The year of the founding of Slavic writing. About Cyril and Methodius

Great Moravia, religious sermons were distributed in Latin. For the people this language was incomprehensible. Therefore, the prince of the state, Rostislav, turned to Michael, the emperor of Byzantium. He asked to send preachers to his state who would spread Christianity in the Slavic language. And Emperor Michael sent two Greeks - Constantine the Philosopher, who later received the name Cyril, and Methodius, his elder brother.

Cyril and Methodius were born and raised in the city of Thessaloniki in Byzantium. There were seven children in the family, Methodius was the eldest, and Konstantin (Kirill) the youngest. Their father was a military leader. From childhood they knew one of the Slavic languages, since in the vicinity of the city there lived a Slavic population that was quite large in number. Methodius was in military service, after service he ruled the Byzantine principality, which was inhabited by the Slavs. And soon, after 10 years of rule, he went to a monastery and became a monk. Cyril, since he showed great interest in linguistics, studied science at the court of the Byzantine emperor from the best scientists of that time. He knew several languages ​​- Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Slavic, Greek, and also taught philosophy - hence his nickname Philosopher. And the name Cyril was received by Constantine when he became a monk in 869 after his severe and prolonged illness.

Already in 860, the brothers traveled twice for missionary purposes to the Khazars, then Emperor Michael III sent Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia. And the Moravian prince Rostislav called on the brothers for help, as he sought to limit the growing influence on the part of the German clergy. He wanted Christianity to be preached in the Slavic language, and not in Latin.

The Holy Scriptures had to be translated from Greek so that Christianity could be preached in the Slavic language. But there was one catch - there was no alphabet that could convey Slavic speech. And then the brothers began to create the alphabet. Methodius made a special contribution - he knew the Slavic language very well. And thus, in 863, the Slavic alphabet appeared. And Methodius soon translated many liturgical books, including the Gospel, Psalter and Apostle, into the Slavic language. The Slavs had their own alphabet and language, and now they could write and read freely. Thus, Cyril and Methodius, the creators of the Slavic alphabet, made a huge contribution to the culture of the Slavic people, because many words from the Slavic language still live in the Ukrainian, Russian and Bulgarian languages. Konstantin (Kirill) created the Glagolitic alphabet, which reflected the phonetic features of the language. But until now, scientists cannot agree on whether the Glagolitic alphabet or the Cyrillic alphabet were created by Methodius.

But among the Western Slavs - Poles and Czechs - the Slavic alphabet and literacy did not take root, and they still use the Latin alphabet. After the death of Cyril, Methodius continued their activities. And when he died, their students were expelled from Moravia in 886 and Slavic writing was banned there, but they continued to spread Slavic literacy in the countries of the eastern and southern Slavs. Bulgaria and Croatia became their refuge.

These events took place in the 9th century, and writing appeared in Rus' only in the 10th century. And there is an opinion that in Bulgaria, based on the “glagolitic” alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet was created by the disciples of Methodius, in honor of Cyril.

In Russian Orthodoxy, Cyril and Methodius are called Saints. February 14 is the day of memory of Cyril, and April 6 is Methodius. The dates were not chosen by chance; Saints Cyril and Methodius died on these days.

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

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

Cyril and Methodius lived in the world,

Two Byzantine monks and suddenly

(No, not a legend, not a myth, not a parody),

Some of them thought: “Friend!

How many Slavs are speechless without Christ!

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

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

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

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

Using the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. The first book written in Cyrillic was the “Ostromir Gospel,” the first words written using the Slavic alphabet were the phrase “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And now, for more than a thousand years, the Church Slavonic language has been used in the Russian Orthodox Church during services.

The Slavic alphabet existed unchanged in Rus' for more than seven centuries. Its creators tried to make each letter of the first Russian alphabet simple and clear, easy to write. They remembered that the letters should also be beautiful, so that a person, as soon as he saw them, immediately wanted to master writing.

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

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

The Cyrillic alphabet existed in the Russian language without changes until Peter I, who removed outdated letters that could have been completely dispensed with - “yus big”, “yus small”, “omega”, “uk”. In 1918, 5 more letters left the Russian alphabet - “yat”, “fita”, “izhitsa”, “er”, “er”. Over the course of a thousand years, many letters have disappeared from our alphabet, and only two have appeared - “y” and “e”. They were invented in the 17th century by the Russian writer and historian Karamzin. And now, finally, there are 33 letters left in the modern alphabet.

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

Why is the alphabet called alphabet? The history of this word is interesting. Alphabet. It was born in ancient Greece and consists of the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: “alpha” and “beta”. Speakers of Western languages ​​call it “alphabete.” And we pronounce it like “alphabet.”

The Slavs were very happy: other peoples of Europe (Germans, Franks, Britons) did not have their own written language. The Slavs now had their own alphabet, and everyone could learn to read a book! “That was a wonderful moment!.. The deaf began to hear, and the dumb began to speak, for until that time the Slavs were both deaf and dumb” - recorded in the chronicles of those times.

Not only children, but also adults began to study. They wrote with sharp sticks on wooden tablets coated with wax. The children fell in love with their teachers Cyril and Methodius. The little Slavs happily went to class, because the journey along the roads of Truth was so interesting!

With the advent of the Slavic alphabet, written culture began to develop rapidly. Books appeared in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Rus'. And how they were designed! The first letter - the initial letter - began each new chapter. The initial letter is unusually beautiful: in the form of a beautiful bird or flower, it was painted with bright, often red, flowers. That is why the term “red line” exists today. A Slavic handwritten book could be created within six to seven years and was very expensive. In a precious frame, with illustrations, today it is a real monument of art.

A long time ago, when the history of the great Russian state was just beginning, “it” was expensive. She alone could be exchanged for a herd of horses or a herd of cows, or for sable fur coats. And it’s not about the jewelry in which the beauty and clever girl were dressed up. And she only wore expensive embossed leather, pearls and precious stones! Gold and silver clasps decorated her outfit! Admiring her, people said: “Light, you are ours!” We worked on its creation for a long time, but its fate could have been very sad. During the invasion of enemies, she was taken prisoner along with the people. She could have died in a fire or flood. They valued her very much: she inspired hope, restored strength of spirit. What kind of curiosity is this? Yes, guys, this is Her Majesty - the Book. She preserved to us the Word of God and the traditions of distant years. The first books were handwritten. It took months and sometimes years to rewrite one book. The centers of book learning in Rus' have always been monasteries. There, through fasting and prayer, hardworking monks copied and decorated books. A collection of books of 500-1000 manuscripts was considered very rare.

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

The Slavic alphabet is amazing and is still considered one of the most convenient writing systems. And the names of Cyril and Methodius, “the first Slovenian teachers,” became a symbol of spiritual achievement. And every person who studies the Russian language should know and keep in his memory the holy names of the first Slavic enlighteners - the brothers Cyril and Methodius.

Across broad Rus' - our mother

The bells ring out.

Now the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius

They are glorified for their efforts.

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

In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, the Day of Slavic Literature is celebrated all over the world on May 24. In the year of the millennium since the creation of the Slavic script in Russia, the Holy Synod adopted a resolution that established “every year, starting from this 1863, on the 11th (24th) day of May, the church celebration of St. Cyril and Methodius.” Until 1917, Russia celebrated the church holiday Day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius. With the advent of Soviet power, this great holiday was forgotten. It was revived in 1986. This holiday began to be called the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.

Quiz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. How many letters were there in the Cyrillic alphabet before Peter the Great? (43 letters)

10. How many letters are there in the modern alphabet? (33 letters)

11.Who was the first printer in Rus'? (Ivan Fedorov)

12.What was the name of the first printed book? ("Apostle")

13.What words were first written in the Slavic language? (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God)

A feature of the culture of the Slavs was that among all European peoples, only the Slavs saw the creation of their own written language and the adoption of Christianity accompany each other; and since then, book education has been inseparable from the spiritual nourishment of the people, being the work of the Church in close cooperation with the state authorities.

The process of creating Slavic writing was long and complex.

Research in recent decades has proven that Slavic writing actually arose even before the division of the common Slavic language into branches, i.e. no later than the middle of the 1st millennium AD. True, it was primitive - it included a small set of simple signs that varied among different tribes. Therefore, the use of the original Slavic letter was very limited.

The fact that the ancient Slavs had some kind of their own writing is evidenced by the ancient Bulgarian writer of the late 9th - early 10th centuries. "Chernorizets Brave", author of the first essay on the history of Slavic writing - "The Legend of Writings". Brave in the “Tale” pointed out two types of writing among the ancient Slavs - features And cuts which the Slavs I read And gadahu(that is, they read, counted and guessed) . These were probably the simplest counting signs in the form of dashes, notches, etc., family and personal signs, signs of ownership, calendar symbols and signs for fortune telling.

In addition to the testimony of Chernorizets Khrabr, the existence of the “devils and cuts” type of writing among the ancient Slavs is confirmed by archaeological finds, as well as written messages from the 9th-10th centuries. peoples neighboring the Slavs. Among this evidence, the most significant are the following:

1. The Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan, who visited the Volga Bulgars in 921, described the burial ritual of the Rus that he saw there: “ First they made a fire and burned the body on it, - Ibn Fadlan says: - and then they built something like a round hill and placed a large piece of wood in the middle of it/carved from/ poplars, wrote on it the name of this husband and the name of the Tsar of the Rus and left».

2. A contemporary of Ibn Fadlan, the Arab writer El Massudi (d. 956), in his essay “Golden Meadows,” indicates that in one of the “Russian temples” he discovered a prophecy inscribed on a stone.

3. The Western European historian Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg (976-1018) left a message that in the pagan temple of the city of Retra, their names were inscribed on Slavic idols with special signs.

4. The Arabic teachings of Ibn el Nedim in his work “The Book of Painting of Sciences” conveys a story dating back to 987 from the ambassador of one of the Caucasian princes who visited the prince of the Rus: “ I was told by one on whose veracity I rely - writes Ibn el Nedim - that one of the kings of Mount Kabk sent him to the king of the Rus; he claimed that they have writings carved into wood. He showed me a piece of white wood on which were depicted, I don’t know, words or individual letters" Ibn el Nedim even sketched this inscription. It was not possible to decipher it; In terms of graphics, it differs from Greek, and from Latin, and from Glagolitic, and from Cyrillic writing.

The “names” written on Slavic idols (according to Thietmar of Merseburg), the names of the late Rus and his “king” (reported by Ibn Fadlan) were probably conventional personal signs; similar signs were often used by Russian princes of the 10th-11th centuries. on their coins and seals. But the mention of a prophecy inscribed on a stone in the “temple of the Rus” (which El Massoudi mentioned) makes one think about “lines and cuts” for fortune telling. As for the inscription copied by Ibn el Nedim, some researchers assumed that it was a distorted Arabic spelling, while others saw in them similarities with Scandinavian runes. However, the majority of Russian and Bulgarian scientists (P.Ya. Chernykh, D.S. Likhachev, E. Georgiev, etc.) consider Ibn el Nedim’s inscription to be a monument to pre-Cyrillic writing of the “devils and cuts” type. However, a hypothesis has also been put forward that this inscription is nothing more than a pictographic route map. But in any case, the possibility of using Latin or Greek writing for all the mentioned inscriptions, even if adapted to Slavic speech, is completely excluded. After all, Titmar, El Massudi, Ibn el Nedim, and Ibn Fadlan were familiar with the Latin and Greek alphabets.

The presence of a writing system of the “devils and cuts” type among the Slavs is also confirmed by archaeological finds. For example, signs on a vase intended for ritual purposes (found in Lepesovka inside a pagan sanctuary). The wide side of the vase is divided into 12 sectors corresponding to the 12 months of the year. Each of the sectors is filled with symbolic images, the content and sequence of which correspond to the monthly sequence of pagan holidays of the ancient Slavs and the calendar of agricultural work in the area. According to B.A. Rybakov, these signs (they are also present on other objects of the so-called “Chernyakhov culture”) are a type of ancient Slavic “traits and cuts”.

A letter of the “devils and cuts” type was convenient for keeping a calendar, for fortune telling, counting, etc., but was completely unsuitable for writing complex documentary texts such as orders, contracts, etc. The need for this kind of records undoubtedly arose among the Slavs (as well as among all other historical peoples) simultaneously with the emergence of the Slavic states. Therefore, even before the adoption of Christianity and before the creation of the alphabet by Constantine the Philosopher, the Slavs used Greek in the east and south, and Greek and Latin alphabets in the west. A monument to the recording of Slavic speech in Latin letters are the so-called “Freisingen excerpts” (10th century), where individual words of Slavic speech interspersed in Greek texts were found written in Greek letters.

The fact that with the adoption of Christianity by the Slavic countries, repeated attempts were made to create their own Slavic script is evidenced by the same “Monk Brave”. According to him, having adopted Christianity and become familiar with the culture of the Roman Empire, the Slavs tried to record their speech in “Roman and Greek letters,” i.e. using the letters of the Latin and Greek alphabets, but “without arrangement,” that is, without specially adapting them to Slavic speech. So, for example, the sound b transmitted by the Greek letter "vita", the sound w- “sigma”, h- a combination of “theta” and “zeta”, ts- a combination of “theta” and “sigma”, at- a combination of “omicron” with “upsilon”. This is what the Greeks did. The Slavs, according to the Bulgarian linguist E. Georgiev, undoubtedly moved even further along the path of adapting the Greek letter to their speech. To do this, they formed ligatures from Greek letters, and also supplemented the Greek alphabet with letters from other alphabets, in particular, from the Hebrew, which was known to the Slavs through the Khazars. “And so it went on for many years,” testifies the Brave. An indication of the use of letters from different alphabets is evidence that attempts to create a Slavic script were made simultaneously in different Slavic territories bordering both the Carolingian Empire and the Byzantine Empire.

However, the use of foreign alphabets to convey the sounds of Slavic speech, of course, could not be successful. Therefore, in the middle of the 9th century. a more advanced writing system was created, reflecting all the phonetic features of Slavic pronunciation. It arose not in the Slavic countries, but in Byzantium, although in the territory inhabited by the Slavs. The creators of the Slavic script were the children of the Drungaria from Thessalonica (present-day Thessaloniki) Constantine (in the schema Cyril) and Methodius.

Tradition assigns the main role in the creation of Slavic writing to St. Konstantin-Kirill, who received a brilliant classical education and was nicknamed the Philosopher for his scholarship. One of the mentors of the future enlightener of the Slavs was, in particular, the famous Patriarch Photius. In his early years of teaching, he worked seriously in the field of philology. Photius's early work "Lexica" is a huge collection of lexical and grammatical notes and materials. And just during the period of Photius’s work on the Lexicon, Constantine, who soon became the largest philologist of his time, studied with him.

There is no reason to believe that the idea of ​​​​creating a special Slavic script - that is, scientifically organizing the already existing writing systems of the Slavs - originated with Patriarch Photius himself or in his entourage. The intellectuals of the Photius circle were precisely convinced of the exceptional properties of Greek culture and the Greek language. And this conviction led them to a complete reluctance to know about what cultural processes are taking place in the world around them. Photius himself, despite his encyclopedic education, apparently did not know any other language other than Greek, and in his correspondence and writings he never mentioned the existence of a special “Slavic letter,” although he lived to see the time when books in the Slavic language spread widely.

At the same time, the idea of ​​​​creating a special letter for the Slavs was one of the manifestations of the broad political plans of the Byzantine state and the Church of the 9th century, aimed at bringing new territories, including Slavic states, into the sphere of influence of Byzantium. Constantine the Philosopher was directly involved in the implementation of these plans - for example, as part of Byzantine diplomatic missions to states neighboring the Empire - Khazaria and the Arab Caliphate. During these embassies, he entered into discussions with Jewish and Arab scholars, victoriously repelling their attacks on Christianity.

Another direction of Byzantine policy was the Balkans, Crimea, North Caucasus and Eastern Europe. There, the preaching of Christianity was carried out for pagan and semi-pagan peoples with the goal of creating a church apparatus in these lands, subordinate to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. This opened up opportunities for the involvement of such states as the First Bulgarian Kingdom, the Khazar Khaganate, and the power of the “Rus” on the Dnieper into the orbit of Byzantine influence.

The geopolitical plans of the Byzantine kings in this case completely coincided with the missionary tasks of the Eastern Christian Church, which, according to the commandment of Christ, strives to “go and teach all nations” the Truth of salvation, for which it was necessary to “be all things to all in order to save at least some.” .

These tasks prompted Constantine, who apparently had long wanted to create a special Slavic writing system, to intense philological studies. In preparation for missionary activity for the benefit of the Church, he studied a number of Semitic languages ​​and their writing systems, examined the translation experience of some non-orthodox authors (apparently, translators of the Gospel into Syriac), justifying this practice by citing the authority of St. Cyril of Alexandria, who taught that “ not everything, as much as evil verbs are said, there is a way to run away and sweep away" Having received theoretical philological knowledge from Photius, Constantine the Philosopher was able to use it to analyze and compare systems of different languages, which the educated Byzantine elite considered beneath their dignity to study. This meticulous work prepared Constantine to create an original writing system for the Slavs.

Life of St. Constantine-Cyril describes the creation of the Slavic alphabet as an act that did not require much time: an embassy from Great Moravia arrived in Constantinople with a request to send a teacher who could explain to the Moravans the truths of Christian teaching in their native Slavic language. The choice fell on Constantine - not only because he was famous for his extraordinary theological and philological knowledge, but also because Constantine came from Thessaloniki. The entire territory adjacent to this city was occupied by Slavic tribes, and its inhabitants spoke Slavic fluently. As a native of Thessaloniki, Konstantin was well acquainted with the Slavic language from childhood; there is even evidence (though not considered absolutely reliable) that the mother of Constantine and Methodius was of Slavic origin. And the father of the future enlighteners of the Slavs led one of the Slavic provinces of Byzantium, and therefore, of course, had to be fluent in the language of his subordinates.

When the emperor turned to Constantine with a request to take on an educational mission in Moravia, the Philosopher asked whether the Moravians had their own written language, because otherwise it would be very difficult to complete the task. The emperor said to this: “My grandfather, and my father, and many others searched... and did not find it,” which once again confirms the repeated attempts to create a special letter for the vast Slavic ecumene. The Emperor, who knew the Philosopher’s philological abilities, invited him to create such a letter himself. Constantine turned to God for help, and with the help of grace, the Slavic alphabet was created. Constantine translated the Gospel for the Slavs and headed to Moravia...

However, even if the alphabet accurately reflecting the phonetic features of Slavic speech was graciously revealed to the Equal-to-the-Apostles Enlightenment, the translation of such a complex work as the Gospel was hardly possible in those few months during which the Life of St. Konstantin-Kirill is reserved for such work. Most likely, work on the creation of Slavic writing and translation of liturgical texts into Slavic began long before the arrival of the Moravian embassy in Constantinople, apparently even on Bithynian Olympus (in Asia Minor), where Constantine and his older brother Methodius lived for several years in the 50s years of the 9th century, “engaging only in books,” as evidenced by the Life of Constantine-Cyril.

So, the first to be translated, even before leaving for Moravia, was the Gospel of the short aprakos type. In "Pr. O voice" - a large poetic preface to the translation of the Gospel - Constantine convinces: " the soul is letterless(that is, a person not familiar with the text of Holy Scripture) - dead there" and with enthusiasm calls on the Slavs to accept the word of Divine Wisdom, presented in a language they understand, written in letters of the Slavic alphabet specially created for this purpose.

The work begun by Constantine was continued by him and his brother in Moravia. In 864–867 the brothers translated the Apostle, also a type of short aprakos. To the same time should probably be attributed the translations of the Parema and Psalms, the texts of the Liturgy, the Service Book, the Breviary, the Book of Hours, the Octoechos, the General Menaion - in general, as determined by the author of the Life of Constantine-Cyril, who attributes this merit only to the youngest of the brothers, “ soon the entire church rank was transferred».

The significance that the Slavic first teachers and their students attached to this act is indicated by the paraphrase of a quote from the book of the prophet Isaiah placed after this message: “ the ears of the deaf were opened so that the words of the book could be heard, and the speech of those who were tongue-tied became clear" This meant that only with the establishment of worship in the Slavic language did Moravian Christians have the opportunity to consciously profess Christian teaching.

After this, Constantine and Methodius began working together on a complete translation of the books included in the biblical canon.

Having provided the flock with the necessary liturgical texts, the Slavic first teachers hastened to provide it with spiritual nourishment - they translate “The Writing of the Right Faith,” one of the sections of the treatise “The Great Apologetics” by Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople, that is, they set out in the Slavic language the main dogmas and rules of the Orthodox faith. The appearance of this translation marked the beginning of the creation of philosophical and theological terminology in the Slavic language.

Another translation was also completed, absolutely necessary for the full life of the young Moravian Church - the translation of the Nomocanon, a collection of decrees of church councils that determine the norms of intra-church life. The so-called “Nomocanon of John Scholasticus” was taken as a basis, greatly abbreviated during translation, apparently to make it easier for the Slavs to assimilate the necessary minimum of basic legal norms and to adapt the Byzantine manual to the simpler living conditions of the Slavs.

The compilation of the Penance Book entitled “The Commandments of the Holy Fathers” should probably be attributed to this time, the text of which was preserved with other texts of Great Moravian origin in one of the oldest Glagolitic manuscripts - the so-called “Sinai Breviary” of the 11th century.

An important fruit of the joint cooperation of the Thessaloniki brothers and the Moravian nobility is the most ancient monument of Slavic law - “The Law of Judgment for People.”

Thus, at the time when, at the request of the Kiev prince Askold, the Byzantine emperor sent him a bishop to baptize Rus' (around 866), in the Slavic lands neighboring Russia, a complete corpus of liturgical and doctrinal texts in the Slavic language already existed and was successfully used, and also clergy from the Slavs were trained. According to some Church historians, Bishop Michael, then sent to Rus' by the Patriarch of Constantinople, could have been a pupil of Constantine and Methodius...

After the death of Constantine-Cyril († 869), Methodius and his students continued to create a corpus of Slavic books. In the early 80s of the 9th century. Methodius completed the translation of the bulk of the canonical books of the Old and entire New Testaments. This translation has not survived to this day, but played a role as a stimulus for the resumption of work on translations of biblical books in Bulgaria at the end of the 9th–10th centuries. - in the so-called “golden age” of ancient Bulgarian culture.

Note that the first translations of individual parts of the Bible, for example, into Old French were undertaken only in the second half of the 12th century. Waldensian heretics, and translations of the Bible into other Romance and Germanic languages ​​date back to an even later time.

In Moravia, and then in Bulgaria, where after the death of Methodius († 885) the students of the Slavic enlighteners had to flee from the persecution of the German clergy, they translated the so-called “father books” - either a collection of the lives of saints, or a collection of works of the “church fathers” " - early Christian writers.

Through many years of selfless service to the Church and their people, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equal-to-the-Apostles, created not only a writing system that adequately reflected Slavic speech, not only a Slavic written language capable of serving all spheres of spiritual and social life at the same high level as Greek and Latin, but and a corpus of texts in the Slavic language necessary for Christian worship and spiritual nourishment of Slavic believers.

On Russian lands, on the basis of the Russian translation of the Slavic (actually Old Church Slavonic) language of Cyril and Methodius translations, over time, the Church Slavonic language was formed, which was the main language of writing in Rus' until the end of the 17th century and is still the language of Orthodox worship in the East Slavic cultural area.

Based on the Cyrillic alphabet, Bulgarian (late 9th century), Old Russian (11th century), Serbian (12th century) with a local Bosnian variant, Slavic-language Wallachian and Moldavian (XIV-XV centuries), Romanian (16th century, in 1864 translated into Latin script) and other scripts. In the field of office work, the Cyrillic alphabet was also used in the offices of Dalmatia (XIV–XVII centuries) and Albania (XIV–XV centuries).

In 1708–1710 By order of Peter I, a civil font was created based on the Cyrillic alphabet for use in business writing and secular printing. Graphically, it is as close as possible to the styles of book italics, which were formed in the last third of the 17th century. under the influence of Ukrainian-Belarusian handwriting and fonts, influenced by Latin and Greek traditions. The quantitative and qualitative composition of this alphabet was determined by the 1918 reform.

During the 2nd half of the 18th – early 20th centuries. modernized at the beginning of the 18th century. The Russian version of the Cyrillic alphabet formed (taking into account local characteristics) the basis of the modern alphabets of the Orthodox Slavic countries: Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus and Macedonia. As a result of centuries-old labors of the clergy, philologists, teachers, and state administration, a single cultural area of ​​Greek-Slavic writing was formed, including different national languages ​​and cultural traditions.

It is known that the Slavic alphabet is called Cyrillic named after its creator - St. Kirill. However, it is also known that in the Middle Ages two alphabets were used to record Slavic speech: along with the one that we now call the “Cyrillic alphabet,” another one called the “glagolitic alphabet” was also quite common. The differences between them were that if in the Cyrillic alphabet letters of the Greek alphabet were used to convey sounds that coincided with the sounds of the Greek language, and letters of special styles were introduced only to convey those sounds that were absent in the Greek language, then in the Glagolitic alphabet for all the sounds of the Slavic language, special styles were invented that had no analogies (with the exception of individual graphemes reminiscent of the corresponding styles of Greek minuscule letters) in the alphabets of other peoples. At the same time, the continuity between the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets is obvious, since the styles of some letters in them coincide or are very similar. In the earliest surviving monuments of Slavic writing (11th century), both alphabets are represented. There are known monuments where both types of writing are used in one codex - for example, the so-called Reims Gospel (XIV century).

However, it has been proven that in fact Constantine the Philosopher created not the Cyrillic, but the Glagolitic alphabet. Moreover, its creation was the result of a rather long process: developed on the basis of the dialects of the Slavic population of the Soluni region, this alphabet already in Great Moravia underwent a number of changes caused by the need to take into account and reflect the peculiarities of local pronunciation; the following changes in the Glagolitic alphabet occurred as it spread to other South Slavic lands, where they had their own pronunciation features.

As the only Slavic alphabet, the Glagolitic alphabet existed for no more than a third of a century. Already at the end of the 9th century. on the territory of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, where after the death of St. Methodius († 885) - due to the persecution of Slavic worship and writing in Great Moravia - students of Slavic enlighteners moved, a new alphabet was created, which over time received the name Cyrillic. It was based on the Greek uncial script; the Greek alphabet was supplemented by those letters of the alphabet brought from Moravia that conveyed sounds specific to the Slavic language; but these letters also underwent changes in accordance with the statutory nature of the letter. At the same time, a number of new graphemes were introduced to convey sounds characteristic of Bulgarian dialects, and those graphemes of the Glagolitic alphabet that reflected the characteristic features of the West Slavic dialects of Pannonia and Moravia were omitted. At the same time, the Cyrillic alphabet also included letters that convey specific sounds of the Greek language used in borrowed words (“fita”, “xi”, “psi”, “izhitsa”, etc.); The numerical value of Cyrillic letters, with rare exceptions, is determined by the order of the Greek alphabet.

The Cyrillic alphabet, which was simpler in style, forced out of use in the eastern regions of the First Bulgarian, where the Greek language was widely used, the Glagolitic alphabet, the active use of which ceased in the Bulgarian lands at the turn of the 12th–13th centuries. In the X–XI centuries. (until 1096) the Glagolitic alphabet was used as a writing system for liturgical books in the Czech Republic. Later, Glagolitic writing was preserved only in Croatia, where it was used by local Benedictine monks in liturgical books and in business writing until the beginning of the 20th century. Through Croatian media (as a result of the activities of Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg), Glagolitic in the XIV-XV centuries. again gained fame in individual monastic centers in the Czech Republic (Emmau Monastery “on the Slavs” in Prague), as well as in Poland (Olesnitsky Monastery in Silesia and “on Klepaza” in Krakow).

The alphabet, created on the basis of the Greek uncial, which spread in the eastern regions of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, was transferred to Rus', where it completely prevailed. Being the only known Slavic alphabet here, it began to be called after the Equal-to-the-Apostles Enlightener of the Slavs " Cyrillic"(although initially this name was attached to the alphabet, which is now called Glagolitic). In the same territories where the Glagolitic alphabet was established, its original name (after the name of the creator) for various reasons could not resist: for example, the Croatian clergy, trying to achieve from the Roman curia of consent to the use of a special Slavic letter, attributed its invention to the early Christian writer of the 4th century, Blessed Jerome, the famous translator of the Bible into Latin. Under these conditions, a neutral (in the sense of indicating authorship) name was established for the alphabet created by Constantine-Cyril " Glagolitic"...

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The alphabet of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, just like any other alphabet, was a system of certain signs, to which a certain sound was assigned. The Slavic alphabet was formed on the territory inhabited by the peoples of Ancient Rus' many centuries ago.

Events of the historical past

The year 862 went down in history as the year when the first official steps were taken to accept Christianity in Rus'. Prince Vsevolod sent ambassadors to the Byzantine Emperor Michael, who were supposed to convey his request that the emperor send preachers of the Christian faith to Great Moravia. The need for preachers arose due to the fact that people themselves could not penetrate the essence of Christian teaching, because the Holy Scriptures were only in Latin.

In response to this request, two brothers were sent to the Russian lands: Cyril and Methodius. The first of them received the name Cyril a little later, when he took monastic vows. This choice was carefully thought out. The brothers were born in Thessaloniki into the family of a military leader. Greek version - Thessaloniki. Their level of education was very high for that time. Constantine (Kirill) was trained and brought up at the court of Emperor Michael III. He could speak several languages:

• Greek,
• Arabic,
• Slavic,
• Jewish.

For his ability to initiate others into the secrets of philosophy, he received the nickname Constantine the Philosopher.

Methodius began his career with military service and tried himself as a governor of one of the regions that was inhabited by the Slavs. In 860 they made a trip to the Khazars, their goal was to spread the Christian faith and reach some agreements with this people.

History of written characters

Constantine had to create written signs with the active help of his brother. After all, the Holy Scriptures were only in Latin. To convey this knowledge to a large number of people, a written version of the Holy Books in the Slavic language was simply necessary. As a result of their painstaking work, the Slavic alphabet appeared in 863.

Two variants of the alphabet: Glagolitic and Cyrillic are ambiguous. Researchers argue about which of these two options belongs directly to Kirill, and which appeared later.

After the creation of the writing system, the brothers worked on translating the Bible into the Slavic language. The significance of this alphabet is enormous. The people were able not only to speak their own language. But also to write and to form the literary basis of the language. Some of the words of that time have reached our time and function in Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian languages.

Symbols-words

The letters of the ancient alphabet had names that coincided with the words. The word “alphabet” itself comes from the first letters of the alphabet: “az” and “buki”. They represented the modern letters "A" and "B".

The first written symbols in Slavic lands were scratched on the walls of churches in Pereslavl in the form of pictures. This was in the 9th century. In the 11th century, this alphabet appeared in Kyiv, in the St. Sophia Cathedral, where the signs were interpreted and written translations were made.

A new stage in the formation of the alphabet is associated with the advent of printing. The year 1574 brought the first alphabet to Russian lands, which was printed. It was called “Old Slavonic alphabet”. The name of the person who released it has gone down in history - Ivan Fedorov.

The connection between the emergence of writing and the spread of Christianity

The Old Church Slavonic alphabet was more than a simple set of symbols. Its appearance made it possible for a large number of people to get acquainted with the Christian faith, penetrate into its essence, and give their hearts to it. All scientists agree that without the advent of writing, Christianity would not have appeared on Russian lands so quickly. There were 125 years between the creation of letters and the adoption of Christianity, during which there was a huge leap in the self-awareness of the people. From ancient beliefs and customs, people came to faith in One God. It was the Holy Books that were distributed throughout the territory of Rus', and the ability to read them, that became the basis for the spread of Christian knowledge.

863 is the year the alphabet was created, 988 is the date of the adoption of Christianity in Rus'. This year, Prince Vladimir announced that a new faith was being introduced in the principality and the fight against all manifestations of polytheism began.

The Mystery of Written Symbols

Some scientists believe that the symbols of the Slavic alphabet are secret signs in which religious and philosophical knowledge is encrypted. Together they represent a complex system based on clear logic and mathematical connections. There is an opinion that all the letters in this alphabet are a holistic, inextricable system, that the alphabet was created as a system, and not as individual elements and signs.

The first such signs were something between numbers and letters. The Old Church Slavonic alphabet was based on the Greek uncial writing system. The Slavic Cyrillic alphabet consisted of 43 letters. The brothers took 24 letters from the Greek unical, and came up with the remaining 19 themselves. The need to invent new sounds arose due to the fact that the Slavic language contained sounds that were not characteristic of Greek pronunciation. Accordingly, there were no such letters. Konstantin either took these symbols from other systems or invented them himself.

"Higher" and "lower" part

The entire system can be divided into two distinct parts. Conventionally, they received the names “higher” and “lower”. The first part includes the letters from “a” to “f” (“az” - “fet”). Each letter is a symbol-word. This name was completely focused on people, because these words were clear to everyone. The lower part went from “sha” to the letter “Izhitsa”. These symbols were left without digital correspondence and were filled with negative connotations. “To gain insight into the secret writing of these symbols, they need to be carefully studied and all the nuances analyzed. After all, in each of them lives the meaning laid down by the creator.”

Researchers also find the meaning of the triad in these symbols. A person, comprehending this knowledge, must achieve a higher level of spiritual perfection. Thus, the alphabet is the creation of Cyril and Methodius, leading to the self-improvement of people.

On May 24, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The name of these saints is known to everyone from school, and it is to them that all of us, native speakers of the Russian language, owe our language, culture, and writing.

Incredibly, all European science and culture were born within the monastery walls: it was in the monasteries that the first schools were opened, children were taught to read and write, and extensive libraries were collected. It was for the enlightenment of peoples, for the translation of the Gospel, that many written languages ​​were created. This happened with the Slavic language.

The holy brothers Cyril and Methodius came from a noble and pious family who lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. Methodius was a warrior and ruled the Bulgarian principality of the Byzantine Empire. This gave him the opportunity to learn the Slavic language.

Soon, however, he decided to leave the secular lifestyle and became a monk at the monastery on Mount Olympus. From childhood, Constantine showed amazing abilities and received an excellent education together with the young Emperor Michael 3rd at the royal court.

Then he became a monk in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.

His brother Constantine, who took the name Cyril as a monk, was distinguished by great abilities from an early age and perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages.

Soon the emperor sent both brothers to the Khazars to preach the gospel. As the legend says, along the way they stopped in Korsun, where Constantine found the Gospel and the Psalter written in “Russian letters,” and a man speaking Russian, and began to learn to read and speak this language.

When the brothers returned to Constantinople, the emperor again sent them on an educational mission - this time to Moravia. The Moravian prince Rostislav was oppressed by the German bishops, and he asked the emperor to send teachers who could preach in the native language of the Slavs.

The first of the Slavic peoples to turn to Christianity were the Bulgarians. The sister of the Bulgarian prince Bogoris (Boris) was held hostage in Constantinople. She was baptized with the name Theodora and was raised in the spirit of the holy faith. Around 860, she returned to Bulgaria and began to persuade her brother to accept Christianity. Boris was baptized, taking the name Mikhail. Saints Cyril and Methodius were in this country and with their preaching they greatly contributed to the establishment of Christianity in it. From Bulgaria, the Christian faith spread to its neighboring Serbia.

To fulfill the new mission, Constantine and Methodius compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated the main liturgical books (Gospel, Apostle, Psalter) into Slavic. This happened in 863.

In Moravia, the brothers were received with great honor and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they filed a complaint to Rome.

Taking with them the relics of St. Clement (Pope), which they discovered back in Korsun, Constantine and Methodius went to Rome.
Having learned that the brothers were carrying holy relics with them, Pope Adrian greeted them with honor and approved the service in the Slavic language. He ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and the liturgy to be performed in the Slavic language.

Saint Methodius fulfilled his brother’s will: returning to Moravia already in the rank of archbishop, he worked here for 15 years. From Moravia, Christianity penetrated into Bohemia during the lifetime of Saint Methodius. The Bohemian prince Borivoj received holy baptism from him. His example was followed by his wife Lyudmila (who later became a martyr) and many others. In the mid-10th century, the Polish prince Mieczyslaw married the Bohemian princess Dabrowka, after which he and his subjects accepted the Christian faith.

Subsequently, these Slavic peoples, through the efforts of Latin preachers and German emperors, were torn away from the Greek Church under the rule of the Pope, with the exception of the Serbs and Bulgarians. But all Slavs, despite the centuries that have passed, still have a living memory of the great Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners and the Orthodox faith that they tried to plant among them. The sacred memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius serves as a connecting link for all Slavic peoples.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources