Cyril (827-869) and Methodius (c. 826-884), SS

Cyril (827-869) and Methodius (c. 826-884), SS, brothers, born in Thessaloníka, known as the “apostles of the Slavs”. They were part of a mission sent in 860 by the Byzantine Emperor Michael III, called The Drunkard, to the Khazars, a Tatar people who tolerated all faiths and whose ruler practised Judaism. In 862-863, preparatory to undertaking a mission to Greater Moravia (now the eastern region of the Czech Republic) in answer to a request from the Moravian ruler to Emperor Michael, Cyril created a Slavonic alphabet. It was the alphabet, of very restricted present-day use, known now as Glagolitic, and not, as was formerly supposed, the Cyrillic alphabet. Over the next few years, the brothers translated books of the New Testament into the vernacular, using these translations to develop a Slavonic liturgy. They were called to Rome by Pope Nicholas I to account for their use of the vernacular in Church services. Nicholas died before they reached Rome, and Adrian II, his successor, approved the Slavonic liturgy. Cyril died in Rome. Methodius returned to Moravia, extending his missionary work, and was appointed archbishop in 869. Cyril and Methodius were canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII. Their feast day is February 14 in the Roman Catholic Church; in the Orthodox Church it is May 11.