Shared Saints: A Common Bond

Despite the division between the Byzantine and Western Catholic Churches, they share many things because of their common origin. For example, both celebrate many of the same saints, including Saints Cyril and Methodius.

The Byzantine Church recognizes Cyril and Methodius as great saints, "equal to the apostles" for their work in bringing the Orthodox faith to central Europe. The Roman Catholic Church also considers them important; Pope Leo XII even wrote an encyclical to introduce their feast day. Although originally only Slovenia, Moravia, and Croatia celebrated them, eventually Pope Pius IX officially recognized their feast day, and Pope Leo XII made it an official universal feast day in 1880.

The brothers are most known for their work as missionaries to the Slavic peoples of Europe. They converted many, and their success is primarily attributed to their work in creating a written Slavic language and translating Biblical and liturgical books into the vernacular. Cyril and Methodius devised an alphabet to make the written language, and their proficiency in the Slavic language from a young age made their task easier. Cyril's education in Constantinople increased their success as well, because he was able to apply what he knew to aid the spread of litearacy, and therefore Christianity.

Cyril and Methodius exemplify one of the many reasons people convert to new religions: education. In addition to preaching Orthodox Christianity, a religion that could be practiced in their own languages, the brothers offered literacy, in the form of religious texts written in Slavic. Because of their work, Cyril and Methodius are considered some of the greatest missionaries of Orthodox Christianity to the world, as well as the founders of Slavic civilization. For these contributions, both the Roman Catholic and Byzantine Orthodox churches honor them as saints.

Sources: OrthodoxWiki, Papel Encyclicals Online