Saint Cyril

I was born in 827 in Greece, with the name Constantine. My father served as an army officer in the Byzantine Empire. I became an instructor at the imperial university in Constantinople. After some years, my brother, who later took the name Methodius, entered a monastery. I was offered the chance to take his place as a governor, but instead I followed his example to become a monk. Early in 860s together we were sent to bring the Gospel to the Slavonic people in the east of Europe. Among other things, we translated the liturgy into their language. To aid our mission, I invented a Slavonic alphabet and my brother translated much of the Bible into Slavonic. During our mission we were opposed by certain religious authorities so we traveled to Rome to ask Pope Adrian II to confirm our mission, which he did. I died in 869.