Saints Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs

February 14 – SS. Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs –

Two Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Bulgaria, Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title “Apostles to the Slavs”. They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Orthodox Church as saints with the title of “equal-to-apostles”. In 1980, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia.