Bulgaria / Cyril and Methodius, 827–869 / 826–885,
Feast Day: February 14

Known as “the Apostles to the Slavs,” these two brothers gave up the comfortable lives into which they were born to become priests. They were summoned to work in Moravia, where they began to teach in the native language, instead of the traditional Greek or Latin. They are credited with inventing the Cyrillic alphabet and are also considered the fathers of Slavonic literature. After their deaths, their methods of teaching were spread to Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia.

Other patronages: Europe; professors, teachers