A recluse in a tower before he became bishop of Turov in Kievan Rus, he was among the first in that land to write prayers rather than chronicles. His canons and sermons were copied for centuries into Slavonic prayer books, often without his name.
In their own words
I am myself the accuser of the evil deeds that are in me, the ones by which I have grieved Christ.
Canon of Supplication, ode 1, in The Works of Saint Cyril, Bishop of Turov, ed. Bishop Eugene (Shereshilov) of Minsk and Turov, Kiev, Caves Lavra Press, 1880, p. 246; Slavonic « Аз есмь обличитель сущих во мне зол деяний, имиже прогневах Христа », translated by the Manna team