| Brothers
and missionaries to the Slavs. |
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Beginning
of John's Gospel in Russian;
Cyril invented this alphabet
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This pair of brothers
was sent by the Emperor Michael III in 862 to evangelize the area that is
now Moravia. During this effort, Cyril invented the Cyrillic alphabet and
created Slavonic versions of both the liturgy and the Bible. Cyril died
during a visit by both brothers to Rome and Methodius returned to Moravia
as bishop. Neighboring German bishops opposed Methodius and the use of Slavonic.
The pope protected Methodius and the mission, but withdrew permission for
the use of the vernacular. Eventually Moravia was drawn into the orbit of
Latin Christianity.
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