By Andrew Winter
1.
Cyril and Methodius were blood brothers who both dedicated their lives to preaching the Gospel to the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. Cyril was born in 827, while Methodius was 12 years older. Methodius also outlived his brother by 16 years.
2.
The brothers were born in Thessalonica, Greece. Cyril was educated at Constantinople, and became a priest and professor. Methodius served as an abbot but was not yet a priest.
3.
The Eastern Roman emperor sent the brothers northeast to the kingdom of the Khazars, urging them to convert as many as they could. Then in 862 they travelled on to Moravia at the request of its own ruler. They preached all over Moravia, converting many.
4.
In order to better evangelize these Slavic peoples, Cyril created an alphabet for Slavonic, the language of the Moravians. Cyrillic, as it came to be called, was based on the Greek alphabet, had a great influence on the development of the Russian, Serbian, and Bulgarian alphabets. Using this new mode of writing, Cyril translated the Gospels into Slavonic.
5.
Unlike other missionaries of the time, Cyril and Methodius preached in the native tongue of their hearers. Cyril also celebrated Mass in Slavonic, even though Latin was the common language for Mass at that time. Thanks to these strategies the brothers made great headway with the Moravians.
6.
But many of the other missionaries in the region were angered by the brothers’ departure from the Latin tradition. They attacked Cyril and Methodius and complained of them to the pope. The conflict became so heated that the brothers were forced to travel to Rome to speak to the pope.
7.
Pope Adrian II gladly approved of the Mass in Slavonic. He also ordained Methodius a bishop, and planned to send the two back to Moravia. But Cyril died in Rome in 869, and Methodius, now bishop of Sirmium, returned alone to Moravia.
8.
Opposition from German missionaries continued to hinder Methodius, however, and he was finally imprisoned by his enemies. For two and a half years he suffered in prison, until the pope commanded his liberation. Methodius served the Church in Eastern Europe until 885, finishing the work he had begun with his brother. By his death he had translated the entire Bible (except Maccabees) into Slavonic.
9.
The brothers are called the “Apostles of the Slavs.” Their feast day is Feb. 14, and they are the patron saints of ecumenism, or dialogue between differing sects of Christianity.
