{
  "bookName": "HISTORY OF THE MISSIONS",
  "authorName": "BERNARD DE VAULX",
  "publisherName": "HAWTHORN BOOKS PUBLISHERS",
  "publicationYear": 2026,
  "chapterNumber": 5,
  "chapterName": "Evangelization of the Slavs, Magyars and Russians",
  "pageFrom": 48,
  "pageTo": 50,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 48,
      "ocrText": "CHAPTER V\nEVANGELIZATION OF THE\nSLAVS, MAGYARS AND\nRUSSIANS\nAt the beginning of the ninth century in the Frankish states,\nthe bishoprics nearest the eastern frontier were Ratisbon,\nPassau and Salzburg. To the East stretched the Slav countries\nin which organized Christian communities were non-existent.\nFrankish priests and monks had visited them for many years\npreviously, yet the first missions did not come from the\nFrankish empire.\nIn 862, Ratislav, prince of the Moravians, turned to Con-\nstantinople for help in countering a rapprochement between\nthe Franks and the Bulgars which was causing him anxiety and\nhe asked the Emperor Michael III (842-67) to send him mis-\nsionaries who knew the Slavonic language. The civil and\nreligious powers, the Emperor and the Patriarch, delighted to\nsteal a march on Rome in the interests of the Byzantine\nChurch, appointed Constantine and Methodius, two brothers\nwhose learning and virtue were of the highest order. These\ntwo apostles, of course, remained outside these rivalries and\nplayed a decisive part in the establishment of Christianity\namong the Slavs.\nThey were Greeks by birth, sons of a high-grade civil ser-\nvant of Thessalonica and had themselves held important civil\noffices. Constantine, known as the Philosopher, had taught"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 49,
      "ocrText": "THE SLAVS, MAGYARS AND RUSSIANS\n49\nphilosophy at the imperial university. He had translated into\nSlavonic a collection of passages from the Gospels before they\nset out on their journey. Methodius also knew Slavonic. Their\nhearers were therefore pleasantly surprised to be instructed in\nChristianity through the medium of their own language and\nby apostles thoroughly informed about their culture and\nnational spirit. After mature reflection, Constantine gave them\na liturgy they could understand in the Slavonic tongue. This\nwas a new departure and made his work distinctly easier.\nThe Holy See approved and a little later confirmed it when\nthe Roman clergy tried to have it condemned. Adrian II gave\na very favourable welcome to the two brothers in Rome. He\nsupported them and in order to give more prominence to his\ndecision, arranged for their disciples to be ordained by a dis-\ntinguished member of the Roman party well known for his\nopposition to the two apostles. The latter had the joy of seeing\nthe Slavonic liturgical books placed on the altar of Sancta\nMaria ad Praesepe and the Slavonic liturgy celebrated in the\nbasilicas of St Peter, St Petronilla, St Andrew and St Paul.\nConstantine, feeling that his end was near, withdrew to a\nmonastery and took the monastic habit under the name of\nCyril. On February 14th, 869, he died charging his brother and\nhis disciples to continue the work that had been begun.\nMethodius became bishop of Sirmium, archbishop of Pan-\nnonia and, finally, papal legate to the Slav peoples. This did\nnot prevent the Frankish bishops from waging fierce war\nagainst him. They refused to recognize his authority, im-\nprisoned him and only set him free when ordered to do so by\nJohn VIII, who commanded the archbishop of Salzburg per-\nsonally to conduct him back to Moravia and to re-establish him\nin his see.\nMethodius died on April 6th, 885. His death did not put\nan end to the opposition of the Frankish bishops, who suc-\nceeded in having the Slavonic liturgy banned and in driving\nseveral of Methodius' disciples from Moravia. These exiles\n1St Mary Major."
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 50,
      "ocrText": "50\nTHE SLAVS, MAGYARS AND RUSSIANS\nwent to Bulgaria and took with them the sacred books in\nSlavonic. Thus the work of the two brothers Cyril and\nMethodius came under the domination of the Byzantine\nChurch and shared its subsequent fate.\nMeanwhile, the Magyars from the East had invaded Hun-\ngary. Their initiation into Christianity may have been begun\nby Byzantine priests during the first stage of their migration.\nIt was continued by Frankish priests depending on the bishop-\nrics of Passau and Ratisbon.\nThen the principal evangelist of the Hungarians appeared,\nSt Adalbert, a Slav whose original name was Voytiekh. He\nwas martyred by the Prussians near Danzig in 997. Adalbert\nhad the good fortune to administer confirmation to the son of\nthe Hungarian duke, Geiza. This convert became king under\nthe name of Stephen and consecrated his kingdom to the\nBlessed Virgin. The pope gave him the title of \"apostolic king\"\nbecause he had made Hungary a Christian country.\nFurther east, the principality of Kiev was governed from 945\nby Princess Olga, widow of Igor, who had been taught the\nprinciples of Christianity by Byzantine priests. The conversion\nof the princess provoked a violent reaction among the pagans\nand her son Sviatoslav placed himself at its head. The war\nwhich followed took the prince into Bulgaria where, as we\nhave seen, some of Methodius' disciples had taken refuge. The\nstay made by these Kiev Russians in Bulgaria was to have\nfortunate results. Sviatoslav returned to Kiev unconverted, but\na number of his soldiers while they were among the Bulgars\nhad come to know Christianity in its Slavonic form, far more\nintelligible to them than in its Latin form. The first step along\nthe right road had been taken. The Christian religion won the\nday in Russia and Olga's dream had come true."
    }
  ]
}