Cyril and Methodius

Saints

Cyril and Methodius
Saints; Cyril and Methodius
	"Saints Cyril and Methodius holding the Cyrillic alphabet," a mural by Bulgarian iconographer Z. Zograf, 1848, Troyan Monastery
Bishops and Confessors; Equals to the Apostles; Patrons of Europe; Apostles to the Slavs
Born	826 or 827 and 815; Thessalonica, Byzantine Empire (present-day Greece)
Died	14 February 869 and 6 April 885; Rome and Velehrad, Great Moravia
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church; Catholic Church; Anglican Communion; Lutheranism
Feast	11 and 24 May (Eastern Orthodox Church); 14 February (present Roman Catholic calendar); 5 July (Roman Catholic calendar 1880–1886); 7 July (Roman Catholic calendar 1887–1969); 5 July (Roman Catholic Czech Republic and Slovakia)
Attributes	Brothers depicted together; Eastern bishops holding up a church; Eastern bishops holding an icon of the Last Judgment. Often, Cyril is depicted wearing a monastic habit and Methodius vested as a bishop with omophorion.
Patronage	Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Transnistria, Serbia, Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Europe, Slovak Eparchy of Toronto, Eparchy of Košice

Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".^[6]

They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic.^[7] After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "equal-to-apostles". In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1980, the first Slav pope, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia.^[8]

^ "Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries, 869, 885". The Episcopal Church. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
^ "Notable Lutheran Saints". Resurrectionpeople.org. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
^ In the 21st century this date in the Julian Calendar corresponds to 24 May in the Gregorian Calendar
^ ^a ^b Jones, Terry. "Methodius". Patron Saints Index. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
^ History of the Eparchy of Košice Archived 22 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Slovak)
^ "Figures of (trans-) national religious memory of the Orthodox southern Slavs before 1945: an outline on the examples of SS. Cyril and Methodius". ResearchGate. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
^ Liturgy of the Hours, Volume III, 14 February.
^ "Egregiae Virtutis". Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2009. Apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II, 31 December 1980 (in Latin)

[teccalendar-1] "Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries, 869, 885". The Episcopal Church. Retrieved 21 July 2022.

[2] "Notable Lutheran Saints". Resurrectionpeople.org. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.

[3] In the 21st century this date in the Julian Calendar corresponds to 24 May in the Gregorian Calendar

[patron-4] Jones, Terry. "Methodius". Patron Saints Index. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2007.

[grkatke-hist-5] History of the Eparchy of Košice Archived 22 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Slovak)

[6] "Figures of (trans-) national religious memory of the Orthodox southern Slavs before 1945: an outline on the examples of SS. Cyril and Methodius". ResearchGate. Retrieved 15 November 2018.

[7] Liturgy of the Hours, Volume III, 14 February.

[Egregiae_Virtutis-8] "Egregiae Virtutis". Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2009. Apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II, 31 December 1980 (in Latin)

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Saints Cyril and Methodius
"Saints Cyril and Methodius holding the Cyrillic alphabet," a mural by Bulgarian iconographer Z. Zograf, 1848, Troyan Monastery
Bishops and Confessors; Equals to the Apostles; Patrons of Europe; Apostles to the Slavs
Born	826 or 827 and 815 Thessalonica, Byzantine Empire (present-day Greece)
Died	(869-02-14)14 February 869 and (885-04-06)6 April 885 Rome and Velehrad, Great Moravia
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Catholic Church Anglican Communion^[1] Lutheranism^[2]
Feast	11 and 24 May^[3] (Eastern Orthodox Church) 14 February (present Roman Catholic calendar); 5 July (Roman Catholic calendar 1880–1886); 7 July (Roman Catholic calendar 1887–1969) 5 July (Roman Catholic Czech Republic and Slovakia)
Attributes	Brothers depicted together; Eastern bishops holding up a church; Eastern bishops holding an icon of the Last Judgment.^[4] Often, Cyril is depicted wearing a monastic habit and Methodius vested as a bishop with omophorion.
Patronage	Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Transnistria, Serbia, Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Europe,^[4] Slovak Eparchy of Toronto, Eparchy of Košice^[5]