Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop

The brothers Constantine and Methodius were born in Thessalonica in the 9th century and grew up speaking the Slavonic of the region. In 863 the emperor sent them to Great Moravia at the request of Prince Rastislav, who wanted teachers able to preach in his people’s tongue. Constantine created an alphabet for the Slavs, the Glagolitic, and the brothers translated the Gospels and the liturgy.

In Rome Pope Hadrian II approved the Slavonic liturgy. There Constantine became a monk with the name Cyril and died in 869. Methodius, made archbishop, returned to the Slavs; Frankish bishops opposed him and kept him in prison for over two years, but he carried on until his death in 885. In 1980 John Paul II named them co-patrons of Europe.