Cyril and Methodius became famous throughout the world as champions of the Christian faith and authors of the Slavic alphabet. The biography of the couple is extensive; there is even a separate biography dedicated to Kirill, created immediately after the man’s death. However, today you can get acquainted with a brief history of the destinies of these preachers and founders of the alphabet in various manuals for children. The brothers have their own icon, where they are depicted together. People turn to her with prayers for good studies, luck for students, and increased intelligence.

Childhood and youth

Cyril and Methodius were born in the Greek city of Thessaloniki (present-day Thessaloniki) in the family of a military leader named Leo, whom the authors of the biography of a couple of saints characterize as “of good birth and rich.” The future monks grew up in the company of five other brothers.

Before tonsure, the men bore the names Mikhail and Konstantin, and the first was older - he was born in 815, and Konstantin in 827. Controversy still rages among historians about the ethnicity of the family. Some attribute him to the Slavs, because these people were fluent in the Slavic language. Others attribute Bulgarian and, of course, Greek roots.

The boys received an excellent education, and when they matured, their paths diverged. Methodius entered military service under the patronage of a faithful family friend and even rose to the rank of governor of a Byzantine province. During the “Slavic reign” he established himself as a wise and fair ruler.

From early childhood, Kirill was fond of reading books, amazed those around him with his excellent memory and abilities in science, and was known as a polyglot - in his linguistic arsenal, in addition to Greek and Slavic, there were Hebrew and Aramaic. At the age of 20, a young man, a graduate of Magnavra University, was already teaching the basics of philosophy at the court school at Constantinople.

Christian service

Kirill flatly refused a secular career, although such an opportunity was provided. Marriage to the goddaughter of an official of the royal chancellery in Byzantium opened up dizzying prospects - leadership of the region in Macedonia, and then the position of commander-in-chief of the army. However, the young theologian (Konstantin was only 15 years old) chose to take the church path.

When he was already teaching at the university, the man even managed to win a theological debate over the leader of the iconoclasts, the former Patriarch John the Grammar, also known as Ammius. However, this story is considered simply a beautiful legend.

The main task for the Byzantine government at that time was considered to be the strengthening and promotion of Orthodoxy. Missionaries traveled along with the diplomats who traveled to cities and villages where they negotiated with religious enemies. This is what Konstantin became at the age of 24, setting off on his first important task from the state - to instruct Muslims on the true path.

At the end of the 50s of the 9th century, the brothers, tired of the bustle of the world, retired to a monastery, where 37-year-old Methodius took monastic vows. However, Cyril was not allowed to rest for a long time: already in 860, the man was called to the throne of the emperor and instructed to join the ranks of the Khazar mission.

The fact is that the Khazar Kagan announced an interreligious dispute, where Christians were asked to prove the truth of their faith to Jews and Muslims. The Khazars were already ready to go over to the side of Orthodoxy, but they set a condition - only if the Byzantine polemicists won the disputes.

Kirill took his brother with him and brilliantly completed the task assigned to him, but still the mission was a complete failure. The Khazar state did not become Christian, although the Kagan allowed people to be baptized. On this trip, a serious historical event happened for believers. Along the way, the Byzantines looked into Crimea, where, in the vicinity of Chersonesus, Cyril found the relics of Clement, the fourth holy Pope, which were then transferred to Rome.

The brothers are involved in another important mission. One day, the ruler of the Moravian lands (Slavic state) Rostislav asked for help from Constantinople - they needed teacher-theologians to tell the people about the true faith in an accessible language. Thus, the prince was going to escape the influence of the German bishops. This trip became significant - the Slavic alphabet appeared.

In Moravia, the brothers worked tirelessly: they translated Greek books, taught the Slavs the basics of reading and writing, and at the same time taught them how to conduct divine services. The “business trip” took three years. The results of the labors played a big role in preparing for the baptism of Bulgaria.

In 867, the brothers had to go to Rome to answer for “blasphemy.” The Western Church called Cyril and Methodius heretics, accusing them of reading sermons in the Slavic language, while they can only talk about the Most High in Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

On the way to the Italian capital, they stopped in the Principality of Blaten, where they taught the people the book trade. Those who arrived in Rome with the relics of Clement were so happy that the new Pope Adrian II allowed services to be held in Slavonic and even allowed the translated books to be distributed in churches. During this meeting, Methodius received the episcopal rank.

Unlike his brother, Kirill only became a monk on the verge of death - it was necessary. After the death of the preacher, Methodius, surrounded by disciples, returned to Moravia, where he had to fight the German clergy. The deceased Rostislav was replaced by his nephew Svyatopolk, who supported the policy of the Germans, who did not allow the Byzantine priest to work in peace. Any attempts to spread the Slavic language as a church language were suppressed.

Cyril and Methodius

Methodius even spent three years in prison at the monastery. Pope John VIII helped to free him, who imposed a ban on liturgies while Methodius was in prison. However, in order not to escalate the situation, John also prohibited worship in the Slavic language. Only sermons were not punishable by law.

But the native of Thessaloniki, at his own peril and risk, continued to secretly conduct services in Slavic. At the same time, the archbishop baptized the Czech prince, for which he later appeared in court in Rome. However, luck favored Methodius - he not only escaped punishment, but also received a papal bull and the opportunity to again conduct services in the Slavic language. Shortly before his death he managed to translate the Old Testament.

Creation of the alphabet

The brothers from Thessaloniki went down in history as the creators of the Slavic alphabet. The time of the event is 862 or 863. The Life of Cyril and Methodius states that the idea was born back in 856, when the brothers, together with their disciples Angelarius, Naum and Clement, settled on Mount Lesser Olympus in the Polychron monastery. Here Methodius served as rector.

The authorship of the alphabet is attributed to Kirill, but which one exactly remains a mystery. Scientists are inclined towards the Glagolitic alphabet, this is indicated by the 38 characters that it contains. As for the Cyrillic alphabet, it was brought to life by Kliment Ohridski. However, even if this was the case, the student still used Kirill’s work - it was he who isolated the sounds of the language, which is the most important thing when creating writing.

The basis for the alphabet was the Greek cryptography; the letters are very similar, so the Glagolitic alphabet was confused with the eastern alphabets. But to designate specific Slavic sounds, they took Hebrew letters, for example, “sh”.

Death

Constantine-Cyril was struck down by a serious illness on a trip to Rome, and on February 14, 869 he died - this day is recognized in Catholicism as the day of remembrance of saints. The body was interred in the Roman Church of St. Clement. Cyril did not want his brother to return to the monastery in Moravia, and before his death he allegedly said:

“Here, brother, you and I were like two oxen in harness, plowing one furrow, and I fell by the forest, having finished my day. And although you love the mountain very much, you cannot leave your teaching for the sake of the mountain, for how else can you better achieve salvation?

Methodius outlived his wise relative by 16 years. Anticipating death, he ordered himself to be taken to church to read a sermon. The priest died on Palm Sunday, April 4, 885. Methodius' funeral service was held in three languages ​​- Greek, Latin and, of course, Slavic.

Methodius was replaced in his post by the disciple Gorazd, and then all the undertakings of the holy brothers began to collapse. In Moravia, liturgical translations were gradually banned again, and followers and students were hunted - persecuted, sold into slavery, and even killed. Some adherents fled to neighboring countries. And yet the Slavic culture survived, the center of book learning moved to Bulgaria, and from there to Russia.

The holy chief apostolic teachers are revered in the West and East. In Russia, a holiday has been established in memory of the brothers’ feat - May 24 is celebrated as the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.

Memory

Settlements

• 1869 – foundation of the village of Mefodievka near Novorossiysk

Monuments

• Monument to Cyril and Methodius at the Stone Bridge in Skopje, Macedonia.
• Monument to Cyril and Methodius in Belgrade, Serbia.
• Monument to Cyril and Methodius in Khanty-Mansiysk.
• Monument in honor of Cyril and Methodius in Thessaloniki, Greece. The statue in the form of a gift was given to Greece by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
• Statue in honor of Cyril and Methodius in front of the building of the National Library of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria.
• Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Saints Cyril and Methodius in Velehrad, Czech Republic.
• Monument in honor of Cyril and Methodius, installed in front of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria.
• Monument to Cyril and Methodius in Prague, Czech Republic.
• Monument to Cyril and Methodius in Ohrid, Macedonia.
• Cyril and Methodius are depicted on the “1000th Anniversary of Russia” monument in Veliky Novgorod.

Books

• 1835 – poem “Cyril and Methodias”, Jan Golla
• 1865 - “Cyril and Methodius Collection” (edited by Mikhail Pogodin)
• 1984 - “Khazar Dictionary”, Milorad Pavic
• 1979 - “Thessaloniki Brothers”, Slav Karaslavov

Movies

• 1983 - “Constantine the Philosopher”
• 1989 - “Thessaloniki Brothers”
• 2013 - “Cyril and Methodius - Apostles of the Slavs”

The creators of the Slavic alphabet are Methodius and Cyril.

At the end of 862, the prince of Great Moravia (the state of the Western Slavs) Rostislav turned to the Byzantine Emperor Michael with a request to send preachers to Moravia who could spread Christianity in the Slavic language (sermons in those parts were read in Latin, unfamiliar and incomprehensible to the people).

Emperor Michael sent the Greeks to Moravia - the scientist Constantine the Philosopher (he received the name Cyril Constantine when he became a monk in 869, and with this name he went down in history) and his older brother Methodius.
The choice was not random. Brothers Constantine and Methodius were born in Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki in Greek) into the family of a military leader and received a good education. Cyril studied in Constantinople at the court of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III, knew Greek, Slavic, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic well, taught philosophy, for which he received the nickname Philosopher. Methodius was in military service, then for several years he ruled one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs; subsequently retired to a monastery.

In 860, the brothers had already made a trip to the Khazars for missionary and diplomatic purposes.
To be able to preach Christianity in the Slavic language, it was necessary to translate the Holy Scriptures into the Slavic language; however, there was no alphabet capable of conveying Slavic speech at that moment.

Constantine set about creating the Slavic alphabet. Methodius, who also knew the Slavic language well, helped him in his work, since a lot of Slavs lived in Thessaloniki (the city was considered half-Greek, half-Slavic). In 863, the Slavic alphabet was created (the Slavic alphabet existed in two versions: the Glagolitic alphabet - from verb - “speech” and the Cyrillic alphabet; until now, scientists do not have a consensus which of these two options was created by Cyril). With the help of Methodius, a number of liturgical books were translated from Greek into Slavic. The Slavs were given the opportunity to read and write in their own language. The Slavs not only acquired their own Slavic alphabet, but also the first Slavic literary language was born, many words of which still live in Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages.

The secret of the Slavic alphabet
The Old Slavic alphabet got its name from the combination of two letters “az” and “buki”, which designated the first letters of the alphabet A and B. An interesting fact is that the Old Slavic alphabet was graffiti, i.e. messages scrawled on the walls. The first Old Slavonic letters appeared on the walls of churches in Pereslavl around the 9th century. And by the 11th century, ancient graffiti appeared in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. It was on these walls that the letters of the alphabet were indicated in several styles, and below was the interpretation of the letter-word.
In 1574, a most important event occurred that contributed to a new round of development of Slavic writing. The first printed “ABC” appeared in Lvov, which was seen by Ivan Fedorov, the man who printed it.

ABC structure
If you look back, you will see that Cyril and Methodius created not just an alphabet, they opened a new path for the Slavic people, leading to the perfection of man on earth and the triumph of a new faith. If you look at historical events, the difference between which is only 125 years, you will understand that in fact the path to establishing Christianity on our land is directly related to the creation of the Slavic alphabet. After all, literally in one century, the Slavic people eradicated archaic cults and adopted a new faith. The connection between the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the adoption of Christianity today does not raise any doubts. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in 863, and already in 988, Prince Vladimir officially announced the introduction of Christianity and the overthrow of primitive cults.

Studying the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first “ABC” is a secret writing that has a deep religious and philosophical meaning, and most importantly, that it is constructed in such a way that it represents a complex logical-mathematical organism. In addition, by comparing many finds, the researchers came to the conclusion that the first Slavic alphabet was created as a complete invention, and not as a creation that was created in parts by adding new letter forms. It is also interesting that most of the letters of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet are number letters. Moreover, if you look at the entire alphabet, you will see that it can be conditionally divided into two parts, which are fundamentally different from each other. In this case, we will conditionally call the first half of the alphabet the “higher” part, and the second “lower”. The highest part includes the letters from A to F, i.e. from “az” to “fert” and is a list of letter-words that carry a meaning understandable to a Slav. The lower part of the alphabet begins with the letter “sha” and ends with “izhitsa”. The letters of the lower part of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet do not have a numerical value, unlike the letters of the higher part, and carry a negative connotation.

In order to understand the secret writing of the Slavic alphabet, it is necessary not just to skim through it, but to read carefully into each letter-word. After all, each letter-word contains a semantic core that Konstantin put into it.

Literal truth, the highest part of the alphabet
Az is the initial letter of the Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun Ya. However, its root meaning is the word “initially”, “begin” or “beginning”, although in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of a pronoun. Nevertheless, in some Old Slavonic letters one can find Az, which meant “one”, for example, “I will go to Vladimir”. Or “starting from scratch” meant “starting from the beginning.” Thus, the Slavs denoted with the beginning of the alphabet the entire philosophical meaning of existence, where without beginning there is no end, without darkness there is no light, and without good there is no evil. At the same time, the main emphasis in this is placed on the duality of the structure of the world. Actually, the alphabet itself is built on the principle of duality, where it is conventionally divided into two parts: higher and lower, positive and negative, the part located at the beginning and the part that is at the end. In addition, do not forget that Az has a numerical value, which is expressed by the number 1. Among the ancient Slavs, the number 1 was the beginning of everything beautiful. Today, studying Slavic numerology, we can say that the Slavs, like other peoples, divided all numbers into even and odd. Moreover, odd numbers were the embodiment of everything positive, good and bright. Even numbers, in turn, represented darkness and evil. Moreover, the unit was considered the beginning of all beginnings and was highly revered by the Slavic tribes. From the point of view of erotic numerology, it is believed that 1 represents the phallic symbol from which procreation begins. This number has several synonyms: 1 is one, 1 is one, 1 is times.

Beeches(Beech) is the second letter-word in the alphabet. It has no digital meaning, but has no less deep philosophical meaning than Az. Buki means “to be”, “will be” was most often used when using phrases in the future form. For example, “boudi” means “let it be,” and “boudous,” as you probably already guessed, means “future, upcoming.” In this word, our ancestors expressed the future as an inevitability, which could be either good and rosy or gloomy and terrible. It is still not known for certain why Constantine did not give a numerical value to Bukam, but many scientists suggest that this is due to the duality of this letter. Indeed, by and large, it denotes the future, which every person imagines for himself in a rosy light, but on the other hand, this word also denotes the inevitability of punishment for committed low deeds.

Lead- an interesting letter of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, which has a numerical value of 2. This letter has several meanings: to know, to know and to own. When Constantine put this meaning into the Vedi, he meant secret knowledge, knowledge as the highest divine gift. If you put Az, Buki and Vedi into one phrase, you will get a phrase that means “I will know!”. Thus, Constantine showed that a person who discovered the alphabet he created would subsequently possess some kind of knowledge. The numerical load of this letter is no less important. After all, 2 - deuce, two, pair were not just numbers among the Slavs, they took an active part in magical rituals and in general were symbols of the duality of everything earthly and heavenly. The number 2 among the Slavs meant the unity of heaven and earth, the duality of human nature, good and evil, etc. In a word, the deuce was a symbol of the confrontation between two sides, heavenly and earthly balance. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Slavs considered two to be a devilish number and attributed a lot of negative properties to it, believing that it was two that opened the numerical series of negative numbers that bring death to a person. That is why the birth of twins in Old Slavonic families was considered a bad sign, which brought illness and misfortune to the family. In addition, the Slavs considered it a bad sign for two people to rock a cradle, for two people to dry themselves with the same towel, and generally to perform any action together. Despite such a negative attitude towards the number 2, the Slavs recognized its magical power. For example, many exorcism rituals were performed using two identical objects or with the participation of twins.

Having examined the highest part of the alphabet, we can state the fact that it is Constantine’s secret message to his descendants. “Where is this visible?” - you ask. Now try to read all the letters, knowing their true meaning. If you take several subsequent letters, then edifying phrases are formed:
Vedi + Verb means “know the teaching”;
Rtsy + Word + Firmly can be understood as the phrase “speak the true word”;
Firmly + Oak can be interpreted as “strengthen the law.”
If you look closely at other letters, you can also find the secret writing that Constantine the Philosopher left behind.
Have you ever wondered why the letters in the alphabet are in this particular order and not in any other? The order of the “highest” part of the Cyrillic letters can be considered from two positions.
Firstly, the fact that each letter-word forms a meaningful phrase with the next one may mean a non-random pattern that was invented to quickly memorize the alphabet.
Secondly, the Old Church Slavonic alphabet can be considered from the point of view of numbering. That is, each letter also represents a number. Moreover, all letter-numbers are arranged in ascending order. So, the letter A - “az” corresponds to one, B - 2, D - 3, D - 4, E - 5, and so on up to ten. Tens begin with the letter K, which are listed here similarly to units: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, 80 and 100.

In addition, many scientists have noticed that the outlines of the letters of the “higher” part of the alphabet are graphically simple, beautiful and convenient. They were perfect for cursive writing, and a person did not experience any difficulties in depicting these letters. And many philosophers see in the numerical arrangement of the alphabet the principle of the triad and spiritual harmony that a person achieves, striving for good, light and truth.
Having studied the alphabet from the very beginning, we can come to the conclusion that Constantine left his descendants the main value - a creation that encourages us to strive for self-improvement, learning, wisdom and love, remembering the dark paths of anger, envy and enmity.

Now, revealing the alphabet, you will know that the creation that was born thanks to the efforts of Constantine the Philosopher is not just a list of letters with which words begin that express our fear and indignation, love and tenderness, respect and delight.

The day of celebration of Slavic writing and culture is inextricably linked with Cyril and Methodius - in all Slavic countries it is celebrated on May 24.

Cyril and Methodius, having created Slavic writing, translated liturgical books from Greek into Slavic, including the Apostolic Epistles and the Psalter, selected readings from the Gospel, that is, they contributed to the introduction and spread of Slavic worship.

Sputnik Georgia tells a brief biography of Saints Cyril and Methodius, educators of the Slavs and fighters for the Christian faith, and the history of the creation of Slavic writing.

short biography

Siblings - Cyril and Methodius (in the world Constantine and Michael) were born into a noble and religious family in the Greek city of Thessaloniki.

Having received an excellent education, Methodius, the eldest of seven brothers, initially chose a military career and ruled in one of the Slavic principalities subordinate to the Byzantine Empire, where he learned the Slavic language.

© photo: Sputnik / Vladimir Vdovin

Reproduction of the icon "Saints Cyril and Methodius"

Having served for ten years, Methodius, around 852, took monastic vows in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus (Asia Minor).

Konstantin, the youngest of the brothers, distinguished by exceptional philological abilities, was drawn to science. In Constantinople, he studied with the greatest scientists of the time, including Photius, the future Patriarch of Constantinople.

Having completed his studies, he accepted the rank of priest - he was appointed custodian of the patriarchal library at the Church of Hagia Sophia and taught philosophy at the highest school in Constantinople.

Constantine was wise beyond his years - he defeated the leader of the iconoclast heretics, Annius, in a debate.

Then he retired to his brother Methodius in the monastery, where he spent time reading and praying. There he first began to study the Slavic language, communicating with Slavic monks in the monastery.

© photo: Sputnik / Vladimir Fedorenko

Orthodox complex "In the Name of the Resurrection of Christ" (in the background) and the monument to the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius (in the foreground) in Khanty-Mansiysk

To preach the gospel, the Byzantine emperor sent Cyril and Methodius in 857 to the Khazar Kaganate. On the way, stopping in the city of Korsun, the brothers miraculously found the relics of the Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome.

Then, going to the Khazars, Methodius and Cyril successfully convinced the Khazar prince and his entourage to accept Christianity, as well as to release 200 Greek captives.

History of Slavic writing

Slavic writing arose in the 9th century, and it was then that the alphabet was compiled.

The history of Slavic writing is as follows: the Moravian prince Rostislav sent ambassadors to the emperor with a request to translate Christian liturgical books into the Slavic language and to send teachers to Moravia to preach to the Slavs in their native language.

© photo: Sputnik / Rudolf Kucherov

Sculptural image of the founders of Slavic writing Cyril and Methodius on the monument "1000th anniversary of Russia"

The Emperor entrusted this mission to Cyril and Methodius, confident that they would cope with it best of all. Cyril compiled the Slavic alphabet with the help of his brother Methodius and his students Clement, Gorazd, Naum, Savva and Angelyar.

The year of birth of Slavic writing is considered to be 863, when the first words were written in the Slavic language. Some chroniclers claim that these were the words of the Evangelist John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word.”

After completing the translation of the Gospel, Psalter and selected services into the Slavic language, Cyril and Methodius went to Moravia, where they began to teach Divine services in Slavic.

Two alphabets of Slavic writing were compiled - Glagolitic and Cyrillic, and both were used. The surviving Slavic manuscripts are written in both one and another alphabet.

But over time, the Cyrillic alphabet, which is much simpler in writing letters than the archaic Glagolitic alphabet, forced it out of use.

© photo: Sputnik / Sergey Samokhin

The creation of Slavic writing was of great importance for the cultural and scientific development of the Slavic people. On the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet, both Russian writing and the writing of other Slavic peoples arose.

Saint Cyril died in 869 - he was 42 years old. Before his death, he accepted the schema (the highest level of Orthodox monasticism). The relics of the Saint were placed in the Church of St. Clement, where miracles began to be performed from them.

Methodius, soon after this ordained in Rome to the rank of archbishop, continued his brother’s work. He died in 885 - Archbishop Methodius was buried in three languages ​​- Slavic, Greek and Latin, and was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad.

Cyril and Methodius, for their activities, were canonized as Saints in ancient times. The Russian Orthodox Church has been honoring the memory of the Slavic enlighteners since the 11th century. The oldest services to the Saints that have survived to this day date back to the 13th century.

The solemn celebration of the memory of High Hierarchs Cyril and Methodius in the Russian Church was established in 1863.

The material was prepared based on open sources

I didn’t invite you to visit, so you don’t have to open the door......it’s like two fingers on the asphalt for you.....

How does the alphabet differ from the alphabet? The word “alphabet” comes from the names of the first two letters of the Slavic alphabet: A (az) and B (buki)

Before Cyril and Methodius, there were 49 letters in the Slavic ABC. But 2 of them denoted sounds that were not used in Greek speech - and these letters were abolished. And then the Slavic ABC only grew thinner:

Initially, the Slavic ABC looked like this:

Az Gods V'di Verbs Good Is I'm Zhot Zelo Earth Izhe Izhei Init Herv Kako People Myslte Our On Peace Ratsi S'lov Tvardo Uk Ouk Fer't *' Ot Qi Chervl Sha Shta Er' Ery Er Yat Yun Ar Edo Om En Od Yota Ota Xi Psi Fita Izhitsa Izha

And now like this:

A B C D E F G H H I J J K L M N O P R S T U V

The Greek letter formed the basis of the Latin alphabet, and in the 9th century the Slavic letter was created by using letters of the Greek alphabet. The great work of creating the Slavic alphabet was accomplished by the brothers Constantine (who took the name Cyril at baptism) and Methodius. The main merit in this matter belongs to Kirill. Methodius was his faithful assistant. Compiling the Slavic alphabet, Kirill was able to discern in the sound of the Slavic language he had known since childhood (and this was probably one of the dialects of the ancient Bulgarian language) the basic sounds of this language and find letter designations for each of them. When reading Old Church Slavonic, we pronounce the words as they are written. In the Old Church Slavonic language we will not find such a discrepancy between the sound of words and their pronunciation, as, for example, in English or French. The Slavic book language (Old Church Slavonic) became widespread as a common language for many Slavic peoples. It was used by the Southern Slavs (Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats), Western Slavs (Czechs, Slovaks), Eastern Slavs (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians). In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, the Day of Slavic Literature is celebrated all over the world on May 24.
The alphabet is much older than the alphabet. In the 9th century there was no alphabet, and the Slavs did not have their own letters. And therefore there was no writing. The Slavs could not write books or even letters to each other in their language. How and where did our alphabet come from, and why is it called Cyrillic?

In the 9th century in Byzantium, in the city of Thessaloniki (now the city of Thessaloniki in Greece), two brothers lived - Constantine and Methodius. They were wise and very educated people and knew the Slavic language well. The Greek king Michael sent these brothers to the Slavs in response to the request of the Slavic prince Rostislav. (Rostislav asked to send teachers who could tell the Slavs about the holy Christian books, book words unknown to them and their meaning). And so the brothers Constantine and Methodius came to the Slavs to create the Slavic alphabet, which later became known as the Cyrillic alphabet. (In honor of Constantine, who, having become a monk, received the name Cyril). How did they create the alphabet?

Cyril and Methodius took the Greek alphabet and adapted it to the sounds of the Slavic language. So our alphabet is a “daughter” of the Greek alphabet. Many of our letters are taken from the Greek alphabet, which is why they look similar to them.
Before his death, Kirill told his brother: “You and I, like two oxen, drove the same furrow. I am exhausted, but don’t think about leaving the work of teaching and retiring to your mountain again.” Methodius outlived his brother by 16 years. Enduring hardships and reproaches, he continued his great work - translating holy books into Slavic, preaching the Orthodox faith, and baptizing the Slavic people. On April 6, 885, he died, leaving as his successor the best of his students, Archbishop Gorazd and about two hundred Slavic priests trained by him.
Manuscripts from the 10th and 11th centuries are written in two different alphabets. Some are written in Cyrillic, others in Glagolitic. But which of these two alphabets is older? That is, what script were written in the unsurvived manuscripts of Cyril and Methodius' times? A number of facts indicate that the Glagolitic alphabet should be considered the more ancient alphabet. The most ancient monuments (including the "Kyiv Leaves") are written precisely in the Glagolitic alphabet, and they are written in a more archaic language, similar in phonetic composition to the language of the southern Slavs. Palimpsests (manuscripts on parchment in which the old text has been scraped off and a new one written on it) also indicate the great antiquity of the Glagolitic alphabet. On all surviving palimpsests, the Glagolitic alphabet has been scraped off and the new text is written in Cyrillic. There is not a single palimpsest in which the Cyrillic alphabet has been scraped off and the Glagolitic alphabet written on it. There are other facts that indicate the greater antiquity of the Glagolitic alphabet, but it would take too long to list them. So, in modern Slavic studies no one doubts that the learned men Constantine the Philosopher (after accepting monasticism Cyril) and his brother Methodius “transferred” the sounds of the Slavic language onto parchment using the alphabet that today is commonly called the Glagolitic alphabet. Later (apparently at the council in Preslav, the capital of the Bulgarian king Simeon in 893), the Cyrillic alphabet appeared, which eventually replaced the Glagolitic alphabet in all Slavic countries, with the exception of Northern Dalmatia (Adriatic coast), where Catholic Croats continued to write Glagolitic alphabet until the end of the last century.
In Cyrillic, the letters have a simpler and clearer form for us. We don’t know which alphabet was invented by Konstantin, but it was the Cyrillic alphabet that was the basis of our Russian alphabet

Equal to the Apostles CYRILL (†869) and MEFODIUS (†885), Slovenian teachers

Kirill(in the world Constantine, nicknamed the Philosopher, 827-869, Rome) and Methodius(in the world Michael; 815-885, Velehrad, Moravia) - brothers from the Greek city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki) in Macedonia, creators of the Slavic alphabet, creators of the Church Slavonic language and preachers of Christianity.

Origin

Cyril and Methodius came from the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki, Slavic "Thessaloniki"). Their father, named Leo, held a high military position under the governor of Thessalonica. There were seven sons in the family, with Mikhail (Methodius) being the eldest and Konstantin (Kirill) the youngest of them.

Thessalonica, where the brothers were born, was a bilingual city. In addition to the Greek language, they sounded the Slavic Thessalonica dialect, which was spoken by the tribes surrounding Thessalonica: Draguvites, Sagudites, Vayunits, Smolyans and which, according to the research of modern linguists, formed the basis of the translation language of Cyril and Methodius, and with them the entire Church Slavonic language .

Before becoming a monk, Methodius made a good military-administrative career, culminating in the post of strategist (commander-in-chief of the army) Slavinia, a Byzantine province located in Macedonia.

Konstantin was a very educated man for his time. Even before the trip to Moravia (historical region of the Czech Republic) he compiled the Slavic alphabet and began to translate the Gospel into the Slavic language.

Monasticism

Constantine studied philosophy, dialectics, geometry, arithmetic, rhetoric, astronomy, and many languages ​​with the best teachers in Constantinople. At the end of his studies, refusing to enter into a very advantageous marriage with the goddaughter of the logothete (Head of the Gospodar's Chancellery and Keeper of the State Seal), Constantine accepted the rank of priest and entered the service of Chartophylax (literally “library keeper”; in reality this was equal to the modern title of academician) at the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. But, neglecting the benefits of his position, he retired to one of the monasteries on the Black Sea coast. For some time he lived in solitude. Then he was almost forcibly returned to Constantinople and assigned to teach philosophy at the same Manaurian University, where he himself had recently studied (since then the nickname has stuck with him Konstantin the Philosopher). At one of the theological debates, Cyril won a brilliant victory over the highly experienced leader of the iconoclasts, the former Patriarch Annius, which brought him wide fame in Constantinople.

Around 850, Emperor Michael III and Patriarch Photius sent Constantine to Bulgaria, where he converted many Bulgarians to Christianity on the Bregalnitsa River.

The following year, Cyril, together with George, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, went to the court of the Emir of Militia to introduce him to the basics of Christianity.

In 856, the logothete Theoktistus, who was the patron of Constantine, was killed. Constantine, together with his disciples Clement, Naum and Angelarius, came to the monastery, where his brother Methodius was abbot. In this monastery, a group of like-minded people formed around Constantine and Methodius and the idea of ​​creating a Slavic alphabet was born.

Khazar mission

In 860, Constantine was sent for missionary purposes to the court of the Khazar Khagan. According to the life, the embassy was sent in response to a request from the Kagan, who promised, if he was convinced, to convert to Christianity.

Khazar Khaganate (Khazaria) - a medieval state created by the nomadic Turkic people - the Khazars. He controlled the territory of the Ciscaucasia, the Lower and Middle Volga regions, modern northwestern Kazakhstan, the Azov region, the eastern part of Crimea, as well as the steppes and forest-steppes of Eastern Europe up to the Dnieper. The center of the state was initially located in the coastal part of modern Dagestan, and later moved to the lower reaches of the Volga. Part of the ruling elite converted to Judaism. Part of the East Slavic tribal unions were politically dependent on the Khazars. The fall of the Kaganate is associated with the military campaigns of the Old Russian state.

Khazar Khaganate

During his stay in Korsun, Konstantin, in preparation for polemics, studied the Hebrew language, Samaritan script, and along with them some kind of “Russian” script and language (it is believed that there is a typo in the life and instead of “Russian” letters one should read “Sursky”, that is, Syrian - Aramaic; in any case, this is not the Old Russian language, which in those days was not distinguished from Common Slavic). Constantine's dispute with a Muslim imam and a Jewish rabbi, which took place in the presence of the Kagan, ended in the victory of Constantine, but the Kagan did not change his faith.

Bulgarian mission

The sister of the Bulgarian Khan Boris was held hostage in Constantinople. She was baptized with the name Theodora and was raised in the spirit of the Holy Faith. Around 860, she returned to Bulgaria and began to persuade her brother to accept Christianity. Boris was baptized, taking the name Michael, in honor of the son of the Byzantine Empress Theodora - Emperor Michael III, during whose reign the Bulgarians converted to Christianity. Constantine and Methodius were in this country and with their preaching they greatly contributed to the establishment of Christianity in it. From Bulgaria, the Christian faith spread to its neighboring Serbia.

In 863, with the help of his brother Saint Methodius and the disciples Gorazd, Clement, Sava, Naum and Angelar, Constantine compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavic: the Gospel, the Psalter and selected services. Some chroniclers report that the first words written in the Slavic language were the words of the Apostle Evangelist John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word”.

Moravian Mission

In 862, ambassadors from the Moravian prince Rostislav came to Constantinople with the following request: “Our people profess the Christian faith, but we do not have teachers who could explain the faith to us in our native language. Send us such teachers.” The Byzantine Emperor Michael III and the patriarch were delighted and, calling the Thessalonica brothers, invited them to go to the Moravians.

Great Moravia - is considered the first Slavic state, which existed in 822-907 on the Middle Danube. The capital of the state was the city of Velegrad. The first Slavic writing was created here and the Church Slavonic language arose. During the period of greatest power, it included the territories of modern Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, as well as Lesser Poland, part of Ukraine and the historical region of Silesia. Now part of the Czech Republic.

Constantine and Methodius stayed in Moravia for more than 3 years and continued to translate church books from Greek into Slavic. The brothers taught the Slavs to read, write and conduct worship in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers and filed a complaint to Rome. Among some theologians of the Western Church, a point of view has developed that praise to God can only be given in the three languages ​​in which the inscription on the Cross of the Lord was made: Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Therefore, Constantine and Methodius, who preached Christianity in Moravia, were perceived as heretics and summoned to court to resolve this issue in Rome before Pope Nicholas I.

Taking with them the relics of St. Clement, the Pope of Rome, found by Constantine on his Chersonesos journey, the brothers set off for Rome. On the way to Rome they visited another Slavic country - Pannonia (territory of modern western Hungary, eastern Austria and parts of Slovenia and Serbia), where the Blaten Principality was located. Here, in Blatnograd, on behalf of Prince Kotsel, the brothers taught the Slavs books and worship in the Slavic language.

When they arrived in Rome, Nicholas I was no longer alive; his successor Adrian II, having learned that they were carrying with them the relics of St. Clement, met them solemnly outside the city. After this, Pope Adrian II approved worship in the Slavic language, and ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches. At the behest of Hadrian II, Formosus (Bishop of Porto) and Gauderic (Bishop of Velletri) ordained three brothers who traveled with Constantine and Methodius as priests, and the latter was ordained to the episcopate.

last years of life

In Rome, Constantine fell seriously ill, at the beginning of February 869 he finally fell ill, accepted the schema and new monastic name Kirill . 50 days after accepting the schema, February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril died at the age of 42 . He was buried in Rome in the Church of St. Clement.

The chapel (side altar) of the Basilica of St. Clement is dedicated to the memory of Sts. Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius

Before his death, he told Methodius: “You and I are like two oxen; One fell from a heavy burden, the other must continue on his way.”. The Pope ordained him to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. Methodius and his disciples, who were ordained priests, returned to Pannonia, and later to Moravia.

By this time the situation in Moravia had changed dramatically. After Rostislav was defeated by Louis the German and died in a Bavarian prison in 870, his nephew Svatopluk became the Moravian prince, who submitted to German political influence. The activities of Methodius and his disciples took place in very difficult conditions. The Latin-German clergy in every way prevented the spread of the Slavic language as the language of the church. They even managed to imprison Methodius for 3 years in one of the Swabian monasteries - Reichenau. Having learned about this, Pope John VIII released him in 874 and restored him to the rights of archbishop. Coming out of captivity, Methodius continued his evangelical preaching among the Slavs and worship in the Slavic language (despite the prohibition), baptized the Czech prince Borivoj and his wife Lyudmila, as well as one of the Polish princes.

In 879, the German bishops organized a new trial against Methodius. However, Methodius brilliantly justified himself in Rome and even received a papal bull allowing worship in the Slavic language.

In 881, Methodius, at the invitation of Emperor Basil I of Macedon, came to Constantinople. There he spent 3 years, after which he and his students returned to Moravia.

Methodius of Moravia

In the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two priest disciples, translated the entire Old Testament (except for the Maccabean books) and patristic books into Slavic.

In 885, Methodius became seriously ill. Before his death, he appointed his student Gorazd as his successor. 6/19 April 885 , on Palm Sunday, he asked to be taken to church, where he read a sermon on the same day died(at about 60 years of age). The funeral service for Methodius took place in three languages ​​- Slavic, Greek and Latin. He was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad, the capital of Moravia.

After death

After the death of Methodius, his opponents managed to achieve the prohibition of Slavic writing in Moravia. Many students were executed, some moved to Bulgaria and Croatia.

In Bulgaria and subsequently in Croatia, Serbia and the Old Russian state, the Slavic alphabet created by the brothers became widespread. In some regions of Croatia, until the mid-20th century, the liturgy of the Latin rite was served in the Slavic language. Since liturgical books were written in the Glagolitic alphabet, this ritual was called Glagolitic.

Pope Adrian II wrote to Prince Rostislav in Prague that if anyone begins to treat books written in Slavic with contempt, then let him be excommunicated and brought before the court of the Church, for such people are “wolves.” And Pope John VIII in 880 wrote to Prince Svyatopolk, ordering that sermons be delivered in Slavic.

Heritage

Cyril and Methodius developed a special alphabet for writing texts in the Slavic language - Glagolitic .

Glagolitic- one of the first Slavic alphabet. It is assumed that it was the Glagolitic alphabet that was created by the Bulgarian enlightener St. Konstantin (Kirill) Philosopher for recording church texts in Old Church Slavonic. In Old Church Slavonic it is called “Kirillovitsa”. A number of facts indicate that the Glagolitic alphabet was created before the Cyrillic alphabet, which in turn was created on the basis of the Glagolitic alphabet and the Greek alphabet. The Roman Catholic Church, in its fight against services in the Slavic language among the Croats, called the Glagolitic alphabet "Gothic scripts."

There are usually two types of Glagolitic alphabet: the older “round” one, also known as Bulgarian, and the later “angular” one, Croatian (so called because until the mid-20th century it was used by Croatian Catholics when performing services according to the Glagolitic rite). The latter's alphabet was gradually reduced from 41 to 30 characters.

In Ancient Rus', the Glagolitic alphabet was practically not used; there are only isolated inclusions of Glagolitic letters in texts written in Cyrillic. The Glagolitic alphabet was the alphabet for transmitting primarily church texts; the surviving ancient Russian monuments of everyday writing before the baptism of Rus' use the Cyrillic alphabet. The Glagolitic alphabet is also used as a cryptographic script.

Cyrillic- Old Church Slavonic alphabet (Old Bulgarian alphabet): the same as the Cyrillic (or Cyrillic) alphabet: one of two (along with Glagolitic) ancient alphabets for the Old Church Slavonic language.

The Cyrillic alphabet goes back to the Greek statutory script, with the addition of letters to convey sounds that were absent in the Greek language. Since its creation, the Cyrillic alphabet has adapted to linguistic changes, and as a result of numerous reforms in each language, it has acquired its own differences. Different versions of the Cyrillic alphabet are used in Eastern Europe and Central and Northern Asia. As an official letter, it was first adopted in the First Bulgarian Kingdom.

In Church Slavonic it is called "Klimentovitsa", in honor of Kliment Ohridski.

Cyrillic-based alphabets include the alphabets of the following Slavic languages:

• Belarusian language (Belarusian alphabet)
• Bulgarian language (Bulgarian alphabet)
• Macedonian language (Macedonian alphabet)
• Rusyn language/dialect (Rusyn alphabet)
• Russian language (Russian alphabet)
• Serbian language (Vukovica)
• Ukrainian language (Ukrainian alphabet)
• Montenegrin language (Montenegrin alphabet)

Currently, among historians, the point of view of V. A. Istrin prevails, but is not generally recognized, according to which the Cyrillic alphabet was created on the basis of the Greek alphabet by the disciple of the holy brothers, Clement of Ohrid (which is also mentioned in his Life). Using the created alphabet, the brothers translated the Holy Scriptures and a number of liturgical books from Greek. It should be noted that even if the Cyrillic letterforms were developed by Clement, he relied on the work of isolating the sounds of the Slavic language done by Cyril and Methodius, and it is this work that is the main part of any work on creating a new written language. Modern scientists note the high level of this work, which gave designations for almost all scientifically identified Slavic sounds, which we apparently owe to the outstanding linguistic abilities of Konstantin-Kirill noted in the sources.

Sometimes it is claimed that Slavic writing existed before Cyril and Methodius. However, it was a non-Slavic language. It should be remembered, however, that during the time of Cyril and Methodius and much later, the Slavs easily understood each other and believed that they spoke a single Slavic language, which is also agreed by some modern linguists who believe that the unity of the Proto-Slavic language can be spoken of until the 12th century. century. Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov) also points out that Constantine was the creator of Slavic letters and there were no Slavic letters before him.

Reverence

Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were canonized in ancient times. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of the Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners of the Slavs has been honored since the 11th century. The oldest services to saints that have survived to our time date back to the 13th century.

In 1863, the Russian Church established a solemn celebration of the memory of the holy high priests, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The holiday in honor of Cyril and Methodius is a public holiday in Russia (since 1991), Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Republic of Macedonia. In Russia, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia the holiday is celebrated May 24; in Russia and Bulgaria it is called the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature, in Macedonia - the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia the holiday is celebrated on July 5th.

Troparion, tone 4
As the Apostle of uniformity and the Slovenian countries, teacher, Cyril and Methodius of God-wisdom, pray to the Lord of all, establish all Slovenian languages ​​in Orthodoxy and unanimity, pacify the world and save our souls.

Kontakion, tone 3
We honor the sacred duo of our enlighteners, who, by translating the Divine Scriptures, have poured out the source of knowledge of God for us, from which even to this day we endlessly draw joy upon you, Cyril and Methodius, who stand before the Throne of the Most High and warmly pray for our souls.

Greatness
We magnify you, Saints Cyril and Methodius, who enlightened the entire Slovenian country with your teachings and brought them to Christ.