.  Instead, they travelled to Rome and defended the use of the translation for worship…  “Praise the Lord, all nations; praise Him, all peoples.” (Psalm 117).

“Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:16–20).

And though Saint Cyril died before him, he entrusted the completion of the translation to Saint Methodius, who continued the work despite imprisonment and terrible suffering for a period of over two years, translating via dictation even on his death-bed.

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.