Saints Cyril and Methodius

Life events

1. Born — 827

   Cyril was born Constantine (Κωνσταντίνος) in Thessalonica, in the Byzantine province of the same name, around 827-828, the youngest of seven brothers; his father Leo was a droungarios of the Byzantine theme of Thessalonica.

2. Educated — 845

   After the brothers' father died, the imperial minister Theoktistos became their protector and helped establish the University of Magnaura in Constantinople; Constantine was trained there under the future Patriarch Photius and later assumed the position of professor of philosophy.

3. Pilgrimage — 860

   Around 860, Emperor Michael III and Patriarch Photius sent Constantine on a missionary expedition to the Khazars, who had requested a scholar able to debate Jews and Saracens; the account of his life states he learned the Khazar language while in Chersonesos in Taurica (modern Crimea).

4. Wrote — 863

   In 863, Constantine and his brother Methodius devised the Glagolitic script — the first alphabet suited to the Slavonic language — and began translating the Gospels and essential liturgical books into Old Church Slavonic for their mission to Great Moravia, undertaken at the request of Prince Rastislav.

5. Council — 868

   In 868 Constantine and Methodius were received warmly in Rome by Pope Adrian II, who gave formal papal authorization to the Slavic liturgy; at the same meeting five Slavic disciples — Gorazd, Clement of Ohrid, and Naum as priests, and Angelar and Sava as deacons — were ordained by the bishops Formosus and Gauderic.

6. Tonsured — 869

   Sensing his approaching death, Constantine took monastic vows as a Basilian monk in Rome and received the name Cyril; he died fifty days later on 14 February 869.

7. Died — 869

   Cyril died in Rome on 14 February 869; his remains were interred in a shrine-chapel within the Basilica di San Clemente, where they remain today.

8. Other — 1880

   In 1880 Pope Leo XIII introduced the feast of Cyril and Methodius into the Roman Rite calendar via the encyclical Grande Munus; in 1980 Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe alongside Benedict of Nursia.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Cyril was born Constantine (Κωνσταντίνος) and received the monastic name Cyril only upon taking vows as a Basilian monk in Rome roughly fifty days before his death on 14 February 869. (certain)
• The papal letter Industriae tuae (880) explicitly confirmed that the Glagolitic alphabet was 'invented by Constantine the Philosopher'; the script was the first writing system created for the Slavonic language. (certain)
• Both brothers bear the Eastern Orthodox title 'equal-to-apostles' (isapostolos); they were declared co-patron saints of Europe by Pope John Paul II in 1980 alongside Benedict of Nursia. (certain)
• When the brothers traveled to Rome in 867-868, they brought the relics of Pope Clement I, which contributed to their reception by Pope Adrian II and reinforced Roman interest in their influence in Constantinople. (likely)
• The feast of Cyril and Methodius is observed on 14 February in the Catholic Church and Anglican Communion (the date of Cyril's death), on 11 May (24 May Gregorian) in Eastern Orthodox churches, and on 5 July in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. (certain)