Sts Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs

Sts Cyril and Methodius were two brothers from Thessalonica, Greek monks and scholars, who in the ninth century carried the Gospel to the Slavs of Moravia and Pannonia, gave the Slavonic language its first alphabet, and translated into it the Scriptures and the liturgy. They are venerated as the Apostles of the Slavs by Catholics and Orthodox alike, and Pope Leo XIII extended their feast to the whole Church in 1880. In the calendar of 1962 their feast is kept on 7 July, a feast of the third class; the calendar of 1969 moved it to 14 February.

Who were Sts Cyril and Methodius?

The two brothers were born at Thessalonica, of a distinguished family. Methodius was the elder; Cyril, the younger, was baptized Constantine and took the name Cyril only shortly before his death, when he received the monastic habit. Both knew the Slavonic tongue, which was decisive for their later mission.

Constantine studied at Constantinople, in the imperial school, where he so excelled that he was called "the Philosopher"; he was ordained deacon (and, probably later, priest) and taught in the chair formerly held by his master Photius. Methodius first served as governor of a Slav province of the Empire, then left the world and became a monk.

Their first mission was to the Khazars, a people beyond the Crimea, in 861. On that journey Cyril recovered in the Crimea what were held to be the relics of the martyred pope St Clement I, which the brothers would later bring to Rome.

The mission to Moravia and the Slavonic alphabet

In 862 Rostislav, prince of Moravia, asked the Emperor Michael III for missionaries who could teach his people in their own language. The Emperor and the patriarch chose the two brothers, because they were learned and knew Slavonic. But Slavonic had no letters. Before the mission set out in 863, an alphabet had to be made.

The alphabet called Glagolitic, in which the Slav-Roman liturgical books of certain Croatian Catholics were printed for centuries, is generally held to be the one Cyril composed for this mission. The alphabet called Cyrillic, from which the Russian, Serbian and Bulgarian letters descend, was formed from the Greek capitals and bears his name, but it was probably the work of his disciples. Butler is frank that "the history of these alphabets is a matter of debate"; the Breviary lessons simply say that the brothers "were the first to invent the very letters in which the speech of the Slavs is written", and are therefore rightly held to be the authors of that language as a written tongue.

With these letters they translated the Gospels and the liturgical texts, preached in the language of the people, and celebrated the liturgy in Slavonic. The Breviary says that "in no long time that nation most willingly gave its name to Jesus Christ". The German clergy already working in the region were displeased, and the bishop of Passau refused to ordain priests for the new Slav church. To find a bishop, the brothers set out for the south.

The brothers in Rome

At Venice they met fierce criticism for using a new tongue in the liturgy. The Breviary relates that Pope St Nicholas I summoned them to Rome; Nicholas died before they arrived, and his successor Adrian II came out to meet them with the clergy and people, because they brought with them the relics of St Clement. The Pope examined their cause and gave judgement: their neophytes were to be ordained and the Slavonic liturgy was approved. The Breviary says that both brothers, having sworn to remain in the faith of Blessed Peter and of the Roman Pontiffs, were consecrated bishops; Butler notes that it is far from certain that Cyril actually received episcopal consecration.

Cyril fell ill at Rome, received the monastic habit, and died there on 14 February 869. Methodius asked to bring his body home, as their mother had wished, but the Romans insisted that so great a man should rest in Rome. He was buried with great honour in the basilica of San Clemente, near the relics of St Clement that he had brought; the Breviary says his funeral through the city was "not so much a funeral as a triumph".

St Methodius, archbishop and confessor

Methodius, now a bishop with a letter of recommendation from the Holy See, was made archbishop of Sirmium, the ancient metropolitan see of Pannonia, with a province reaching to the borders of Bulgaria. His troubles were only beginning.

• In 870, Prince Svatopluk having driven out Rostislav, Methodius was brought before a synod of German bishops and shut up in prison. Only after two years did Pope John VIII obtain his release.
• In 878 he was again denounced in Rome, both for the Slavonic liturgy and for omitting from the Creed the words "and the Son" (Filioque), which at that time were not yet sung everywhere in the West, not even in Rome. Summoned before John VIII, he convinced the Pope of his orthodoxy, and the Pope, the Breviary says, confirmed his archiepiscopal authority and the Slavonic mission by letter. For the history of that clause of the Creed, see our page on the Nicene Creed.
• A German suffragan, Wiching, set against him by Svatopluk, persecuted him to the end, going as far as to forge papal letters.

In his last years, according to the old Slavonic Life, Methodius completed the translation of almost the whole Bible into Slavonic. He died in Moravia on 6 April 885 (Butler's edition gives 884), worn out by labours and opposition. His funeral was sung in Greek, Slavonic and Latin, and the Slavonic Life records that the whole people came, "for Methodius had been all things to all men that he might lead them all to Heaven". After his death Wiching drove out his disciples, who carried his work south, to Bulgaria and beyond.

The Breviary adds wider claims, but with its own reserve: that Methodius confirmed in the faith the Bohemians, Pannonians, Bulgars and Dalmatians, brought the light of the Gospel into Poland and, "as some writers relate", founded sees as far as Kiev. We give these as the Breviary gives them, as traditions, not as established history.

The prayer of Sts Cyril and Methodius (Missal of 1962)

The Collect of their feast thanks God for the conversion of the Slavonic peoples and asks for a share in the brothers' company in heaven.

Collect, 7 July

Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, qui Slavóniæ gentes per beátos Confessóres tuos atque Pontífices Cyríllum et Methódium ad agnitiónem tui nóminis veníre tribuísti: præsta; ut, quorum festivitáte gloriámur, eórum consórtio copulémur. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst grant to the Slavonic peoples to come to the knowledge of Thy name through Thy blessed Confessors and Bishops Cyril and Methodius: grant that we who glory in their festival may be joined to their fellowship. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Secret

Preces nostras, quǽsumus, Dómine, et tuórum réspice oblatiónes fidélium: ut tibi gratæ sint in tuórum festivitáte Sanctórum, et nobis cónferant tuæ propitiatiónis auxílium. Per Dóminum nostrum.

Look, we beseech Thee, O Lord, upon our prayers and upon the offerings of Thy faithful: that they may be pleasing to Thee on the festival of Thy Saints, and may bring us the help of Thy mercy. Through our Lord.

Postcommunion

Quǽsumus, omnípotens Deus: ut, qui nobis múnera dignáris præbére cœléstia, intercedéntibus sanctis tuis Cyríllo et Methódio, despícere terréna concédas. Per Dóminum nostrum.

We beseech Thee, almighty God, that Thou who dost vouchsafe to give us heavenly gifts, wouldst grant us, through the intercession of Thy Saints Cyril and Methodius, to despise the things of earth. Through our Lord.

These prayers are a fine example of what the brothers fought for: the same faith of Rome, carried into another tongue. In the Roman rite itself, the liturgy remained in Latin; the Slavonic liturgy lives on in the Eastern Churches and, for centuries, in the Glagolitic Roman rite of parts of Croatia. On the meaning of the Latin liturgy of the West, see what the Traditional Latin Mass is.

Which Preface is said on the feast of Sts Cyril and Methodius?

In the Missal of 1962 the feast of Sts Cyril and Methodius has no proper Preface: the priest says the Common Preface (Vere dignum et justum est), as on most feasts of confessors. The question is often asked about the modern rite; in the traditional rite the answer is simple.

When is the feast day of Sts Cyril and Methodius?

In the traditional calendar of 1962 the feast of Sts Cyril and Methodius is kept on 7 July, as a feast of the third class, in white vestments. You will find it in our traditional Catholic calendar of 1962.

The history of the date is worth knowing. The Bohemians, Moravians and Croatians had long kept it on 9 March; from 1863 Pius IX allowed them to keep it on 5 July. In the encyclical Grande munus of 30 September 1880, Leo XIII extended it to the universal Church, on 5 July, with its own Office and Mass, recalling that the brothers had sworn to remain "in the faith of St Peter and of the popes". In the calendar of 1962 the feast stands on 7 July.

In the reform of the calendar promulgated in 1969 the feast was moved to 14 February, the day of St Cyril's death at Rome, which is also the old day of St Valentine. Later still, on 31 December 1980, Pope John Paul II named Sts Cyril and Methodius co-patrons of Europe with St Benedict; that title is post-1958 and belongs to the modern calendar, not to the tradition of 1962.

Why do Sts Cyril and Methodius matter today?

Because they show what a missionary of the Church is. They did not bring a nation to Christ by force, nor by teaching it to imitate a foreign culture, but by giving it the Word of God in its own language, while remaining bound, as the Breviary says, "to the faith of Blessed Peter and of the Roman Pontiffs". Leo XIII and the Church of the nineteenth century saw them as patrons of the unity of the Slavs with Rome, and they are venerated by the Catholics of the Byzantine and Slavonic rites as much as by the Latin Slavs: on these Churches, see our page on the Eastern Catholic Churches.

They belong to the great company of the apostles of nations, with St Boniface, the apostle of Germany, and with all those whose lives are told in our page of Catholic saints.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who were Sts Cyril and Methodius?

Two brothers from Thessalonica, Cyril (baptized Constantine, died 869) and Methodius (died 885), Greek monks who evangelized the Slavs of Moravia and Pannonia in the ninth century, created a Slavonic alphabet and translated the Scriptures and the liturgy. They are called the Apostles of the Slavs.

When is the feast of Sts Cyril and Methodius?

On 7 July in the traditional calendar of 1962 (feast of the third class). The 1969 calendar moved it to 14 February.

Why is their feast on 14 February in the modern calendar?

Because St Cyril died at Rome on 14 February 869. The traditional calendar keeps them on 7 July, the date fixed for the universal Church after Leo XIII extended their feast.

Did St Cyril invent the Cyrillic alphabet?

Probably not directly. He is generally credited with the Glagolitic alphabet; Cyrillic, built on Greek capitals, was probably formed by his disciples and named in his honour. The history of both alphabets is still debated.

Were Cyril and Methodius Catholic or Orthodox?

They lived before the separation of East and West, in communion with Rome and Constantinople. They went to Rome to have their work approved, were received by Popes Adrian II and John VIII, and Cyril is buried in Rome. Both Catholics and Orthodox venerate them.

Where is St Cyril buried?

In the basilica of San Clemente at Rome, near the relics of Pope St Clement which he himself had brought from the Crimea.

What Preface is said for Sts Cyril and Methodius?

In the 1962 Missal, the Common Preface, since their feast has no proper Preface.

The Iter Fidei app carries the calendar of 1962 with every feast, the Roman Missal and the Breviary in Latin and English, so you can pray the Mass of Sts Cyril and Methodius on 7 July. Join early access here.

Sources. Butler, Lives of the Saints, 7 July (Ss. Cyril and Methodius). Roman Missal (1962), Proper of Saints, 7 July. Roman Breviary (edition before 1960), 7 July, lessons of the second nocturn, from the encyclical of Leo XIII (in the Breviary of 1962 this third-class feast has a single, contracted lesson). Leo XIII, encyclical Grande munus (30 September 1880).