Cyril and Methodius, creators of Slavic writing. Alphabet: from Cyril and Methodius

Celebration day Slavic writing and culture is inextricably linked with Cyril and Methodius - in all Slavic countries he is celebrated on May 24.

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

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

short biography

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

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

© photo: Sputnik / Vladimir Vdovin

A reproduction of the icon "Saints Cyril and Methodius"

After serving ten years, Methodius in about 852 received monastic tonsure in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus (Asia Minor).

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

After completing his studies, he was ordained a priest - he was appointed curator of the patriarchal library at the Church of St. Sophia and taught philosophy at the higher school of Constantinople.

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

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

© photo: Sputnik / Vladimir Fedorenko

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

For evangelical preaching, the Byzantine emperor sent Cyril and Methodius in 857 to the Khazar Kaganate. On the way, stopping in the city of Korsun, the brothers miraculously acquired the relics of the Holy Martyr Clement, Pope of Rome.

Then, having gone to the Khazars, Methodius and Cyril successfully convinced the Khazar prince and his entourage to accept Christianity, and also to free 200 Greek captives.

History of Slavic writing

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

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

© photo: Sputnik / Rudolf Kucherov

A sculptural image of the founders of Slavic writing Cyril and Methodius on the monument "1000th Anniversary of Russia"

The emperor entrusted this mission to Cyril and Methodius, confident that they would cope with it better than anyone else. Cyril compiled the Slavic alphabet with the help of his brother Methodius and the disciples of Clement, Gorazd, Naum, Savva and Angelar.

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

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

Two alphabets of Slavic writing were composed - Glagolitic and Cyrillic, and both were used. The surviving Slavic manuscripts are made in both one and the other alphabet.

But over time, the Cyrillic alphabet, which in writing letters is much simpler than the archaic Glagolitic alphabet, ousted it from everyday life.

© photo: Sputnik / Sergey Samokhin

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

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

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

Cyril and Methodius, for their activities, were counted among the Saints in antiquity. The memory of the enlighteners of the Slavs has been honored by the Russian Orthodox Church since the 11th century. The oldest services The saints who have survived to this day date back to the 13th century.

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

The material was prepared on the basis of open sources

Eleven centuries of the existence of the Cyrillic alphabet have not revealed all the secrets of its origin. It is now known that this alphabet was not created by St. Cyril, Equal to the Apostles, that the new writing replaced the ancient Slavic rune signs that have not yet been studied, and that it was not only and not so much a tool of enlightenment as a means of political struggle.

Why did the Slavs need writing

The brothers Cyril and Methodius, as you know, brought writing on the territory of the Slavic states, this marked the beginning of the spread of Christianity in Russia. The alphabet, whose age is more than a millennium, is called the Cyrillic alphabet - however, it was not created by Cyril at all, and Cyril himself lived his whole life under the name Constantine, nicknamed the Philosopher, accepting the schema only before his death.

Was there a written language among the Slavs before the Greek missionaries is a controversial issue associated with both the ambiguity of many historical facts and the peculiarities of the political situation, which determined the events of those times and the ways of their display. Because in the 9th century, a serious struggle unfolded for spheres of influence in European and Asian lands - a struggle in which Rome and Constantinople were involved first of all.

The story goes that the prince of Moravia Rostislav turned to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III with a request to help organize church administration and arrange the main liturgical books in the Slavic language. Great Moravia was a large and powerful Slavic state that united the territory of many modern European states - Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, part of Poland and Ukraine. The integrity of the country in the 9th century was threatened by the Frankish and Bulgarian peoples, and this was the reason for the desire to create an independent church.

It is interesting that all the Slavs of that time - both southern, eastern and western - communicated in an Old Slavonic language that was understandable to every nation. It was perfectly owned by Constantine and Methodius (in the world - Michael), brothers from the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki), and the emperor instructed them to go to Moravia as missionaries. The fact that Constantine was a pupil of a great official under the emperor, Theoktist, and, moreover, a very capable and versatile person, who already in his youth received the post of church reader and curator of the library, also played a role. Methodius, who chose the monastic path for himself, was 12 years older than his brother.

Glagolitic and Cyrillic

The creation of the Slavic alphabet dates back to 863 - it was the result of work on the isolation of the sounds of the Slavic language and their creation of a system of written signs, the basis of the structure of which was the Greek alphabet. Attempts to write down Slavic words in Greek letters were made earlier, but did not lead to any result due to the differences in the sounds used by the Greeks and Slavs. A comprehensive, fundamental approach was required, and it was with its help that the brothers achieved the result.

The author of the first Slavic alphabet Cyril-Constantine is considered - but, according to the majority of modern scholars, he created not the Cyrillic alphabet, but the Glagolite. The letters of this alphabet, perhaps, were created under the influence of the ancient Slavic runes, the existence of which has not been proven, but now gives rise to many romantic theories about the pre-Christian culture of the peoples of Russia. These "features and cuts" are also endowed with magical meaning, like the runes of the Germanic peoples, the very name of which comes from the word "mystery".

The alphabet created in the 9th century was used to translate the main church books - the Gospel, the Psalter, the Apostle. If there was no suitable word in the Slavic language, the missionary brothers used Greek - hence big number words borrowed from this language. Since the creation of the alphabet and the appearance of church literature, Moravian priests began to conduct services in their own language. Despite the fact that the rules prohibited the use of a "barbarian" language in the church - only Greek, Latin and Hebrew were allowed, the Pope made such an exception. Apparently, various factors influenced Rome's decision, including the fact that in 868 the brothers Constantine and Methodius transferred to the Vatican the relics of St. Clement, acquired in Chersonesos during their other mission - to the Khazar Kaganate.

One way or another, but already a few years after the death of Emperor Michael, Slavic writing was banned in Moravia. From there it was taken over by the Bulgarians and Croats. In 869, Constantine fell seriously ill and after a while died, having taken monastic vows before his death. Methodius returned to Moravia in 870, spent several years in prison and was released on the direct order of the new Pope, John VIII.

The Moravian mission also included Constantine's disciple, Clement from the city of Ohrid. He continued to work on the dissemination of Slavic writing, at the invitation of the Bulgarian Tsar Boris I, he organized training in schools. In the process of work, Clement also optimized the previously created alphabet - in contrast to the Glagolitic alphabet, the letters in the new alphabet had a simpler and clearer outline. 24 letters Greek alphabet and 19 letters for recording specific sounds of the Slavic language made up the "klimentitsa", as the Cyrillic alphabet was initially called. Perhaps the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet was dictated by dissatisfaction with the alphabet that Constantine invented - namely, the complexity of writing symbols.

Gaps in the history of the Cyrillic alphabet

Unfortunately, the works of Cyril and Methodius have not reached the present time, and information about their works is often contained in the works of one author, which brings doubts about the objectivity and reliability of the data. In particular, the fact that the Glagolitic alphabet was created by Cyril is directly mentioned by the only source of authorship of the priest Ghoul Dashing. True, there is also indirect evidence that the Glagolitic alphabet appeared earlier: on the numerous parchments-palimpsests found, the Cyrillic texts are written over the scraped-off words of the Glagolitic spelling.

On the territory of Russia, the Glagolitic alphabet was almost never used - only a few samples of the text survived (Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral is one of the few ancient Russian monuments where you can see a Glagolic inscription). As for the Cyrillic alphabet, with the adoption of Christianity in 988, it became widespread and acquired the status of the Church Slavonic language.

Before the reform of Peter I, all letters were in uppercase, after the reform, they began to write in lowercase, other changes were introduced - a number of letters were abolished, others were legalized, for the third they changed the style. And in the thirties of the XX century, a number of the peoples of the USSR who did not have a written language or used other types of writing - in particular, Arabic, received the Cyrillic alphabet as the official alphabet.

Due to the lack of a sufficient number of sources on many issues related to writing in Russia, there are serious disputes. There is a theory that the word "Cyrillic" is derived from the ancient Slavic term for writing, and "Cyril" in this case simply means "scribe". According to one version, the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet preceded the appearance of the Glagolitic alphabet, which was created as a cryptography to replace the forbidden Cyrillic alphabet. However, you can immerse yourself in the secrets of the past of Russia endlessly, and finding connections with the already mentioned Scandinavian runes, and pointing to monuments-falsifications, such as the famous "Veles's book".

There is no doubt that Greek writing arose on the basis of a rich and developed Slavic culture, the originality of which, taking into account the innovations, probably suffered some damage. The phonetics of words changed irreversibly, the Slavic terms were replaced by their Greek counterparts. On the other hand, it was precisely the emergence of writing in Russia that made it possible to preserve its history over the centuries, reflecting it in chronicles, letters and household documents - and in the symbol of continuity between the world Ancient Rus and modern children's drawings.

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Problem: most students do not know the history of the creation of the Slavic alphabet.

Purpose: to increase the number of students who know about the origin of the Slavic alphabet.

collect material about the origin of the Slavic alphabet;

prepare a presentation on the origin of the Slavic alphabet;

INTRODUCTION

Language and writing represent the most important factors in the formation of the culture of any nation. When people begin to forget about the origins of their native language, this is the hardest blow to their native culture.

Throughout most of their lives, people use the alphabet to read and create various text documents. While most of the older population can still name the creators of the Slavic alphabet, the younger generation (students), unfortunately, rarely name the authors. And only a few can tell about who these people were, where they came from and why exactly they became the creators of the Slavic alphabet. I am sure that knowing the past is necessary, because this knowledge helps to understand the present. From time immemorial, messages are reaching us. It is extremely important to hear the voice of ancestors, to find answers to eternal questions, to feel like a part of the historical stream. It all definesrelevanceof this study, since the language is an indicator of the spiritual culture of the people.

Hypothesis: a large number of students do not know the history of the creation of the Slavic alphabet.

Research methods: study of literature on the topic, observation, comparison, generalization.

Theoretical and practicalsignificancework is determined by the possibility of using the research results in the process of learning the Russian language in the classroom, as well as in further research in this direction.

5.base

5.1. The founders of the Slavic alphabet: Cyril and Methodius.

The brothers Constantine (that was the name of Saint Cyril before he took monasticism) and Methodius were born in the Macedonian region of Byzantium, namely in the main city of the region - Thessalonica. The father of the future compilers of the Slavic alphabet was from the upper stratum of the Byzantine people.

Constantine was the youngest of the seven brothers, and Methodius was the oldest brother. The year of birth of each of the brothers is not known exactly. It is believed that the year of birth of Methodius belongs to the second decade of the 9th century. Constantine learned to read very early and amazed everyone with his ability to learn other languages. He received a good education at the court of the emperor in Constantinople under the guidance of the best Byzantine mentors, such as the future Patriarch of Constantinople Photius and Leo Grammaticus, an expert on ancient culture, creator of a unique bibliographic collection, mathematician, astronomer and mechanic.

The ancient heritage and all modern secular science were considered by the teachers of Constantine to be a necessary preliminary stage to the comprehension of the highest science - Theology. This corresponded to the ancient church Christian scientific tradition.

After passing all sciences in Magnavrskaya high school Constantinople, Constantine occupied the chair of philosophy, where he had previously studied himself, also fulfilling the duties of the librarian of the patriarch.

Returning to Byzantium, Cyril went to seek peace. In a monastery on the coast of the Sea of ​​Marmara, Mount Olympus, after years of separation, the brothers met again to discover new page stories.

5.2. The history of the origin of the Slavic alphabet.

In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople. Moravia was the name of one of the West Slavic states of the 9-10th centuries, which was located on the territory of present-day Bohemia. The capital of Moravia was the city of Velehrad, scientists have not yet established its exact location. The ambassadors asked to send preachers to their country to 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. The answer to the question was negative. The Moravians did not have the ABC. Then the brothers started to work. They had at their disposal not years, but months. In a short time, the alphabet for the language of the Moravians was created. It was named after one of its creators in "Cyrillic".

There are various assumptions about the origin of the "Cyrillic". Some scholars believe that in the 9th century, the Slavs had almost simultaneously two writing systems: one was called "Glagolitic", and the other - "Cyrillic". Which alphabet was invented by Constantine? Perhaps, both of these writing systems were created by the first teachers of the Slavs, but later the Cyrillic alphabet became the most widespread, which became the basis of the modern Russian alphabet. These systems of writing existed in parallel and at the same time sharply differed in the shape of the letters.

Cyrillic was composed according to a fairly simple principle. At first, it included all the Greek letters, which among the Slavs and Greeks meant the same sounds, then new signs were added - for sounds that had no analogues in the Greek language. Each letter had its own name: "az", "beeches", "lead", "verb", "good" and so on. In addition, letters could denote numbers: the letter "az" stood for 1, "lead" -2, "verb" - 3. In total, the "Cyrillic" had 43 letters.

With the help of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from the Greek alphabet into the Slavic. The first words, written using the Slavic alphabet, were the opening lines from the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The successful mission of Cyril and Methodius aroused sharp discontent among the Byzantine clergy, who tried to discredit the Slavic enlighteners. They were even accused of heresy. To defend themselves, the brothers went to Rome and achieved success: they were allowed to continue their work.

A long and long trip to Rome, an intense struggle with the enemies of the Slavic writing undermined Cyril's health. He fell seriously ill. Dying, he took the floor from Methodius to continue enlightening the Slavs.

Endless hardships fell on Methodius, he was persecuted, put on trial, imprisoned, but neither physical suffering nor moral humiliation broke his will, did not change his goal - serving the cause of Slavic enlightenment. Soon after the death of Methodius, Pope Stephen 5 banned Slavic worship in Moravia on pain of excommunication. The closest associates of Cyril and Methodius were arrested and driven out after torture. Three of them - Clement, Naum and Angelarius - found a favorable reception in Bulgaria. Here they still translated from the Greek alphabet into the Slavic alphabet, compiled various collections, and instilled literacy in the population.

It was not possible to destroy the work of the Orthodox enlighteners Cyril and Methodius. Their alphabet began its march across the countries. Of particular importance was the introduction of the Slavic alphabet into divine services, because at that time the liturgical language was at the same time the language of literature. With the Baptism of Rus, books in the Slavic language began to spread very quickly in Kievan Rus.

5.3. Reforms of the Slavic alphabet

The Cyrillic alphabet existed without change in the Russian language almost until Peter I, when some changes were made to the outline of some letters. He removed the obsolete letters: "Ѫ, ѫ" (yus large), "Ѧ ѧ" (yus small), "Ωω" (omega) and "uk". They existed in the alphabet only by tradition, but, as it turned out, it was perfectly possible to do without them. Peter I deleted them from the civil alphabet - that is, from the set of letters intended for secular printing. In 1918, several more obsolete letters “left” from the Russian alphabet: “Ѣ, ѣ” (yat), “Ѳ, ѳ” (fit), “Ѵ, ѵ” (izhitsa), “b, b” (ep) and "B, b" (er).

For a thousand years, many letters have disappeared from our alphabet, and only two have appeared: "y" and "e". They were invented in the 18th century by the Russian writer and historian N.M. Karamzin.

Comparative analysis of the modern Russian alphabet and the Cyrillic alphabet of the pre-Petrine era

The modern Russian alphabet has 33 letters. We compared the Cyrillic alphabet with the modern Russian alphabet and got an interesting picture. For clarity, we have compiled a table.

Table 1

It turned out that during the existence of the Russian alphabet, based on the Cyrillic alphabet, 28 letters were preserved, 4 were added and 14 letters were lost. However, philological scholars may recognize my conclusions as inaccurate, because the added letters are not reinvented, but only replace sounds or combinations of sounds. For example, the lost letter "E iotated" can be recognized as the prototype of the modern letter "E", and the letter "small yus" - the prototype of the letter "I". But in any case, my research will make someone think and look at the familiar letters of the alphabet from a slightly different angle. I, in turn, am sure that each of the Russian letters deserves a separate study.

6. Conclusion

It is difficult even to imagine what a people would be like without an alphabet. Ignorant, ignorant, and simply - people with no memory, no past. It is with the help of writing that you can transfer information, share experiences with descendants.

More than 1000 years ago, the Slavic scribes brothers Cyril and Methodius became the authors of the Slavic alphabet. Nowadays, one tenth of all existing languages ​​(about 70 languages) are written based on the Cyrillic alphabet.

Every spring, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture is celebrated throughout Russia. Every person who does not want to lose his connection with the past and the history of his people should know and honor the history of the emergence of the Slavic alphabet.

Bibliographic list

Artemov V.V. Slavic encyclopedia / V. Artemov. - Moscow: OLMA Media Group, 2011 .-- 304 p. : ill.

Vereshchagin EM Cyril and Methodius book heritage: interlanguage, intercultural, intertemporal and interdisciplinary research: with two appendices: [dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of the beginning of the book activity of St. Cyril and Methodius] / EM Vereshchagin; Grew up. acad. Sciences, Institute of the Russian language.

Days of Slavic Written Language and Culture: materials of the Intern. scientific-practical Conf., May 23, 2008, Vladimir / [editorial board. : V.V. Gulyaeva (editor-in-chief)]. - Vladimir: VlGU, 2008 .-- 231 p.

Baiburova R. How did the writing of the ancient Slavs appear / R. Baiburova / Science and Life. - 2002. - No. 5. - S. 48-55.

Where did our alphabet come from? Who does not know this! Long ago, two Bulgarians, Cyril and Methodius, came to Russia and invented the Cyrillic alphabet. And that's not it! Their name was not Cyril or Methodius at all, they were not born in Bulgaria, did not come to Russia and did not create the Cyrillic alphabet! Like this? What happened then? And there were amazing travels and adventures of the holy brothers, enlighteners of the Slavs. Let's follow their path from the very beginning!

About the time in which Cyril and Methodius lived

In the 9th century, in the vastness of Europe, there were two great Christian empires: one - Byzantium with its capital in Constantinople, the other - Frankish empire... In 843, it was divided among the heirs of King Charlemagne into several kingdoms. Between these empires stretched the lands on which mainly pagan Slavs lived. By that time official language in Byzantium became Greek, and in the possession of the Franks - Latin, although in everyday life the inhabitants of all these states used the most different languages.

And what happened in those days on the lands where Russia later arose? Slavic tribes lived there - glade, Drevlyans, Krivichi, Vyatichi and others. The Rus state was just emerging.

How the brothers parted and then met

On the shores of the Aegean Sea is the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki, or, as the Slavs called it, Solun. In that big city representatives of different peoples lived. There were also a lot of Slavs here, so many spoke the Slavic language in these places. They also knew him in the family of an officer named Lev. The eldest of his seven sons, the strongest and most courageous, was named Michael. The youngest, sickly, "big-headed", but very gifted boy, was named Constantine.

The brothers were friends, the elder always took care of and protected the younger.

Michael, following the example of his father, chose military career... Soon he achieved great success in the service - he became the head of one of the provinces of Byzantium, where the Slavs lived. For ten years, Michael honestly ruled the lands entrusted to him, and then decided to retire from the world and went to Mount Small Olympus, on the southern coast of the Sea of ​​Marmara. There was a monastery there. Michael took monastic vows, taking the name Methodius.

And the younger brother, Constantine, went to study in Constantinople. There he showed himself so well that he was appointed to help in his studies the future Byzantine king - the young heir Michael. The most respected teachers of that era instructed boys in grammar and astronomy, geometry and philosophy, music and arithmetic ... Konstantin studied more than six languages! Including perfectly - Slavic.

The young man refused a profitable marriage, firmly deciding to devote himself to the sciences. Then the Byzantine queen and the Patriarch, wishing to bring Constantine closer to themselves, persuaded him to accept the priesthood and become a librarian at the church. Later, Constantine became a teacher of philosophy and even received the nickname Philosopher.

The Byzantine king and patriarch greatly appreciated the young scientist, invited him to councils and debates, where Constantine spoke on an equal footing with respectable sages. In 852, when the Philosopher was only 24 years old, he was even sent to the capital of the Arab Caliphate, Samara. They sent it because the Arabs often criticized the Christian faith during their negotiations with Byzantium. We needed literate people who could change the opinion of the Arabs about Christianity. Constantine became a member of the embassy, ​​and took part in long disputes about faith. In Samara, a young man amazed the Arab scholars with rational statements and excellent knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. Home, to Constantinople, the Arabs accompanied him with honor and generous gifts.

Soon after his return, Constantine left the capital and went to Small Olympus, to his elder brother Methodius.

Here the brothers are finally reunited after a long separation. We lived together in a monastery, studied the works of the holy fathers, prayed and worked. But their quiet hermitage soon ended.

How Methodius and Constantine traveled to the Khazars

At that time, ambassadors from the Khazars came to Tsar Mikhail. This was the name of the people who lived far to the north of Byzantium, in the Khazar Kaganate, in the vicinity of the future ancient Russian lands (now it is Dagestan, part of the Crimea, the Don and the Lower Volga region). The Khazars asked to send them wise people who would tell about the teachings of Christ. The Khazar kagan - the supreme ruler, "khan khans" - chose at that time which faith to accept: Islam, Judaism or Christianity.

Tsar Michael appointed Constantine as an envoy to the Khazars, and he persuaded his brother, a former warrior, to help him on a dangerous and long journey.

The path through the steppes was not easy! The wild tribes of the Ugrians, which, as the chronicler testifies, walked in skins and howled like wolves, attacked the caravans of travelers. According to legend, the robbers also attacked the brothers when they stopped in the steppe for prayer. Constantine was not frightened, he only continued to repeat: "Lord, have mercy! .." When the saint finished his prayer, the fierce Ugrians suddenly calmed down, began to bow to him and ask for teachings. Having received the blessing, the robbers released the monks, and they continued on their way safely.

Constantine and Methodius had an important and long stop on the way to Khazaria in the Crimean city of Chersonesos, or, in Slavonic, Korsun, which is not far from present-day Sevastopol. Preparing for the upcoming mission, the holy brothers continued to study the Khazar and Hebrew languages, and improved in Slavic.

In Chersonesos, thanks to Methodius and Constantine, a real miracle happened! In those places not far from the coast, the relics of the revered Christian Saint Clement, the closest disciple of the Apostle Peter, were hidden in the sea. Clement was executed in Chersonesos, in exile, at the very beginning of the 2nd century AD. Cyril and Methodius persuaded the local bishop to find the relics of the saint.

After sunset, the brothers, along with the bishop and many priests, boarded a ship and sailed out to sea. They prayed fervently there for a long time. At midnight, a light suddenly shone from the sea! The holy relics appeared before the astonished priests. They were put on a ship, taken to the city, and placed in the Apostolic Church. The brothers took part of the relics with them on a journey, in order to eventually take them to Rome.

From Chersonesos, Constantine and Methodius made long haul by sea and land, until we reached the Caucasus Mountains, where the kagan, the ruler of Khazaria, was then located.

In the khan's palace, the brothers were greeted with honor and received a letter from them from Tsar Mikhail. In long conversations with Muslims, Jews and Khazars, Constantine explained the subtleties of the Christian faith, referring to the Old Testament, to the ancient prophets and forefathers, who were recognized and honored by both Jews and Muslims - Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, Saul ...

The noble Khazars, who heard the long disputes between Jews, Muslims and Christians, liked the speeches of the young Byzantine preacher Constantine so much that two hundred of them adopted the Christian faith. As a token of gratitude, the Khazars released from the Kaganate, together with Methodius and Constantine, more than two hundred Greek captives.

The brothers moved to Return trip to Constantinople. Received the returned messengers in royal palace triumphantly like real apostles.

Methodius became abbot of the Polykhroniev Monastery on Little Olympus, and Constantine settled at the church. And again, their rest was short.

About letters for great Moravia

Great Moravia (now the territory of the Czech Republic) was baptized by German missionaries long ago. They also translated into Slavic, but translated only the most necessary prayers and teachings for the parishioners. In churches, believers heard only Latin, did not understand it, and therefore the German priests could explain Christian teachings to them the way they wanted. It was still impossible for the illiterate peasants to check whether they were telling the truth.

In 862, the Moravian prince Rostislav turned to Tsar Michael: “Our people rejected paganism and adopted the Christian law. Only we do not have such a teacher who would explain the faith of Christ to us in our language. Send a bishop and a teacher to us! "

Tsar Michael responded to Rostislav's request and first of all called the Philosopher, educated in languages, Constantine:
- After all, you and your brother are from Thessaloniki (this is another name for the city of Thessaloniki, native to Cyril and Methodius), and the Solunians all speak Slavic well. So much for you to go to the Slavs in Moravia.

Constantine was unwell at that time, but agreed to go to a distant country. He only asked:
- Do the inhabitants of Moravia have letters in their language?
Michael replied:
- No, they don't.
- How am I going to preach to them? - the Philosopher was upset. “It's like recording a conversation on the water. In addition, if the Slavs misunderstand me, it will turn out that I preach heresy - the wrong church teaching!
- If you want, God will give you what you ask! - the Byzantine king assured Constantine. He understood that the creation of a written Slavic language was necessary not only for Moravia - new language will help the Byzantine Empire convert thousands and thousands of pagan Slavs to Christianity!

Constantine again went to Small Olympus to Methodius. There he prayed, fasted for forty days, and then set to work. The brothers faced a very difficult task, but Cyril was able to come up with letters that took into account all the peculiarities of the pronunciation of the Slavs. The holy brothers took as a basis the dialects of the Slavs who lived near Thessaloniki, and created a verb - an alphabet that is understandable to residents of other parts Slavic world... Why? Because at that time the Slavs had a single language - different Slavic tribes and nationalities spoke about the same and understood each other perfectly.

Constantine had to translate the Holy Scriptures into a new language, a very complex text. Many words used there simply did not exist in the Slavic language, they had to be created anew. The holy philosopher took on such a difficult job. By Easter, the translation of the beginning of the Gospel of John into the new Slavic language was ready. Having completed their labors, the holy brothers set off on their journey again.

In Moravia, Methodius and Constantine began by going to schools with local children. The schools prepared future clergymen and for this they taught children the Latin language. The brothers showed the disciples a new one, Slavic alphabet and books translated into the Slavic language.

The local prince Rostislav, under the leadership of Constantine and Methodius, began to build new churches, where services were held in the Slavic language.

The philosopher and his disciples continued to translate church services, people in Moravia finally began to understand what the prayers say and how to praise God correctly.

Unfortunately, the apostolic activity of the brothers was very disliked by the German priests. The Germans were convinced that divine services could only be held in three languages ​​- Latin, Hebrew and Greek. It was then common in Latin Western Europe erroneous opinion, which was later called "trilingual heresy". Constantine argued heatedly with the Germans, recalled the words of the ancient prophet David: "Praise the Lord in all languages!" and the words of the Gospel: "Come teach all languages ​​...", that is, he convinced everyone that you can praise God in any language.

Constantine and Methodius spent more than three years in Moravia. They walked around a lot of lands, equipped schools, everywhere taught people the Slavic letter and the word of God. Many Slavic disciples were ready to become priests and deacons, but only a bishop could give them priesthood. And then there was no bishop in Moravia. In addition, Western high-ranking clergy, dissatisfied with the popularity of the Byzantine preachers, sent a complaint to Rome that Constantine and Methodius were teaching the Slavs to worship in the Slavic language.

To defend their innocence, Constantine and Methodius had to go to Rome. They took with them the relics of Saint Clement, which they had brought from Chersonesos.

How the holy brothers arrived in the eternal city

On the way to Rome, Constantine and Methodius stopped in Pannonia, in the Blatensky principality (it was located near Lake Blaten, modern Balaton - the territory of Hungary, eastern Austria and southwestern Slovakia). Prince Kotsel ruled there. He received the brothers very cordially, and the Byzantines stayed at Kocel's for about six months. The prince gathered 50 disciples from his people, and together with them he learned the Slavic alphabet from Constantine and Methodius. Saying goodbye, Kocel offered rich gifts to the preachers, but they refused. They only asked to release nine hundred Greek captives, which was done.

Then the saints moved to the Adriatic Sea, from there with their disciples arrived in the Italian city of Venice. In the city on the water they met and again many, heatedly argued with the priests, who also fell into the heresy of "trilingualism." Proving his innocence here too, Constantine recalled the words of the Apostle Paul: “Does it not rain from God equally on everyone, or the sun does not shine for everyone, or does the whole creation not breathe the same air? How are you not ashamed to think that apart from the three languages, all other tribes and languages ​​must be blind and deaf. "

The Byzantine listed the peoples who pray to the Christian God in their own language - Armenians, Persians, Abkhazians, Ivers, Sughds, Goths, Obrs, Turks, Kozars, Aravians, Egyptians, Syrians and many others. "Let every breath praise the Lord!"

In Rome, the chief bishop Adrian with the priests greeted Constantine and Methodius "as angels of God." The relics of Saint Clement were considered the greatest relic, therefore, the people who delivered the shrine were given all kinds of honor and patronage. Adrian approved the service in the Slavic language and blessed the translations made by the brothers. Slavic books were placed on the altar in the temples of Santa Maria Maggiore and in São Paolo fuori le Mura, the largest Roman temples of the time. The brothers were allowed to conduct the main service in the Slavic language - the liturgy in the church of the Apostle Peter.

The trip to Rome was the last trip for Constantine. A year after arriving in the Eternal City, the poorly healthy forty-year-old educator caught a serious cold. Konstantin the Philosopher bequeathed to his elder brother, faithful comrade and protector: "You and I are like two oxen: one fell from a heavy burden, the other must continue on his way."

Fifty days before his death, Constantine was tonsured a monk with the name Cyril. Methodius wanted to take his brother's body to bury in his homeland, but, on the advice of the Roman bishop, Cyril was buried in the church of St. Clement, next to the relics that the brothers brought to Rome. From that moment on, they began to venerate Cyril as a saint. And Methodius had to continue the work that the brothers started together.

About the long wanderings of Methodius

After some time, the prince of Pannonia Kotsel asked the Roman bishop to send Methodius back to him.

The Roman bishop Adrian II confirmed that Methodius had the right to conduct the liturgy in the Slavic language, and appointed him as his official envoy. Great Moravia and Pannonia were now the lands entrusted to Methodius.

On the way to Pannonia, Methodius stopped in Great Moravia. And there everything had already changed: Prince Rostislav, who had previously received the holy brothers so cordially, no longer led the country. His nephew Svyatopolk was on the throne. This ruler again opened the country to German missionaries, and those, of course, did not want to see a rival preacher nearby who teaches and serves in the "wrong" language. In 870, during the campaign of King Louis of Germany against Moravia, Methodius was captured. The German bishops took advantage of this: Methodius was accused of seizing foreign church territories, arrested, tried and sent into exile in Swabia, a region in the south-west of modern Germany, to one of the monasteries. There, in prison, together with some of his students, he spent almost three years. Nobody reported anything to Rome about this; there was no one to protect the saint.

Methodius underwent a lot in prison - both hunger and deprivation ... In the end, the news of the metropolitan's misfortunes still reached the new Roman bishop John VIII. He immediately gave strict orders to release the prisoner.

Methodius was acquitted, his rights were restored, and the land that the metropolitan cared for (that is, took care of, was responsible for it) was returned.

Having reached Great Moravia, the saint, surrounded by his disciples, continued his apostolic labors: he translated liturgical books into the Slavic language, preached the teachings of Christ to the locals, and converted the Czech prince Borivoj and his wife Lyudmila to Christianity.

Methodius' ministry was not cloudless. The power changed, and he was sometimes honored and helped in everything, then again accused of heresy, oppressed, interfered with the conduct of services in the Slavic language. At such moments, only the intervention of Rome saved the saint. Methodius became an archbishop, translated into the Slavic language almost the entire Old Testament, a collection of church canons, secular laws and many books.

Methodius had to travel a lot: from Pannonia to Moravia, from there - to Rome, again to Moravia, to Constantinople and again to Moravia ... In the forests on the way he was attacked by robbers, on the sea he more than once fell into storms, on the rivers he almost drowned in deep whirlpools. But despite the trials, the saint did not leave his ministry until his very death in 885. He was buried in the capital of Great Moravia, Velehrad. They sung it in Slavic, Greek and Latin. Before his death, Methodius appointed himself a successor. It was Gorazd Ohridsky - a Slav, archbishop, who not only preserved the legacy of Cyril and Methodius, but also, together with other disciples of the holy brothers, took part in the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet based on the Glagolitic alphabet, which we use today.

Why was Cyrillic needed if there was already Glagolitic? In Cyrillic, the style of letters is very similar to the Greek alphabet. And everyone knew her in those days - Greek was, as they would say now, “the language of interethnic communication,” like English today. The Cyrillic alphabet looked more familiar and was more easily perceived by scientists, merchants, princes, and ordinary people, although all the letters, all sounds in it were transferred from the alphabet of Cyril and Methodius - the Glagolitic alphabet.

All alphabets created after the Nativity of Christ are inextricably linked with the adoption of Christianity by the peoples. Both the Goths, Ethiopians, and the Slavs received their own alphabets and their own literary languages only after baptism. The holy brothers understood that Christ's teaching is addressed to all nations, and it is difficult for illiterate people to preach. Thanks to Cyril and Methodius, the Slavs received not only the Gospel and divine services for native language but also the ability to read Byzantine books.

Almost a thousand years after the birth of the Savior, Russia was also baptized. The legacy of the holy brothers and their disciples has become available to us as well. The Russians got acquainted with the books of Cyril, Methodius and their students, and began to write their own books! Old Russian literature appeared: "The Word about Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion, "The Teaching" by Vladimir Monomakh, "The Tale of Boris and Gleb" and others. We are rightfully the successors and custodians of the legacy of Cyril and Methodius.

Glagolitic

Konstantin got an alphabet of 41 letters (later reduced to 30). Only it was not known to us Cyrillic , and the other, the first Slavic alphabet is Glagolitic . The name may have come from the fourth letter of the alphabet - "verb", which meant "word". "Glagolati" - to speak. It turns out that with the help of the Glagolitic letters, the sacred books spoke to the Slavs in their native language.

Constantine came up with a completely new alphabet. Its letters by their very shape were ideal for preaching, as they were a combination of Christian elements symbolizing Christian teachings: the cross - the Passion of Christ, the circle - Divine perfection, the triangle - the Holy Trinity.

The Glagolitic alphabet lasted the longest in Croatia, the last print edition was published in Rome at the beginning of the last century, however, the letters changed slightly in appearance under the influence of Gothic Western letters.

Cyrillic

The Cyrillic alphabet - Cyrillic - was compiled later, after the death of the holy brothers, on the basis of Glagolitic in sound and Greek writing in writing. It is believed that the new alphabet was compiled by Methodius' disciples who found shelter in Bulgaria after their expulsion from Great Moravia by the authorities.

Why was the Cyrillic alphabet needed and subsequently became popular, if there was already a Glagolitic alphabet? The fact is that the Cyrillic alphabet is very similar in spelling to the Greek alphabet, which was then widespread. The liturgical books were rewritten in Greek, therefore it was more convenient and understandable for the Slavs to write in a similar Cyrillic alphabet. Today they write in Cyrillic in Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Abkhazia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, South Ossetia ...

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The emergence of Slavic writing originates in IXcentury ad. In the 50s or early 60s of this century, the Moravian prince Rostislav decided that an alphabet developed especially for the Slavs would contribute to a more convenient conduct of Christian ceremonies. In Moravia ( Eastern Czech Republic) Christianity at that time was a novelty, and therefore it had to be spread quickly, until small centers of the Christian faith died out under the onslaught of paganism.
With this thought, the prince Rostislav asked the emperor Byzantium Michael III equip someone to compile such an alphabet, and then translate some of the church books into this new language.
Michael III agreed... If the Slavs had their own writing, the spread of Christianity among the Slavic peoples would have been faster. Thus, not only Moravia would have joined the Christian camp, but all the rest of the Slavs (at that time the languages ​​of the Slavs were still quite similar). At the same time, the Slavs would have adopted the Eastern, Orthodox form of this religion, which would only strengthen the position of Byzantium, which was the center of Eastern Christianity until the 15th century. Therefore, he agreed to fulfill Rostislav's request.
The emperor received the task to compose such writing to two monks from Greece - brothers Cyril and Methodius... IN 863 brothers formed the Slavic alphabet based on the Greek alphabet... The Cyrillic alphabet, familiar to us and used today, appeared a little later. The first version of the Old Church Slavonic language was called Glagolitic. It differed from the Cyrillic alphabet in the writing of letters (they often differed greatly from their Greek counterparts).
The Greeks tried to inculcate Glagolitic into the Moravian Slavs in their missions, but had no success there. This happened because of the Catholic protest. It is known that Catholicism strictly obliges parishioners to conduct services for Latin... Therefore, in Catholic Germany, which was close to Moravia, they immediately condemned the practice of carrying out divine services in the local language. The king of Germany invaded Moravia and began to radically impose Catholic rites. The Catholic tradition is still strong in the Czech Republic thanks to this landmark event.
But the case of Cyril and Methodius did not perish. Immediately after the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria decided to found the world's first Slavic book school - Book school in Preslav. This institution was engaged in translating Christian letters from Greek into Slavic.
As a Christian, Boris wanted, by all means, to extend his faith to all pagan Bulgaria, in order to find an ally in the person of Byzantium. He soon managed to do it. Bulgaria became the center of Slavic writing, from here the Old Slavic language spread to Russia, Serbia, and then to many other Slavic countries. In, for example, Poland and the Czech Republic, the Latin alphabet is used, which is entrenched in everyday life due to the deep Catholic tradition of these countries.
Church Slavonic language(the Russian version of the Cyrillic alphabet, which has not changed at all for a long time) was fully used in Russia before XVIII century, when Peter I introduced a new standardized letter to replace the outdated church script. He extracted a few letters from the alphabet, changed the spelling and introduced many other rules. Peter the Great actually founded the Russian language, which we still use in a very shabby form. Church Slavonic, however, is still used in churches today. You can watch and listen to how they talked in Ancient Russia in any church during the service.
Cyril and Methodius for their mission were ranked by the Russian Orthodox Church to the face of the saints. They are still one of the most popular saints in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, even modern youth knows these historical figures.