February 14 — Born in 827 in Thessalonica, Cyril died on February 14 869in Rome. His brother Methodius was born in 815 in Thessalonica and died on February 06 885 in Great Moravia.
Saint Cyril
Constantine was his real name, he only took the name of Cyril in 867 when he entered the monastery. He is the youngest of seven children, including Methodius. The name Methodius is also a name taken when Michael, of his real name, entered the orders. Their father was a Drongarian of Thessalonica who died when Constantine was only 14 years old and it was the Empress Theodora of Constantinople who took charge of his education. He studied philosophy while Methodius was the governor of the district. After his ordination, Cyril took care of the library of Saint Sophia and then taught at the Imperial University. During this time his brother Michael entered the monastery on Mount Olympus in Bithynia and took the name Methodius. Constantine joined him there after his mission to the Arabs. In 860 Emperor Michael III sent the two brothers on a mission to the Khazars, then two years later to Moravia where the Grand Duke sought priests who could speak Macedonian. There Cyril invented the Glagolitic alphabet which was used to write the Bible and the prayer books for the Eastern Church. The works of the two brothers were great support for Greek priests. In 867 they were welcomed to the Greek monastery, where Constantine took the name, Cyril. He fell seriously ill and died on February 14, 869.
Saint Méthode
Methodius, whose real name was Michel, was governor in the Slavic regions. He left this profession in 840 and entered the monastery of Mount Olympus in Bithynia to become a monk. He accompanied his brother Cyril on a mission to the Khazars. On his return from this mission, he was appointed Archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia in 869, he also represented the Holy See among the Slavs. He returned to Pannonia and had a dispute with the Archbishop of Salzburg. The synod of Regensburg condemned him and he was sent to Ellwangen. Pope John VIII freed him, but the Slavonic liturgy he had established was still rejected. Tensions between Methodius and the bishops appointed by Rome did not cease until his death in 885.
