Monument of St. Ciryl and Methodius in Ohrid

Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril-methodius-small.jpg "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, Moravia Venerated in Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion Lutheran Church Feast 11 and 24 May1 (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.2 Often, Cyril is depicted wearing a monastic habit and Methodius vested as a bishop with omophorion. Patronage Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Transnistria, Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Europe,2 Slovak Eparchy of Toronto, Eparchy of Košice3 Part of a series on the Eastern Orthodox Church Christ Pantocrator (Deesis mosaic detail) Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator, Hagia Sophia Overview Structure Theology (History of theology) Liturgy Church history Holy Mysteries View of salvation View of Mary View of icons Backgroundshow Organizationshow Autocephalous jurisdictionsshow Ecumenical councilsshow Historyshow Theologyshow Liturgy and worshipshow Liturgical calendarshow Major figureshide Athanasius of Alexandria Ephrem the Syrian Basil of Caesarea Cyril of Jerusalem Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa John Chrysostom Cyril of Alexandria John Climacus Maximus the Confessor John of Damascus Theodore the Studite Kassiani Cyril and Methodius Photios I of Constantinople Gregory Palamas Other topicsshow v t e Saints Cyril and Methodius (826–869, 815–885; Greek: Κύριλλος καὶ Μεθόδιος; Old Church Slavonic: Кѷриллъ и Меѳодїиmore) were two brothers who were Byzantine Christian theologians and Christian missionaries. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic.4 After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the 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 Catholic Church. In 1980, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia.