Day of Slavic Literature and Culture: a truly national holiday. At the origins of the word. Day of Slavic Writing and Culture Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal to the Apostles

The Day of Slavic Literature and Culture (Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius) is the Russian name for the holiday dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Methodius and Cyril (IX).

Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius, Slovenian teachers

The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles first teachers and Slavic enlighteners, brothers Cyril and Methodius came from a noble and pious family that lived in the Greek city of Soluni. Saint Methodius was the eldest of the seven brothers, Saint Constantine (Cyril is his monastic name) - the youngest. Saint Methodius was at first in a military rank and was a ruler in one of the Slavic principalities subordinate to the Byzantine Empire, apparently Bulgarian, which gave him the opportunity to learn the Slavic language. After staying there for about 10 years, Saint Methodius then accepted monasticism in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus. Saint Constantine from an early age was distinguished by great ability and studied together with the young emperor Michael under the best teachers of Constantinople, including Photius, the future Patriarch of Constantinople. Saint Constantine perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages, he especially diligently studied the works of Saint Gregory the Theologian. For his intelligence and outstanding knowledge, Saint Constantine received the nickname Philosopher (wise). At the end of his studies, Saint Constantine was ordained a priest and was appointed curator of the patriarchal library at the Church of Saint Sophia, but soon left the capital and secretly went to a monastery. Found there and returned to Constantinople, he was identified as a teacher of philosophy in the highest school of Constantinople. The wisdom and power of faith of a still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the heretics-iconoclasts Annius in the debate. After this victory, Constantine was sent by the emperor to a dispute to debate the Holy Trinity with the Saracens (Muslims) and also won. Returning, Saint Constantine withdrew to his brother Saint Methodius on Olympus, spending time in unceasing prayer and reading the works of the holy fathers.

Soon the emperor summoned both holy brothers from the monastery and sent them to the Khazars to preach the gospel. On the way, they stopped for a while in the city of Korsun, preparing for a sermon. There the holy brothers miraculously acquired the relics of the Holy Martyr Clement, Pope of Rome (Comm. 25 November). In the same place in Korsun Saint Constantine found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in "Russian letters," and a person who spoke Russian, and began to learn from this person to read and speak his language. After that, the holy brothers went to the Khazars, where they won a debate with Jews and Muslims, preaching the Gospel teaching. On the way home, the brothers again visited Korsun and, taking the relics of St. Clement there, returned to Constantinople. Saint Constantine remained in the capital, and Saint Methodius received abbess at the small monastery of Polychron, not far from Mount Olympus, where he had asceticised before.

Soon, 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 summoned Saint Constantine and said to him: "You must go there, for no one can do this better than you." Saint Constantine, with fasting and prayer, began a new feat. With the help of his brother Saint Methodius and the disciples of Gorazd, Clement, Sava, Naum and Angelar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into the Slavic language the books without which Divine services could not be performed: the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter and selected services. This was in 863.

After completing the translation, the holy brothers set off for Moravia, where they were received with great honor, and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who celebrated Divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers, claiming that Divine services can be performed only in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin. Saint Constantine answered them: “You recognize only three languages ​​worthy to glorify God with them. But David cries out: Sing to the Lord, all the earth, praise the Lord, all the nations, let every breath praise the Lord! And the Holy Gospel says: Come teach all languages ​​... ". The German bishops were put to shame, but they became even more embittered and filed a complaint with Rome. The holy brothers were called to Rome to resolve this issue. Taking with them the relics of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, Saints Constantine and Methodius set off for Rome. Having learned that the holy brothers were carrying holy relics with them, Pope Adrian with the clergy went out to meet them. The holy brothers were greeted with honor, the Pope approved the divine service in the Slavic language, and ordered the books translated by the brothers to be put in Roman churches and the liturgy to be performed in the Slavic language.

While in Rome, Saint Constantine fell ill and, in a miraculous vision, announced by the Lord about the approach of death, he accepted the schema with the name Cyril. 50 days after accepting the schema, on February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril died at the age of 42. Departing to God, Saint Cyril commanded his brother Saint Methodius to continue their common work - the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples with the light of true faith. Saint Methodius begged the Pope of Rome to allow him to take away his brother's body for burial in his native land, but the Pope ordered to put the relics of Saint Cyril in the church of Saint Clement, where miracles began to be performed from them.

After the death of Saint Cyril, the Pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kotsel, sent Saint Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia, to the ancient throne of Saint Apostle Andronicus.In Pannonia, Saint Methodius, together with his disciples, continued to disseminate Divine services and books in Slavonic. ... This again angered the German bishops. They achieved the arrest and trial of Saint Methodius, who was exiled to imprisonment in Swabia, where he endured many sufferings for two and a half years. Released by order of Pope John VIII and restored to the rights of archbishop, Methodius continued his evangelical preaching among the Slavs and baptized the Czech prince Borivoj and his wife Lyudmila (Comm. 16 September), as well as one of the Polish princes. For the third time, the German bishops raised a persecution against the saint, for rejecting the Roman teaching on the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and from the Son. Saint Methodius was summoned to Rome, but justified himself before the Pope, preserving the purity of Orthodox teaching, and was again returned to the capital of Moravia, Velehrad.

Here, in the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated into the Slavic language the entire Old Testament, except the Maccabean books, as well as the Nomokanon (Rules of the Holy Fathers) and the patristic books (Paterikon).

Foreseeing the approach of death, Saint Methodius pointed to one of his disciples, Gorazd, as a worthy successor to himself. 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 ​​- Slavic, Greek and Latin; he was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad.

http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Life/life1038.htm

Slavic glorious day

The feat of Saints Cyril and Methodius - the creation of the Slavic alphabet in 863 - gave us not only writing, but also the opportunity to perform divine services and read Holy Scripture in our native language. The very formation of Russian statehood coincided with the birth of the Slavic alphabet. Cyril and Methodius celebrations in Russia and Moscow in the second half of the 19th century can be partly compared with Pushkin's celebrations - they were the same understanding of the origins of national identity and the Russian idea in the light of the feat of the Solun brothers.

The first celebration in honor of Cyril and Methodius coincided with the celebration of the millennium of Russia in 1862, since the next year, 1863, was celebrated the millennium of the Slavic alphabet. This combination was very symbolic and testified to the unity of the Church, nation and language. It is quite natural that in the foreshadowing of a public holiday they also remembered the "Slavic apostles", since, according to MN Katkov, language is the people. The holiday was especially "promoted" by the Slavophils. The eve of the celebration of the Solunsk brothers was marked by a kind of miracle - in 1855, the historian M.N. Pogodin presented a part of the holy relics of Cyril as a gift to the house church of Moscow University, once presented to him in Prague - there the first Cyril and Methodius celebrations took place in Russia.

The initiative was laid by the Church, and this first holiday was exclusively an ecclesiastical one. In the 17th century, in connection with the editing of Russian liturgical books according to Greek models, the oldest service to the first teachers was not included in the official printed Monthly. That is why, at the beginning of 1860, Bishop Anthony of Smolensk (Amfitheatrov) turned to the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod with a request that the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius, laid down by the Church for May 11, should be honored in a more appropriate manner, especially if we take into account their ancient celebrations in Russia. He proposed to compose a new solemn service and to time it in churches for the 1000th anniversary of Russia and the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples.

The service, compiled by Vladyka Anthony, was approved and included in the liturgical books on May 11 and was sent to Russian churches.

"As an apostle of equal equality and of the Slovenian countries, teachers, Cyril and Methodius of God-wisdom, pray to the Vladyka of all, to affirm all Slovenian languages ​​in Orthodoxy and like-mindedness, to pacify the world and save our souls."

This service was first performed in Russia on May 11, 1862. In Moscow, however, the first celebrations in honor of Cyril and Methodius took place in the home church of Moscow University - at the junction of faith and science, for word, worship and enlightenment are interconnected. At the festive liturgy, the ancient canon of St. Cyril and Methodius, and at the end of the prayer a prayer service was performed. Then, at the suggestion of the professors, a collection was opened for the construction of the icon of Cyril and Methodius for the university house church.

The first celebrations were modest, but they marked the beginning of the return of the memory of the Slavic apostles in modern society and the initiation of the revival of the Slavic idea under the auspices of Russia, and most importantly, the understanding of national identity in the bosom of the Orthodox Church, which was a kind of opposition to militant liberalism and nihilism. ISAksakov called this holiday "a guarantee of the future spiritual reunification of all Slavs, and a link that connects the scattered brothers."

The rumor about the celebration of May 11 in Moscow will spread throughout all Slavic countries with the joyful news of future liberation; because the spiritual revival of the Slavs is impossible without the participation of the multimillion-strong Russian tribe in the common feat of Slavic self-awareness. " So let this holiday in the future spread from the Assumption Cathedral to the village church in the most remote backwoods.

The clergy urged in the future to turn the holiday of Cyril and Methodius into a holiday of public enlightenment, for the holy brothers were national teachers, and to glorify them as patrons of public education. In the meantime, they decided that the best memory of them in modern times is the continuation of their work both in enlightenment and in the development of Slavic speech. In the same 1862, Alexander II ordered the establishment of the Cyril and Methodius scholarships - four individual scholarships for each Russian university. The sculptures of Cyril and Methodius were placed on the great monument "Millennium of Russia" in Novgorod.

In 1863, the 1000th anniversary of Slavic writing burst out, marked by a festive liturgy in the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral. Not long before that, the Most Holy Synod adopted a decree, by which May 11 was again officially declared the day of the annual church celebration of the memory of the Solunsk brothers "in commemoration of the millennium from the initial illumination of our native language with the Gospel and the faith of Christ."

The time itself was conducive to such celebrations and moved Russia, and the entire Slavic world to rethink its own life in the light of the mission of the Slavic apostles, for the anniversary dates were moving at an amazing speed. Already in 1869, a new millennium was celebrated: from the day of the death of St. Cyril. A miracle happened the day before: two years earlier, the governor of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Leonid, during a trip to Athos, discovered there the most ancient icon image of Cyril and Methodius. They wrote an image from it, and brought it to Russia.

Now the holiday was celebrated not only in churches, but took on the character of a civil celebration. On that day, February 14, festive services were held in the Kremlin's Chudov Monastery and many Moscow churches, followed by public ceremonies. An open meeting of the Slavic Charitable Committee was held at Moscow University, at which the establishment of the Kirillov Prize for young students was announced, "in order to encourage young people to engage in Slavicism," which was not particularly successful at that time. And then the director of the Moscow Public and Rumyantsev museums, V.A. Dashkov, promised to build a church of Cyril and Methodius at the university museum in the architectural style of the 10th century (at the time of the baptism of Russia) and with a side-altar in the name of St. Prince Vladimir the Great.

The historical situation was truly amazing. On the one hand, there are great anniversaries marked by a surge of Orthodox, national and social thought, the events in the Balkans on the eve of the Russian-Turkish war disposed to reflect on the true mission of the Solun brothers and their legacy. On the other hand, their memory did not manage to outgrow the church and scientific level and remain a national theme. After the end of the anniversaries, the euphoria subsided, the memory subsided, all undertakings and plans fell into oblivion, and the Slavic mission, along with the legacy of Cyril and Methodius, remained as before the lot for the church and narrowly scientific environment.

However, after the Russian-Turkish war, the liberation of Bulgaria and the assassination of Alexander the Liberator, when the third great anniversary came on April 6, 1885 - the 1000th anniversary of the death of Methodius, the holiday was given the character of a state and all-Slavic celebration, in which the mission of the Solun brothers was interpreted as pan-Slavic and exclusively in the bosom Orthodoxy. The situation was partly dictated by the fact that the Catholic Church also held the holiday at the Velehrad celebrations, for the Slavic Catholics, where Cyril and Methodius preached before the schism. In Russia, many considered it blasphemy to honor the memory of Saint Methodius with a Mass in Latin. In addition, in the Catholic environment there were also “dreams” of uniting the Western and Eastern Slavs under their own auspices, as opposed to a similar desire in Russia. The creation by the Solun brothers of the Slavic Orthodox divine service - this is what they tried to emphasize at the celebrations in Russia. Indeed, before Cyril and Methodius, only ancient Greek, Latin and Hebrew were considered worthy for the performance of divine services. (As explained, in these languages, by order of Pontius Pilate, an inscription was made on the Lord's cross of Calvary.)

Now the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev personally took up the preparation of the jubilee, who considered it necessary to arrange a grandiose Orthodox celebration. He wrote to Alexander III:

I think that this celebration will not remain without important consequences and will affirm in the popular consciousness (which is especially important in the outskirts) a sense of nationality and the concept of enlightenment associated with the Church.

Pobedonostsev asked the sovereign to honor the triumph with his presence precisely in order to give the holiday the proper official status - not only church, but also state, national, and folk.

As a result, the festivities of 1885 became the apogee in the history of honoring the memory of the Slavic apostles. The preparation was thorough and wise. First of all, the lives of the holy brothers were printed in accessible Russian, which they distributed to the people free of charge, scientific and popular biographies, even the ancient church services of St. Cyril and Methodius. Secondly, the broadest educational campaign was carried out. Moskovskie vedomosti was noted for the wisest article by M.N. Katkov, in which he, discussing the mission of the Slavic apostles and its significance for the world and Russia, urged, among other things, to preserve the language, to cleanse it of the introduced "monstrous forms" and not to forget that the Slavic language is Russian, only in its most ancient state.

Hence, in order to translate the Holy Scripture from Old Church Slavonic into Russian for the people, it is required to preserve its "warehouse", only replacing the "incomprehensible understandable", and not to translate "Our Father" as "Our Father" or instead of the Lord - the Lord. That is, do not transmit "sacred objects in the form of an everyday conversation." (Katkov rarely loses his sense of modernity). The merit of the Solunsk brothers is in fact the birth of the Russian people.

They erected a new people who had come into the world to a historical life, they created a new force in the world, which is destined to have its purpose in the economy of Providence, which, with the emergence of the division of the Churches, is destined to remain in the East ... if Cyril and Methodius had not consecrated our primitive language, would not have erected our word to the Divine Service organ, there would be no room left and there would be no vessel for the Eastern Orthodox Church, there would be no one to carry out the work of her destinies.

The festivities in Russia were held with the participation of the imperial couple and foreign delegations from Slavic countries. On April 6, before the festive divine service in St. Isaac's Cathedral, Archimandrite Mitrofan (Bana) was ordained to the Metropolitan of Montenegro. Pobedonostsev asked the Emperor to bestow upon him bishop's vestments, similar to those in which the Russian bishops put on at the coronation.

And then a liturgy was held in the presence of the sovereign, the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, ministers and Slavic deputations, and the festive message of the Holy Synod was read.

By the grace of God through them the Gospel of Christ was sent down to us, through them we cognized the beauty of the Church and were brought from darkness to light and from death to the eternal life

The next day, civil festivities took place. In the evening, a solemn meeting of the Slavic Charitable Society was held under the chairmanship of P.P. Durnovo. The same "Muscovite" ideas about the unity of the Slavic tribe, "whose firm foundation, a thousand years ago, was laid by Saints Cyril and Methodius" was repeated. There were also unexpected fresh thoughts. For example, V.I. Lamansky was very supportive of the idea of ​​the Catholic Slavs about the restoration of an independent Moravian archdiocese (St. Methodius served as archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia) with the Slavic dioceses and about the return of Latin Christianity to the apostolic traditions and customs of the ancient Roman Church. It was in this that he saw the beginning of real reconciliation, and the resolution of many Slavic strife.

Moscow celebrated in its own way, crowded with thousands of pilgrims who surrounded the Kremlin, Red Square and the surrounding environs. The liturgy in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was celebrated by Bishop Alexy of Tauride, where, by the way, several students from each school were present - that is, the idea of ​​the patronage of Cyril and Methodius to public education began to come true. From there the procession went to the Kremlin. There, in the Assumption Cathedral, after the end of the liturgy, a grandiose procession began, accompanied by the ringing of all the Kremlin bells. The spectacle was majestic - hundreds of banners swayed, bells hummed, golden vestments sparkled, a thousand-verbal prayer was read. The festive procession went through the Spassky Gate to Red Square, where the icon of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, walked to the Nikolsky Gate and through them returned to the Kremlin.

Then civil festivities began. A solemn meeting was held at Moscow University, which opened with the singing "Today the grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us." At the Katkovo Lyceum of Tsarevich Nicholas, after the liturgy in the home church, V.V. Nazarevsky, an outstanding historian of Moscow, made a commemorative speech. In the Moscow Theological Seminary, hymns to the Slavic apostles were sung to the music of PI Tchaikovsky and the priest VF Starorussky. Metropolitan Ioanniky proposed to honor the memory of the Slavic first teachers by establishing the “Brotherhood for Aid to Parish Schools”. The brotherhood of Cyril and Methodius was created and existed until 1917, and it should not be confused with the Kostomarov society of the same name. Everyone on that day also took care of the national holiday of enlightenment - lectures were arranged for ordinary Muscovites in libraries and reading rooms.

And there was also a completely natural thought outlined in Katkov's article and in the speech of the Irkutsk Cathedral Archpriest Afanasy Vinogradov about the Catholic and Orthodox celebrations, which was consonant with him. Can they be considered uniform and equal? Slavic Catholics, "Czechs, Moravians, Slovenes and Croats celebrate justly because the missionary activity of the brothers took place in their countries." However, the Western Slavs fell away from the Orthodox doctrine of the holy brothers (who preached before the split of the Churches), the rite of worship they introduced, and rejected the fruits of their educational activities. As a result, the service at the Velehrad celebrations is in Latin. As Katkov put it, the Russian people "put their cause at the forefront of their entire building - both church and state." The Eastern Slavs have preserved their teaching and worship in their original form, and although the Slavic dialects have already significantly moved away from one another, “the language of the Church still remains common with them” - this is the guarantee of the spiritual unity of the Slavic world, “under the moral influence of the Russian people, as the eldest member of this family. "

Thus, Pobedonostsev, according to the modern researcher A. Popovkin, took a kind of revenge for the Berlin Congress, at which the achievements of the Russian-Turkish war were diplomatically failed. Now Russia is at the head of the Slavic celebrations, claiming "the status of the imperial center of Slavic civilization." The emperor was pleased.

And then everything began to decline again. The pre-revolutionary semi-liberal-semi-revolutionary Russian society, torn by political strife, turned out to be incapable of deep comprehension of the Slavic mission, and historical events did not favor this either. It turned out to be easier to hold and attend one-time celebrations than to spiritually join them. The jubilee "ideas" were carried out for a long time and with difficulty, or even did not. According to the historian V.F. Kozlov, at the place near the Senate Tower, where the Historical Museum almost appeared before, they were going to build the Moscow Church of Cyril and Methodius, but in the end only the mausoleum was built. The Encyclopedia of Slavic Philology was published a quarter of a century after the Methodius celebrations, but only in the form of the first volume. Only the idea of ​​the patronage of the holy brothers to the people's enlightenment was gaining strength. In 1887, the house church in their name was consecrated at the Agricultural School on Smolensky Boulevard (later - the Military Veterinary Academy), and in 1911 - in the church-school near the Danilovskoye cemetery. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Synod ordered a festive divine service to be held on May 11 (24) in house churches at all educational institutions of the clerical department with the release of students from classes.

The thread of history stretches. In our time, the holiday for the creators of the Russian word has become a state holiday. In 1992, a wonderful monument to Cyril and Methodius was erected with an inextinguishable lamp on Slavyanskaya Square, which was happily renamed from Nogin Square. The monument as a symbol of the revival of Russia and as the same guarantee of Slavic unity.

Let us recall the words from the Tale of Bygone Years: "Yes, even if someone blasphemes the Slovenian letter, let him be excommunicated from the church."

Elena Lebedeva

In history, there are several types of writing among the Slavs. Slavic writing was used to conclude contracts, transfer notes and for other purposes. For example, you can find information about this from Archimandrite Leonid Kavelin in his Collection: "On the homeland and origin of the Glagolitic alphabet and its relation to the Cyrillic alphabet" (1891). There is a special day dedicated to Slavic writing. Today it is celebrated by Russians as the day of veneration for Cyril and Methodius, although it is known that neither Cyril nor Methodius invented the Russian alphabet. They just transformed it - shortened it and adapted it to make it easier to translate Christian manuscripts from Greek. For example, the historian Dobner (Czech Republic), you can find a whole study on the topic: “Is the so-called now Cyril alphabet really an invention of the Slavic ap. Cyril? " (1786 year of publication).

Writing, as a derivative of the famous Christian saints Cyril and Methodius, appeared in Russia in the period from 900 to the beginning of the 1000-s. Until that time, a different writing system existed among the Slavs. We meet the data of chroniclers about the conclusion of contracts of the book. Igor and Prince. Oleg with the Byzantine kingdom (907-911) even before the arrival of the Cyrillic alphabet in Russia.

Some historians called it the "Khazar script" (Persian, Fakhr ad-Din, 700), speaking of the southwestern Slavs of a particular historical period. Others called it "an independent Russian letter", referring to the "Thessalonian legend", in which there is a mention of Jerome (lived until 420) and his connection with Slavic writings. Some scholars consider Cyril and Jerome from this legend to be one person, but the dates of the activities of these characters do not coincide.

There are now two directions in which the Slavic writing developed:

1. Figurative views. Creates a volumetric image and perception.
2. Descriptive views. Creates a plane perception by drawing on a plane.

Earlier, our ancestors, when they talked about objectivity and functions, called their writing:

• word;
• by letter;
• a book;
• diploma.

Types of writing throughout the history of the Slavs, arranged in chronological order of their time of appearance and use:

• Glagolitic- the middle of the 10th century;
• Initial letter(drevleslovenskaya) - presumably the end of the 10th century;
• ABC- a variant of pre-revolutionary tsarist Russia;
• Alphabet- 1918 (Lunacharsky reform).

Some scholars present the verb as one of the methods of pronunciation and writing of the drop caps. But this issue is still being investigated. This is what the Russian philologist Sreznevsky I.I. (1848):

Turning to the Glagolian alphabet, let us first of all note how it is similar and how it differs from the Cyrillic alphabet. Most of its letters differ in their form not only from Cyril, but also from other known ones. Similar to Cyril's d, x, m, p, f, w ... The selection of letters is the same. The order of the letters is also the same ... The peculiarity of many verbal letters has long led to the conclusion that the Glagolitic alphabet is the ancient alphabet of the pagan Slavs and, therefore, is older than the Cyrillic alphabet; Count Grubishich, Doctor Anton believed this; This is also believed by the now famous German philologist J. Grimm. It is hardly possible to refute this, assuming that the simple features of the ancient are replaced by curly and complex ones in the now known Glagolitic only later, due to special, unknown reasons; however, it is also difficult to refute the fact that the Glagolitic letters of unknown origin were never simpler, but were invented by an idle literate as they are, without any deviation from the ancient Slavic letters. It is true that the features of the Glagolitic alphabet are generally rough and some are open to the left side, as if they were used for writing from the right hand to the left, but the roughness of the drawing of the letters is not a sign of antiquity, and the opening of some to the left side could also be an accidental expression of the inventor's taste ...

Slavic writing was used in 4 variations: 2 main and 2 auxiliary. Separately, one should dwell on such types of writing that historians of modern science still cannot ignore with their attention. These are the following types of writing among the Slavs of different nationalities:

Traits and Rezes. By the names one can judge about their origin - they drew letters and cut them. This is a type of drop cap application.

Da'Aryan Tyragi - were used to convey the multidimensionality and imagery of the runes.

X'Aryan Karuna (runic, runica, runes) - was used by the priests, consisted of 256 runes, which formed the basis of the languages ​​of Devanagari, Sanskrit.

Rasenskie Molvitsy - Etruscan letter.

Now there is enough evidence that Slavic tribes and peoples settled on the Earth long before Christianity. Therefore, anthropologists often find blue-eyed Hindus in India, Kalash in Pakistan, or mummies of European appearance among archaeological sites in China. Therefore, the Aryan writing can also be remotely called Slavic, or Slavic-Aryan, for whom it is more convenient to understand. The Slavs of modern Russia and neighboring countries with ethnic identity are most close to them - Glagolitic and Initials, as well as Runes, Traits and Reza.

What is special about Slavic writing and culture

Glagolitic was most often used to seal business relationships in trade matters. She executed contracts, other papers, which are confirmation of the concluded transaction. In confirmation of this, today there are a fairly large number of ancient treaties written down precisely in Slavic Glagolitic. The following words are associated with this name:

• to verb - to speak;
• verbolasha - who spoke, pronounced;
• we verb - we speak;
• verb - action.

The drop cap, as the capital of words, had different writing styles. You can give an example of the following several options for the artistic image of old letters:

Ostromir letters - taken from the Ostromir Gospel (1056-1057)

teratological (or animal) style - features of animals and birds were included in the image of the letter

initials - colored letters, where, in addition to fantastic animals, people were also depicted (about 800)

Ottonian style of the Western Slavs - large letters, with gilding and patterned weaves

illustrated initial letter - each capital letter was illustrated with different fairy-tale characters and themes

filigree beeches (from the old name - "beeches", and not "letters" from the All-Light Literature of Shubin-Abramov Anania Fedorovich) - the letters were decorated with the finest pattern

guslitsky style - comes from the Old Believer settlement Guslitsy

Vetka style in Belarus

There are many options for the image of Slavic letters. Our ancestors, the Slavs, were famous masters of arts and arts. Therefore, the letters could be portrayed by scribes with a creative approach. The main feature of the drop cap is that it formed the basis of such languages ​​known to us as Latin (Latin) and English.

The worldview of the Slavs was changed even by modifying the writing. If earlier letters and words were perceived in volume with a semantic and figurative-symbolic load, now they are perceived on a plane, faceless, carrying only sounds folded into words.

Researchers of Slavic mythology believe that such a transfer of perception from volumetric "holographic" to flat writing began approximately from the time of the Germanization of Russia. Apparently, the influence of the West has always been fatal for the Russians and the Slavs in general, which is why the leading Russian minds of the times of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy mentioned this so often.

When the day of Slavic writing is celebrated

Slavic culture in historical data has undergone various changes. This suggests that scientists have not yet stopped their research - new artifacts found are being studied. The date when the writing of the Slavs and their culture was honored also changed. The very same Slavic mythology and history does not confirm the fact that the ancient Slavs celebrated a special day dedicated to their writing. Nevertheless, it is worth considering the appearance of such events at a later time, approximately when Christianity came to Russia.

Most often this date was associated with Cyril and Methodius. It was at that time that they began to set aside a certain day on which the merits of these two reverend fathers were remembered. Only the date changed:

• May 11 - Christian enlighteners were remembered by the "Solunski brothers";
• May 24 - Bulgarians today, along with these two saints, remember their culture;
• July 5 - in the Czech Republic;
• January 30 - the inhabitants of Russia remembered the Slavic writing and culture at the suggestion of the Presidium of the RSFSR Armed Forces (1991).

May 24- a generally accepted holiday in Slavic culture and writing. It was declared the "Day of Slavic Culture and Writing" in 1985, when the 1100th anniversary of the death of Methodius was celebrated in the USSR. Therefore, today this holiday is wholly served from the point of view of the Orthodox Church. However, those who remember and honor the legacy of the more ancient ancestors of the Slavs still revere the Old Slovenian Initial Letter. On this day, ancient letters are drawn on the asphalt, in underground passages, in squares, everywhere in the cities of the country.

In scholarly circles, some believe that the Slavs once had one language, but there were many ways to display it in any medium. Writings could be written on metal (coins, jewelry), birch bark, leather, stone. The peculiarity of the Slavic writing is that it, first of all, carried the Sveto-Russian (in some reading - “Svyatorusskie”) images. Simply put, we understand that it was figurative writing, and not flat, carrying a deeper meaning than just sound.

On May 24, every year in all Slavic countries, the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture is celebrated. The origins of this holiday are inextricably linked with the celebration of Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius - the enlighteners of the Slavs, the creators of the Slavic alphabet.

Cyril (secular name Constantine; c. 827-869) and Methodius (secular name unknown; c. 815-885) - brothers, Greeks, natives of the city of Thessaloniki, came from the family of a Byzantine military leader.

Methodius at first devoted himself to a military career, but around 852 he took monastic vows, and later became hegumen of the Polykhron monastery on Olympus Bithynia (Asia Minor). From a young age, Cyril was distinguished by his thirst for science and exceptional philological abilities. He was educated in Constantinople from the greatest scientists of his time - Leo the Grammar and Photius (the future patriarch). After training, he was ordained a priest, acted as a librarian, according to another version - Skephophylax (vessel guard) of the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and taught philosophy. In 851-852, as part of the embassy of the asikrit (court secretary), George arrived at the court of the Arab caliph Muttawakil, where he conducted theological disputes with Muslim scholars.

Cyril and Methodius compiled the Slavic alphabet, translated from Greek into the Slavic language several liturgical books (including selected readings from the Gospel, the Apostolic Epistles and the Psalter), which contributed to the introduction and dissemination of Slavic worship, as well as, relying on deep knowledge of Greek and Eastern cultures and summarizing the experience of Slavic writing, offered the Slavs their own alphabet.

The legacy of Cyril and Methodius had a tremendous impact on the culture of the Slavic states: Bulgaria (and through it - Russia and Serbia), Czech Republic, Croatia (in the latter, the Glagolic written tradition was preserved until modern times). The writing system developed by Cyril and Methodius had a tremendous impact on the development of Russian books and literature. In the minds of many generations of Slavs, Cyril and Methodius are symbols of Slavic writing and Slavic culture.

The cult of Cyril and Methodius became widespread in all Slavic countries, both Orthodox and Catholic (the brothers were canonized soon after their death). The Day of Remembrance of Cyril and Methodius (May 24), established by the church back in the X-XI centuries, was later turned into a holiday of national education and culture in Bulgaria.

In Russia, the celebration of the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Brothers is rooted in the distant past and was celebrated mainly by the church. There was a period when, under the influence of political circumstances, the historical merits of Cyril and Methodius were forgotten, but already in the 19th century this tradition was revived.

Officially at the state level, the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture was first solemnly celebrated in 1863, in connection with the 1000th anniversary of the creation of the Slavic alphabet by Saints Cyril and Methodius, in the same year a decree was adopted on the celebration of the Day of Remembrance of Saints Cyril and Methodius on May 11 (24 new style).

During the years of Soviet power, this holiday was unjustly consigned to oblivion and was restored only in 1986. The idea of ​​resuming a nationwide, public celebration of the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius and the Days of Slavic Written Language and Culture in Russia was born in 1985, when the Slavic peoples, together with the world community, celebrated the 1100th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius, Archbishop of Moravian and Pannonian.

In 1986, the first holiday was held in Murmansk, it was called the "Holiday of Writing", in subsequent years the holiday was held in Vologda (1987), Veliky Novgorod (1988), Kiev (1989) and Minsk (1990).

On January 30, 1991, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, by its resolution, declared May 24 as the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture, thereby giving it state status.

During the celebration, in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, in all churches in Russia, Divine Liturgies, processions of the cross, children's pilgrimage missions to monasteries in Russia, scientific and practical conferences, exhibitions, concerts are held.

The International Scientific Conference "The Slavic World: Community and Diversity" is traditionally held.

As part of the Days of Slavic Written Language and Culture, an award ceremony for the laureates of the International St. Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius, established by the Moscow Patriarchate and the Slavic Fund of Russia. It is awarded to statesmen and public figures, literary and artistic figures for the preservation and development of the Cyril and Methodius heritage. The laureates of the prize are awarded a bronze sculpture of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, equal to the apostles, a diploma and a commemorative medal.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Kirill(in the world Constantine, nickname - Philosopher, born in 827 - died in 869, Rome) and Methodius(in the world Michael; born in 815 - died in 885, Moravia) - brothers from the city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki), creators of the Old Slavonic alphabet, preachers of Christianity.

The Orthodox Church canonized them among the Equal-to-the-Apostles saints ("Slovenian teachers"), they are revered both in the West and in the East. In scientific works, they are mentioned in this sequence: Cyril and Methodius. As for the church, here, at the level of liturgical use, a different order of using the names of the brothers is adopted. Most likely, this is due to the fact that Methodius in the church hierarchy held a higher position (archbishop) in comparison with Cyril.

Origin

According to some sources, the birthplace of Cyril and Methodius was the city of Thessalonica. They were born in a wealthy family. It is known about their father, who bore the name Leo, that he was in military service under the governor (stratig of the theme) of the city of Thessaloniki and came from a fairly wealthy family. There were 7 sons in his family, among whom Cyril was the oldest, and Methodius was the youngest.

The Greek origin of Cyril and Methodius is the most common version of the origin of the future creators of the Slavic alphabet. In particular, 19th century Slavic scholars Mikhail Pogodin and Hermengild Irechek substantiated this version by the fact that both brothers were fluent in the Slavic language in its local dialect. This theory is completely denied by modern scientists.

There is a completely opposite version of the origin of the saints. It is believed that the brothers were Bulgarians, since in the later edition of Cyril's Prostozhny Zhitiya it is said about the birth of Kirill as a Bulgarian: "Come to eat blgarin from the sun of the city"... It was this mention that became a kind of stumbling block for Bulgarian scientists, who still zealously defend the Bulgarian version of the origin of famous Slavic preachers.

If we adhere to the Greek origin of Cyril and Methodius, then it is necessary to dwell on the description of the city of Thessaloniki in order to understand how the environment influenced their life choices.

The city was bilingual. On its territory lived both people using Greek in everyday life, and those who spoke Proto-Slavic, which was distinguished by the Solun dialect. The inhabitants of the city of Thessaloniki belonged to different tribes, including the Draguvites, Sagudites and Smolyans. It was the latter who helped Cyril and Methodius to create a variant of the language known today as Church Slavonic.

Before being tonsured a monk, Methodius did well in the military-administrative service. The help of the eunuch Theoctistus, the great logopetus and friend of Methodius, allowed the future preacher to take the post of strategist of Slavinia (Macedonia).

Cyril was recognized as the most educated person of his time. Before his trip to Moravia, he was engaged in the translation of the Gospel into the Slavic language and completed the work on the compilation of the Slavic alphabet.

Years of study and teaching

Cyril studied geometry, philosophy, astronomy and languages ​​in Constantinople. After graduating from Magnavr University, he was ordained a priest and began to serve in the Cathedral of St. Sophia as a hartophylax, which literally means “keeper of the library,” but in practice it corresponded to the title of a modern academician.

He neglected to marry the goddaughter of the Logofet, and soon left the post of Khartophylax and preferred to move to the Black Sea coast to one of the monasteries. For some time he lived as a hermit, but then he was forced to return to Constantinople and take a place as a teacher of philosophy at the university where he studied himself.

It was from this time that the nickname Philosopher was fixed for Cyril. He gained fame in the capital after he was able to successfully hold a theological debate and defeat his opponent, Patriarch Annius, the leader of the iconoclastic movement.

Then Cyril decided to get acquainted with the basics of Christianity, together with Metropolitan George of Nicomedia, he visited the palace of the emir of the militia. Finally, in 856, Constantine, along with some of his disciples, went to the monastery, where his brother Methodius was the abbot. There the thought arose - to create the Slavic alphabet. Most likely, Cyril decided to go to his brother because of the murder of his former patron, the logothete Theoktist.

Khazar mission

In 860, Cyril, who at that time bore the name Constantine, went to the Khazar kagan as a missionary. The main task of his mission is the adoption of Christianity by the kaganate. Upon arrival in Korsun, Constantine began to prepare for polemics, and along the way mastered the Hebrew language and the writing of the Samaritans. In addition, he gained access to the so-called Russian letter. Some scholars mistakenly believe that in this case we are talking about the Russian letter. This approach is erroneous, since it is reasonable to consider these letters as Syrian, that is, "Surya". It was at this time that the religious doctrine associated with the Church of the East spread in Khazaria, so the Slavs living here could well come across the Syrian script.

At the request of the kagan himself, Constantine had to convince him of the correctness of the Christian religion. If Constantine's arguments are convincing, then the kagan promised on oath that he would accept Christianity. There are two versions of the development of further events.

First, Constantine entered into an argument with the imam and the rabbi in the presence of the kagan. It is not entirely clear to which faith the kagan belonged and at what level of power he was. Perhaps there was a supreme kagan or kagan-bek before Constantine, but in this case, a change of faith was almost impossible, and only the Russian kagan could take this step. According to one of the versions, it follows that Constantine won the dispute, but the kagan refused to fulfill his promise.

Second, it was not Constantine who won the dispute, but the rabbi, who was able to take control of the situation and set the imam on Constantine, which allowed him to prove the correctness of the Jewish faith with sufficient ease. This information was obtained thanks to Arab sources and the collective work "Letter of Joseph".

Bulgarian mission

Today it is difficult to assert that it was Cyril and Methodius who became the people with whose help the spread of Christianity in Bulgaria began. This version is opposed by many scholars who prove that the brothers were in Moravia when Khan Boris was baptized.

Some Bulgarian researchers continue to adhere to a different point of view and justify their stubbornness by surviving legends. It is known that at one time the sister of Khan Boris was a hostage in Constantinople. She was baptized with the name of Theodora and was brought up in accordance with the spirit of Christianity.

Around 860, she returned to her homeland and made every effort to get her brother Boris to accept Christianity. As a result, Boris was baptized under the name Mikhail. The choice of this name is associated with Michael - the son of the Byzantine empress Theodora, during whose reign the direct Christianization of the Bulgarian kingdom took place.

It was at this time that Methodius and his brother were on the territory of Bulgaria. They gave sermons, which contributed to the rapid establishment of Christianity. The popularization of religion led to the establishment of Christianity in neighboring Serbia, and in 863, Cyril, with the help of his brother and students, was able to compose the Old Slavonic alphabet. In addition, they started translating church services into Bulgarian. The fact that the Slavic alphabet was created by Cyril and Methodius is confirmed by the legend "About letters" Bulgarian monk Chernorizets the Brave, a contemporary of Tsar Simeon: “If you ask the Slavic scholars, saying:“ Who created the letters for you or translated the books ”, 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. Since they are still alive, those who saw them. And if you ask at what time, they know and say that during the time of Michael, Tsar of Greece, and Boris, Prince of Bulgaria, and Rostislav, Prince of Moravia, and Kotsel, Prince of Blaten, in the summer from the creation of the whole world 6363 ".

The time of the appearance of the Slavic alphabet can be attributed to the year 863, if we start from the Alexandrian chronology adopted at the time of the creation of the work of the chronicler. Although scientists are still arguing about the authorship of Constantine, since it is not entirely clear what exactly he invented - the verb or the Cyrillic alphabet.

Moravian mission

The emperor of Byzantium received in 862 ambassadors from the Moravian prince Rostislav, who asked for help in maintaining the faith of Christ. In particular, he asked to send teachers of the Christian faith capable of conducting services in the Slavic language. This request was not only heard, but also accepted with enthusiasm both by the emperor himself and by the patriarch. As a result, the Solun brothers were selected for the trip to Moravia.

While in Moravia, Constantine and Methodius were engaged not only in conducting divine services in the Slavic language, but also taught to read and write the local population, which included the inhabitants of Carpathian Rus. They continued to translate Greek church books into the Slavic language. They stayed in Moravia for 3 years, and then they were urgently sent to Rome.

The brothers were summoned by the Pope, since Constantine and Methodius were accused of apostasy. They were accused of conducting divine services in the Slavic language.

Up to the events described, the following postulate of faith was recognized: an appeal to God can be performed only in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. A similar interpretation has developed because of the inscription on the Cross of the Lord, which was performed only in the 3 mentioned languages. Therefore, anyone who would like to change this state of affairs was immediately declared a heretic. However, the brothers managed to escape punishment.

This probably happened because Constantine handed over to the Roman Church the relics of St. Clement, which he inherited during his Chersonesus journey. Whatever it was, but Adrian, the head of the Catholic Church, approved the right for the Slavs to use their language for divine services.

last years of life

On February 14, 869 (according to the old style), the preacher Cyril died in Rome, who had previously assumed the schema and a new name. Only from this date it is legitimate to call him Cyril, before that he bore the name Constantine, given to him at birth. They buried him in the church of St. Clement.

The Pope made Methodius Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. After that, he went with his disciples to Pannonia, a Slavic country that Cyril and Methodius visited during their trip to Rome. There they spent quite a lot of time teaching the Slavs about worship in their native language and about books.

Soon Methodius returned to Moravia. During his absence, the country underwent serious changes associated with the rise of the Latin-German clergy. In 870, Prince Rostislav died in a Bavarian prison, defeated by Louis the German. As a result, the nephew of Prince Svyatopolk, who was under the influence of the Germans, ascended the throne.

In Moravia, worship in the Slavic language began to be prohibited, and the machinations of the German clergy even allowed the exile of Archbishop Methodius to the Reichenau monastery for 3 years. The Pope found out about this and forbade the German bishops to hold the liturgy. Thanks to the participation of the Pope, Methodius was released. However, the ban affected the language of worship of the Slavs in the churches of Moravia: only sermons were allowed in the Slavic language.

Methodius, reinstated in 879 in the rights of archbishop, ignored the decrees of the Pope and continued to conduct divine services in the forbidden language. He baptized Prince Borivoi with his wife Lyudmila in Slavic.

In the same year, the German clergy were able to re-organize the process against Methodius. But this did not bring positive results, since the archbishop visited Rome and was able not only to justify himself, but also to receive a papal bull, which allowed worship in the Slavic language.

In 881, Methodius received an invitation to Constantinople from the emperor Basil I. Having arrived in the capital of Byzantium, the archbishop, together with his disciples, remained in it for another 3 years. Then he returned to Moravia, where, with 3 students, he completed the translation of the Old Testament and patristic books into the Slavic language.

In 885 Methodius died after a serious illness. His death fell on Palm Sunday, that is, on April 19. The funeral service for the archbishop was held in 3 languages: Slavic, Greek and Latin.

Heritage

Scientists admit that Cyril and Methodius developed an alphabet based on the Slavic language, known as the Glagolitic alphabet. It is believed that the Cyrillic alphabet is the merit of Clement Ohridsky, a disciple of the brothers. When creating the alphabet, Clement relied on the Greek alphabet.

However, it should be noted that Clement mainly used the work of Cyril and Methodius, in which the sounds of the Slavic language were isolated. Nobody disputes this version. At the same time, this work is the cornerstone of the creation of a new writing system, and this makes it fundamental for the creation of the Slavic alphabet. Thanks to Cyril's unique linguistic abilities, it was possible to distinguish Slavic sounds quite scientifically.

At the same time, the possibility of the existence of Slavic writing long before Cyril and Methodius raises controversy. As an argument in this case, a fragment from the life of Cyril is used, which mentions books written in "Russian". But in the life of Cyril there is no hint of the belonging of these books to Slavic writing.

“And the Philosopher found here (in Korsun) the Gospel and the Psalter, written in Russian letters, and he found a man speaking in that speech. And I talked with him and understood the meaning of the language, correlating the differences between vowels and consonants with their own language. And raising prayer to God, he soon began to read and speak. And many were amazed at this, glorifying God. "

As an example, the zeal with which Cyril tried to comprehend a new language is given, which confirms the non-Slavic roots of the language being studied. During the life of Cyril and Methodius, the Proto-Slavic language was a single whole and was perfectly understood by everyone who considered it to be their own. It was only in the XII century that the division of the language into dialects began.

Researchers for the most part are inclined towards 2 versions of the interpretation of a fragment from the life of Cyril. First, the passage in question may have been written in Gothic. Secondly, the manuscript could well contain a mistake, when it is necessary to read not “Russian”, but “Surya”, which is equivalent to “Syrian”.

If we take into account the study at this time by Cyril of the Hebrew language and writing in Samaritan, then the second option is more likely. Metropolitan Macarius has repeatedly emphasized that in the life itself, Cyril was repeatedly spoken of as the creator of the Slavic alphabet.

Veneration

Russian Orthodoxy has established 2 dates for the commemoration of the saints, associated with the days of their presentation. So, Cyril is revered on February 27 (old style - February 14), and Methodius - on April 19 (old style - April 6).

The Catholic Church introduced a single day of remembrance for the brothers - February 14. Prior to this, the celebration date fell on July 5th. In 1863, the Roman Church celebrated the "Year of the Slavic Jubilee", and Pope John Paul dedicated his epistle (encyclical) "Apostles of the Slavs" to Cyril and Methodius.

In 1863, the Most Holy Government Synod of Russia decided to celebrate the day of Saints Cyril and Methodius on May 11 (according to the Julian calendar). It is unclear why this particular date was chosen.

On May 11, 1858, the first commemoration day for Cyril and Methodius was celebrated in Plovdiv within the framework of the Bulgarian Church. Perhaps there is some reason for the choice on May 11. In addition, in 1862, Ivan Dmitrievich Belyaev, a professor at Moscow University, wrote an article that spoke of the existence of a certain church document dated May 11 and defining the principles of writing icons of Cyril and Methodius.

On May 11, 1872, despite the Patriarch's ban, Exarch Anfim I celebrated the liturgy held in the Bulgarian Church of Constantinople, at which the independence act of the Bulgarian Church was proclaimed, that is, it became autocephalous. On this occasion, the Holy Synod expressed sincere regret, since the separation of the Greeks and Bulgarians took place, which was the reason for the refusal of the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Cyril and Methodius by the Greek Church for political reasons.

The decree of the Holy Synod of 1855 established that May 11 should be considered an average holiday with a vigil. Since 1901, the Synod has established the celebration of May 11 on an annual basis in all churches and educational institutions related to the spiritual department. An all-night vigil and a liturgy with a prayer service were envisaged. Students of religious institutions were exempted from classes, and on May 11 the graduation act was held in church schools.

In 1991, the holiday in honor of Cyril and Methodius became a state holiday in the following countries: Czech Republic, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Slovakia. In Russia and Bulgaria, the "Day of Slavic Culture and Writing" is celebrated on May 24. Macedonia also celebrates this holiday on May 24, but here it is already called - "The Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius". In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it is customary to honor Cyril and Methodius on July 5.

The Slovak poet Jan Golly created a poem called "Cyril-Methodius", and the biography of the saints was included in the "Khazar Dictionary" by Milorad Pavic. Bulgaria established the Order of Cyril and Methodius.

Disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius

In the life of secular people, some holidays, which were originally church holidays, are increasingly included. Among them is the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture. How and when did it appear? In fact, this date is considered the birthday of the Slavic alphabet, and its “fathers” - Cyril and Methodius - are two brothers who were canonized after death. And today the holiday is celebrated not only in Russia, but also in other countries where these saints are honored.

Cyrillic creators

Two brothers - the elder Methodius (nee Michael) and the younger Cyril (nee Constantine) - were born into a large wealthy family from the upper class in the first third of the 9th century in the city that is today called Thessaloniki.

Cyril learned to read early and amazed those around him with his memory and ability to quickly comprehend various sciences. Thanks to such skills and the patronage of the logothete Theoktist, he was sent to study in Constantinople. And in 863, Emperor Michael sent him to Moravia (a Slavic baptized country), where Cyril was supposed to interpret church books at the request of Prince Rostislav of Moravia.

By that time, Methodius had left his military service and joined his brother in order to translate theological texts with him and convey the meaning of books. Cyril and Methodius not only translated, but also compiled the alphabet, with the help of which it was possible to read and rewrite these books. The alphabet began to be called first the verb, and then the Cyrillic, after one of its creators. Unfortunately, not everyone liked it; even the church did not welcome the appearance of another language. The brothers went through many trials in order to conduct divine services in the Slavic language (this especially affected the elder after the death of the younger). But, one way or another, the Cyrillic alphabet spread to the territory of Bulgaria, some Balkan countries and Kievan Rus.

Today they celebrate the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture, on what date it was celebrated for the first time in 1863, i.e. May 24. It is this date that is considered the common day of remembrance of Saints Methodius and Cyril.

As noted

The Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture was included in the list of public holidays in 1991. Since then, May 24, although not a day off, has been celebrated on a large scale.

1. In most cities on this day, a procession of the Cross takes place, when representatives of the local metropolitanate of the Russian Orthodox Church, students of Orthodox educational institutions and ordinary parishioners walk along the central streets, as a rule, from one church to another.
2. Celebrations are held in many libraries. Exhibitions of rare books are arranged for visitors, which can not always be seen even in reading rooms.
3. In the big bookstores on May 24, writers sometimes appear to talk about their works, or literary scholars lecture on the history of books.
4. In the late afternoon, in the parks and on the main squares, you can see the performance of pop groups (most often folklore) and orchestras from the local philharmonic society.

Despite the end of the school year, many schools and universities also organize various events dedicated to the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture, the script for such celebrations is made by teachers and teachers, but sometimes students come to their aid. For schoolchildren, a quiz is often held, the questions of which are related to the emergence of the Slavic alphabet or the Russian language. For example, such:

1. When did Cyril and Methodius live?
2. Which book did they translate first?
3. What kind of reforms related to the Russian language was carried out by Peter I?

After the quiz, the students act out the scene "Creators of the Cyrillic alphabet in childhood", which tells how the brothers invented letters and words so that not only the Greeks, but also the Slavs would have their books. After the scene, competitions of folk songs, traditional Russian cuisine, costumes, linguistics, history of printing, etc. are held.

Whom and how to congratulate

On the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture in Russia, it is customary to congratulate everyone who is in some way connected with typography, writing, with the study of the Russian language, etc. These people include:

• writers,
• journalists,
• teachers of the Russian language and literature,
• philology students,
• literary scholars,
• linguists,
• publishers,
• editors, etc.

What kind of congratulation can be? Firstly, if there is an opportunity, then for those who celebrate their professional holiday on May 24, they order a song on the radio - it is better to opt for folklore works. Secondly, they send SMS and e-mails, but it will be better if a person receives a handwritten one or even - this corresponds to the celebration to a greater extent. In a postcard, you can write a poem or a couple of prosaic lines that will remind you of the merits of Cyril and Methodius.

For the holiday, the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture, gifts are often made. These are, first of all, books, but they are sometimes replaced by a subscription to a magazine, writing set, stationery, board games (for example, "Erudite", where you need to form words), and believers would be appropriate to present the icon of the alphabet creators. To give gifts for this holiday or not - everyone decides for himself, but you can congratulate all the Slavs. After all, even if a person's professional activity has nothing to do with books and language, he still uses the alphabet every day.