Cyril and Methodius

Saints Cyril (c. 827–869) and Methodius (c. 815–885) were Byzantine Greek brothers from Thessalonica whose missionary work among the Slavic peoples earned them the title 'Apostles to the Slavs.' Their legacy extends far beyond religious conversion to encompass the very foundations of Slavic literacy and culture, making them among the most historically consequential missionaries in Christian history. Born to a prominent Byzantine military family in Thessalonica — a city with a significant Slavic population — both brothers likely grew up speaking a Slavic dialect alongside Greek. Cyril (born Constantine) was a brilliant scholar and linguist who studied at the Imperial University in Constantinople under the renowned scholar Photius and served as librarian at the great cathedral of Hagia Sophia. Methodius pursued a career in civil administration before entering monastic life. In 863, Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia requested missionaries from Byzantium who could teach Christianity in the Slavic language rather than in Latin or German. Emperor Michael III sent Cyril and Methodius. Before departing, Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet — the first alphabet designed specifically for the Slavic languages — and began translating the Gospels and liturgical texts from Greek into Old Church Slavonic. This was a revolutionary act: most Western churchmen held that only Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were suitable for worship, but the Byzantine brothers insisted that every people had the right to worship God in their own tongue. Their mission in Moravia and later in Pannonia was vigorously opposed by Frankish (German) clergy, who saw the Slavic liturgy as a threat to their ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The brothers traveled to Rome to defend their work and received the approval of Pope Hadrian II. Cyril died in Rome in 869, but Methodius returned as papal legate and Archbishop of Pannonia, continuing their mission until his death in 885. Though political upheaval eventually displaced their work from Moravia, their disciples carried the Slavic liturgy and alphabet to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia, where it became the foundation of Slavic Orthodox Christianity. They were declared co-patron saints of Europe by Pope John Paul II in 1980.