Saints

Cyril and Methodius, Saints, d. 869 and 884, respectively, Greek missionaries, brothers, called Apostles to the Slavs and fathers of Slavonic literature. Their history and influence are obscured by conflicting legends. After working among the Khazars, they were sent (863) from Constantinople by Patriarch Photius to Moravia. This was at the invitation of Prince Rostislav, who sought missionaries able to preach in the Slavonic vernacular and thereby check German influence in Moravia. Their immediate success aroused the hostility of the German rulers and ecclesiastics. Candidates from among their converts were refused ordination, and their use of the vernacular in the liturgy was severely criticized. According to one source, when Photius was excommunicated by Rome the brothers were called there. Their orthodoxy was established, and the use of Slavonic in the liturgy was approved. Cyril died while in Rome, but Methodius, consecrated by the pope, returned to Moravia and was made archbishop of Sirmium. Despite the papal sanction the Germans contrived to have him imprisoned, and, though released two years later, his effectiveness appears to have been blocked. His last years were spent translating the Bible and ecclesiastical books into Slavonic. His influence in Moravia was wiped out after his death but was carried to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia, where the southern Slavonic of Cyril and Methodius is still the liturgical language of both Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The Cyrillic alphabet used in those countries today, traditionally ascribed to St. Cyril, was probably the work of his followers. It was based probably by Cyril himself upon the glagolithic alphabet, which is still used by certain Croatian and Montenegrin Catholics. Feast: July 7.

(born circa 827, Thessalonica, Macedonia—died Feb. 14, 869, Rome) (born circa 815, Thessalonica—died April 6, 884, Moravia; feast day for both, Western Church February 14; Eastern Church May 11) Brothers who Christianized the Danubian Slavs. They began missionary work among the Slavs of Moravia in 863. Gifted scholars and linguists, they translated the Holy Scriptures into the language later known as Old Church Slavic (or Slavonic) and are credited with inventing the Glagolitic alphabet (see Cyrillic alphabet). In 868 they traveled to Rome to defend the use of a Slavic liturgy. When Cyril died, Methodius returned to Moravia as an archbishop. Known as the “apostles to the Slavs,” the two brothers influenced the religious and cultural development of all Slavic peoples.

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Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of a sect closely related to it (e.g., the Community of Christ). The Mormon religion was founded by Joseph Smith, who claimed to have received an angelic vision telling him of the location of golden plates containing God's revelation; this he published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon. Smith and his followers accepted the Bible as well as the Mormon sacred scriptures but diverged significantly from orthodox Christianity, especially in their assertion that God exists in three distinct entities as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Mormons also believe that faithful members of the church will inherit eternal life as gods. Other unique doctrines include the belief in preexisting souls waiting to be born and in salvation of the dead through retroactive baptism. The church became notorious for its practice of polygamy, though it was officially sanctioned only between 1852 and 1890. Smith and his followers migrated from Palmyra, N.Y., to Ohio, Missouri, and finally Illinois, where Smith was killed by a mob in 1844. In 1846–47, under Brigham Young, the Mormons made a 1,100-mi (1,800-km) trek to Utah, where they founded Salt Lake City. In the early 21st century, the church had a worldwide membership of nearly 10 million, swelled yearly by the missionary work that church members, both men and women, are encouraged to perform.

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(born circa 827, Thessalonica, Macedonia—died Feb. 14, 869, Rome) (born circa 815, Thessalonica—died April 6, 884, Moravia; feast day for both, Western Church February 14; Eastern Church May 11) Brothers who Christianized the Danubian Slavs. They began missionary work among the Slavs of Moravia in 863. Gifted scholars and linguists, they translated the Holy Scriptures into the language later known as Old Church Slavic (or Slavonic) and are credited with inventing the Glagolitic alphabet (see Cyrillic alphabet). In 868 they traveled to Rome to defend the use of a Slavic liturgy. When Cyril died, Methodius returned to Moravia as an archbishop. Known as the “apostles to the Slavs,” the two brothers influenced the religious and cultural development of all Slavic peoples.

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In Christianity, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, known and unknown. It is celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern churches. The first general observance of All Saints' Day was ordered by Pope Gregory IV in 837. In medieval England the festival was called All Hallows, and its eve is still known as Halloween.

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Saints' Rest was the second building erected on the campus of the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan (now Michigan State University). It was built in 1856 and served as the school's only dormitory until 1870, when Williams Hall was completed. Along with College Hall and a horse barn, it was one of three buildings completed when the college opened for classes in 1857.

As the campus's only residence hall, the building had no official name. Students had a variety of nicknames for it including "the hall", "the boarding hall", "old hall", or "the house". It was only after the hall burned that it acquired the moniker "Saints' Rest", which came from the Puritan devotional "The Saints' Everlasting Rest", written by Richard Baxter in 1650.

The hall burned down during the December 1876 vacation despite the efforts of the Lansing fire department, which made the run all the way from Lansing in only 45 minutes.

On June 6, 2005, a team of Michigan State archeology professors and students began a six-week excavation on the site. The dig was part of MSU's 2005 sesquicentennial celebration.

References

• Kuhn, Madison. (1955). Michigan State: The First Hundred Years, 1855-1955. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0-87013-222-9.
• Miller, Whitney. (2002). East Lansing: Collegeville Revisited (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2045-4.
• Stanford, Linda O. (2002). MSU Campus: Buildings, Places, Spaces. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0-87013-631-3.

External links

• Official University website
• Gone But Not Forgotten: Campus Buildings That No Longer Exist
• M.A.C. - Saints' Rest