The main characters of which are the Slavic first teachers, the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius. Today everyone knows about them. And if you ask “Why do we remember them after eleven and a half centuries?”, you will most likely hear: “They came up with our alphabet.” True, of course, but the alphabet is an infinitesimal part of what the brothers accomplished.

The first huge work of Cyril and Methodius consisted in the fact that they passed through their hearing, honed by the knowledge of many languages ​​and many scripts (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, maybe Arabic...), the sound matter of the Slavic language in order to determine what sounds can be designated by letters of the Greek alphabet, and for which special signs must be invented. Their own linguistic experience helped them complete this work: Slavic speech was not unfamiliar to them: in their hometown of Thessaloniki it sounded on a par with Greek. But this was an exclusively oral element; the Slavs did not know writing. And it was impossible to simply take the Greek letter with its huge tradition: in the Greek language, for example, there were no sibilants, so the letters Ts, Ch, Sh, Zh, Shch had to be invented.

The result of this work was the Slavic alphabet, which we call the Cyrillic alphabet and which is now written in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro.

We must not forget that not only the Slavs write in Cyrillic: writings based on the Cyrillic alphabet were created already in the 20th century for all the peoples of the Soviet Union - Moldovans, Tatars, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis... True, some after the collapse of the Union abandoned Cyrillic alphabet - Moldova, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan. And now Kazakhstan is thinking about this.

The second incredibly important and extremely difficult work that Cyril and Methodius took upon themselves was the translation of the Holy Scriptures and other church texts from Greek to Slavic language. They are the first Slavic translators to record the fruits of their labors in writing. It is simply impossible to imagine now the enormity of this work. In the book “Cyril and Methodius” by Yuri Loschits, which was published in the series “Life of Remarkable People” in 2013, when we celebrated 1150 years of the feat of the Thessaloniki brothers, you can read about the translations of Cyril and Methodius.

When the brothers worked together, they managed to translate the Psalter, the Gospel with the Apostle, the Rules of the Law and the Books of the Fathers. And it took almost six years - from 863 to 869, when Cyril dies. Methodius ends up in dungeons. Released in 873, he could return to translation work only in 882. This is how it is described in his life, created by his students: “from your disciples, plant two priests of cursive writing, put all the books on board”. Translated into modern Russian, it could look like this: “Having chosen two priests from among his students who learned to write very quickly, he soon translated all the books” (their listing follows). That is, the picture that appears before us is this: Methodius holds a Greek book in his hands, reads it and pronounces the Slavic text, which his students record simultaneously in two copies. Today, translators into and from Slavic languages, of course, work completely differently, but they are all followers of Cyril and Methodius.

Cyril and Methodius not only translated, but also created the first written texts in the Slavic language. They composed prayers, for example, canon in memory of Dmitry Solunsky, whose life we ​​grew up reading in childhood. Methodius composed hagiography his brother, and his disciples compiled the life of Methodius. This was the beginning of Slavic hagiographic literature, which for many centuries formed the basis of reading for an educated person.

But in order to translate and create new texts with completely new content for the Slavs, it was necessary to have the appropriate vocabulary - and Cyril and Methodius became the creators of Slavic sacred lexicon. When creating it, the task was to select everything possible from the Slavic language (and then the Slavic languages ​​were still so close that they could be spoken of as one language), so that the texts of a completely new content would be understandable to the parishioners of the first Slavic churches. And at the same time, there was a need to introduce some Greek words, to bring them closer to Slavic grammar.

Let's take just two examples - two realities of church life - censer And stole(part of the priest's vestment, ribbon around the neck). In the first case, a Slavic word was taken, a verbal noun from the verb cense- How soap from wash, A awl from sew. In the second case - Greek word, the internal form of which is quite transparent: epi means “around” trachil- “neck” (remember the medical terms trachea, trachyitis). If you translate this word in parts (this translation is called tracing paper), you will get something like an o-collar: o - around, shey - neck, nik - object. It is difficult to say whether the Slavs had a collar as a dog accessory, but you must admit that the word does not sound sacred. That's probably why the Greek word was chosen.

Thus, sifting through a mass of words - Slavic and Greek, Cyril and Methodius created the vocabulary of Slavic translations of liturgical books. They took some ready-made - word holiness the Slavs already had it, they just had to rethink it. Others had to be taken from Greek, like the word angel, what does “messenger” mean - who would now believe that this is not Russian word? The third words had to be “produced” - Annunciation(this is a copy of the word gospel, thanksgiving, beneficence).

Today this dictionary has been studied to the smallest detail. It contains 10,000 words, and half of them are not related to the Slavic speech, then alive; these are Greekisms or what was done by Cyril and Methodius.

Finally, it must be said that Cyril and Methodius are the first Slavic teachers of literature. Their students were not only able to absorb Greek learning, instilled in the Slavic mind, but also preserve the tradition of writing in a very difficult, tragic situation, when the mission of the Slavic first teachers in the Great Moravian Principality was defeated, and their students were sold into slavery.

So, Byzantine scientists and theologians presented the Slavs with the most valuable fruits of their labors, which later began to be called philological. This means that we can say that they are the first Slavic philologists, and at the same time take a look at the philological field of activity, without which no culture is possible. Of course, their studies are not theoretical philology, but applied - one that ensures verbal communication in society, creating texts and organizing their circulation. Applied philology is primary - it is aimed at creating texts and organizing their circulation; theoretical philology studies texts and the patterns of their circulation. If we use the modern terminology of philological disciplines, we can say that Cyril and Methodius are phoneticians, graphic artists and even font designers, translators, lexicologists and grammarians, writers and creators of genres new to the Slavs. In general, all this means that they are the creators the first Slavic literary language, which has been sounding under the arches of Orthodox churches since the twelfth century, penetrating the consciousness of the Slavs of many generations and forming the Orthodox perception of the world and the Slavic word. Of course this one literary language which we call Old Slavonic, could not help but change in time and space, its national varieties were formed - Russian, Serbian, but they are based on the language created by the genius of the Slavic first teachers Cyril and Methodius.

The coming May days are dedicated to their memory - we call them Days of Slavic Literature and Culture. Everyone can choose how to celebrate these days. And I invite everyone to the Regional Library (in the Kremlin) to write an open dictation - that is, to celebrate the holiday of Slavic writing - with a letter, with my own hand in the society of Novgorod literati. The dictation will be dedicated to the homeland of Cyril and Methodius - the city of Thessaloniki, and we will write it on Sunday, May 28.

The holy Slovenian teachers strove for solitude and prayer, but in life they constantly found themselves in the forefront - both when they defended Christian truths before Muslims, and when they took on great educational work. Their success sometimes looked like a defeat, but as a result, it is to them that we owe the acquisition of “the gift of the most valuable and greater than all silver, and gold, and precious stones, and all transitory wealth." This gift is .

Brothers from Thessalonica

The Russian language was baptized back in the days when our ancestors did not consider themselves Christians - in the ninth century. In the west of Europe, the heirs of Charlemagne divided the Frankish empire, in the East the Muslim states strengthened, squeezing Byzantium, and in the young Slavic principalities, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, the true founders of our culture, preached and worked.

The history of the activities of the holy brothers has been studied with all possible care: the surviving written sources have been commented on many times, and pundits argue about the details of the biographies and acceptable interpretations of the received information. And how could it be otherwise when we are talking about the creators of the Slavic alphabet? And yet, to this day, the images of Cyril and Methodius are lost behind the abundance of ideological constructions and simple inventions. The Khazar Dictionary by Milorad Pavic, in which the enlighteners of the Slavs are embedded in a multifaceted theosophical mystification, is not the worst option.

Kirill, the youngest in both age and hierarchical rank, until the end of his life was simply a layman and monastic tonsure with the name Kirill accepted only on his deathbed. While Methodius, the elder brother, held large positions, was the ruler of a separate region Byzantine Empire, abbot of the monastery and ended his life as archbishop. And yet, traditionally, Kirill takes honorable first place, and the alphabet - the Cyrillic alphabet - is named after him. All his life he bore another name - Constantine, and also a respectful nickname - Philosopher.

Konstantin was an extremely gifted man. “The speed of his abilities was not inferior to his diligence,” the life, compiled shortly after his death, repeatedly emphasizes the depth and breadth of his knowledge. Translating into the language of modern realities, Constantine the Philosopher was a professor at the capital's University of Constantinople, very young and promising. At the age of 24 (!), he received his first important government assignment - to defend the truth of Christianity in the face of Muslims of other faiths.

Missionary politician

This medieval inseparability of spiritual, religious tasks and state affairs looks bizarre these days. But even for it one can find some analogy in the modern world order. And today, superpowers, the newest empires, base their influence not only on military and economic power. There is always an ideological component, an ideology that is “exported” to other countries. For the Soviet Union it was communism. For the United States, it is a liberal democracy. Some people accept exported ideas peacefully, while others have to resort to bombing.

For Byzantium, Christianity was the doctrine. The strengthening and spread of Orthodoxy was perceived by the imperial authorities as paramount state task. Therefore, as a modern researcher of the Cyril and Methodius heritage writes A.-E. Tahiaos, “a diplomat who entered into negotiations with enemies or “barbarians,” was always accompanied by a missionary.” Constantine was such a missionary. That is why it is so difficult to separate his actual educational activities from his political ones. Just before his death, he symbolically resigned from public service and became a monk.

“I am no longer a servant of the king or anyone else on earth; Only God Almighty was and will be forever,” Kirill will now write.

His life tells about his Arab and Khazar mission, about tricky questions and witty and deep answers. Muslims asked him about the Trinity, how Christians could worship “many gods,” and why, instead of resisting evil, they strengthened the army. Khazar Jews disputed the Incarnation and blamed Christians for non-compliance with Old Testament regulations. Konstantin's answers - bright, figurative and brief - if they did not convince all opponents, then, in any case, they delivered a polemical victory, leading those listening to admiration.

"Nobody else"

The Khazar mission was preceded by events that greatly changed the internal structure of the Solun brothers. At the end of the 50s of the 9th century, both Constantine, a successful scientist and polemicist, and Methodius, shortly before appointed archon (head) of the province, retired from the world and led a solitary ascetic lifestyle for several years. Methodius even takes monastic vows. The brothers are already with early years they were distinguished by their piety, and the thought of monasticism was not alien to them; however, there were probably external reasons for such a drastic change: a change in the political situation or personal sympathies of those in power. However, the lives are silent about this.

But the bustle of the world receded for a while. Already in 860, the Khazar Kagan decided to organize an “interreligious” dispute, in which Christians had to defend the truth of their faith before Jews and Muslims. According to the life, the Khazars were ready to accept Christianity if the Byzantine polemicists “won the upper hand in disputes with the Jews and Saracens.” They found Constantine again, and the emperor personally admonished him with the words: “Go, Philosopher, to these people and talk about the Holy Trinity with Her help. No one else can take on this with dignity.” On the trip, Konstantin took his older brother as his assistant.

The negotiations ended generally successfully, although the Khazar state did not become Christian, the Kagan allowed those who wished to be baptized. There were also political successes. We should pay attention to an important incidental event. On the way, the Byzantine delegation stopped in Crimea, where near modern Sevastopol (ancient Chersonesos) Constantine found the relics of the ancient saint Pope Clement. Subsequently, the brothers will transfer the relics of St. Clement to Rome, which will further win over Pope Adrian. It is with Cyril and Methodius that the Slavs begin their special veneration of Saint Clement - let us remember the majestic church in his honor in Moscow not far from the Tretyakov Gallery.

Sculpture of the Holy Apostles Cyril and Methodius in the Czech Republic. Photo: pragagid.ru

Birth of writing

862 We have reached a historic milestone. This year, the Moravian prince Rostislav sends a letter to the Byzantine emperor with a request to send preachers capable of instructing his subjects in Christianity in the Slavic language. Great Moravia, which at that time included certain areas of the modern Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Poland, was already Christian. But the German clergy enlightened her, and all the services, holy books and theology were Latin, incomprehensible to the Slavs.

And again at court they remember Constantine the Philosopher. If not he, then who else will be able to complete the task, the complexity of which both the emperor and the patriarch, Saint Photius, were aware of?

The Slavs did not have a written language. But it was not even the fact of the absence of letters that presented the main problem. They did not have abstract concepts and the wealth of terminology that usually develops in “book culture.”

High Christian theology, Scripture and liturgical texts had to be translated into a language that did not have any means to do so.

And the Philosopher coped with the task. Of course, one should not imagine that he worked alone. Konstantin again called on his brother for help, and other employees were also involved. It was a kind of scientific institute. The first alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet - was compiled on the basis of Greek cryptography. The letters correspond to the letters of the Greek alphabet, but look different - so much so that the Glagolitic alphabet was often confused with eastern languages. In addition, for sounds specific to the Slavic dialect, Hebrew letters were taken (for example, “sh”).

Then they translated the Gospel, checked expressions and terms, and translated liturgical books. The volume of translations carried out by the holy brothers and their direct disciples was very significant - by the time of the baptism of Rus', a whole library of Slavic books already existed.

The price of success

However, the activities of educators could not be limited only to scientific and translation research. It was necessary to teach the Slavs new letters, a new book language, a new worship. The transition to a new liturgical language was especially painful. It is not surprising that the Moravian clergy, who had previously followed German practice, reacted with hostility to the new trends. Even dogmatic arguments were put forward against the Slavic translation of services, the so-called trilingual heresy, as if one can only speak to God in “sacred” languages: Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

Dogmatics intertwined with politics, canon law with diplomacy and power ambitions - and Cyril and Methodius found themselves in the center of this tangle. The territory of Moravia was under the jurisdiction of the pope, and although the Western Church was not yet separated from the Eastern, the initiative of the Byzantine emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople (namely, this was the status of the mission) was still viewed with suspicion. The German clergy, closely associated with the secular authorities of Bavaria, saw in the brothers’ undertakings the implementation of Slavic separatism. And indeed, the Slavic princes, in addition to spiritual interests, also pursued state interests - their liturgical language and church independence would have significantly strengthened their position. Finally, the pope was in tense relations with Bavaria, and support for the revitalization of church life in Moravia against the “trilinguals” fit well into the general direction of his policy.

Political controversies cost the missionaries dearly. Due to the constant intrigues of the German clergy, Constantine and Methodius twice had to justify themselves to the Roman high priest. In 869, unable to withstand the overstrain, St. Cyril died (he was only 42 years old), and his work was continued by Methodius, who was ordained to the rank of bishop in Rome soon after. Methodius died in 885, having survived exile, insults and imprisonment that lasted several years.

The most valuable gift

Methodius was succeeded by Gorazd, and already under him the work of the holy brothers in Moravia practically died out: liturgical translations were prohibited, followers were killed or sold into slavery; many fled to neighboring countries themselves. But this was not the end. This was only the beginning of Slavic culture, and therefore Russian culture too. The center of Slavic book literature moved to Bulgaria, then to Russia. Books began to use the Cyrillic alphabet, named after the creator of the first alphabet. Writing grew and became stronger. And today, proposals to abolish Slavic letters and switch to Latin ones, which were actively promoted by People’s Commissar Lunacharsky in the 1920s, sound, thank God, unrealistic.

So next time, dotting the “e” or agonizing over Russification new version photoshop, think about the wealth we have.

Artist Jan Matejko

Very few nations have the honor of having their own alphabet. This was understood already in the distant ninth century.

“God has created even now in our years - having declared the letters for your language - something that was not given to anyone after the first times, so that you too would be numbered among the great nations who glorify God in their own language... Accept the gift, most valuable and greater than any silver, and gold, and precious stones, and all transitory wealth,” wrote Emperor Michael to Prince Rostislav.

And after this we are trying to separate Russian culture from Orthodox culture? Russian letters were invented by Orthodox monks for church books; at the very basis of Slavic book literature lies not just influence and borrowing, but a “transplantation” of Byzantine church book literature. The book language, cultural context, terminology of high thought were created directly together with the library of books by the Slavic apostles Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Equal to the Apostles Cyril (†869) and Methodius (†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

Konstantin studied with the best teachers Constantinople philosophy, dialectics, geometry, arithmetic, rhetoric, astronomy, as well as many languages. 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 custodian 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.

On next year Cyril, together with George, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, goes 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 have no teachers who could explain the faith to us in our own language. 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 the Moravian churches on Latin, 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 last years During his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated the entire Old Testament(except for the Maccabean books) and patristic books.

In 885, Methodius became seriously ill. Before his death, he appointed his student Gorazd as his successor. 6/19 April 885, V Palm Sunday, he asked to be taken to the temple, where he read a sermon and 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 on Old Slavonic language. 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 language changes, and as a result of numerous reforms in each language it acquired its own differences. Different versions Cyrillic alphabet is used in Eastern Europe, as well as Central and Northern Asia. How official letter, 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.

Information from the website hram-troicy.prihod.ru

Is it possible to imagine life without electricity? Of course it's difficult! But it is known that people used to read and write by candles and torches. Imagine life without writing. Some of you will now think to yourself, well, it would be great: you don’t have to write dictations and essays. But then there will be no libraries, books, posters, letters, and even Email and "text messages". Language, like a mirror, reflects the whole world, our whole life. And reading written or printed texts, it’s as if we are getting into a time machine and can be transported to both recent times and the distant past.

But people did not always master the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia. Do you know who we should be grateful to for our written word, in which our favorite books are written? For our literacy, which we learn at school? For our great Russian literature, which you are becoming familiar with and will continue to 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!

We need to create an alphabet for the Slavs...

It was thanks to the works of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius that the Slavic alphabet was created.

The brothers were born in the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki in the family of a military leader. Methodius was the eldest son, and, having chosen the military path, went to serve in one of Slavic regions. His brother, Cyril, was born 7-10 years later than Methodius, and already in childhood he passionately fell in love with science and amazed his teachers with his brilliant abilities. At the age of 14, his parents sent him to Constantinople, where he quickly studied grammar and geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine, ancient art, and mastered Slavic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic languages. Refusing the high administrative position offered to him, Kirill took a modest position as 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 manager of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. Being an honest and straightforward man, intolerant of injustice, he left military service and retired to a monastery.

In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople to ask for preachers to be sent to their country and tell the population about Christianity. The emperor decided to send Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. Cyril, before setting off, asked if the Moravians had an alphabet for their language - “for enlightening a people without writing their language is like trying to write on water,” Cyril explained. To which I received a negative answer. The Moravians did not have an alphabet, so the brothers began work. They had months, not years, at their disposal. They worked from early morning, just before dawn, until late in the evening, when their eyes were already dim with fatigue. In a short time, an alphabet for the Moravians was created. It was named after one of its creators - Kirill - Cyrillic.

Using the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. The first book written in Cyrillic was the “Ostromir Gospel,” the first words written using the Slavic alphabet were 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 Church Slavonic language used in Russian Orthodox Church during the service.

The Slavic alphabet existed unchanged in Rus' 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 also be beautiful, so that a person, as soon as he saw them, immediately wanted to master writing.

Each letter had its own name - “az” - A; “beeches” - B; “lead” - B; “verb” - G; "good" -D.

This is where the catchphrases come from: “Az and beeches - that’s all science”, “Whoever knows “Az” and “Beeches” has books in his hands.” In addition, letters could also represent numbers. There were 43 letters in the Cyrillic alphabet.

The Cyrillic alphabet existed in the Russian language without changes until Peter I, who removed outdated letters that could have been completely dispensed with - “yus big”, “yus small”, “omega”, “uk”. In 1918, 5 more letters left the Russian alphabet - “yat”, “fita”, “izhitsa”, “er”, “er”. Over the course of 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, there are 33 letters left in the modern alphabet.

Where do you think the word “AZBUKA” came from - from the names of the first letters of the alphabet, “az” and “buki”; in Rus' there were several more names for the alphabet - “abevega” and “letter letter”.

Why is the alphabet called 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”. Carriers Western languages That’s what they call “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 wonderful moment!.. The deaf began to hear, and the dumb began to speak, for until that time the Slavs were both deaf and dumb” - recorded in the chronicles of those times.

Not only children, but also adults began to study. They wrote with sharp sticks on wooden tablets coated with wax. The children fell in love with their teachers Cyril and Methodius. The little Slavs happily went to class, 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 were designed! The first letter - the initial letter - 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 be created within six to seven years and was very expensive. In a precious frame, 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, “it” was expensive. She alone could be exchanged for a herd of horses or a herd of cows, or for sable fur coats. And it’s not about the jewelry in which the beauty and clever girl were dressed up. And she only wore expensive embossed leather, pearls and precious stones! Gold and silver clasps decorated her outfit! Admiring her, people said: “Light, you are ours!” We worked on its creation for a long time, but its fate could have been very sad. During the invasion of enemies, she was taken prisoner along with the people. She could have died in a fire or flood. They valued her very much: she inspired hope, restored strength of spirit. What kind of curiosity is this? Yes, guys, this is Her Majesty - the Book. She preserved to us the Word of God and the traditions of distant years. The first books were handwritten. It took months and sometimes years to rewrite one book. The centers of book learning in Rus' have always been monasteries. There, through fasting and prayer, hardworking monks copied and decorated books. A collection of books of 500-1000 manuscripts was considered very rare.

Life goes on, and in the middle of the 16th century, printing appeared in Rus'. The printing house in Moscow appeared under Ivan the Terrible. It was led by Ivan Fedorov, who is called the first book printer. Being a deacon and serving in the temple, he tried to realize his dream - to rewrite sacred books without scribes. And so, in 1563, he began to type the first page of the first printed book, “The Apostle.” In total, he published 12 books during 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 Slovenian teachers,” 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 broad Rus' - our mother

The bells ring out.

Now the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius

They are glorified for their efforts.

“Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness,” says the Russian proverb. Cyril and Methodius, brothers from Thessaloniki, are Slovenian educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity. They are called holy teachers. Enlighteners are those who bring light and illuminate everyone with it. Without the alphabet there is no writing, and without it there is no book that enlightens people, and therefore moves life forward. Monuments to great educators around the world remind us of spiritual feat Cyril and Methodius, who gave the world the Slavic alphabet.

In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, the Day of Slavic Literature is celebrated all over the world on May 24. In the year of the millennium since the creation of the Slavic script in Russia, the Holy Synod adopted a resolution that established “every year, starting from this 1863, on the 11th (24th) day of May church celebration Rev. Kirill 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. It was revived in 1986. This holiday began to be called the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.

Quiz

1.Who created the Slavic alphabet? (Cyril and Methodius)

2.Which year is considered the year of the emergence of Slavic writing and bookmaking? (863)

3.Why are Cyril and Methodius called “Thessalonica brothers”? (The birthplace of the enlightenment brothers is the city of Thessaloniki in Macedonia)

4.Who was the older brother: Cyril or Methodius? (Methodius)

5. What was the name of the first book written in Cyrillic? (Ostromir Gospel")

6.Which of the brothers was a librarian, and which was a warrior? (Cyril - librarian, Methodius - military leader,)

7.What was Kirill called for his intelligence and diligence? (Philosopher)

8. During whose reign the Slavic alphabet was changed - simplified. (Peter 1)

9. How many letters were there in the Cyrillic alphabet 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 Rus'? (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)

Not much is known about the brothers, canonized after death and called enlighteners of the Slavs, especially about their childhood and youth. Scientists do not have a clear opinion about their nationality; perhaps the brothers were Slavs or Greeks. They were born in the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki) into a wealthy family. It is known about their father, Leo, that he was a military leader (drungar), which allowed him to give his children a good education and provide assistance at the beginning of their life.

The monastic names of the brothers are widely known, but many sources also use the names given to them at baptism. Methodius, born in 815, bore the name Michael before his tonsure. Cyril, born in 827, was named Constantine at baptism; sometimes the nickname Philosopher is added to his name, given to him for his learning and victories in theological disputes. To avoid confusion, in the article we will call them by their canonical names.

Methodius, under the influence of his father, chose from childhood military career, and already in 835 received the high position of ruler of the province of Slavinia, located in Macedonia. Kirill chose to study the sciences, which he studied at the university in Constantinople. Upon completion of his studies, he was ordained as a priest, served as the keeper of the library at the Hagia Sophia, lived for some time in seclusion in one of the monasteries, then taught philosophy at the university, becoming famous for his scholarship and deep knowledge of theology.

At this time, by decision of Patriarch Photius, Cyril began to be entrusted with important missionary tasks. So, around 850 he was sent to Bulgaria to preach Christianity among the local peoples. Apparently, the emergence of his interest in the study of ancient Slavic writings dates back to this time. Soon followed another missionary journey of Cyril, who was sent to preach Christianity to the court of the Emir of Militene.

At this time, the elder brother, due to changes in the political situation, was forced to leave his service and, as the lives of the saints testify, “then took monasticism in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus (Asia Minor).” For some time, Cyril lived in the monastery with Methodius. Perhaps, in the silence of the monastery, Cyril began work on compiling the Slavic alphabet in order to translate liturgical books into Bulgarian, which would greatly simplify the preaching of Christianity among the Slavic peoples. Methodius could only be an assistant in this work, since his level of education was significantly lower than that of Cyril. Soon the brothers began to engage in missionary work together.

If we follow the Russian version of the lives of the saints, then the beginning of work on compiling the alphabet can be considered the time the brothers were in Korsun (Chersonese) on the way to Khazaria: “It was there in Korsun that Saint Constantine found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in “Russian letters,” and a man speaking in Russian, and began to learn from this man to read and speak his language.”

Returning from Khazaria, the brothers again visited Korsun, from which they brought the relics of St. Clement to Constantinople, which significantly strengthened their position in spiritual world. “Soon,” as the life says, “ambassadors from the Moravian prince Rostislav, oppressed by the German bishops, came to the emperor with a request to send teachers to Moravia who could preach in the native language of the Slavs. The emperor called Saint Constantine and told him: “You need to go there, because no one will do this better than you.” Saint Constantine, with fasting and prayer, began a new feat. With the help of his brother Saint Methodius and his disciples Gorazd, Clement, Sava, Naum and Angelyar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavic the books without which the Divine service could not be performed: the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter and selected services. This was in 863."

It is possible that the alphabet was compiled earlier, but it was precisely this year that is mentioned in the legend “On the Letters” by the Bulgarian monk Chernorizets Khrabr, who writes that the Slavic alphabet was created “in the summer of 6363 from the creation of the whole world,” which in recalculation corresponds to the year 863 from the birth Christ's.

Soon the brothers were summoned to Rome, where at the court of the Pope there was great dissatisfaction with the conduct of sermons in the Slavic language. Since it was believed that “divine services can be performed only in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin.” Life testifies: “Having learned that the holy brothers were carrying holy relics with them, Pope Adrian and the clergy went out to meet them. The holy brothers were greeted with honor, the Pope approved worship in the Slavic language, and ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and the liturgy to be performed in the Slavic language.”

After the death of the creator of the alphabet, Cyril, his work was continued by Methodius and his disciples. They encountered serious opposition from church circles, even going so far as to imprison them in a monastery for several years without the right to preach. Methodius was saved from reprisals only by the intercession of the Pope, who ordained him to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. True, the pope’s position was ambivalent; he introduced a ban on services in the Slavic language, allowing only sermons to be held in it.

Be that as it may, from that time on the Slavic alphabet began to spread throughout the world. After the death of Methodius in 885, the disciples and followers of the holy brothers took up the cause of worship in the Slavic language. Around this time, they compiled another Slavic alphabet. To this day, there is no firm certainty which of the two alphabets was developed by Kirill, and which was subsequently his students and successors. There is a high probability that Kirill compiled the Glagolitic alphabet, on the basis of which the Cyrillic alphabet was then developed, named after the first creator of the Slavic alphabet. Perhaps the work on improving the primary alphabet was started by Kirill himself, but it was completed by his students.

The fact that the Glagolitic alphabet is older than the Cyrillic alphabet is also indicated by the fact that the oldest known texts were written in it. Moreover, the Glagolitic inscription in the church of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon in Preslav dates back to 893. For some time, two Slavic alphabets were widely used, including in Rus', but in the eastern regions, many of which became Orthodox after the division of churches, the Cyrillic alphabet still prevailed. At the same time, she became queen of France and brought with her to Paris the Gospel written in Glagolitic. It was there that she took the royal oath. It is curious that then French kings swore allegiance on this Gospel for several centuries; it is believed that Louis XIV was the last to do so.

Nowadays, the brothers Cyril and Methodius are widely revered not only in Slavic countries, they are canonized by both the Western and Eastern churches. In Russian Orthodoxy, holy brothers have been venerated since the 11th century. In 1885, he designated May 11 as the day of remembrance of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In addition, February 14 is the day of remembrance of St. Cyril, and April 6 is the day of St. Methodius.