Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius

O God, who by the preaching of thy servants Cyril and Methodius didst cause the light of the Gospel to shine in Slavonic lands: Lead thy people by its brightness to become sons of a new birth, growing into thine image from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

⸬ The observance of March 9 as the feast day dates to the 1584 Martyrology issued after the Council of Trent. A more pertinent date is February 14 (the date of the death of Cyril in 869; Methodius died on 6 April 885). The observance in the Orthodox church is May 11 Old Style, commemorating the “Day of the Bulgarian Script” (or May 24, using the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar).