And Methodius went down in history as the creators of the Slavic alphabet. Thanks to their activities, we can now read, express our thoughts in writing. These are fairly well-known historical figures. There is even a short biography for children of Cyril and Methodius.
Worldly life of future saints
The two brothers were born in the city of Thessaloniki. Their father is a soldier under the governor of the city. The years of life of Cyril and Methodius in their brief biography date back to the XIV century AD.
The elder brother Methodius was born in 815, Cyril, at birth Constantine, was born in 827. Methodius, at birth Michael, was originally even appointed to the princely position. But the worldly bustle tired the young man. He gave up this privilege and was tonsured at the age of 37.
The younger brother Kirill consciously chose the spiritual path from the very beginning. Thanks to his curiosity and phenomenal memory, he won the favor of others. Cyril was sent to Byzantium, where he studied with the emperor himself. Having thoroughly studied geometry, dialectics, arithmetic, astronomy, rhetoric and philosophy, he became interested in the study of languages. His noble background allowed him to enter into a profitable marriage and receive a high state office. But the young man decided to build his life differently. He got a job at the Hagia Sophia as a library curator, and later became a teacher at the university. He often took part in philosophical debates. For his excellent oratory and erudition, he was called the Philosopher. But worldly life is just a part of a short biography of Cyril and Methodius, which quickly ended. A new story has begun.
The beginning of the spiritual path
Life at court did not suit Cyril, and he went to his brother in the monastery. But the spiritual silence and solitude that he so longed for, he never found. Cyril was a frequent participant in controversies regarding issues of faith. He perfectly knew the canons of Christianity and often prevailed over opponents thanks to his intelligence and high knowledge.
Later, the emperor of Byzantium expressed a desire to attract the Khazars to the side of Christianity. Jews and Muslims have already begun to spread their religion on their territory. Cyril and Methodius were sent to educate the Khazar minds with Christian sermons. Their biography tells about an interesting case. On the way home, the brothers visited the city of Korsun. There they were able to get hold of the relics of Saint Clement, the former Pope. After returning home, Cyril stayed in the capital, and Methodius went to the Polychrome monastery, which was located near Mount Olympus, where he received abbess.
Mission to Moravia
The biography of brothers Cyril and Methodius is based on chronicle data. According to them, in 860 the Byzantine emperor was approached by the ambassadors of Prince Rostislav of Moravia with a request to send preachers to praise Christianity. The emperor, without hesitation, assigned an important task to Cyril and Methodius. Their biography tells about the complexity of the assignment. It consisted in the fact that German bishops, who were aggressively disposed against the activities of anyone else, had already begun their activity in Moravia.
Arriving in Moravia, Cyril found that almost no one knew the Holy Scripture, since the service was performed in a language unknown to the people - Latin. Preachers from Germany were of the opinion that divine services can only be conducted in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, because it was in these languages \u200b\u200bthat the inscriptions on the cross where Christ was crucified were. The Eastern clergy recognized the conduct of services in any language.
The main task of the future saints was to create their own alphabet. After writing their alphabet, they began to rewrite the scriptures in a language understandable to the people. But in order to conduct divine services, it was necessary not only to create your own letter, but also to teach the people to read and write.
The clergy of Moravia was wary of such innovations, and later began to oppose them. An important factor was not only spiritual life, but also political life. Moravia actually submitted to the jurisdiction of the Pope, and the spread of the new letter and language was viewed there as an attempt to seize power by the Byzantine emperor through the hands of preachers. At that time, Catholicism and Orthodoxy were still one faith under the patronage of the Pope.
The active work of Cyril and Methodius aroused the indignation of the German bishops. Since Cyril always won the victory in religious disputes, the German preachers wrote a complaint to Rome. To resolve this issue, Pope Nicholas I called on the brothers to come to him. Cyril and Methodius were forced to embark on a long journey.
Creating the alphabet
The complete biography of Cyril and Methodius is filled with references to the origin of their greatest creation. Cyril knew the Slavic language well and therefore began to create an alphabet for the Slavs. His older brother actively helped him. The first alphabet was modeled on the Greek alphabet. The letters corresponded to the Greek ones, but had a different look, and Hebrew letters were taken for the characteristic Slavic sounds. This version of the alphabet was called a verb, from the word "verb" - to speak. Another version of the alphabet is called the Cyrillic alphabet.
The Glagolitic alphabet is a set of sticks and symbols that echo the Greek alphabet. Cyrillic is already a variant closer to the modern alphabet. It is believed that it was created by the followers of the saints. But disputes about the truth of this statement are still ongoing.
It is difficult to establish the exact date of the formation of the alphabet, since the original source has not reached us, there are only minor or rewritten letters.
Metamorphoses of the first alphabet
As soon as Cyril and Methodius finished their work on the creation of the Slavic script, they began to translate a number of books for worship. In this they were helped by many students and followers. This is how the Slavic literary language appeared. Some words from it have come down to our times in the Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Russian languages. The early version became the basis of the alphabet of all Eastern Slavs, but the later version was not forgotten either. It is now used in church books.
Initially, the Cyrillic letters were written separately from each other and were called the charter (charter letter), which eventually became a semi-charter. When the original letters were modified, the semi-ustav was replaced by cursive writing. Since the 18th century, during the reign of Peter I, some letters were excluded from the Cyrillic alphabet and called the Russian Civil Alphabet.
Cyril and Methodius in Rome
After troubles with the German bishops, Cyril and Methodius were summoned to the Pope for trial. Going to the meeting, the brothers took with them the relics of St. Clement, previously brought from Korsun. But an unforeseen circumstance happened: Nicholas I died before the arrival of the future saints. They were met by his successor Adrian II. A whole delegation was sent out of the city to meet the brothers and holy relics. As a result, the Pope gave his consent to the conduct of services in the Slavic language
During the trip, Cyril became weak and did not feel well. He fell ill from illness and, foreseeing a speedy death, asked his elder brother to continue their common cause. He accepted the schema, changing the worldly name Constantine to the spiritual name Cyril. His older brother had to return from Rome alone.
Methodius without Cyril
As promised, Methodius continued his activity. Pope Adrian II proclaimed Methodius a bishop. He was allowed to conduct divine services in the Slavic language, but on condition that he must begin the service in Latin or Greek.
Upon returning home, Methodius took several disciples and began translating the Old Testament into the Slavic language. He opened church schools and educated young immature minds in matters of Orthodoxy. The population more and more abandoned the parishes where the services were conducted in Latin, and went over to Methodius's side. This period is one of the brightest episodes in the biography of Cyril and Methodius.
The sad fate of the followers
With the gradual growth of the authority of the German feudal lords and the change of power in the lands of Moravia, mass persecutions of Methodius and his followers began. In 870 he was arrested for "uncontrolled arbitrariness." Together with him, his associates are arrested.
They were imprisoned for six months until they were brought to trial. As a result of lengthy disputes, Methodius was defrocked and imprisoned in a monastery. Only when he got to Rome, he was able to refute the empty accusations and regain the rank of archbishop. He continued his educational activities until his death in 885.
After his death, a ban was immediately issued on the conduct of services in the Slavic language. Death or slavery awaited his disciples and followers.
Despite all the hardships, the brothers' work flourished with greater vigor. Thanks to them, many peoples acquired their own written language. And for all the trials that the brothers had to endure, they were canonized - canonized. We know them as the Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. Everyone should know and honor the biography of Saints Cyril and Methodius as a tribute to their work.
Can you imagine life without electricity? Of course it's difficult! But it is known that people used to read and write by candlelight and torch. Imagine life without writing. Some of you will now think to yourself, so what, it would be great: no need to write dictations and essays. But then there will be no libraries, books, posters, letters, and even e-mail and SMS. In language, as in a mirror, the whole world is reflected, our whole life. And when we read written or printed texts, we sort of sit in a time machine and can travel back to recent times, and to the distant past.
But people did not always possess the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia. Do you know to whom we should be grateful for our written word, on which our favorite books are written? For our diploma, which we learn at school? For our great Russian literature, with which you get to know and will study in high school.
Cyril and Methodius lived in the world,
Two Byzantine monks and suddenly
(No, not a legend, not a myth, not a parody)
Some of them thought: “Friend!
How many Slavs are speechless without Christ!
It is necessary to create an alphabet for the Slavs ...
It was thanks to the efforts of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius that the Slavic alphabet was created.
The brothers were born in the Byzantine city of Soluni in the family of a military leader. Methodius was the eldest son, and, choosing the path of a military man, went to serve in one of the Slavic regions. His brother, Cyril, was born 7-10 years later than Methodius, and already in childhood, passionately falling in love with science, amazed teachers with brilliant abilities. At the age of 14, his parents sent him to Constantinople, where in a short time he studied grammar and geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine, ancient art, mastered Slavic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic languages \u200b\u200bwell. Refusing the high administrative position offered to him, Cyril took the modest position of a librarian in the Patriarchal Library and at the same time taught philosophy at the university, for which he received the nickname "philosopher". His older brother Methodius entered military service early. For 10 years he was the ruler of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. An honest and straightforward man, intolerant of injustice, he retired from military service and retired to a monastery.
In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople to ask them to send preachers to their country and tell the population about Christianity. The emperor decided to send Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. Cyril, before setting off on the journey, asked if the Moravians had an alphabet for their language - "for the enlightenment of the people without writing their language is like trying to write on water," Cyril explained. To which he received a negative answer. The Moravians did not have the ABC, then the brothers began work. They had at their disposal not years, but months. They worked from early morning, barely blooming, and until late evening, when the eyes were already dazzling with fatigue. In a short time, the alphabet was created for the Moravians. It was named after one of its creators - Cyril - Cyrillic.
With the help of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. The first book written in Cyrillic was - "Ostromir Gospel", the first words written using the Slavic alphabet was the phrase - "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And now, for more than a thousand years, the Church Slavonic language has been used in the Russian Orthodox Church during divine services.
The Slavic alphabet has existed in Russia unchanged for more than seven centuries. Its creators tried to make each letter of the first Russian alphabet simple and clear, easy to write. They remembered that the letters should be beautiful, so that a person who barely saw them would immediately want to master writing.
Each letter had its own name - "az" - A; "Beeches" - B; "Lead" - B; "Verb" - Г; "Good" -D.
This is where the catch phrases "Az and beeches are all sciences", "" Who knows "Az" and "Beeches" are in the hands of books ". In addition, numbers could be denoted by letters. There were 43 letters in Cyrillic.
The Cyrillic alphabet existed in the Russian language unchanged until Peter I, who removed the obsolete letters without which it was quite possible to do without - "yus big", "yus small", "omega", "uk". In 1918, 5 more letters left the Russian alphabet - "yat", "fita", "Izhitsa", "er", "er". For a thousand years, many letters have disappeared from our alphabet, and only two have appeared - "y" and "e". They were invented in the 17th century by the Russian writer and historian Karamzin. And now, finally, 33 letters remain in the modern alphabet.
Where do you think the word "AZBUKA" came from - by the name of the first letters of the alphabet, "az" and "beeches"; in Russia there were several more names for the alphabet - "abevega" and "initial".
Why is the alphabet called the alphabet? The history of this word is interesting. Alphabet. It was born in ancient Greece and consists of the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: "alpha" and "beta". The native speakers of Western languages \u200b\u200bcall it “alphabete”. And we pronounce it like "alphabet".
The Slavs were very happy: other peoples of Europe (Germans, Franks, Britons) did not have their own written language. The Slavs now had their own alphabet, and everyone could learn to read a book! “That was a wonderful moment! .. The deaf began to hear, and the dumb began to speak, because until that time the Slavs were like deaf and dumb” - is written in the chronicles of those times.
Not only children, but also adults began to study. They wrote with sharp sticks on wooden boards covered with wax. The children fell in love with their teachers Cyril and Methodius. Little Slavs gladly went to classes, because the journey along the roads of Truth was so interesting!
With the advent of the Slavic alphabet, written culture began to develop rapidly. Books appeared in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Rus. And how they took shape! The first letter — a drop cap — began each new chapter. The initial letter is unusually beautiful: in the form of a beautiful bird or flower, it was painted with bright, often red flowers. That is why the term "red line" exists today. A Slavic handwritten book could take six to seven years and was very expensive. In a precious setting, with illustrations, today it is a real monument of art.
A long time ago, when the history of the great Russian state was just beginning, "she" was expensive. One of her could be exchanged for a herd of horses or a herd of cows, for sable coats. And the point here is not in the jewelry in which the beautiful and clever girl was dressed up. And she wore only expensive embossed leather, pearls and precious stones! Gold and silver clasps adorned her outfit! Admiring her, people said: "Light, you are ours!" They worked on its creation for a long time, but her fate could be very sad. During the invasion of enemies, she was taken prisoner along with people. She could have died in a fire or flood. She was very dear: she inspired hope, restored the strength of the spirit. What kind of curiosity is this? Yes, guys, this is Her Majesty - The Book. She preserved the Word of God and the traditions of distant years to us. The first books were handwritten. It took months, sometimes years, to rewrite one book. Monasteries have always been the centers of book learning in Russia. There, in fasting and prayer, hardworking monks copied and decorated books. A collection of books of 500-1000 manuscripts was considered a great rarity.
Life goes on, and in the middle of the 16th century book printing appeared in Russia. The printing house in Moscow appeared under Ivan the Terrible. It was led by Ivan Fedorov, who is called the first book printer. As a deacon and serving in the temple, he tried to fulfill his dream - to rewrite the holy books without scribes. And so in 1563 he started typing the first page of the first printed book - "The Apostle". In total, he published 12 books in his life, among them was the complete Slavic Bible.
The Slavic alphabet is amazing and is still considered one of the most convenient writing systems. And the names of Cyril and Methodius, the "first teachers of Slovenia," became a symbol of spiritual achievement. And every person studying the Russian language should know and keep in his memory the holy names of the first Slavic enlighteners - the brothers Cyril and Methodius.
Across wide Russia - our mother
The bells ringing overflows.
Now brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius
They are glorified for their labors.
"Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness," says a Russian proverb. Cyril and Methodius, brothers from Solunya, are Slovenian educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity. They are called holy teachers. Enlighteners are those who bring light and illuminate them all. Without the alphabet there is no written language, and without it there is no book that enlightens people, and therefore moves life forward. Monuments to great enlighteners around the world remind us of the spiritual feat of Cyril and Methodius, who gave the world the Slavic alphabet.
In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Written Language is celebrated throughout the world. In the year of the millennium since the creation of Slavic writing in Russia, the Holy Synod adopted a decree establishing "every year, starting from this 1863, on the 11 (24) day of May, a church celebration of the Monks Cyril and Methodius." Until 1917, Russia celebrated the church holiday Day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius. With the advent of Soviet power, this great holiday was forgotten. In 1986 it was revived. This holiday began to be called the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.
Quiz
1. Who created the Slavic alphabet? (Cyril and Methodius)
2. What year is considered the year of the emergence of Slavic writing and book business? (863)
3. Why Cyril and Methodius are called "The Solunski brothers"? (Birthplace of brothers-educators, the city of Solun in Macedonia)
4. Who was the older brother: Cyril or Methodius? (Methodius)
5. What was the name of the first book written in Cyrillic? (Ostrom World Gospel ")
6. Which brother was a librarian and who was a warrior? (Cyril is a librarian, Methodius is a military leader)
7.How was Cyril called for intelligence and diligence? (Philosopher)
8.In whose reign the Slavic alphabet was changed - simplified. (Peter 1)
9. How many letters were in Cyrillic before Peter the Great? (43 letters)
10. How many letters are there in the modern alphabet? (33 letters)
11. Who was the first printer in Russia? (Ivan Fedorov)
12. What was the name of the first printed book? ("Apostle")
13. What words were first written in the Slavic language? (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God)
In 862, in the state of the Western Slavs, Great Moravia, religious sermons were spread in Latin. For the people, this language was incomprehensible. Therefore, the prince of the state Rostislav turned to Michael, the emperor of Byzantium. He asked to send preachers to his state who would spread Christianity in the Slavic language. And the emperor Michael sent two Greeks - Constantine the Philosopher, who later received the name Cyril, and Methodius, his older brother.
Cyril and Methodius were born and raised in the city of Solun in Byzantium. The family had seven children, Methodius was the oldest, and Constantine (Cyril) was the youngest. Their father was a military leader. Since childhood, they knew one of the Slavic languages, since a large Slavic population lived in the vicinity of the city. Methodius was in military service, after the service he ruled the Byzantine principality, which was inhabited by the Slavs. And soon, after 10 years of reign, he went to a monastery and became a monk. Cyril, since he showed a great interest in linguistics, studied sciences at the court of the Byzantine emperor from the best scientists of that time. He knew several languages \u200b\u200b- Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Slavic, Greek, and also taught philosophy - hence he got his nickname Philosopher. And the name Cyril was received by Constantine when he became a monk in 869 after his serious and prolonged illness.
Already in 860, the brothers traveled twice with a missionary goal to the Khazars, then Emperor Michael III sent Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia. And the Moravian prince Rostislav called on the brothers for help, as he sought to limit the growing influence of the German clergy. He wanted Christianity to be preached in the Slavic language, not in Latin.
The Holy Scriptures had to be translated from Greek in order for Christianity to be preached in the Slavic language. But there was one catch - there was no alphabet that could convey Slavic speech. And then the brothers set about creating the alphabet. Methodius made a special contribution - he knew the Slavic language perfectly. And thus in 863 the Slavic alphabet appeared. And Methodius soon translated many liturgical books, including the Gospel, the Psalter and the Apostle, into the Slavic language. The Slavs had their own alphabet and language, now they could write and read freely. So Cyril and Methodius, the creators of the Slavic alphabet, made a huge contribution to the culture of the Slavic people, because to this day many words from the Slavic language live in Ukrainian, Russian and Bulgarian. Constantine (Cyril) created the Glagolitic alphabet, which reflected the phonetic features of the language. But until now, scientists cannot agree on whether the Glagolitic or Cyrillic alphabet was created by Methodius.
But among the Western Slavs - Poles and Czechs - the Slavic alphabet and literacy did not take root, and they still use the Latin alphabet. After the death of Cyril, Methodius continued their activity. And when he died, their disciples were expelled from Moravia in 886 and the Slavic writing was banned there, but they continued to spread the Slavic literacy in the countries of the Eastern and Southern Slavs. Bulgaria and Croatia became their refuge.
These events took place in the 9th century, and in Russia writing appeared only in the 10th century. And there is an opinion that in Bulgaria the Cyrillic alphabet was created on the basis of the “Glagolitic alphabet” in honor of Cyril.
In Russian Orthodoxy, Cyril and Methodius are called Saints. February 14 - Day of Remembrance of Cyril, and April 6 - Methodius. The dates were not chosen by chance, Saints Cyril and Methodius passed away on these days.
On May 24, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius.
The name of these saints is known to everyone from school, and it is to them that all of us, native speakers of the Russian language, owe our language, culture, and writing.
Incredibly, all European science and culture was born within the monastic walls: it was at the monasteries that the first schools were opened, children were taught to read and write, and vast libraries were collected. It was for the enlightenment of the peoples, for the translation of the Gospel, that many scripts were created. So it happened with the Slavic language.
The holy brothers Cyril and Methodius came from a noble and pious family who lived in the Greek city of Soluni. Methodius was a warrior and ruled over the Bulgarian principality of the Byzantine Empire. This gave him the opportunity to learn the Slavic language.
Soon, however, he decided to leave the secular way of life and became a monk at the monastery on Mount Olympus. From childhood, Constantine expressed amazing abilities and received an excellent education together with the young emperor Michael III at the royal court.
Then he became a monk in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.
His brother Konstantin, who took the name Cyril as a monk, was distinguished from an early age with great abilities and perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages.
Soon the emperor sent both brothers to the Khazars to preach the gospel. According to legend, on the way they stopped in Korsun, where Konstantin found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in "Russian letters", and a person who spoke Russian, and began to learn to read and speak this language.
When the brothers returned to Constantinople, the emperor again sent them on an educational mission - this time to Moravia. The Moravian prince Rostislav was oppressed by the German bishops, and he asked the emperor to send teachers who could preach in the native language of the Slavs.
The Bulgarians were the first of the Slavic peoples to convert to Christianity. In Constantinople, the sister of the Bulgarian prince Bogoris (Boris) was held hostage. She was baptized with the name of Theodora and was brought up in the spirit of the holy faith. Around the year 860, she returned to Bulgaria and began to persuade her brother to accept Christianity. Boris was baptized, taking the name Michael. Saints Cyril and Methodius were in this country and by their preaching contributed much to the establishment of Christianity in it. From Bulgaria, the Christian faith spread to neighboring Serbia.
To fulfill the new mission, Constantine and Methodius compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated the main liturgical books (the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter) into the Slavic language. This happened in 863.
In Moravia, the brothers were received with great honor and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops who were conducting services in the Moravian churches in Latin, and they filed a complaint with Rome.
Taking with them the relics of St. Clement (Pope), discovered by them in Korsun, Constantine and Methodius set off for Rome.
Having learned that the brothers were carrying holy relics with them, Pope Adrian greeted them with honor and approved the service in the Slavic language. He ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and to perform the liturgy in the Slavic language.
Saint Methodius fulfilled his brother's will: having returned to Moravia already in the rank of archbishop, he worked here for 15 years. From Moravia, Christianity penetrated into Bohemia during the lifetime of Saint Methodius. The Bohemian prince Borivoi received holy baptism from him. His example was followed by his wife Lyudmila (who later became a martyr) and many others. In the middle of the 10th century, the Polish prince Mechislav married the Bohemian princess Dombrovka, after which he and his subjects adopted the Christian faith.
Subsequently, these Slavic peoples, through the efforts of Latin preachers and German emperors, were torn away from the Greek Church under the authority of the Pope, with the exception of the Serbs and Bulgarians. But all Slavs, despite the past centuries, still have a memory of the great Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners and the Orthodox faith that they tried to plant among them. The sacred memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius serves as a connecting link for all Slavic peoples.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
This is the only state and church holiday in our country. On this day, the church honors the memory of Cyril and Methodius, who invented the Cyrillic alphabet.
The church tradition of venerating the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius originated in the 10th century in Bulgaria as a sign of gratitude for the invention of the Slavic alphabet, which gave many peoples the opportunity to read the Gospel in their native language.
In 1863, when the alphabet turned one thousand years old, the holiday of Slavic writing and culture was first celebrated on a grand scale in Russia. Under Soviet rule, the holiday ceased to be celebrated, and the tradition was revived again in 1991.
The creators of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril (before taking monasticism - Constantine) and Methodius (Michael) grew up in the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki (now Thessaloniki, Greece) in a wealthy family with only seven children. Ancient Solun was part of the Slavic (Bulgar) territory and was a multilingual city in which different linguistic dialects coexisted, including Byzantine, Turkish and Slavic. The elder brother, Methodius, became a monk. The youngest, Cyril, excelled in the sciences. He perfectly mastered the Greek and Arabic languages, studied in Constantinople, was educated by the greatest scientists of his time - Leo Grammar and Photius (the future patriarch). After completing his studies, Constantine was ordained a priest and was appointed curator of the patriarchal library at the church of St. Sophia and taught philosophy at the higher school of Constantinople. Cyril's wisdom and power of faith were so great that he managed to defeat the heretic Aninius in the debate. Soon Constantine had his first disciples - Clement, Nahum and Angelarius, with whom he came to the monastery in 856, where his brother Methodius was the abbot.
In 857, the Byzantine emperor sent brothers to the Khazar Kaganate to preach the gospel. On the way, they stopped in the city of Korsun, where they miraculously found the relics of the Holy Martyr Clement, Pope of Rome. After that, the saints went to the Khazars, where they persuaded the Khazar prince and his entourage to accept Christianity and even took 200 Greek captives from there from captivity.
In the early 860s, the ruler of Moravia, Prince Rostislav, who was oppressed by the German bishops, turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael III with a request to send scholars, missionaries who knew the Slavic language. All divine services, sacred books and theology there were Latin, but the Slavs did not understand this language. “Our people profess the Christian faith, but we have no teachers who could explain the faith to us in our native language. Send us such teachers, ”he asked. Michael III answered the request with consent. He commissioned Cyril to translate the liturgical books into a language understandable to the inhabitants of Moravia.
However, in order to record the translation, it was necessary to create a written Slavic language and a Slavic alphabet. Realizing the scale of the task, Kirill turned to his older brother for help. They came to the conclusion that neither Latin nor Greek alphabets correspond to the sound palette of the Slavic language. In this regard, the brothers decided to remake the Greek alphabet and adapt it to the sound system of the Slavic language. The brothers did a great job of isolating and transforming sounds and tracing the letters of the new writing. Based on the developments, two alphabets were compiled - (named after Cyril) and the Glagolitic alphabet. According to historians, the Cyrillic alphabet was created later than the Glagolitic alphabet and on its basis. With the help of the Glagolitic alphabet, the Gospel, Psalter, Apostle and other books were translated from Greek. According to the official version, this happened in 863. Thus, we are now celebrating 1155 years since the creation of the Slavic alphabet.
In 864 the brothers presented their work in Moravia, where they were received with great honors. Soon, many students were assigned to study for them, and after a while the entire church order was translated into the Slavic language. This helped teach the Slavs all church services and prayers, in addition, the lives of the saints and other church books were translated into Slavic.
The acquisition of its own alphabet led to the fact that the Slavic culture made a major leap forward in its development: it acquired an instrument for recording its own history, for consolidating its own identity back in the days when the majority of modern European languages \u200b\u200bdid not exist yet.
Due to the constant intrigues of the German clergy, Cyril and Methodius twice had to make excuses before the Roman high priest. In 869, unable to withstand the stress, Cyril died at the age of 42.
When Cyril was in Rome, he had a vision in which the Lord told him about the approach of death. He accepted the schema (the highest level of Orthodox monasticism).
His work was continued by his elder brother Methodius, who was ordained bishop in Rome shortly thereafter. He died in 885 after being exiled, insulted and imprisoned for several years.
The Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were numbered among the saints in antiquity. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of the enlighteners of the Slavs has been honored since the 11th century. The most ancient services to saints that have survived to our time date back to the 13th century. The solemn celebration of the memory of the saints was established in the Russian Church in 1863.
For the first time, the Day of Slavic Written Language was celebrated in Bulgaria in 1857, and then in other countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus. In Russia, at the state level, the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture was first solemnly celebrated in 1863 (the 1000th anniversary of the creation of the Slavic alphabet was celebrated). In the same year, the Russian Holy Synod decided to celebrate the Day of Remembrance of Saints Cyril and Methodius on May 11 (24 in a new style). During the years of Soviet power, the holiday was consigned to oblivion and was restored only in 1986.
On January 30, 1991, May 24 was declared the Holiday of Slavic Literature and Culture, thereby giving it state status.
