Editing Cyril and Methodius

{{Short description|9th-century Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries}}
{{Redirect|Saints Cyril and Methodius}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Saint]]s
| name=Cyril and Methodius
| birth_date=826 or 827 and 815
| death_date={{death date|869|2|14|df=yes}} and {{death date|885|4|6|df=yes}} (41 or 42 and 54)
| feast_day=11 and 24 May<ref>In the 21st century this date in the [[Julian Calendar]] corresponds to 24 May in the [[Gregorian Calendar]]</ref> ([[Eastern Orthodox Church]])<br /> 14 February (present Latin Catholic calendar); 5 July (Latin Catholic calendar 1880–1886); 7 July (Latin Catholic calendar 1887–1969)<br />5 July (Latin Catholic and Lutheran [[Czech Republic]] and [[Slovakia]])
| venerated_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br/>[[Catholic Church]]<br/>[[Anglican Communion]]<ref name="teccalendar">{{Cite web |title=Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries, 869, 885 |url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/cyril-and-methodius/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=The Episcopal Church |language=en-US}}</ref><br/>[[Lutheranism]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.resurrectionpeople.org/saints.html |title=Notable Lutheran Saints |website=Resurrectionpeople.org |access-date=16 July 2019 |archive-date=16 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516024927/http://www.resurrectionpeople.org/saints.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| image=Sv Kiril Metodij Zahari Zograf Trojanski mon 1848.jpg
| imagesize=150px
| caption=''"Saints Cyril and Methodius holding the Cyrillic alphabet,"'' a mural by [[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]] iconographer [[Zahari Zograf|Z. Zograf]], 1848, [[Troyan Monastery]]
| birth_place= [[Thessalonica]], [[Byzantine Empire]] (present-day Greece)
| death_place= [[Rome]] and Velehrad, [[Great Moravia]]
| titles=Bishops and Confessors; Equals to the Apostles; Patrons of Europe; Apostles to the Slavs
| beatified_date=
| beatified_place=
| beatified_by=
| canonized_date=
| canonized_place=
| canonized_by=
| attributes=Brothers depicted together; Eastern bishops holding up a church; Eastern bishops holding an [[icon]] of the [[Last Judgment]].<ref name="patron">{{cite web | last = Jones | first = Terry | title = Methodius | work = Patron Saints Index | url = http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm10.htm | access-date = 18 February 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070219170931/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintm10.htm | archive-date = 19 February 2007}}</ref> 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,<ref name="patron"/> [[Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto|Slovak Eparchy of Toronto]], [[Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Košice|Eparchy of Košice]]<ref name="grkatke-hist">[http://www.grkatke.sk/page1.php?strankaid=epahist History of the Eparchy of Košice] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222143015/http://www.grkatke.sk/page1.php?strankaid=epahist |date=22 December 2015 }} (Slovak)</ref>
| major_shrine=
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{{Eastern Orthodox sidebar|expanded=figures}}

'''Cyril''' ({{langx|el|Κύριλλος|Kýrillos}}; born Constantine, 826–869) and '''Methodius''' ({{langx|el|Μεθόδιος|Methódios|label=none}}; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, [[Population of the Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[Christian theologian]]s and [[Christian missionaries|missionaries]]. For their work evangelizing the [[Slavs]], they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237540225|title=Figures of (trans-) national religious memory of the Orthodox southern Slavs before 1945: an outline on the examples of SS. Cyril and Methodius|website=ResearchGate|language=en|access-date=2018-11-15}}</ref>

They are credited with devising the [[Glagolitic alphabet]], the first alphabet used to transcribe [[Old Church Slavonic]].<ref>Liturgy of the Hours, Volume III, 14 February.</ref> After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] as [[saint]]s 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 saint]]s of Europe, together with [[Benedict of Nursia]].<ref name="Egregiae Virtutis">{{cite web | title =Egregiae Virtutis | url =https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_31121980_egregiae-virtutis_lt.html | access-date =26 April 2009 | url-status =live | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090104182217/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_31121980_egregiae-virtutis_lt.html | archive-date =4 January 2009}} [[Ecclesiastical letter#Letters of the popes in modern times|Apostolic letter]] of [[Pope John Paul II]], 31 December 1980 {{in lang|la}}</ref>

==Early career==
===Early life===
The two brothers were born in [[Thessalonica]], at that time in the Byzantine [[Thessalonica (theme)|province of the same name]] (today in [[Greece]]) – Cyril in 827–828, and Methodius in 815–820. According to the ''Vita Cyrilli'' ("The Life of Cyril"), Cyril was reputedly the youngest of seven brothers; he was born Constantine,<ref>''Cyril and Methodius'', [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] 2005</ref> but was given the name Cyril upon becoming a monk in Rome shortly before his death.<ref>''Vita Constantini slavica'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=RIdFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA246 Cap. 18: Denkschriften der kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften 19, Wien 1870, p. 246]</ref><ref>Chapter 18 of the Slavonic [http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/fcurta/Cyril.html ''Life of Constantine''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215043926/http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/fcurta/Cyril.html |date=15 December 2012 }}, an English translation</ref><ref>English Translation of the 18th Chapter of the ''Vita Constantini'', [[Liturgy of the Hours]], Proper of Saints, 14 February</ref> Methodius was born Michael and was given the name Methodius upon becoming a monk in [[Polychron]] Monastery at [[Mysia]]n Olympus (present-day [[Uludağ]] in northwest [[Turkey]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/spirit/cyril.htm|title=SS.Cyril and Methodius|website=www.carpatho-rusyn.org|access-date=2 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317030046/http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/spirit/cyril.htm|archive-date=17 March 2016}}</ref> Their father was Leo, a ''[[droungarios]]'' of the Byzantine [[Theme (Byzantine district)|theme]] of Thessalonica, and their mother's name was Maria.

The exact ethnic origins of the brothers are unknown; there is controversy as to whether Cyril and Methodius were of [[Early Slavs|Slavic]]<ref>
* 1. Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Theodore Rabb, Isser Woloch, Raymond Grew. ''The Western Experience with Powerweb''. Eighth Edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education 2002. University of Michigan.  p. 214. {{ISBN|9780072565447}}
 ...Two Christian brothers of Slavic descent, Cyril and Methodius, set out in about 862 as missionaries from the Byzantine...

* 2. ''Balkan Studies'', Volume 22. Hidryma Meletōn Chersonēsou tou Haimou (Thessalonikē, Greece). The Institute, 1981. Original from	the University of Michigan. p. 381
 ...Being of Slavic descent, both of them spoke the old Slavic language fluently...

* 3. Loring M. Danforth. ''The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World''. Princeton University Press, 1995. p. 49 {{ISBN|9780691043562}}.
 ...In the ninth century two brothers Cyril and Methodius, Macedonian educators of Slavic origin from Solun, brought literacy and Christianity to the Slavs...

* 4. Ihor Ševčenko. ''Byzantium and the Slavs: In Letters and Culture'''. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 1991. p. 481. {{ISBN|9780916458126}}
 ...63-68 (Cyril and Methodius were Slavs)...There remains that argument for Cyril's and Methodius' Slavic origin which has to do with the Slavic translation of the Gospels and...

* 5. Roland Herbert Bainton. ''Christianity: An American Heritage Book Series''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000. p. 156. {{ISBN|9780618056873}}
 ...Two missionaries of Slavic origin, Cyril (baptized Constantine) and Methodius, adapted the Greek alphabet and translated both the Bible and the liturgy into the Slavic tongue...

* 6. John Shea. ''Macedonia and Greece: The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation''. McFarland, 1997. p. 56 . {{ISBN|9780786437672}}
 ...Byzantine emperor Michael, on the request of the Moravian prince Ratislav, decided to send Slav priests as educators, he chose the Salonika brothers Cyril and Methodius...

* 7. ''UNESCO Features: A Fortnightly Press Service''. UNESCO. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1984. University of Michigan
 ...They may have been of wholly Slavic descent or of mixed Greco-Slav origin...

* 8. ''The Pakistan Review'', Volume 19. Ferozsons Limited, 1971. University of California. p. 41
 ...century in Salonika, then one of the largest towns in the Byzantine Empire. The brothers were of Slav origin...

* 9. ''Balkania'', Volume 7. Balkania Publishing Company, 1973. Indiana University. p. 10
 ...Cyril and Methodius not only lived among Slavs. ...of Slavonic, which they not only spoke and understood, but in which they also wrote—translated and composed—and for which they invented an alphabet, is proof of their Slav origin...

* 10.  Bryce Dale Lyon, Herbert Harvey Rowen, Theodore S. Hamerow. ''A History of the Western World'', Volume 1. Rand McNally College Pub. Co., 1974. Northwestern University. p. 239
 ...brothers of Slavic origin, Cyril and Methodius, who, after being ordained at Constantinople, preached the Gospel to the Slavs...

* 11. Roland Herbert Bainton. The history of Christianity. Nelson, 1964. p. 169
 ...Two missionaries of Slavic origin, Cyril (baptized Constantine) and Methodius, adapted the Greek alphabet and translated both the Bible and the liturgy into the Slavic tongue...

* 12. Carl Waldman, Catherine Mason. ''Encyclopedia of European Peoples: Facts on File library of world history''. Infobase Publishing, 2006. p. 752. {{ISBN|9781438129181}}
 ...There is disagreement as to whether Cyril and his brother Methodius were Greek or Slavic, but they knew the Slavic dialect spoken in Macedonia...

* 13. Frank Andrews. ''Ancient Slavs'''. Worzalla Publishing Company, 1976. University of Wisconsin - Madison. p. 163.
 ...Cyril and Methodius derived from a rich family of Salonica, perhaps of Slavic origin, but Grecized in those times. Methodius (815–885)...

* 14. Johann Heinrich Kurtz, John Macpherson. ''Church History''. Hodder and Stoughton, 1891. University of California. p. 431
 ...Born at Thessalonica, and so probably of Slavic descent, at least acquainted with the language of the Slavs,...

* 15. William Leslie King. ''Investment and Achievement: A Study in Christian Progress''. Jennings and Graham, 1913. Columbia University.
 ...This man and his brother Cyril became the Methodius and Cyril apostles of the Slavic people. These two brothers seemed to have been raised up for such a mission. They were probably of Slavic descent...</ref> or [[Greeks|Greek]]<ref>* {{Cite book | last1 = Banac | first1 = Ivo | title = The National Question in Yugoslavia | year = June 9, 2015 | publisher = Cornell University Press | location = New York | isbn = 9781501701931 | page=61|quote=Matters were complicated when Cyril and Methodius, two Greek brothers from Salonika, undertook to apply the Slavic idioms}}
* {{Cite book | last1 = Hurst | first1 = John Fletcher | title = Short History of the Christian Church | year = 1892 | publisher = Harper and brothers | location = New York | isbn = | page =141|quote=Cyril and Methodius, two Greek monks, were the first to introduce the gospel among the Bulgarians.}}
* ''Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition. 2001–05, s.v. "Cyril and Methodius, Saints" "Greek missionaries, brothers, called Apostles to the Slavs and fathers of Slavonic literature."
* Encyclopædia Britannica, ''Major alphabets of the world, Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets'', 2008, O.Ed. "The two early Slavic alphabets, the Cyrillic and the Glagolitic, were invented by St. Cyril, or Constantine (c. 827–869), and St. Methodius (c. 825–884). These men were Greeks from Thessalonica who became apostles to the southern Slavs, whom they converted to Christianity.
*''Encyclopedia of World Cultures'', David H. Levinson, 1991, p.239, s.v., "Social Science"
* Eric M. Meyers, ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East'', p.151, 1997
* Lunt, ''Slavic Review'', June 1964, p. 216; Roman Jakobson, ''Crucial problems of Cyrillo-Methodian Studies''; Leonid Ivan Strakhovsky, ''A Handbook of Slavic Studies'', p.98
* V.Bogdanovich, ''History of the ancient Serbian literature'', Belgrade, 1980, p.119
* {{Cite book  | last1 = Hastings | first1 = Adrian | title = The construction of nationhood: ethnicity, religion, and nationalism | year = 1997 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge  | isbn = 0-521-62544-0 | page =126|quote=The activity of the brothers Constantine (later renamed Cyril) and Methodius, aristocratic Greek priests who were sent from Constantinople. }}
* {{Cite book  |last= Fletcher |first= R. A. |title= The barbarian conversion: from paganism to Christianity |year= 1999 |publisher= University of California Press |location= Berkeley, California |isbn=0-520-21859-0 |page= 327}}
* {{Cite book  |last1= Cizevskij |first1= Dmitrij |author2-link= Serge Aleksandr Zenkovsky |last2= Zenkovsky |first2 = Serge A. |last3= Porter |first3= Richard E. |title= Comparative History of Slavic Literatures |year= 1971 |publisher= Vanderbilt University Press |isbn=0-8265-1371-9 |page= vi |quote=Two Greek brothers from Salonika, Constantine who later became a monk and took the name Cyril and Methodius.}}
* {{Cite book |title= The illustrated guide to the Bible |year= 1998 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= New York |isbn=0-19-521462-5 |page= 14 |quote=In Eastern Europe, the first translations of the Bible into the Slavonic languages were made by the Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius in the 860s }}
* {{Cite book  |last= Smalley |first= William Allen |title= Translation as mission: Bible translation in the modern missionary movement |year= 1991 |publisher= Mercer |location = Macon, Ga.  | isbn = 978-0-86554-389-8 | page =25|quote=The most important instance where translation and the beginning church did coincide closely was in Slavonic under the brothers Cyril and Methodius, with the Bible completed by A.D. 880. This was a missionary translation but unusual again (from a modern point of view) because not a translation into the dialect spoken where the missionaries were. The brothers were Greeks who had been brought up in Macedonia.  }}</ref> origin, or both.<ref>
* 1. Philip Lief Group. ''Saintly Support: A Prayer For Every Problem''. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2003. p. 37. {{ISBN|9780740733369}}
 ...Cyril was born of Greek nobility connected with the senate of Thessalonica, although his mother may have been of Slavic descent...

* 2. ''UNESCO Features: A Fortnightly Press Service''. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization., 1984. University of Michigan
 ...They may have been of wholly Slavic descent or of mixed Greco-Slav origin...
</ref> The two brothers lost their father when Cyril was fourteen, and the powerful minister [[Theoktistos]], who was ''[[logothetes tou dromou]]'', one of the chief ministers of the Empire, became their protector. He was also responsible, along with the regent [[Bardas]], for initiating a far-reaching educational program within the Empire which culminated in the establishment of the [[University of Magnaura]], where Cyril was to teach. Cyril was ordained as [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]] some time after his education, while his brother Methodius remained a [[deacon]] until 867/868.<ref>{{cite book|author=Raymond Davis|title=The Lives of the Ninth-century Popes (Liber Pontificalis): The Ancient Biographies of Ten Popes from A.D. 817-891|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7EuWhDYxM4C&pg=PA254|year=1995|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=978-0-85323-479-1|page=254}}</ref>

===Mission to the Khazars===
About the year 860, [[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Michael III]] and the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]] [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photius]] (a professor of Cyril's at the university and his guiding light in earlier years), sent Cyril on a missionary expedition to the [[Khazars]] who had requested a scholar be sent to them who could converse with both Jews and Saracens.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20090617.html |title=Pope Benedict XVI. "Saints Cyril and Methodius", General Audience 17 June 2009, Libreria Editrice Vaticana |publisher=W2.vatican.va |access-date=2019-01-29}}</ref> It has been claimed that Methodius accompanied Cyril on the mission to the Khazars, but this may be a later invention. The account of his life presented in the [[Latin language|Latin]] ''"Legenda"'' claims that he learned the Khazar language while in [[Chersonesos Taurica|Chersonesos]], in [[Taurica]] (today [[Crimea]]).

After his return to Constantinople, Cyril assumed the role of professor of [[philosophy]] at the university. His brother had by this time become a significant figure in Byzantine political and administrative affairs, and an abbot of his monastery.

==Mission to the Slavs==
=== Great Moravia ===
[[File:Cyril and Methodius.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cyril and Methodius, painting by [[Jan Matejko]], 1885]]
In 862, the brothers began the work which would give them their historical importance. That year Prince [[Rastislav of Moravia|Rastislav]] of [[Great Moravia]] requested that Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch Photius send missionaries to evangelize his Slavic subjects. His motives in doing so were probably more political than religious. Rastislav had become king with the support of the [[Franks|Frankish]] ruler [[Louis the German]], though he subsequently sought to assert his independence from the Franks. That Cyril and Methodius might have been the first to bring Christianity to [[Moravia]] is a common misconception; Rastislav's letter to Michael III states clearly that his people "had already rejected paganism and adhere to the Christian law."<ref name=Ivanov>Vizantiiskoe missionerstvo, Ivanov S. A., Iazyki slavianskoi kul'tury, Moskva 2003, p. 147</ref> Rastislav is said to have expelled missionaries of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Church]] and instead turned to Constantinople for ecclesiastical assistance and, presumably, a degree of political support.<ref name=Brit>Encyclopædia Britannica, Cyril and Methodius, Saints, O.Ed., 2008</ref> The Emperor quickly chose to send Cyril, accompanied by his brother Methodius.<ref name=IUN>{{cite web |url=http://www.iun.edu/~hisdcl/h113_2001/byzantium.htm |title=From Eastern Roman to Byzantine: transformation of Roman culture (500-800) |publisher=Indiana University Northwest |access-date=31 August 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916164425/http://www.iun.edu/~hisdcl/h113_2001/byzantium.htm |archive-date=16 September 2017}}</ref> The request provided a convenient opportunity to expand Byzantine influence. Their first work seems to have been the training of assistants. In 863, they began the task of translating the [[Gospel]]s and essential [[Eastern Orthodox worship#Liturgical books|liturgical books]] into what is now known as [[Old Church Slavonic]],<ref name=Catholic_Encyclopedia/> and travelled to Great Moravia to promote it.<ref name=Pravmir>{{cite web |url=http://www.pravmir.com/article_39.html |title=Sts. Cyril and Methodius |publisher=Pravmir |access-date=31 August 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307085339/http://www.pravmir.com/article_39.html |archive-date=7 March 2012}}</ref> This endeavour was amply rewarded. However, they came into conflict with German ecclesiastics, who opposed their efforts to create a specifically Slavic liturgy.

For the purpose of this mission, they devised the [[Glagolitic alphabet]], the first alphabet to be used for Slavonic manuscripts. The Glagolitic alphabet was suited to match the specific features of the Slavic language. Its descendant script, the Cyrillic, is still used by many languages today.<ref name=Brit/>

The brothers wrote the first Slavic [[Civil Code]], which was used in Great Moravia. The language derived from Old Church Slavonic, known as [[Church Slavonic]], is still used in the [[liturgy]] by several Orthodox Churches, and also in some [[Eastern Catholic]] churches.

Exactly how much the brothers translated is impossible to say for certain. The [[New Testament]] and the [[Psalms]] seem to have been the first, followed by other lessons from the [[Old Testament]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} The ''"Translatio"'' speaks only of a version of the [[Gospel]]s by Cyril, and the ''"Vita Methodii"'' only of the ''"evangelium Slovenicum"'', though other liturgical selections may also have been translated.

Nor is it known for sure which liturgy, whether of Rome or of Constantinople, they took as a source. They may well have used the [[Latin alphabet|Roman alphabet]], as hinted by liturgical fragments adhering closely to the Latin type. This view is confirmed by the "Prague Fragments" and by certain Old [[Glagolitic]] liturgical fragments brought from [[Jerusalem]] to [[Kyiv]] and discovered there by [[Izmail Sreznevsky]]—probably the oldest document in the Slavonic tongue; examples of where they resemble the Latin type include the words ''"Mass,"'' ''"Preface,"'' and the name of one Felicitas. Regardless, the circumstances were such that the brothers could have hoped for no lasting success without having had authorization from Rome.

===Journey to Rome===
{{more citations needed|section|date=May 2019}}
[[File:San clemente fresco.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Saints Cyril and Methodius in Rome. Fresco in San Clemente]]
The mission of Constantine and Methodius had great success among Slavs in part because they used the people's native language rather than [[Latin]] or Greek. In Great Moravia, Constantine and Methodius also encountered missionaries from [[East Francia]]. They would have represented the western, or Latin, branch of the Church, more particularly epitomizing the [[Carolingian Empire]] as founded by [[Charlemagne]], and intent on linguistic and cultural uniformity. They insisted on the use of the Latin liturgy, and they regarded Moravia and the Slavic peoples as part of their rightful mission field.

When friction developed, the brothers, unwilling to be a cause of dissension among Christians, decided to travel to Rome to see the Pope, and seek a solution that would avoid quarrelling between missionaries in the field. In 867, [[Pope Nicholas I]] (858-867) invited the brothers to Rome. Their evangelizing mission in Moravia had by this time become the focus of a dispute with Archbishop [[Adalwin of Salzburg]] (859–873) and Bishop [[Ermanrich, Bishop of Passau|Ermanrich]] of [[bishop of Passau|Passau]] (866-874). They claimed ecclesiastical control of the same territory and wished to see it use the Latin liturgy exclusively.

With them they brought the relics of [[Pope Clement I|Saint Clement]] and a retinue of disciples. They passed through [[Pannonia]] (the [[Balaton Principality]]), where they were well received by Prince [[Koceľ]]. This activity in Pannonia made a continuation of conflicts inevitable with the German episcopate, and especially with the bishop of [[Salzburg]], whose prerogative Pannonia had been for seventy-five years. As early as 865, Bishop Adalwin was found to exercise Episcopal rights there. The administration under him was in the hands of the archpriest Riehbald. He was obliged to retire to Salzburg, though his superior was instinctively disinclined to abandon his claim.

The brothers sought support from Rome, and arrived there in 868, where they were warmly received. This was partly due to their bringing with them the relics of Saint Clement; rivalry with Constantinople over the territory of the Slavs would have inclined Rome to value the brothers and their influence.<ref name=Brit/>

The brothers were praised for their learning and cultivated for their influence in Constantinople. [[Anastasius Bibliothecarius]] would later call Cyril "a man of apostolic life" and "a man of great wisdom".<ref>"Vir apostolicae vitae...sapientissimus vir" MGH Epist., 7/2, 1928, p. 436</ref> Their project in Moravia found support from the new [[Pope Adrian II]] (867-872), who formally authorized the use of the new Slavic liturgy. 

Subsequently, Methodius was ordained as priest by the pope himself, and five Slavic disciples were ordained as priests ([[Saint Gorazd]], [[Clement of Ohrid|Saint Clement of Ohrid]] and [[Saint Naum]]) and as deacons ([[Saint Angelar]] and [[Saint Sava (disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius)|Saint Sava]]) by the prominent bishops [[Pope Formosus|Formosus]] and Gauderic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frantiskani.sk/kazatel/svati/0727.htm|title=Sv. Gorazd a spoločníci|trans-title=St. Gorazd and his colleagues|language=sk|work=Franciscan Friars of Slovakia|access-date=27 August 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924015313/http://www.frantiskani.sk/kazatel/svati/0727.htm|archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> Since the 10th century Cyril and Methodius along with these five disciples are collectively venerated by the [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]] as the "[[Seven Apostles of Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Seven Saints]]".<ref>David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Fifth Edition Revised, OUP Oxford, 2011, {{ISBN|0191036730}}, p. 94.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kashtite.com/en/traditions-and-celebrations/bulgarian-traditions-and-celebrations/seven-saints |title=Seven Saints |publisher=Kashtite.com |date=2016-07-27 |access-date=2019-01-29 |archive-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721221816/https://www.kashtite.com/en/traditions-and-celebrations/bulgarian-traditions-and-celebrations/seven-saints |url-status=dead }}</ref> The newly made priests officiated in their own language at the altars of some of the principal churches. 

Feeling his end approaching, Cyril became a [[Basilian monks|Basilian monk]] and was given the name Cyril.<ref>It was and is customary on becoming a monk in the Eastern Orthodox tradition to receive a new name.</ref> He died in Rome fifty days later (14 February 869). There is some question whether he had been made a bishop, as is asserted in the ''Translatio'' (ix.). Upon Cyril´s death Methodius was given the title of Archbishop of [[Sirmium]] (now [[Sremska Mitrovica]] in [[Serbia]]) with jurisdiction over all of Moravia and Pannonia, and authority to use the Slavonic Liturgy.<ref name="Jugoslovenski književni leksikon">{{cite book |author= Đorđe Radojičić|editor = Živan Milisavac |date=1971 |title=Jugoslovenski književni leksikon |trans-title=Yugoslav Literary Lexicon |publisher=[[Matica srpska]] |language=sh |location= [[Novi Sad]] ([[Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina|SAP Vojvodina]], [[Socialist Republic of Serbia|SR Serbia]]) |pages=73–75 }}</ref> The statement of the ''"Vita"'' that Methodius was made bishop in 870 and not raised to the dignity of an archbishop until 873 is contradicted by the brief of [[Pope John VIII]], written in June 879, according to which Adrian consecrated him archbishop; John includes in his jurisdiction not only Great Moravia and Pannonia, but Serbia as well.

===Methodius alone===
[[File:Stanislav Dospavski - Saints Cyril and Methodius.png|thumb|upright|[[Saint]] Cyril and Methodius by [[Stanislav Dospevski]], [[Bulgaria]]n painter]]
Methodius now continued the work among the Slavs alone; not at first in Great Moravia, but in Pannonia (in the [[Balaton Principality]]). Political circumstances in Greater Moravia were insecure. Rastislav had been taken captive by his nephew [[Svatopluk I|Svatopluk]] in 870, then delivered over to [[Carloman of Bavaria]], and condemned in a [[Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)|diet]] held at [[Regensburg]] at the end of 870. Meanwhile, the East Frankish rulers and their bishops decided to try and depose Methodius. The archiepiscopal claims of Methodius were considered so threatening to the rights of Salzburg that he was captured and forced to answer to East Frankish bishops: Adalwin of Salzburg, Ermanrich of Passau, and Anno of Freising. After heated discussion, they declared the intruder deposed, and ordered him to be sent to Germany. There he was kept prisoner in a monastery for two and a half years.{{sfn|Bowlus|1995|p=165-186}}

Notwithstanding strong representations of the ''[[Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum]]'', written in 871 to influence the pope, though not conceding this purpose, Rome declared emphatically for Methodius. He sent a bishop, Paul of [[Bishop of Ancona|Ancona]], to reinstate him and punish his enemies, after which both parties were ordered to appear in Rome with the legate.
Thus in 873, new [[Pope John VIII]] (872-882) secured the release of Methodius, but instructed him to stop using the Slavonic Liturgy.{{sfn|Goldberg|2006|p=319-320}}

===Methodius' final years===
The papal will prevailed, and Methodius secured his freedom and his archiepiscopal authority over both Great Moravia and Pannonia, albeit without the use of Slavonic for [[Mass in the Catholic Church]]. His authority in Pannonia was restricted after Koceľ's death, when the principality was administered by German nobles. However, [[Svatopluk I|Svatopluk]] now ruled practically independently in Great Moravia, and he expelled the German clergy. It seems this secured an undisturbed field of operation for Methodius, and the ''Vita'' (x.) depicts the next few years (873–879) as a time of fruitful progress. Methodius seems to have disregarded, wholly or in part, the prohibition of the Slavonic liturgy. When [[Franks|Frankish]] clerics again ventured into the country, revealing a permissive Svatopluk at odds with his punctilious archbishop, this was made a cause of complaint against him at Rome, coupled with charges regarding the ''[[Filioque clause|Filioque]]''.

In 878, Methodius was summoned to Rome on charges of heresy and using Slavonic. This time Pope John was convinced by the arguments that Methodius made in his defence and sent him back cleared of all charges, and with permission to use Slavonic. The Carolingian bishop who succeeded him, [[Wiching]], a [[Swabia]]n, suppressed the Slavonic Liturgy and forced the followers of Methodius into exile. Many found refuge with Knyaz [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris the Baptizer]] in [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]], under whom they reorganized a Slavic-speaking Church. Meanwhile, Pope John's successors adopted a Latin-only policy which lasted for centuries.

Methodius vindicated his orthodoxy and promised to obey with regard to the liturgy. He could the more easily defend his omission of ''Filioque'' from the creed as this also pertained in Rome at the time. Though ''Filioque'' could, by the 6th century, be heard in some Latin-speaking churches in the west, it was not to be until 1014 that Rome followed suit (see [[Nicene Creed]]). Methodius' critics were mollified by Methodius having to accept the appointment of Wiching as his coadjutor. When relations between the two factions again became strained, John VIII steadfastly supported Methodius. After his death (December 882) it was the archbishop himself whose position looked insecure. His need for political support, visiting the Eastern emperor, inclined Goetz to accept the account in the ''Vita'' (xiii.).

Methodius died on 6 April 885<ref>Житїе Меөодїя (Life of Methodius), title & chap. XVIII - [http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=2164 available on-line] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305205114/http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=2164 |date=5 March 2016 }}</ref> and his body was buried in the main cathedral church of Great Moravia. It still remains an open question which city was capital of Great Moravia. As a result the location of Methodius' body remains uncertain.<ref>Short Life of Cyril & Methodius. Translated by Ján STANISLAV: Životy slovanských apoštolov Cyrila a Metoda v legendách a listoch. Turčiansky Sv. Martin: Matica slovenská, 1950, p. 88. (Slovak)</ref>

Upon Methodius' death an animosity erupted into open conflict. Amongst the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, [[Clement of Ohrid]] headed the struggle against the German clergy in Great Moravia along with [[Saint Gorazd|Gorazd]] upon the death of Methodius in 885. Gorazd, whom Methodius had designated as his successor, was not recognised by [[Pope Stephen V]]. This pope now also forbade the Slavic liturgy<ref>Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, (HarperCollins, 2000), 144.</ref> and placed as Methodius' successor the infamous {{Not a typo|Wiching}} who promptly sent disciples of Cyril and Methodius into exile from Great Moravia.

After spending some time in jail, Clement was expelled from Great Moravia, and in 885 or 886 reached the borders of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] together with [[Saint Naum|Naum]], [[Saint Angelar|Angelar]], and possibly also Gorazd (other sources suggest Gorazd had already died by that time). Angelar soon died after an arrival, but Clement and Naum were afterwards sent to the Bulgarian capital of Pliska, where they were commissioned by [[Boris I]] to instruct the future clergy of the state in the Slavonic language. Eventually they were commissioned to establish two theological schools - the [[Ohrid Literary School]] in [[Ohrid]] and the [[Preslav Literary School]] in [[Veliki Preslav|Preslav]]. The Preslav Literary School had been originally established in [[Pliska]], but was moved to Preslav in 893.


==Invention of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets==
[[File:Bascanska ploca.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The [[Baška tablet]] is an early example of the Glagolitic from [[Croatia]]]]
[[File:Cyril and Methodius - Bulgarian cartoon, 1938.jpg|thumb|A cartoon about Saints Cyril and Methodius from Bulgaria in 1938. The caption reads : ''Brother Cyril, go tell those who are inside to learn the alphabet so they know freedom ({{langx|bg|свобода}}) and anarchy ({{langx|bg|слободия}}) are not the same.'']]
The Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets are the oldest known Slavic [[alphabet]]s, and were created by the two brothers and/or their students, to translate the [[Gospels]] and [[Eastern Orthodox worship#Liturgical books|liturgical books]]<ref name=Catholic_Encyclopedia>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04592a.htm |title=Sts. Cyril and Methodius |author=Abraham, Ladislas |date=1908 |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher=Robert Appleton Company |access-date=2020-08-09 }}</ref> into the [[Slavic languages]].<ref name=BritGlago>Encyclopædia Britannica, ''Major alphabets of the world, Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets'', 2008, O.Ed. "The two early Slavic alphabets, the Cyrillic and the Glagolitic, were invented by St. Cyril, or Constantine (c. 827–869), and St. Methodius (c. 825–884). These men were Greeks from Thessalonica who became apostles to the southern Slavs, whom they converted to Christianity.</ref> 

The early Glagolitic alphabet was used in Great Moravia between 863 (the arrival of Cyril and Methodius) and 885 (the expulsion of their students) for government and religious documents and books, and at the Great Moravian Academy (''Veľkomoravské učilište'') founded by Cyril, where followers of Cyril and Methodius were educated, by Methodius himself among others. The alphabet has been traditionally attributed to Cyril. That seems confirmed explicitly by the papal letter ''Industriae tuae'' (880) approving the use of Old Church Slavonic, which says that the alphabet was "invented by Constantine the Philosopher". "Invention" need not exclude the brothers having possibly made use of earlier letterforms. Before that time the Slavic languages had no distinct script of their own.

The [[early Cyrillic alphabet]] was developed by the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius at the [[Preslav Literary School]] at the end of the 9th century as a simplification of the Glagolitic alphabet which more closely resembled the [[Greek language|Greek]] alphabet. The [[Cyrillic script]] was devised from the [[Greek alphabet]] and [[Glagolitic alphabet]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/in-pictures-ohrid-home-of-cyrillic-05-23-2018 |title=In Pictures: Ohrid, Home of Cyrillic |publisher=Balkan Insight |date=2017-05-24 |access-date=2019-01-29}}</ref> Cyrillic gradually replaced Glagolitic as the alphabet of the Old Church Slavonic language, which became the official language of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] and later spread to the Eastern Slav lands of [[Kievan Rus']]. Cyrillic eventually spread throughout most of the Slavic world to become the standard alphabet in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] Slavic countries. In this way the work of Cyril and Methodius and their disciples enabled the spread of Christianity throughout Eastern Europe.

After the adoption of Christianity in 865, religious ceremonies in Bulgaria were conducted in Greek by clergy sent from the Byzantine Empire. Fearing growing Byzantine influence and weakening of the state, Boris viewed the adoption of the Old Slavonic language as a way to preserve the political independence and stability of Bulgaria, so he established two literary schools (academies), in [[Pliska]] and [[Ohrid]], where theology was to be taught in the Slavonic language. While [[Naum of Preslav]] stayed in Pliska working on the foundation of the [[Pliska Literary School]] which was moved to Preslav in 893, Clement was commissioned by Boris I to organise the teaching of theology to future clergymen in Old Church Slavonic at the [[Ohrid Literary School]]. Over seven years (886-893) Clement taught some 3,500 students in the Slavonic language and the Glagolitic alphabet.

==Commemoration==
===Saints Cyril and Methodius' Day===
[[File:Cross Procession in Novosibirsk 04.jpg|thumbnail|250px|Saints Cyril and Methodius procession]]
Compared to nowadays, the process leading to [[canonization]] was less involved in the decades following Cyril's death. Cyril was regarded by his disciples as a saint soon after his death. His following spread among the nations he evangelized, and subsequently to the wider Christian Church. With his brother Methodius, he was famous as a man of holiness. From the crowds lining the Roman streets during his funeral procession, there were calls for Cyril to be accorded saintly status. The brothers' first appearance in a papal document is in ''Grande Munus'' of Leo XIII in 1880. They are known as the "Apostles of the Slavs", and are still highly regarded by both Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Their [[feast day]] is currently celebrated on 14 February in the Catholic Church (to coincide with the date of St Cyril's death); on 11 May in the Eastern Orthodox Church (though for Eastern Orthodox Churches which use the [[Julian Calendar]] this is 24 May according to the [[Gregorian calendar]]); and on 7 July according to the old sanctoral calendar before the revisions of the [[Second Vatican Council]]. The celebration also commemorates the introduction of literacy and the preaching of the gospels in the Slavonic language by the brothers. The brothers were declared "Patrons of Europe" in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hri.org/Martis/contents/doc19.html|title=Nikolaos Martis: MACEDONIA|website=www.hri.org|access-date=2 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502164052/http://www.hri.org/Martis/contents/doc19.html|archive-date=2 May 2018}}</ref>

The first recorded secular celebration of Saints Cyril and Methodius' Day as the "Day of the Bulgarian script", as traditionally accepted by [[Bulgarian history]], was held in the town of [[Plovdiv]] on 11 May 1851. At the same time a local Bulgarian school was named "Saints Cyril and Methodius". Both acts had been instigated by the prominent Bulgarian educator [[Nayden Gerov]].<ref>"История на България", Том 6 Българско Възраждане 1856–1878, Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София, 1987, стр. 106 (in Bulgarian; in English: "History of Bulgaria", Volume 6 Bulgarian Revival 1856–1878, Publishing house of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, 1987, page 106).</ref> However, an Armenian traveller referred to a "celebration of the Bulgarian script" when he visited the town of [[Shumen]] on 22 May 1803.<ref>Jubilee speech of the Academician Ivan Yuhnovski, Head of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, held on 23 May 2003, published in [http://195.96.224.7/basnews/bulletin/Bul62.pdf Information Bulletin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203045117/http://195.96.224.7/basnews/bulletin/Bul62.pdf |date=3 December 2007 }} of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 3(62), Sofia, 27 June 2003 (in Bulgarian).</ref>

Cyril and Methodius are [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] in the [[Church of England]] with a [[Lesser Festival (Anglicanism)|Lesser Festival]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-03-27|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref> and with a lesser feast on the [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)|Episcopal Church calendar]]<ref name="teccalendar" /> on [[February 14|14 February]].

The day is now celebrated as a [[public holiday]] in the following countries:

* In [[Bulgaria]] it is celebrated on 24 May and is known as the "[[Day of Slavonic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture|Bulgarian Education and Culture, and Slavonic Script Day]]" (Bulgarian: Ден на българската просвета и култура и на славянската писменост), a [[Public holidays in Bulgaria|national holiday]] celebrating [[Culture of Bulgaria|Bulgarian culture]] and [[Bulgarian literature|literature]] as well as the alphabet. It is also known as "Alphabet, Culture, and Education Day" (Bulgarian: Ден на азбуката, културата и просвещението). Saints Cyril and Methodius are patrons of the National Library of Bulgaria. There is a monument to them in front of the library. Saints Cyril and Methodius are the most celebrated saints in the Bulgarian Orthodox church, and icons of the two brothers can be found in every church.
* In [[North Macedonia]], it is celebrated on 24 May and is known as the "Saints Cyril and Methodius, Slavonic Enlighteners' Day" ({{langx|mk|Св. Кирил и Методиј, Ден на словенските просветители}}), a [[Public holidays in North Macedonia|national holiday]]. The Government of the Republic of Macedonia enacted a statute of the national holiday in October 2006 and the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia passed a corresponding law at the beginning of 2007.<ref>Announcement about the eleventh session of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia on 24 October 2006 from the [http://www.vlada.mk/sednici/Oktomvri2006/sednica24-10-2006.htm official site] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610142420/http://www.vlada.mk/sednici/Oktomvri2006/sednica24-10-2006.htm |date=10 June 2008 }} of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (in Macedonian).</ref> Previously it had only been celebrated in the schools. It is also known as the day of the "[[Thessaloniki|Solun]] Brothers" ({{langx|mk|Солунските браќа}}).
* In the [[Czech Republic]] and [[Slovakia]], the two brothers were originally commemorated on 9 March, but [[Pope Pius IX]] changed this date to 5 July for several reasons.<ref name="CMHoliday"/> Today, Saints Cyril and Methodius are revered there as national saints and their name day (5 July), "Sts Cyril and Methodius Day" is a [[Public holidays in the Czech Republic|national holiday in Czech Republic]] and [[National holidays in Slovakia|Slovakia]]. In the Czech Republic it is celebrated as "Slavic Missionaries Cyril and Methodius Day" (Czech: Den slovanských věrozvěstů Cyrila a Metoděje); in [[Slovakia]] it is celebrated as "St. Cyril and Metod Day" (Slovak: Sviatok svätého Cyrila a Metoda).<ref name="CMHoliday">{{cite web |url=http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/cmholiday.html |title=Holiday date |access-date=11 March 2009 |last=Votruba |first=Martin |work=Slovak Studies Program |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514063632/http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/cmholiday.html |archive-date=14 May 2011}}</ref>
* In [[Russia]], it is celebrated on 24 May and is known as the "Slavonic Literature and Culture Day" (Russian: День славянской письменности и культуры), celebrating Slavonic culture and literature as well as the alphabet. Its celebration is ecclesiastical (11 May in the Church's [[Julian calendar]]). It is not a public holiday in Russia.

The saints' [[feast day]] is celebrated by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] on 11 May and by the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]] and the [[Anglican Communion]] on 14 February as "[[Saints Cyril and Methodius Day]]". The [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Churches]] of Western Christianity commemorate the two saints either on 14 February or 11 May. The [[Byzantine Rite Lutheranism|Byzantine Rite Lutheran Churches]] celebrate Saints Cyril and Methodius Day on 24 May.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukrlc.org/?p=227|title=День Св. Кирила та Мефодія, просвітителів слов'янських|date=24 May 2014|publisher=[[Ukrainian Lutheran Church]]|language=uk|access-date=19 September 2018}}</ref>

===Other commemoration===
[[SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library|The national library of Bulgaria]] in [[Sofia]], [[Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje]] in the [[North Macedonia]], and [[Veliko Tarnovo University|St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo]] in [[Bulgaria]] and in [[Trnava]], [[Slovakia]], bear the name of the two saints. Faculty of Theology at [[Palacký University, Olomouc|Palacký University]] in [[Olomouc]] ([[Czech Republic]]), bears the name ''"Saints Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology"''. In the United States, [[SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary]] in [[Orchard Lake, Michigan]], bears their name.

The [[Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius]] established in 1846 was short-lived a pro-Ukrainian organization in the [[Russian Empire]] to preserve Ukrainian national identity.

Saints Cyril and Methodius are the main patron saints of the [[Archdiocese of Ljubljana]]. [[Ljubljana Cathedral]] stands at [[Cyril and Methodius Square]] ({{langx|sl|Ciril–Metodov trg}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.katoliska-cerkev.si/dioceses/the-ljubljana-metropolitan-province |title=The Ljubljana Metropolitan Province |date=5 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305211856/http://en.katoliska-cerkev.si/dioceses/the-ljubljana-metropolitan-province |archive-date=5 March 2014}}</ref> They are also patron saints of the [[Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Košice|Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Košice]] (Slovakia)<ref name="grkatke-hist" /> and the [[Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto|Slovak Greek Catholic Eparchy of Toronto]].

[[St. Cyril Peak]] and [[St. Methodius Peak]] in the [[Tangra Mountains]] on [[Livingston Island]], [[South Shetland Islands]], in [[Antarctica]] are named for the brothers.

Saint Cyril's remains are interred in a shrine-chapel within the [[Basilica di San Clemente]] in [[Rome]]. The chapel holds a Madonna by [[Sassoferrato]].

The [[Basilica of Saints Cyril and Methodius (Danville, Pennsylvania)|Basilica of SS. Cyril and Methodius]] in [[Danville, Pennsylvania]], (the only [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] [[basilica]] dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius in the world) is the motherhouse chapel of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a Catholic women's religious community of [[pontifical right]] dedicated to apostolic works of ecumenism, education, evangelization, and elder care.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sscm.org |title=Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius |publisher=Sscm.org |date=2002-03-04 |access-date=2013-06-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623051419/http://sscm.org/ |archive-date=23 June 2013}}</ref>

The [[Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius]], originally founded in 1909, is part of the national award system of Bulgaria.

In 2021, a [[research vessel]] newly acquired by the [[Bulgarian Navy]] was [[Ship christening|re-christened]] ''Ss. Cyril and Methodius'' after the saints, with actress [[Maria Bakalova]] as the [[Ship sponsor|sponsor]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-07-27 |title=Bulgaria's First Military Research Vessel Christened Ss. Cyril and Methodius |agency=[[Bulgarian Telegraph Agency]] |url=https://www.bta.bg/en/news//33695-Bulgaria-s-First-Military-Research-Vessel-Christened-Ss-Cyril-and-Methodius |access-date=2022-07-07}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Velehrad.JPG|Basilica of St.Cyril and Methodius in [[Moravia]]n [[Velehrad]], [[Czech Republic]]
File:Celebration of Saints Cyril and Methodius Day in Khanty-Mansiysk on 11 May 2006.JPG|[[Cross Procession]] in [[Khanty-Mansiysk]] on Saints Cyril and Methodius Day in May 2006
File:Opening the monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius in Saratov.JPG|Inauguration of the monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius in [[Saratov]] on Slavonic Literature and Culture Day
File:Cyril and Methodius Thessaloniki.jpg|[[Thessaloniki]] - monument of the two Saints gift from the [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]] 
File:Cyril and Methodius monument Sofia.jpg|[[Bulgaria]] - Statue of the two Saints in front of the [[SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library]] in [[Sofia]]
File:Kiril i metodi monument pred NDK Sofia 20090406 002.JPG|[[Bulgaria]] - Statue of the two Saints in front of the [[National Palace of Culture]] in [[Sofia]]
File:Sv-Kiril-i-Metodij.jpg|[[North Macedonia]] - The monument in [[Ohrid]]
File:Kiril and Metodij - Skopje.JPG|[[North Macedonia]] - Statue of Cyril and Methodius near the [[Stone Bridge (Skopje)|Stone Bridge]] in [[Skopje]]
File:Charles Bridge St Cyril&Methodus.jpg|[[Czech Republic]] - [[Statues of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Charles Bridge|Statue of Saints Cyril and Methodius]] at the [[Charles Bridge]] in [[Prague]]
File:Mikulčice - svatí Cyril a Metoděj.JPG|[[Czech Republic]] - Saints Cyril and Methodius monument in [[Mikulčice]]
File:Holy Trinity Column-Saint Methodius.jpg|[[Czech Republic]] - Statue of Saint Methodius at the [[Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc]] in [[Moravia]]
File:Kirill Mefodij.jpg|[[Ukraine]] - The monument in [[Kyiv]]
File:The True Cross. Saint Cyril and Methodius.jpg|[[Russia]] - the monument in [[Khanty-Mansiysk]]
File:Београд Ћирило и Методије2.jpg|[[Serbia]] - the monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius in [[Belgrade]]
File:2011. Открытие памятника Кириллу и Мефодию 037.jpg|Opening of Cyril and Methodius monument in [[Donetsk]]
File:Statue, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Trebic, Czech Republic.JPG|Statue, Saints Cyril and Methodius, [[Třebíč]], Czech Republic
</gallery>

==Names in other relevant languages==
* {{langx|hy|Կիրիլ և Մեթոդիոս}} (''Kiril ev Metodios'')
* {{langx|be|Кірыла і Мяфодзій}} (''Kiryła i Miafodzij'') or {{lang|be|Кірыла і Мятода}} (''Kiryła i Miatoda'')
* {{langx|bg|Кирил и Методий}} (''Kiril i Metodiy'')
* {{langx|hr|Ćiril i Metod}}
* {{langx|cs|Cyril a Metoděj}}
* {{langx|el|Κύριλλος καὶ Μεθόδιος}} (''Kýrillos kaí Methódios'')
* {{langx|kk|Кирилл және методиус}} (''Kïrïll jäne metodïws'')
* {{langx|mk|Кирил и Методиј}} (''Kiril i Metodij'')
* [[New Church Slavonic]]: Кѷрі́ллъ и҆ Меѳо́дїй (''Kỳrill" i Methodij'')
* [[Old Church Slavonic]]: Кѷриллъ и Меѳодїи
* {{langx|pl|Cyryl i Metody}}
* {{langx|ro|Chiril și Metodiu}}
* {{langx|ru|Кири́лл и Мефодий}} (''Kirill i Mefodij''), pre-1918 spelling: {{lang|ru|Кириллъ и Меѳодій}} (''Kirill" i Methodij'')
* {{langx|sr|Ћирило и Методије}} / {{lang|sr-Latn|Ćirilo i Metodije}}
* {{langx|sk|Cyril a Metod}}
* {{langx|sl|Ciril in Metod}}
* {{langx|uk|Кирило і Мефодій}} (''Kyrylo i Mefodij'')

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Saints|Christianity|Byzantine Empire}}
* [[Cyrillo-Methodian studies]]
* [[Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius]]
* [[Byzantine Empire]]
* [[Glagolitic alphabet]]
* [[SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary]] in [[Orchard Lake Village, Michigan|Orchard Lake, Michigan]], [[United States]]
* [[Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje|SS. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje]] in [[Skopje]], [[North Macedonia]]
* [[SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library|“St. St. Cyril and Methodius” National Library]] in [[Sofia]], [[Bulgaria]]
* [[Veliko Tarnovo University|University of Veliko Turnovo St Cyril and St. Methodius]] in [[Veliko Tarnovo]], [[Bulgaria]]
* [[Palacký University of Olomouc#Saints Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology|Saints Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology, Palacký University of Olomouc]] in [[Olomouc]], [[Czech Republic]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|40em}}

===Sources===
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* {{Cite book|last=Curta|first=Florin|author-link=Florin Curta|title=Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500-1300)|year=2019|location=Leiden and Boston|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004395190|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-sqiDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Dvornik|first=Francis|author-link=Francis Dvornik|title=The Slavs in European History and Civilization|year=1962|location=New Brunswick|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813507996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LACpYP-g1y8C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Fine|first=John Van Antwerp Jr.|author-link=John Van Antwerp Fine Jr.|title=The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century|date=1991|orig-year=1983|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=0472081497|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Goldberg|first=Eric J.|title=Struggle for Empire: Kingship and Conflict under Louis the German, 817-876|year=2006|location=Ithaca, NY|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801438905|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyiTg0wgl58C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Komatina|first=Predrag|chapter=The Church in Serbia at the Time of Cyrilo-Methodian Mission in Moravia|title=Cyril and Methodius: Byzantium and the World of the Slavs|year=2015|location=Thessaloniki|publisher=Dimos|pages=711–718|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/13442372}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Moravcsik|editor-first=Gyula|editor-link=Gyula Moravcsik|title=Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio|year=1967|orig-year=1949|edition=2nd revised|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies|isbn=9780884020219|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3al15wpFWiMC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Ostrogorsky|first=George|author-link=George Ostrogorsky|year=1956|title=History of the Byzantine State|location=Oxford|publisher=Basil Blackwell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt0_AAAAYAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Subotin-Golubović|first=Tatjana|chapter=Reflection of the Cult of Saint Konstantine and Methodios in Medieval Serbian Culture|title=Thessaloniki - Magna Moravia: Proceedings of the International Conference|year=1999|location=Thessaloniki|publisher=Hellenic Association for Slavic Studies|pages=37–46|isbn=9789608595934|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SnCgAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Vlasto|first=Alexis P.|title=The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs|year=1970|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521074599|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpVOAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Whittow|author-link=Mark Whittow|first=Mark|title=The Making of Orthodox Byzantium, 600–1025|year=1996|location=Basingstoke|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9781349247653|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZFKEAAAQBAJ}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last=Dvornik |first=F. |date=1964 |title=The Significance of the Missions of Cyril and Methodius |journal=Slavic Review |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=195–211 |doi=10.2307/2492930 |jstor=2492930 |s2cid=163378481 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/slavic-review/article/abs/significance-of-the-missions-of-cyril-and-methodius/BA6950F8E7B59143643C69310833AD20|url-access=subscription }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Saints Cyril and Methodius}}
* [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_19850602_slavorum-apostoli_en.html ''Slavorum Apostoli'' by Pope John Paul II]
* [http://www.hri.org/Martis/contents/doc19.html Cyril and Methodius – Encyclical letter (Epistola Enciclica), 31 December 1980] by Pope [[John Paul II]]
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Sts. Cyril and Methodius}}
* [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/kyrill_and_methody_e.htm ''"Equal to Apostles SS. Cyril and Methodius Teachers of Slavs"'', by Prof. Nicolai D. Talberg]
* [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13cym.htm Pope Leo XIII, "Grande munus: on Saints Cyril and Methodius]
* Bulgarian Official Holidays, National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria: [http://www.parliament.bg/?page=history&lng=en&hid=11 in English] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609190723/http://www.parliament.bg/?page=history&lng=en&hid=11 |date=9 June 2008 }}, [http://www.parliament.bg/?page=history&lng=bg&hid=11 in Bulgarian] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128090736/http://www.parliament.bg/?page=history&lng=bg&hid=11 |date=28 November 2010 }}
* Bank holidays in the Czech Republic, Czech National Bank: [http://www.cnb.cz/www.cnb.cz/en/media_service/schedules/media_svatky.html in English], [http://www.cnb.cz/cs/verejnost/pro_media/harmonogramy/svatky.html in Czech]
* [http://www.balkanfolk.com/news.php?id=23 24 May – The Day Of Slavonic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture]

{{Slavic languages|state=collapsed}}
{{Subject bar |portal1= Saints |portal2= Biography |portal3= Christianity |portal4= Greece|portal5= Bulgaria}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyril And Methodius}}
[[Category:815 births]]
[[Category:827 births]]
[[Category:869 deaths]]
[[Category:885 deaths]]
[[Category:Brother duos]]
[[Category:Eastern Christianity in the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Byzantine Thessalonians]]
[[Category:Saints of medieval Macedonia]]
[[Category:Saints of medieval Greece]]
[[Category:Greek translators]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into Church Slavonic]]
[[Category:Byzantine theologians]]
[[Category:Cyrillic script]]
[[Category:Saints duos]]
[[Category:Great Moravia]]
[[Category:Public holidays in Russia]]
[[Category:Creators of writing systems]]
[[Category:Greek Christian missionaries]]
[[Category:Medieval Bulgarian saints]]
[[Category:Old Church Slavonic writers]]
[[Category:9th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Burials at San Clemente al Laterano]]
[[Category:Groups of Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Groups of Eastern Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:9th-century Christian theologians]]
[[Category:9th-century Byzantine writers]]
[[Category:Cyrillo-Methodian studies| ]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]
[[Category:Missionary linguists]]
[[Category:Rusyn history|0862]]