Commemoration of Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs

 

Today we remember and give thanks for Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries to the Slavs.  Cyril   (826-69) and Methodius (c. 815-85) were brothers who came from a Greek family in Thessalonica. The younger brother took the name "Cyril" when he became a monk in 868. After ordination, Cyril became librarian at the church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in Constantinople. In 862 the brothers were sent by the emperor as missionaries to what is now the Czech republic, where they taught in the native Slavic tongue. Cyril invented the alphabet today know today as "Cyrillic," which provided a written language for the liturgy and Scriptures for the Slavic peoples. This use of the vernacular established an important principle for evangelical missions.

Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servants Cyril and Methodius, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the Slavic peoples. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.