Rastislav of Moravia Our father among the saints and confessor
Rastislav ("Rastic", in modern Czech Rostislav) of Moravia was
the second prince of Great Moravia between 846 and 870. He was
canonized in October 1994 by the Czech and Slovak Orthodox
Church. His feast day is May 11 /24. After Mojmír's death in 846
Rastislav was designated by Eastern Francia king Louis the
German to become the head of Great Moravia. He assumed that
Rastislav will cooperate with him just as his predecessor had.
After internal consolidation Rastislav tried to restrict
polititical influence of Eastern Francia. In 855 Great Moravia
was attacked by Louis's army. However, the attack was not
successful. Eastern Francia was spreading it's influence through
Frankish priests, who preached in Latin so in 862 Rastislav
asked Byzantine emperor Michael III to send a bishop and
teachers, who would bring the Evangelium to the Slavic peoples
in their own language. The emperor decided to send two wisdoms -
Cyril and Methodius who laid the foundati