Who are Cyril and Methodius for children. About Cyril and Methodius. Slavic writing

The creators of the Slavic alphabet 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 (the name Cyril Constantine received 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. The brothers Constantine and Methodius were born in Thessalonica (in Greek, Thessaloniki) in the family of a military leader, received a good education. Cyril studied in Constantinople at the court of the Byzantine emperor Michael III, knew Greek, Slavic, Latin, Hebrew well, Arabic, taught philosophy, for which he received the nickname Philosopher. Methodius was on 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 make a translation Holy Scripture into Slavic; however, the alphabet capable of conveying Slavic speech did not exist 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 Thessalonica (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 the verb - “speech” and the Cyrillic alphabet; scientists still 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 Slavonic. The Slavs got the opportunity to read and write in their own language. The Slavs not only had their own, Slavic, alphabet, but also the first Slavic literary language was born, many of whose words still live in Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages.

The mystery of the Slavic alphabet
The Old Slavonic alphabet got its name from a combination of two letters “az” and “beeches”, which denoted the first letters of the alphabet A and B. An interesting fact is that the Old Slavonic alphabet was graffiti, i.e. graffiti 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 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 there was major event, which 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 revealed to the Slavic people new way leading to the perfection of man on earth and the triumph of the new faith. If you look at historical events, the difference between which is only 125 years, you will understand that in fact the path of establishing Christianity on our land is directly related to the creation of the Slavic alphabet. Indeed, 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 is beyond doubt. 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 Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first "ABC" is a cryptography that has a deep religious and philosophical meaning, and most importantly, that it is built in such a way that it is a complex logical and mathematical organism. In addition, comparing many finds, the researchers came to the conclusion that the first Slavic alphabet was created as a holistic 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 Slavonic alphabet are letters-numbers. 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 upper part includes letters from A to F, i.e. from “az” to “fert” and is a list of letter-words that carry a meaning understandable to the 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 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 only to skim through it, but to read 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- This initial Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun I. However, its root meaning is the word “originally”, “begin” or “beginning”, although in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of the pronoun. Nevertheless, in some Old Slavonic writings one can find Az, which meant “one”, for example, “I will go to Vladimir”. Or, “starting from the basics” meant “starting from the beginning.” Thus, with the beginning of the alphabet, the Slavs denoted the entire philosophical meaning of being, 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 dispensation of the world. Actually, the alphabet itself is built on the principle of duality, where it is conditionally divided into two parts: the highest and the lowest, 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 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. At the same time, odd numbers were the embodiment of everything positive, kind and bright. In turn, even numbers represented darkness and evil. At the same time, the unit was considered the beginning of all beginnings and was very revered Slavic tribes. From the point of view of erotic numerology, it is believed that 1 is a phallic symbol, from which the continuation of the family begins. This number has several synonyms: 1 is one, 1 is one, 1 is times.

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

Lead – most interesting letter Old 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 Vedi, he meant secret knowledge, knowledge as the highest divine gift. If you add 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 created by him would subsequently have some kind of knowledge. No less important is the numerical load of this letter. After all, 2 - two, two, a couple 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 the two sides, heavenly and earthly balance. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Slavs considered the deuce devilish number and attributed to him a lot negative properties, considering that it is the two that opens the number series negative numbers that bring death to a person. That is why the birth of twins in Old Slavic families was considered bad sign who brought sickness and misfortune to the family. In addition, the Slavs a bad sign it was considered to rock the cradle together, two people to dry themselves with one towel and generally perform some action together. Despite this negative attitude to number 2, the Slavs recognized him magical power. For example, many rituals of exile evil spirits were carried out using two identical objects or with the participation of twins.

Having considered the highest part of the alphabet, we can state the fact that it is secret message Constantine to posterity. "Where is it seen?" - you ask. And now you try to read all the letters, knowing their true meaning. If you take several subsequent letters, then phrases-edifications are added:
Lead + The verb means "lead the teaching";
Rtsy + Word + Firmly can be understood as the phrase "speak the true word";
Firmly + Ouk can be interpreted as "strengthen the law."
If you look closely at other letters, you can also find the secret script that Constantine the Philosopher left behind.
Have you ever wondered why the letters in the alphabet are in this order, and not some other? The order of the "higher" part of the Cyrillic letters can be considered from two positions.
Firstly, the fact that each letter-word is formed into a meaningful phrase with the next one may mean a non-random pattern that was invented to quickly memorize the alphabet.
Secondly, the Old Slavonic alphabet can be considered from the point of view of numbering. That is, each letter is also a number. Moreover, all letters-numbers are arranged in ascending order. So, the letter A - “az” corresponds to one, B - 2, G - 3, D - 4, E - 5, and so on up to ten. The letter K begins with tens, which are listed here in the same way as 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 perfectly suited cursive writing, and the 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, which a person achieves, striving for goodness, light and truth.
Having studied the alphabet from the very beginning, we can come to the conclusion that Constantine left to his descendants main value- a creation that calls us to strive for self-improvement, learning, wisdom and love, remembering the dark paths of malice, envy and enmity.

Now, opening the alphabet, you will know that the creation that came into being thanks to the efforts of Constantine the Philosopher is not just a list of letters that begin words that express our fear and indignation, love and tenderness, respect and delight.

Cyril and Methodius - saints, equal to the apostles, Slavic enlighteners, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity, the first translators of liturgical books from Greek into Slavonic. Cyril was born around 827, died on February 14, 869. Before becoming a monk at the beginning of 869, he bore the name Constantine. His older brother Methodius was born around 820, died on April 6, 885. Both brothers were from Thessalonica (Thessalonica), their father was a military leader. In 863, Cyril and Methodius were sent by the Byzantine emperor to Moravia in order to preach Christianity in the Slavic language and assist the Moravian prince Rostislav in the fight against the German princes. Before leaving, Cyril created the Slavonic alphabet and, with the help of Methodius, translated several liturgical books from Greek into Slavonic: selected readings from the Gospel, apostolic letters. Psalter, etc. There is no consensus in science on the question of which alphabet Cyril created - Glagolitic or Cyrillic, but the first assumption is more likely. In 866 or 867, Cyril and Methodius, on the call of Pope Nicholas I, went to Rome, on the way they visited the Blaten Principality in Pannonia, where they also distributed the Slavic letter and introduced worship in the Slavic language. After arriving in Rome, Cyril fell seriously ill and died. Methodius was consecrated Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia and in 870 returned from Rome to Pannonia. In the middle of 884, Methodius returned to Moravia and was busy translating the Bible into Slavonic. Through their activities, Cyril and Methodius laid the foundation for Slavic writing and literature. This activity was continued in the South Slavic countries by their students, who were expelled from Moravia in 886 and moved to Bulgaria.

CYRIL AND METHODIUS - ENLIGHTENERS OF THE SLAVIC PEOPLES

In 863, ambassadors from Great Moravia from Prince Rostislav arrived in Byzantium to Emperor Michael III with a request to send them a bishop and a person who could explain the Christian faith in Slavonic. The Moravian prince Rostislav strove for the independence of the Slavic Church and had already applied to Rome with a similar request, but was refused. Michael III and Photius, just as in Rome, reacted to the request of Rostislav formally and, having sent missionaries to Moravia, did not ordain any of them as bishops. Thus, Constantine, Methodius and their entourage could only conduct educational activities, but did not have the right to ordain their disciples to the priestly and deacon ranks. This mission could not succeed and have of great importance, if Constantine had not brought to the Moravans an alphabet that was perfectly developed and convenient for the transmission of Slavic speech, as well as a translation into Slavic of the main liturgical books. Of course, the language of the translations brought by the brothers differed phonetically and morphologically from the living language. spoken language, which was spoken by the Moravans, but the language of liturgical books was initially perceived as a written, bookish, sacred, exemplary language. It was much more understandable than Latin, and a certain dissimilarity to the language used in everyday life, gave it greatness.

Constantine and Methodius read the Gospel in Slavonic at divine services, and the people reached out to the brothers and to Christianity. Konstantin and Methodius diligently taught the students the Slavic alphabet, worship, continued their translation activities. Churches where the service was conducted in Latin were empty, the Roman Catholic priesthood was losing influence and income in Moravia. Since Constantine was a simple priest, and Methodius was a monk, they did not have the right to put their students in church positions themselves. To solve the problem, the brothers had to go to Byzantium or Rome.

In Rome, Constantine handed over the relics of St. Clement to the newly ordained Pope Adrian II, so he received Constantine and Methodius very solemnly, with honor, took under his care the service in the Slavic language, ordered to put Slavic books in one of the Roman temples and perform a divine service over them. The Pope ordained Methodius as a priest, and his disciples as presbyters and deacons, and in a letter to the princes Rostislav and Kotsel, he legitimizes the Slavic translation of the Holy Scripture and the celebration of worship in the Slavic language.

The brothers spent almost two years in Rome. One reason for this is Constantine's deteriorating health. At the beginning of 869, he took the schema and the new monastic name Cyril, and on February 14 he died. By order of Pope Adrian II, Cyril was buried in Rome, in the church of St. Clement.

After the death of Cyril, Pope Adrian ordained Methodius to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. Returning to Pannonia, Methodius launched a vigorous activity to spread Slavic worship and writing. However, after the removal of Rostislav, Methodius did not have strong political support left. In 871, the German authorities arrested Methodius and held a trial against him, accusing the archbishop of having invaded the possessions of the Bavarian clergy. Methodius was imprisoned in a monastery in Swabia (Germany), where he spent two and a half years. Only thanks to the direct intervention of Pope John VIII, who succeeded the deceased Adrian II, in 873 Methodius was released and restored in all rights, but the Slavic service became not the main one, but only an additional one: the service was conducted in Latin, and sermons could be delivered in Slavonic.

After the death of Methodius, the opponents of the Slavic worship in Moravia became more active, and the worship itself, which rested on the authority of Methodius, was first oppressed, and then completely faded. Some of the students fled to the south, some were sold into slavery in Venice, some were killed. The closest disciples of Methodius Gorazd, Clement, Naum, Angellarius and Lawrence, imprisoned in iron, kept in prison, and then expelled from the country. The writings and translations of Constantine and Methodius were destroyed. This explains the fact that their works have not survived to this day, although there is a lot of information about their work. In 890, Pope Stephen VI anathematized Slavic books and Slavic worship, finally banning them.

The work begun by Constantine and Methodius was nevertheless continued by his disciples. Clement, Naum and Angellarius settled in Bulgaria and were the founders of Bulgarian literature. Orthodox Prince Boris-Michael, a friend of Methodius, supported his students. New Center Slavic writing originates in Ohrid (the territory of modern Macedonia). However, Bulgaria is under a strong cultural influence of Byzantium, and one of Constantine's students (most likely Clement) creates a script similar to the Greek script. This happens at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century, during the reign of Tsar Simeon. It is this system that gets the name Cyrillic in memory of the person who first attempted to create an alphabet suitable for recording Slavic speech.

THE QUESTION OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE SLAVIC ALPHABETs

The question of the independence of the Slavic alphabets is caused by the very nature of the outlines of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic letters, their sources. What were the Slavic alphabets - a new writing system or just a kind of Greek-Byzantine writing? In deciding this issue, the following factors must be taken into account:

In the history of writing, there was not a single letter-sound system that would have arisen completely independently, without the influence of previous writing systems. So, the Phoenician letter arose on the basis of the ancient Egyptian (although the principle of writing was changed), ancient Greek - on the basis of Phoenician, Latin, Slavic - on the basis of Greek, French, German - on the basis of Latin, etc.

Consequently, we can only talk about the degree of independence of the writing system. At the same time, it is much more important how accurately the modified and adapted original writing corresponds sound system the language it intends to serve. It is in this respect that the creators of Slavic writing showed a great philological flair, a deep understanding of phonetics. Old Church Slavonic as well as great graphic taste.

THE ONLY STATE CHURCH HOLIDAY

PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE RSFSR

RESOLUTION

ABOUT THE DAY OF SLAVIC WRITING AND CULTURE

Attaching great importance to the cultural and historical revival of the peoples of Russia and taking into account the international practice of celebrating the day Slavic enlighteners Cyril and Methodius, Presidium Supreme Council The RSFSR decides:

Chairman

Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR

In 863, 1150 years ago, the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius began their Moravian mission to create our written language. It is mentioned in the main Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years": "And the Slavs were glad that they heard about the greatness of God in their own language."

And a second anniversary. In 1863, 150 years ago, the Holy Synod of Russia decided: in connection with the celebration of the millennium of the Moravian Mission of the Holy Brothers Equal to the Apostles, to establish an annual celebration in honor of St. Methodius and Cyril on May 11 (24 CE).

In 1986, at the initiative of writers, especially the late Vitaly Maslov, first the first Writing Festival was held in Murmansk, and on next year it was widely celebrated in Vologda. Finally, on January 30, 1991, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted a resolution on the annual holding of the Days of Slavic Culture and Literature. Readers do not need to be reminded that May 24 is also the name day of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Logically, it seems that the only state-church holiday in Russia has every reason to acquire not only a national sound, as in Bulgaria, but also a pan-Slavic significance.

Cyril and Methodius, a story for children about Christian preachers, the creators of the Slavic alphabet and the Church Slavonic language, is summarized in this article.

Brief information about Cyril and Methodius

These two brothers were from Thessaloniki. Their father was a successful officer and served in the province under its governor. Cyril was born in 827, and Methodius in 815. The Greek brothers were fluent in both Greek and Slavic.

Life before monasticism

At the beginning of their journey, they took different paths. Methodius, who was called Michael in the world, was a military man and had the rank of strategist of the province of Macedonia. Cyril, who bore the name Constantine before being tonsured, on the contrary, with early years was fond of science and culture of neighboring peoples. He translated the Gospel into Slavonic. He also studied dialectics, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, philosophy and rhetoric in Constantinople. Thanks to his extensive knowledge, Constantine could marry an aristocrat and take important positions in the highest echelons of power. But he abandoned all this and became a simple keeper of the library in the Hagia Sophia. Of course, Konstantin did not stay here for a long time and began teaching at the capital's university. And Michael at that time also abandoned his military career and became the abbot of the monastery on the Small Olympus. Constantine was familiar with the emperor of Constantinople and, on his behalf, in 856 he went with scientists to the Small Olympus. Having met his brother there, they decided to write an alphabet for the Slavs.

Cyril and Methodius, creators of the Slavic alphabet

Their further life is connected with church activity. The prerequisite for the decision to start creating the Slavic alphabet was that in 862 the ambassadors of the Moravian prince Rostislav arrived in Constantinople. The prince asked the emperor of Constantinople to give him scientists who would teach his people the Christian faith in their language. Rostislav argued that his people had been baptized long ago, but worship was conducted in a foreign dialect. And this is very inconvenient, because not everyone understands it. The emperor, having discussed the request of the Moravian prince with the patriarch, sent the brothers to Moravia. Together with their students, they took up translation. First, the Thessalonica brothers translated Christian books into Bulgarian language. These were the Psalter, the Gospel and the Apostle. In Moravia, church leaders taught for 3 years local population literacy and led services. In addition, they visited Panonnia and Transcarpathian Rus where they also glorified the Christian faith.

Once they had a conflict with German priests who did not want to conduct services in the Slavic language. The Pope in 868 called the brothers to him. Here everyone came to a common compromise that the Slavs can conduct services in their native language.

While in Italy, Konstantin falls seriously ill. Realizing that death is not far off, he takes the monastic name Cyril. On his deathbed, Cyril asks his brother to continue his educational activities. February 14, 869 he died

Educational activities of Methodius

Returning to Moravia, Methodius (he had already taken the monastic name) does what his brother asked. But there was a change of priests in the country, and the Germans imprisoned him in a monastery. Pope John VIII, having learned about the incident, forbade the German ministers of the church to conduct liturgies until they release Methodius. In 874 he was released and became an archbishop. Often rituals and sermons in the Slavic language had to be carried out secretly. Methodius died on April 4, 885.

After the death of both brothers, he was canonized.

Cyril and Methodius interesting facts

• The age difference between Methodius and Cyril becomes 12 years. In addition to them, the family had 5 more sons.
• Cyril taught himself to read at an early age.
• Cyril spoke Slavic, Greek, Arabic, in Latin and Hebrew.
• May 24 is the day of honoring the memory of the brothers.
• Methodius served for 10 years in the monastery on the Small Olympus before they met with his brother and began their common preaching activity.

We hope that the message about Cyril and Methodius briefly helped you to find out information about these Christian preachers. And you can leave your message about Cyril and Methodius through the comment form below.

In the week of Slavic writing and culture, it is customary to remember people without whom the monuments would hardly have reached the descendants ancient Russian literature, chronicles and lives of saints. They went down in history not only as the creators of the alphabet, but also as preachers of Christian doctrine and philosophers. Today I propose to get acquainted with 9 interesting facts about the Thessalonica brothers Cyril and Methodius.

1. Cyril (younger) (827-869) and Methodius (senior) (815-885) were born in Thessaloniki (Byzantium). Slavic and Greek blood flowed in their blood. Their father Leo was the strategos (military and civil governor) of Thessaloniki. In total, seven children were brought up in the family.
2. The brothers did not immediately become preachers. Michael (Methodius) chose military affairs. Before being tonsured a monk, he rose to the rank of strategos of Slavinia (Macedonia). The younger Konstantin (Kirill) from childhood showed a craving for science. Yes, in adolescence the boy could not only read, but also understand the works of the church father Gregory the Theologian. A capable child was assigned to study at the palace of Emperor Michael III, where Cyril comprehended ancient philosophers and writers, practiced rhetoric, grammar of the Slavic, Jewish, Khazar, Arabic, Samaritan, Syrian (Sura) languages, learned astronomy and culture of the ancient Greeks together with the crown prince .

3. Unlike his Methodius, Cyril grew up sickly, weak child. His big-headed one will always be protected by his older brother, until his death. Methodius, having served in a government post for about 10 years and knowing the vanity of life, took the veil as a monk on Mount Olympus.

4. Cyril preferred a different path to an advantageous marriage: he took the monastic rank and devoted his life to spreading Christian doctrine, taught philosophy in Constantinople, proved the advantage of his faith in Khazar Khaganate. However, this mission was a failure.
5. Moravian sermons were more successful. With the help of his brother Saint Methodius and the disciples of Gorazd, Clement, Savva, Naum and Angelyar, Cyril compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated the Greek liturgical books into Slavonic: the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter. This was in 863.

6. Next, the path of the brothers lay in Rome, where they were met with great honor. The Pope approved the service in the Slavic language, and the books translated by the brothers should be distributed to all churches. Adrian II ordained Methodius to the episcopate.

7. In Rome, Cyril became very ill and died on February 14, 869 at the age of 42. Departing to God, Saint Cyril commanded his brother Methodius to continue their common work - enlightenment Slavic peoples light true faith. His body was buried in the church of St. Clement. Subsequently, the relics of St. Cyril began to work miracles.

8. Methodius became an archbishop, carrying Christian knowledge throughout Europe, being persecuted and persecuted by the Lutherans. AT last years In his lifetime, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated into Slavonic the entire Old Testament, except for the Maccabees, as well as the Canons of the Holy Fathers and the patristic books (Paterik). The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 at the age of about 60 years. The funeral service for the saint was performed in three languages ​​- Slavonic, Greek and Latin. He was buried in the cathedral church of Velegrad.

9. It is noteworthy that the creators of the Slavic alphabet never visited Kievan Rus. Nevertheless, its ancient people revered Cyril and Methodius, imprinting with the help of the letters that they invented, “The Life of Constantine the Philosopher”, “The Life of Methodius” and “A Praise to Cyril and Methodius”.

And Methodius were born in the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki, Slavic. "Thesalt"). Their father is named Leo, good kind and rich ", was a drungaria, that is, an officer, under the strategos (military and civil governor) of Thessaloniki. Their grandfather (it is not clear on his father or mother) was a great nobleman in Constantinople, but then, apparently, he fell out of favor and ended his days in obscurity in Thessalonica. The family had seven sons, and Methodius (researchers do not know whether this name was baptismal or given at tonsure) is the eldest, and Konstantin (Cyril) is the youngest of them.

According to the most common version in science, Cyril and Methodius were of Greek origin. In the 19th century, some Slavic scientists (Mikhail Pogodin, Germengild Irechek) defended their Slavic origin, based on their excellent command of the Slavic language - a circumstance that modern scientists consider insufficient for judging ethnicity. The Bulgarian tradition calls the brothers Bulgarians (to which the Macedonian Slavs were included until the 20th century), relying in particular on the prologue “The Life of Cyril” (in a later edition), where it is said that he “has come from s and blgarin from Soloun grad”; this idea is readily supported by modern Bulgarian scientists.

Thessalonica, where the brothers were born, was a bilingual city. In addition to the Greek language, they sounded the Slavic Solunian dialect, which was spoken by the tribes surrounding Thessaloniki: Dragovites, Sagudats, Vayunits, Smolyans, and which, according to the research of modern linguists, formed the basis of the language of translations of Cyril and Methodius, and with them the entire Church Slavonic language . An analysis of the language of the translations of Cyril and Methodius shows that they spoke Slavonic as their native language. The latter, however, does not yet speak in favor of their Slavic origin and apparently did not distinguish them from other residents of Thessalonica, since The Life of Methodius ascribes to Emperor Michael III such words addressed to the saints: talk."

Years of study and teaching

Both brothers received excellent education. Methodius, with the support of a friend and patron of the family, the great logothete (head of the state treasury) eunuch Theoktist, made a good military and administrative career, crowned with the post of strategist of Slavinia, a Byzantine province located on the territory of Macedonia. Then, however, he took the veil as a monk.

Cyril, unlike his brother, initially followed the spiritual and scientific path. According to the "Life", compiled in the circle of his direct students, from the very beginning of his teaching in Thessalonica, he impressed those around him with his abilities and memory. Once, in his youth, while hunting, he lost his beloved hawk, and this made such an impression on him that he gave up all the amusements and, drawing a cross on the wall of his room, delved into the study of the works of Gregory the Theologian, to whom he added special poetic praise. Under the patronage of the logothete Theoktist, he went to Constantinople, where, according to his life, he studied with the emperor (but the young Michael was much younger than Constantine, perhaps in reality he was supposed to help in teaching the child emperor). Among his teachers are the largest the scholars of that time, the future Patriarch Photius I and Leo Mathematician. There he (according to the author of the Life, as if in three months) studied “To Homer and geometry, and Leo and Photius to dialectics and all philosophical sciences in addition: and rhetoric, and arithmetic, and astronomy, and music, and all other Hellenic arts ". Subsequently, he also mastered Aramaic and Hebrew. At the end of his studies, he refused to start a very promising secular career by concluding an advantageous marriage with the goddaughter of the logothete (together with whom the “archontia” was also promised to begin with, that is, the administration of one of the semi-autonomous Slavic regions of Macedonia, and in the future, the post of strategist), and therefore was sent along the path of church service (since Konstantin was only 15 years old at that time, he had to go through several more preliminary steps in church hierarchy, before becoming a priest) and entered the service as, in the words of his life, "the books of the patriarch in St. Sophia". Under the "reader of the patriarch" (the patriarch was Photius, the teacher of Constantine) can be understood as hartofilax (head of the patriarch's office, literally - "keeper of the archive"), or maybe bibliophilax - the patriarchal librarian; B. Florea prefers the second option, since the young deacon had no administrative experience for such a responsible position as the patriarch's secretary. However, at some point, he unexpectedly abandoned his post and hid in the monastery. After 6 months, the patriarch's envoys found him and begged him to return to Constantinople, where he began to teach philosophy at the same Magnavra University, where he had recently studied himself (since then, the nickname Constantine the Philosopher has become stronger behind him). According to the Life of Constantine, he won the dispute famous leader iconoclasts, the former patriarch John Grammar (appears in the Life under the contemptuous nickname "Annius"); however, modern scholars almost unanimously consider the episode to be fictitious.

Khazar mission

Finding the relics of St. Clement, Pope

Constantine-Cyril played a leading role in this event, which he later described himself in the “Sermon for the Uncovering of the Relics of Clement, Pope of Rome”, which has come down in a Slavonic translation. At the same time, the acquisition itself took place with the participation of high-ranking representatives of the Constantinople clergy and the local bishop. E. V. Ukhanova believes that both the acquisition of the relics and their subsequent transfer by Constantine-Cyril to Rome (see below) were not only acts of piety, but also political acts of the Constantinople court aimed at reconciling Constantinople with the Roman throne in two moments when it seemed possible: when Photius was elected patriarch (before his well-known break with Pope Nicholas I) and after the removal of Photius by the new emperor Basil the Macedonian.

Moravian mission

If you ask the Slavic literate, saying: “Who created the letters or translated the books for you?”, Then everyone knows and, answering, they say: “Saint Constantine the Philosopher, named Cyril - he created the letters for us and translated the books, and Methodius, his brother. Because those who saw them are still alive. And if you ask: “what time?”, then they know and say: “that in the time of Michael, the king of Greece, and Boris, the prince of Bulgaria, and Rostislav, the prince of Moravia, and Kotsel, the prince of Blaten, in the summer from the creation of the whole world» .

If you ask the Slovenian boukar, saying: “Who did you create the letters, or did you offer the books?” - Then you see and answer, they say: “Saint Kostantin the Philosopher, called Kiril, create the letters for us and offer his books, and brother Methodius The essence of the bo is still alive, and the essence has seen them. And if you ask: “at what time?” then they lead and say: “like in the time of Michael, the Tsar of Grchsk, and Boris, the Prince of Bulgaria, and Rastitsa, the Prince of Moravia, and Kotsel, the Prince of Blatnsk, in the summer from the creation of the whole world”

Thus, the creation of the Slavic alphabet can be attributed to the year 863 after the birth of Christ, according to the Alexandrian chronology, used at that time by the Bulgarian chroniclers.

Experts have not yet come to a consensus on which of the two Slavic alphabets - Glagolitic or Cyrillic - is Konstantin. Chernorizet Khrabr, however, mentions that Cyril's alphabet had 38 characters, which indicates a Glagolitic alphabet.

Roman trip

Before his death, fearing that Methodius would return to the monastery on Olympus, he said to his brother:

“Here, brother, we were like two oxen in harness, plowed one furrow, and I y the forest<, дойдя борозду,>I fall, my day is over. 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?

Original text (old Slav.)

““Behold, brother, you are the wife of Byakhov, one rein is heavy, and I fall on the forest, having finished my days. And if you love the mountain Velmy, then do not break the mountain for the sake of leaving your teachings, more than you can be saved.”

The Pope ordained Methodius to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia.

Return of Methodius to Pannonia

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

In 881, Methodius, at the invitation of Emperor Basil I the Macedonian, arrived in Constantinople. There he spent three years, after which, together with his students, he returned to Moravia (Velegrad). With the help of three students, he translated the Old Testament and patristic books into Slavonic.

In 885, Methodius fell seriously ill. Before his death, he appointed his disciple Gorazd as his successor. On April 4, on Palm Sunday, he asked to be carried to the temple, where he read a sermon. On the same day he died. The funeral of Methodius took place on three languages- Slavic, Greek and Latin.

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 (Gorazd Ohrid and Kliment Ohrid) and Croatia.

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

Disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius

The aforementioned disciples are revered in the Balkans as holy sevens.

Heritage

Cyril and Methodius developed a special alphabet for writing texts in the Slavic language - Glagolitic. At present, the point of view of V. A. Istrin prevails among historians, but is not generally recognized, according to which the Cyrillic alphabet was created on the basis of 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 from Greek the Holy Scriptures and a number of liturgical books.

At the same time, it should be noted that even if the Cyrillic letter styles were developed by Clement, he relied on the work on isolating the sounds of the Slavic language done by Cyril and Methodius, and this work is the main part of any work to create a new script. Modern scholars note high level this work, which gave designations for almost all scientifically distinguished Slavic sounds, which we owe, apparently, to the outstanding linguistic abilities of Konstantin-Cyril, noted in the sources.

Sometimes it is asserted that there was a Slavic script before Cyril and Methodius, based on a passage from the life of Cyril, which refers to books written in "Russian letters":

"And found the Philosopher here<в Корсуни>The Gospel and the Psalter, written in Russian letters, and found a man speaking that speech. And he talked with him and understood the meaning of the language, correlating the differences between vowels and consonants with his own language. And offering up a prayer to God, he soon began to read and speak. And many were amazed at this, glorifying God.

Original text (old Slav.)

“Receive that Gospel and the Psalter, Russian writings are written, and you will find a person, speaking with that conversation. And having conversed with him, we will receive the power of speech, applying various vowel and consonant letters to our conversations. And holding a prayer to God, soon begin to clean and say. And I am giving him wonder, praising God.

However, it does not follow from the passage that the "Russian language" mentioned there is Slavonic; on the contrary, the fact that Konstantin-Kirill's mastery of it is perceived as a miracle directly indicates that it was not a Slavic language. It should be remembered at the same time that in 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 some modern linguists agree with, who believe that one can talk about the unity of the Proto-Slavic language until the XII century. . Most researchers believe that the fragment either refers to the Gospel in the Gothic language (an idea first expressed by Shafarik), or the manuscript contains an error and instead of "Russians" should be considered "Sursky", that is, "Syrian". In confirmation, they indicate that the author makes a special distinction between vowels and consonants: as you know, in Aramaic writing, vowels are indicated by superscripts. It is also indicative that in general the entire fragment is given in the context of the story about Constantine's study of the Hebrew language and Samaritan writing, which he took up in Korsun, preparing for a dispute in Khazaria. Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov) also points out that in the same life it is emphasized more than once that Constantine was the creator of Slavic letters and there were no Slavic letters before him - that is, the author of the life does not consider the described “Russian” letters to be Slavic.

veneration

They are revered as saints both in the East and in the West.

The widespread veneration of Cyril and Methodius begins with mid-nineteenth century, when the names of the Slavic first teachers become a symbol of the self-determination of the cultures of the Slavic peoples. For the first time, the celebration of the day of memory of Cyril and Methodius was held on May 11, 1858 in Plovdiv, and the Greeks did not participate in the celebrations. The celebration itself had the character of a symbolic act of confrontation with the Greek hierarchy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, under whose jurisdiction the Bulgarian Church was then.

The first practical steps towards the resumption of church veneration of the Slavic first teachers were taken by Bishop Anthony of Smolensk   (Amfiteatrov), who addressed the Chief Procurator of the Synod in the summer of 1861 with a report in which he drew attention to the fact that in the Menaia on May 11 there was no service to Cyril and Methodius, and in There is neither a troparion nor a kontakion for them in the calendar. That is, in the liturgical practice of countries that used liturgical books printed in Russia (in Serbia, Bulgaria and Russia), a special service was not performed for Slavic primary teachers. Such a service had to be compiled and put into liturgical use. The initiative was supported by Metropolitan Filaret  (Drozdov).

Two years after these celebrations, the Cyril and Methodius Collection was published, edited by M. P. Pogodin, which included the publication significant amount primary sources related to the activities of Cyril and Methodius, including ancient services to the Slavic primary teachers. Also, articles were placed here that emphasized the political aspect of the Cyril and Methodius celebrations.

Feast in honor of Cyril and Methodius - Public Holiday in Russia (since 1991), Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Republic of Macedonia. In Russia, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia, the holiday is celebrated on May 24; in Russia and Bulgaria it bears the name, in Macedonia - the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the holiday is celebrated on July 5th.

In Bulgaria there is the Order of Cyril and Methodius. Also in Bulgaria, back in the communist period, a public holiday was established - the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture (coinciding with the day church commemoration Cyril and Methodius), which is widely celebrated today.

In mid-July 1869, in the century-old forest across the Tsemes River, Czech settlers who arrived in Novorossiysk founded the village of Mefodievka, which received the name in honor of St. Methodius.

To the cinema

• Cyril and Methodius - Apostles of the Slavs (2013)

see also

• Day Slavic culture and writing (Day of Cyril and Methodius)

Notes

1. Duychev, Ivan. Bulgarian Middle Ages. - Sofia: Science and Art, 1972. - S. 96.
2. LIFE KONSTANTIN-KIRILL
3. “Grandfather is great and glorious evil, even near the Caesar sitting, and he rejected the glory given to him by will, he was exiled, and he came to another land, impoverished. And give birth to me ”- quotes the life of the words of Konstantin himself - see LIFE KONSTANTIN-KIRILL
4. Takhiaos, Anthony Aemilius-N. Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius Enlighteners of the Slavs. Sergiev Posad, 2005. P. 11.
5. Cyril and Methodius Equal to the Apostles Teachers Slovenian
6. Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05, s.v. "Cyril and Methodius, Saints"; Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica Incorporated, Warren E. Preece - 1972, p.846
7. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
8. Cyril and Methodius// New encyclopedic Dictionary. Volume 21. 1914
9. E. M. VERESHCHAGIN From the history of the emergence of the first literary language of the Slavs. Translation technique of Cyril and Methodius)
10. Cyrillo-Methodius Encyclopedia., Sofia., BAN edition (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences), 1985
11. S. B. Bernshtein. Slavic languages. Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary. - M., 1990. - S. 460-461