*_February 14th ~ Sts Cyril, monk and Methodius, Bishop; Memorial_* Cyril and Methodius’ story began in Thessalonica, Greece, a territory evangelized by Saint Paul. Then named Constantine and Michael, the two were among seven sons born to a Greek-speaking imperial magistrate and his wife. Along with Greek and Latin, the two learned their mother’s unwritten Slavic language. After completing his education in Constantinople, Constantine became a priest and teacher. At that time, Constantine’s brother Michael abandoned his civil service career and became a monk, taking the name Methodius. While in his thirties, Constantine gave up his teaching career to embrace a life of prayer in his brother’s monastery. A few years later, the two brothers responded to Byzantine Emperor Michael III’s request to evangelize the Jews and Turks of Khazars, modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Crimea. The two brothers learned Hebrew and Turkish to speak to the people in their native tongues.