Cyril and Methodius, Saints , were two Greek brothers who converted many Slavs to Christianity . For this reason, they came to be called the “Apostles of the Slavs.” The Slavs are peoples of eastern Europe . During the lives of Cyril (826 or 827-869) and Methodius (815?-885), church services usually were held in Greek or Latin , languages that not all Europeans understood. But Cyril and Methodius worked to establish the use of Old Church Slavonic, the language of the Slavs, in Christian worship. They became patron saints of Europe.
Born Constantine and probably Michael, the brothers came from an influential family in Thessaloniki , Greece , a city bordered by Slavic areas. They received an excellent education. Constantine then traveled to Constantinople (now Istanbul , Turkey ), where, by about 850, he had become a professor of philosophy .
About 840, Michael became governor of a region in the Byzantine Empire with a large Slavic population, possibly the Opsikion district of Asia Minor . Later, he entered a monastery in what is now northwestern Turkey and took the name Methodius. Constantine joined him there about 855.
About 860, the Byzantine Emperor Michael III sent the brothers on a mission to Khazaria, in southwestern Asia. During their trip, they retrieved the relics of Saint Clement I from Crimea . Relics are objects associated with a holy person.
In 862, Prince Rastislav of a Slavic state called the Greater Moravian Empire asked Emperor Michael III to send missionaries to work among his people. The emperor sent Constantine and Methodius. Constantine had created an alphabet called Glagolitic, used to translate into Slavonic the Gospels and liturgical books (books dealing with acts of worship). The brothers arrived in Moravia in 863 and began using Slavonic, the local language. This caused an angry response from Frankish missionaries in the region who used Latin. These missionaries were developing political influence in Moravia, and the brothers posed a threat to such influence. The brothers then moved on. In Pannonia, an area in central Europe, they found strong support from Prince Kocel, who wanted to establish a Slavic church independent of the Franks. Constantine and Methodius introduced Slavonic liturgical texts to the people of Pannonia.
In 868, the brothers went to Rome and presented St. Clement’s relics to Pope Hadrian II. There, Hadrian ordained Methodius as a priest and blessed the Slavonic liturgical texts. Constantine fell ill and died on Feb. 14, 869, shortly after becoming a monk and taking the name Cyril. Today, Cyril’s relics are in the Basilica San Clemente in Rome.
With the support of Pope Hadrian II and Prince Kocel, Methodius returned to Pannonia to establish a Slavonic-language church. In 869, he became archbishop of Pannonia. He also continued his work in Moravia. After the Franks gained control of Moravia, Methodius was arrested and brought to Regensburg, Bavaria , in what is now Germany . A church assembly condemned him for using the Slavonic liturgy and for exercising his bishop’s authority unlawfully. Methodius was imprisoned in a monastery in Germany without Pope Hadrian’s knowledge. Hadrian’s successor, Pope John VIII, had Methodius freed in 873, and Methodius returned to Moravia. In 879, Methodius was called to Rome to face charges of using Slavonic in the liturgy. Pope John VIII eventually authorized the use of Slavonic. Methodius returned to Moravia in 880. He died on April 6, 885.
