Today, 11 May, is the Saint Day of two brothers, Saints Cyrillos and Methodius. Presumably the second biggest feast day of Macedonian Greek saints after St Demetrios which is celebrated on 26 October.
Saint Methodius (born Michael) was born in 827AD in Thessaloniki. Originally a military man, he later became a Greek Orthodox monk. Saint Cyrillos (born Constantine) was born in 815AD in Thessaloniki. He was originally a librarian at the Agia Sophia Greek Orthodox Basilica in Constantinople until he too became a monk.
Byzantine Emperor Michael III first sent both of them as missionaries to the Khazars (people in modern area of southern Russia where real Bulgarians originate from) after local schools requested Christianity be taught to their pupils. Afterwards they were sent for the same duties in nearby Tavrika (now Crimea) and then Moravia where they encountered difficulties.
After teaching Christianity elsewhere in Central-Eastern Europe, to make it easier to teach Christianity to the Moravians (people in today's eastern Czechia region), both Saints created a bit of a hybrid alphabet between the-then written Greek and Latin liturgies now known as Cyrillic and still in use by hundreds of millions of people today. This Cyrillic alphabet was named after Saint Cyrillos.
Happy Name Day to all celebrating today!
Χρόνια Πολλά σε όλους που γιορτάζουν σήμερα με την μέρα τους Έλληνο-Μακεδόνες Άγιους Κύριλλος και Μεθόδιος!