Cyril and Methodius are the creators of the Slavic alphabet. Cyril and Methodius - the founders of Slavic writing

Cyril (826 - 869) and Methodius (815 - 885) - educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, saints equal to the apostles, translated Scripture into the Slavic language.

Cyril (Constantine - in the world) and Methodius were born in Greece, in the city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki) in the family of the Drungarian (military leader) Leo. From 833, Methodius was a military man and served at the imperial court of Theophilus, and in 835-45. was an archon (ruler) of one of the Slavic principalities.

Later, Methodius went to Olympus, to the Bithynia monastery. Kirill was highly gifted since childhood, in the 40s. studied at the Magnaur Imperial School in Constantinople, where his mentors were Leo the Mathematician, the head of the capital's university, and Photius, the future patriarch.

At this time, Cyril's scientific interests turned to philology, apparently under the influence of the Photius circle. The famous Slavic historian B.N. Florya wrote that “it was under the leadership of Photius that Constantine took the first steps towards becoming the greatest philologist of his time.”

After graduating from the Magnaur school, Kirill accepted the priesthood and was appointed librarian at the Cathedral of St. Sophia. But soon he leaves Constantinople due to disagreements with Patriarch Ignatius and retires to the shores of the Bosphorus in a monastery. Six months later he returns and begins teaching philosophy at the school where he studied. Apparently, from then on they began to call him Cyril the Philosopher.

Around 855, Cyril was part of a diplomatic mission to the Arabs, and both brothers in 860-61. were part of the Khazar mission. Traveling, they ended up in Chersonesos, where they found the Psalter and Gospel “written in Russian letters” (Life of St. Cyril, VIII). This information is interpreted in different ways.

Some scientists believe that we are talking about pre-Cyril ancient Russian writing, others think that the hagiographer had in mind a version of the Gothic translation of Ulfilas, and the majority believes that we should read not “Russians”, but “Surskie”, that is, Syriac ones. In Khazaria, Cyril conducts theological debates with Gentiles, including Jews.

These disputes were recorded and information about them is reflected in the life of the saint. From them we can understand Cyril's biblical hermeneutics. For example, he points not only to the continuity between the 2 Testaments, but also to the order of the stages of the Testament and Revelation within Old Testament. He said that Abraham observed such a rite as circumcision, although it was not commanded to Noah, and at the same time, he could not fulfill the laws of Moses, since they did not yet exist. Likewise, Christians accepted God’s new Testament, and for them the old things passed away (Life of St. Cyril, 10).
In the fall of 861, having returned from Khazaria, Methodius became abbot at the Polychron monastery, and Cyril continued his scientific and theological lessons at the Church of the 12 Apostles (Constantinople). After 2 years, the Prince of Moravia Rostislav asked to send the brothers to Great Moravia to teach the people its “right Christian faith" The Gospel had already been preached there, but it had not taken deep root.

In preparation for this mission, the brothers created the alphabet for the Slavs. For a long time Historians and philologists debated whether it was Cyrillic or Glagolitic. As a result, priority was given to the Glagolitic alphabet, based on the Greek minuscule letter (the letter Ш was created on the basis of the Hebrew letter shin). Only later, towards the end of the 9th century, was the Glagolitic alphabet replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet in many South Slavic lands (for example, Minuscules; Church Slavonic editions of the Bible).
Using their new alphabet, Cyril and Methodius began to translate the Gospel of Aprakos, it was chosen based on the needs of the service. L.P. Zhukovskaya in her textual study proved that Kirill first translated the short, Sunday Aprakos.

Its most ancient lists have survived to this day in the Slavic edition of the 11th century. (for example, the Assemanian Gospel), together with the chosen Apostle (the earliest, the Eninsky list, also dates back to the 11th century). In the preface written for the translation of the Gospel into Slavic, Cyril refers to the translation experience of a number of Syrian authors who were considered unfaithful, which speaks not only of his knowledge of Semitic languages, but also of his broad views. Methodius and their disciples, after the death of Cyril, brought short translations until full.

The translation work begun by the brothers in Constantinople was continued in Moravia by them in 864-67. The Slavic translation of the Bible is based on Lucian’s (also called Syriac, or Constantinople) review of Scripture, this was also noted by Evseev.

This is also evidenced by the contents of the Slavic collection of Proverbs. The brothers did not compile new books, but only made translations of similar Greek collections of Profitologies, which originate from the Lucian version. The Cyrillomethodian Paremiynik not only recreates the Constantinople type of Profitology, but, as Evseev says, “is a copy of the text of the very center of Byzantineism - the reading of the Great Church of Constantinople.”

As a result, in more than 3 years, the brothers not only completed a collection of Slavic texts of Scripture, including the Psalter, but, at the same time, founded quite a developed form language of the medieval Slavs. They worked in difficult political conditions. Moreover, the German bishops, who were afraid of curtailing their rights in Moravia, put forward the so-called “trilingual doctrine”, according to which “only three languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin, were chosen from above, in which it is proper to give praise to God.” Therefore, they tried in every possible way to discredit the work of Cyril and Methodius.

A synod of bishops was even convened in Venice, which defended the “trilinguals.” But Kirill successfully repelled all attacks. Pope Adrian II was on his side, he received the brothers in Rome with honor. They brought here the relics of the Pope of Rome, the Hieromartyr Clement, from Chersonesos.

After Cyril died in Rome (his grave is there), Methodius continued the work. He became Archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia. Most He translated the biblical canon in 870 with 3 disciples in 8 months. True, this translation has not reached us in full, but one can judge its composition from the list of sacred books that Methodius cites in the Slavic Nomocanon.

Traces of translations by Methodius and his assistants remained in later Glagolitic Croatian manuscripts (the Book of Ruth, according to A.V. Mikhailov, is the best translation of the Methodius group, or, for example, the translation of the Song of Songs). In the translation of Methodius, according to Evseev, the proverbial texts were reproduced completely and unchanged; other parts were translated with the same lexical and grammatical properties as the proverb.

Rome had to defend the apostolic activity of Methodius from the opposition of the Latin clergy. Pope John VIII wrote: “Our brother Methodius is holy and faithful, and does apostolic work, and in his hands from God and the apostolic throne are all the Slavic lands.”

But there was a gradual intensification of the struggle between Byzantium and Rome for influence on the Slavic lands. Methodius was in prison for 3 years. Being near death, he bequeaths his department to the native of Moravia Gorazd. In their last years he had more hopes of help from Constantinople than from Rome. And in fact, after the death of Methodius, the German Viching, his opponent, gained an advantage. Methodius was accused of breaking his promise to maintain worship in Latin, and his disciples were expelled from Moravia.

But, nevertheless, the works of the Thessaloniki brothers were not forgotten. The Slavic Bible was read by many peoples, and it soon reached Rus'.

The Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Cyril on February 14, and on April 6 - St. Methodius, two brothers - on May 11.

Origin of Thessaloniki x brothers.

The creators of Slavyanskoh alphabet, the brothers Cyril (before accepting monasticism Constantine) (827-869) and Methodius (815-885) came from the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki, which was home to a large Slavic population.Nowadays it is the city of Thessaloniki in Macedonia. The brothers' father wasrich and of “good family”, held a significant position in Thessalonicafalsehood - assistant to a military commander. By nationalityThe father of Constantine and Methodius was Bulgarian, and his mother was Greek, so from childhood the brothers’ native languages ​​were Greek and Slavic.

Constantine and Methodius before becoming a monk.

Konstantin began attending school at the age of eightage. He was distinguished by his abilities, modesty, and patience. He studied diligently, mastered Greek language, counting, mastered horse riding and military techniques. ButHis favorite pastime was reading books. We can say that knowledge and books became the meaning of his whole life for him.

To continue his education, Constantine went to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. He was taken as a fellow student of the son of Emperor Michael III. Under the guidance of the best mentors - including Photius, the future famous Patriarch of Constantinople - Constantine studied ancient literature, rhetoric, grammar, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. He knew Hebrew, Slavic, Greek, Latin and Arabic well. Interest in science, perseverance in learning, hard work - all this made him one of the most educated people of Byzantium. It is no coincidence that he was nicknamed the Philosopher for his great wisdom.

At the end of his studies, refusing a profitable marriage, as well as the administrative career offered by the emperor, Constantine became the patriarchal librarian at the Hagia Sophia. But, neglecting the benefits of his position, he soon retired to one of the monasteries on the Black Sea coast. He lived in solitude for some time, and upon his return began teaching philosophy at the university.

The wisdom and strength of faith of the still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the iconoclast heretics, Annius, in a debate. After this victory, Constantine was sent by the emperor to debate about the Holy Trinity with the Muslims and also won.

Around 850, Emperor Michael III and Patriarch Photius sent Constantine to Bulgaria, where he converted many Bulgarians to Christianity on the Bregalnitsa River.

After this, Constantine retired to his brother Methodius on Olympus, spending time in constant prayer and reading the works of the holy fathers.

Methodius was older than brother for 12 years. He entered military service early. For 10 years he was the manager of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. Around 852 he became a monk

It was in this monastery that a group of like-minded people formed around Constantine and Methodius and the idea of ​​creating Slavic alphabet.

Khazar mission.

D Constantine's dispute with a Muslim imam and a Jewish rabbi, which took place in the presence of the kagan, according to the Life, ended in the victory of Constantine. The Kagan did not change his faith, but at the request of Constantine, he released all the Greek captives - more than 200 people.

The brothers returned to Byzantium. Constantine remained in the capital, and Methodius went to the monastery where he served before.

Bulgarian mission.

Soon Constantine, who knew not only Greek, Arabic and Latin, but also the language of the Slavs, was sent to Bulgaria on an educational mission. But the enlightenment of the Slavs turned out to be impossible without books on their native language. Therefore, Constantine began to create the Slavic alphabet. Methodius began to help him. 24 May 863 year they announced the invention of the Slavic alphabet.

Having come up with the alphabet, the brothers began to translate the main liturgical books (Gospel, Apostle, Psalter, etc.) from Greek into Slavic.

With their educational activities, Constantine and Methodius contributed to the establishment of the Christian faith in Bulgaria. And from Bulgaria, the Christian faith and writing spread to neighboring Serbia.

Moravian Mission.

In the same year 863, the Moravian prince Rostislav, oppressed by the German bishops, turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael III with a request to help him introduce church service in Slavic language. Rostislav needed this because the Western Slavs were under the yoke of the Roman catholic church, and they were allowed to conduct services only in Latin, and in government affairs use exclusively German. These restrictions, of course, were an obstacle to the national self-identification of the Western Slavs.

Rostislav asked to send clergy to Moravia who could preach in the native language of the Slavs. “Our land is baptized, but we do not have a teacher who would instruct and teach us, and interpret the holy books... send us teachers who could tell us about the book words and their meaning.”

The emperor called Constantine and told him: “You need to go there, because no one will do this better than you.” Constantine, with fasting and prayer, began a new feat. Methodius, at his brother’s request, went with him.

In the same year 863, the brothers arrived in Moravia with the created alphabet.

They were accepted from great honor, and until the spring of 867 they taught Moravian residents to read, write and conduct worship in the Slavic language. The activities of Constantine and Methodius aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers, arguing that church services could only be conducted in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin. The German bishops perceived Cyril and Methodius as heretics and filed a complaint to Rome. The Solunsky brothers had to go to the Pope. They hoped to find support in the fight against the German clergy, who were preventing the spread of Slavic writing.

Travel to Rome.

On the way to Rome, Constantine and Methodius visited another Slavic country- Pannonia, where Blatenskoe was located

After Constantine handed over to Pope Adrian II the relics of St. Clement he had found on his Chersonesos journey, he approved the service in the Slavic language and ordered the translated books to be placed in Roman churches. At the behest of the pope, Formosus (Bishop of Porto) and Gauderic (Bishop of Velletri) ordained three brothers who traveled with Constantine and Methodius as priests, and Methodius was ordained to the episcopate.

As we see, the Solun brothers were able to obtain permission to conduct services in the Slavic language from the Pope himself.

Intense struggle, years of wandering, excessive work undermined vitality Konstantin.

In Rome he fell ill, and in a miraculous vision, informed by the Lord that his death was approaching, he took the schema with the name Cyril. 50 days after accepting the schema, on February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril died at the age of 42 and was buried in Rome in the Church of St. Clement.

Going to God, Saint Cyril commanded his brother Methodius to continue their common cause - the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples with the light of the true faith. Before his death, he told Methodius: “You and I are like two oxen; one fell from a heavy burden, the other must continue on his way.”

Saint Methodius begged the Pope to allow his brother’s body to be taken away for burial in his native land, but the Pope ordered the relics of Saint Cyril to be placed in the Church of Saint Clement, where miracles began to be performed from them.

Methodius' educational activities after the death of Cyril.

After the death of Cyril, the Pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kocel, sent Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. In Pannonia, Saint Methodius, together with his disciples, continued to spread worship, writing and books in the Slavic language.

Methodius steadfastly endured the attacks of the Latin Church: according to the slander of the Latin bishops, he was imprisoned for two and a half years and dragged through the snow in the bitter cold. But the enlightener did not renounce serving the Slavs, and in 874 he was released by John VIII and restored to his episcopate rights. Pope John VIII forbade Methodius to perform the liturgy in the Slavic language, but Methodius, visiting Rome in 880, achieved the lifting of the ban and continued his ministry.

In 882-884 Methodius lived in Byzantium. In mid-884 he returned to Moravia and worked on translating the Bible into Slavic.

Anticipating the approach of his death, Saint Methodius pointed to one of his disciples, Gorazd, as a worthy successor. The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6 (19), 885 at the age of about 70 years. He was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad.

The Solunsky brothers devoted their entire lives to teaching, knowledge, and serving the Slavs. They did not attach much importance to wealth, honors, fame, or career.

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

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

Cyril and Methodius lived in the world,

Two Byzantine monks and suddenly

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

Some of them thought: “Friend!

How many Slavs are speechless without Christ!

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

It is thanks to the labors of the Saints brothers equal to the apostles Cyril and Methodius created the Slavic alphabet.

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 short term studied grammar and geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine, ancient art, mastered Slavic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic languages. Refusing the high administrative position offered to him, Kirill took a modest position as a librarian in the Patriarchal Library and at the same time taught philosophy at the university, for which he received the nickname “philosopher”. His older brother Methodius entered military service early. For 10 years he was the manager of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. Being an honest and straightforward person, intolerant of injustice, he left with military service and retired to a monastery.

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

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

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 it comes from catchphrases“Az and beeches – that’s all science”, “Whoever knows “Az” and “Beeches” will have books in their 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 finally, in modern alphabet 33 letters left.

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 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 systems letters. 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 Holy Synod adopted a decree 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 coming 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 one 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)

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

Brief message about Cyril and Methodius

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

Life before becoming a monk

At the beginning of their journey they went different roads. Methodius, whose name in the world was Michael, was a military man and had the rank of strategist of the province of Macedonia. Kirill, who bore the name Constantine before his tonsure, on the contrary, with early years was interested in science and culture of neighboring peoples. He translated the Gospel into Slavic. He also studied dialectics, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, philosophy and rhetoric in Constantinople. Thanks to his extensive knowledge, Constantine could marry an aristocrat and occupy important post in the highest echelons of power. But he abandoned all this and became a simple keeper of the library in St. Sophia. Of course, Konstantin did not stay here for long and began teaching at the capital’s university. And Mikhail also abandoned at that time military career and became the abbot of the monastery on Small Olympus. Constantine was familiar with the Emperor of Constantinople and, on his instructions, in 856 he went with scientists to Lesser Olympus. Having met his brother there, they decided to write the alphabet for the Slavs.

Cyril and Methodius, creators of the Slavic alphabet

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

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

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

Methodius' educational activities

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

After the death of both brothers, he was canonized.

Cyril and Methodius interesting facts

• The age difference between Methodius and Cyril becomes 12 years. In addition to them, there were 5 more sons in the family.
• Kirill himself learned to read at an early age.
• Kirill spoke Slavic, Greek, Arabic, Latin languages and Hebrew.
• May 24 is a day to honor the memory of the brothers.
• Methodius served in the monastery on Lesser Olympus for 10 years before they met with their brother and began their common preaching activities.

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

Kostin Pavel 3rd grade

May 24 is the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature. Cyril and Methodius are considered the founders of Slavic writing. The work of a 3rd grade student, dedicated to the founders of Slavic writing.

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Kostin Pavel, 3rd grade

Cyril and Methodius - the founders of Slavic writing

Celebrates Slavic writing and culture. Year of birth (creation) of the Slavic

brothers Cyril (before becoming a monk, Constantine) and Methodius.

Cyril (circa 827-869) and his older brother Methodius (circa 825-885)

were born in greek city Thessalonica (now Thessalonica). Father named Leo was

famous Greek official. One of the later sources says about the mother,

that she is a Slav by birth named Maria. And although, presumably, the family spoke

The brothers listened to Greek, Slavic words, and music of the language in the house since childhood. Yes and no

only in the house. There were many Slavic merchants in the trading districts of Thessaloniki. Many

The Slavs settled in Greece several centuries before the birth of the brothers. No wonder many years

later, sending the brothers to Moravia at the request of the Slavic prince to send teachers,

who will teach church reading, singing and writing in their native Slavic language,

Emperor Michael said: “No one can do this better than you. Go

together with Abbot Methodius, since you are Solunians, and Solunians all speak

purely Slavic" (beginning of 863).

Having received an education in hometown, Methodius served for ten years as a military commander in

one of the Slavic provinces of Byzantium. Constantine studied in the capital of the empire

Constantinople and showed brilliant philological talent. He has mastered perfectly

several languages, including Latin, Syriac and Hebrew. When Konstantin

graduated from college, he was offered a very honorable position as a librarian at

patriarchal repository of books. At the same time, he became the patriarch's secretary. Working

in the library (the best library in the world), he constantly expanded his knowledge by comparing

one language with another, wrote Yuri Loschits in one of the magazines in the article “Prophetic Rumor”.

Only if you have an ear for music and develop it, you can hear in an unfamiliar

Greek of someone else's speech individual sounds and sound combinations. Konstantin was not ashamed that

It's called looking into the speaker's mouth to figure out exactly what position

lips, teeth and tongue of the interlocutor, a sound escapes from his mouth, outlandish for

Greek hearing. The sounds “z”, “z”, and “z” seemed so strange and unusual to the Greeks."sh",

"sch" etc. To us, Russian people, and to those for whom Russian is their native language, it seems funny,

when these and other sounds are difficult for foreigners to pronounce. Sounds in Slavic speech

turned out to be significantly more than in Greek (later the brothers had to

create 14 more letters than in the Greek alphabet). Kirill managed to hear

sounds of Slavic speech, isolate them from a smooth, coherent flow and create under these

sounds signs-letters.

When we talk about the creation of the Slavic alphabet by the brothers Cyril and Mefoliy, then

We call the youngest one first. This was the case during both of their lives. Methodius himself said:

“He served, like a slave, his younger brother, obeying him.” Younger brother was brilliant

a philologist, as we would say now, a brilliant polyglot. He had to many times

engage in scientific disputes, and not only scientific ones. The new business of creating writing

numerous Slavic people there were many enemies (in Moravia and Pannonia -

on the lands of modern Hungary, former Yugoslavia, Austria). After the brothers' death

about 200 of their students were sold into slavery, and their closest and most capable

comrades thrown into prison.

The tragic personal fates of the disciples Cyril and Methodius did not stop

the spread of Slavic writing from one Slavic people to another. From

Moravia and Pannonia it passed to Bulgaria, and in the 10th century, after the adoption

Christianity, and to ancient Rus'.

What was the Slavic alphabet? We need to talk about this in more detail,

since this writing was used in Rus' until the 18th century. Under Peter I and

then several more times in the 18th century. the alphabetical composition changed, i.e. number of letters and their

graphics (writing). The last reform of the Cyrillic alphabet took place in 1917-1918. There was a total

12 letters were excluded, and two new ones were introduced - “i” and “e”. If you look at the names of the letters

Cyrillic alphabet, the origin of the word “alphabet” itself will become clear: a - az, b - beeches. Like

the name of the alphabet, the name “alphabet” comes from the first two letters of the Greek

languages ​​"alpha" and "vita".

All Slavs from the Baltic spoke, wrote, and created literature in the “Slovenian language”

to the Aegean Sea, from the Alps to the Volga. Six long centuries, up to the 15th century,

only three ancient languages ​​(Slavic, Greek, Latin) were accepted in the world

as the main languages interethnic communication. And now it’s a matter of honor for millions of people

Speakers of Slavic languages ​​- to protect, preserve and develop it.

How did distant ancestors learn to read and write?

Education at school was individual, and each teacher had no more than 6-8

students. The teaching methods were very imperfect. Folk proverbs

retained the memory of the difficulty of learning the alphabet: “Az, beeches, lead them to fear how

bears", "They teach the alphabet, they shout at the whole hut."

It was not possible to learn the Old Church Slavonic alphabet simple matter. Not sounds were pronounced, but

the names of the letters are complex in themselves. Having memorized the alphabet, they began to study syllables, or

warehouses, first from two letters: “buki”, “az” - the student named the names of the letters, and

then pronounced the syllable “ba”; for the syllable “vo” it was necessary to name “vedi”, “on”. Then

they taught syllables of three letters: “buki”, “rtsy”, “az” - “bra”, etc.

The complex names of the letters were not taken, as they say, out of thin air. Each title

carried great meaning and moral content. He who mastered literacy absorbed

moral concepts of enormous depth, developed for himself a line of behavior in

life, received concepts of goodness and morality. I can’t even believe it: well, letters and letters.

But no. When a person learning to read and write repeated after the teacher “az, beeches, lead,” he

He said the whole phrase: “I know letters.” Next came g, d, f - “The verb is good

is." In listing these letters in a row there is a commandment for man not to waste

I didn’t throw around words, I didn’t mince words, because “The word is good.”

Let's see what letters like r meant. s, t. They were called “Rtsy the word is firm”, i.e.

e. “Speak the word clearly”, “be responsible for your words.” It would be good for many of us

learn both pronunciation and responsibility for the spoken word.

After memorizing the syllables, reading began. The second proverb reminds us of order

work: the teacher pronounced the letters, and the students repeated them in chorus until

haven't remembered yet.

Literature:

Great Encyclopedia of Primary School

Excerpts from historical sources"The Tale of Bygone Years" and "The Life of Konstantin-Kirill"