All about Cyril and Methodius briefly. Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius
Cyril and Methodius story for children about Christian preachers, the creators of the Slavic alphabet and the Church Slavonic language, is summarized in this article.
Brief information 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 monasticism
At the beginning of their journey, they took different paths. Methodius, who was called Michael in the world, was a military man and had the rank of strategist of the province of Macedonia. Cyril, who bore the name Constantine before being tonsured, on the contrary, with early years interested in science and culture neighboring nations. He translated into Slavic Gospel. He also studied dialectics, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, philosophy and rhetoric in Constantinople. Thanks to his vast knowledge, Constantine could marry an aristocrat and take important post in the highest echelons of power. But he abandoned all this and became a simple keeper of the library in the Hagia Sophia. Of course, Konstantin did not stay here for a long time and began teaching at the capital's university. And Michael at that time also abandoned his military career and became the abbot of the monastery on the Small Olympus. Constantine was familiar with the emperor of Constantinople and, on his behalf, in 856 he went with scientists to the Small Olympus. Having met his brother there, they decided to write an alphabet for the Slavs.
Cyril and Methodius, creators of the Slavic alphabet
Their further life is connected with church activity. The prerequisite for the decision to start creating the Slavic alphabet was that in 862 the 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 been baptized long ago, but worship was 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 took up translation. First, the Thessalonica brothers translated Christian books into Bulgarian. These were the Psalter, the Gospel and the Apostle. In Moravia, church leaders taught for 3 years local population literacy and led services. In addition, they visited Panonnia and Transcarpathian Rus, where they also glorified the Christian faith.
Once they had a conflict with German priests who did not want to conduct services in the Slavic language. The Pope in 868 called the brothers to him. Here everyone came to a common compromise that the Slavs can conduct services in their native language.
While in Italy, Konstantin falls seriously ill. Realizing that death is not far off, he takes the monastic name Cyril. On his deathbed, Cyril asks his brother to continue his educational activities. February 14, 869 he died
Educational activities of Methodius
Returning to Moravia, Methodius (he had already taken the monastic name) does what his brother asked. 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 the German ministers of the church to conduct liturgies until they release Methodius. In 874 he was released and became an 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, the family had 5 more sons.
- Cyril taught himself to read at an early age.
- Cyril spoke Slavic, Greek, Arabic, in Latin and Hebrew.
- May 24 is the day of honoring the memory of the brothers.
- Methodius served for 10 years in the monastery on the Little Olympus before they met with his brother and preaching work.
We hope that the message about Cyril and Methodius briefly helped you to find out information about these Christian preachers. And you can leave your message about Cyril and Methodius through the comment form below.
At the end of 862, the prince of Great Moravia (the state of the Western Slavs) Rostislav turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael with a request to send preachers to Moravia who could spread Christianity in the Slavic language (sermons in those parts were read in Latin, unfamiliar and incomprehensible to the people).
863 is considered the year of birth of the Slavic alphabet.
The creators of the Slavic alphabet were the brothers Cyril and Methodius.
Emperor Michael sent the Greeks to Moravia - the scientist Constantine the Philosopher (the name Cyril Constantine received when he became a monk in 869, and with this name he went down in history) and his older brother Methodius.
The choice was not random. The brothers Constantine and Methodius were born in Thessalonica (in Greek, Thessaloniki) in the family of a military commander, received a good education. Cyril studied in Constantinople at the court of the Byzantine emperor Michael III, knew Greek, Slavic, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic languages well, taught philosophy, for which he received the nickname Philosopher. Methodius was in military service, then for several years he ruled one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs; subsequently retired to a monastery.
In 860, the brothers had already made a trip to the Khazars for missionary and diplomatic purposes.
To be able to preach Christianity in the Slavic language, it was necessary to make a translation Holy Scripture into Slavic; however, the alphabet capable of conveying Slavic speech did not exist at that moment.
Constantine set about creating the Slavic alphabet. Methodius, who also knew the Slavic language well, helped him in his work, since a lot of Slavs lived in Thessalonica (the city was considered half-Greek, half-Slavic). In 863 Slavic alphabet was created (the Slavic alphabet existed in two versions: the Glagolitic alphabet - from the verb - “speech” and the Cyrillic alphabet; scientists still do not have a consensus which of these two options was created by Cyril). With the help of Methodius, a number of liturgical books were translated from Greek into Slavonic. The Slavs got the opportunity to read and write in their own language. The Slavs had not only their own, Slavic, alphabet, but also the first Slavic literary language, many words of which still live in Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages.
After the death of the brothers, their activities were continued by their students, who were expelled from Moravia in 886,
in the South Slavic countries. (In the West, the Slavic alphabet and Slavic literacy did not survive; Western Slavs - Poles, Czechs ... - still use the Latin alphabet). Slavic writing was firmly established in Bulgaria, from where it spread to the countries of the southern and eastern Slavs (IX century). Writing came to Rus' in the 10th century (988 - the baptism of Rus').
The creation of the Slavic alphabet had and still has great value for the development of Slavic writing, Slavic peoples, Slavic culture.
The Bulgarian Church established the day of memory of Cyril and Methodius - May 11, according to the old style (May 24, according to the new style). Bulgaria also established the Order of Cyril and Methodius.
May 24 in many Slavic countries, including Russia, is a holiday of Slavic writing and culture.
May 24 is the day of Slavic writing and culture. It is also the day of veneration of the holy enlighteners Cyril and Methodius, who gave the Slavs that script, that alphabet that we still use.
Thessalonica Brothers
Leo and Mary, who lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki (now called Thessaloniki), had seven children. The eldest of them is Mikhail, the youngest is Konstantin. It was they who later became known as the enlighteners Methodius and Cyril, the inventors of the Slavic alphabet. Thessaloniki, or as the Slavs called Thessalonica, was a port city, and therefore the brothers grew up surrounded by many languages. Moreover, some researchers believe that Mikhail and Konstantin were bilingual, because their father, a local military leader, was Slavic by origin, and their mother was Greek.
Michael Thessalonica
Both Methodius and Cyril did not immediately become enlighteners. The eldest of the Thessalonica brothers followed in his father's footsteps and chose a military career. At the age of twenty, he was appointed manager of Slavinia, one of the Slavic-Bulgarian regions that were subordinate to Byzantium. But ten years later, he decided to radically change his life. Mikhail left both the military-administrative career and the world in order to go to Olympus and take the veil there as a monk. When he was tonsured, he took the name Methodius.
Constantine of Thessalonica
The youngest of the Thessalonica brothers, Konstantin, was twelve years old. younger than Mikhail. When the elder long time served in Slavinia, Constantine, as a capable young man, was accepted into elite school at the court of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III. There, the future enlightener studied philosophy, grammar, rhetoric, all the "Hellenic arts", as well as Slavic, Jewish, Khazar, Arabic, Samaritan, Syriac (Sura) languages.
Library instead of wife
Obviously, Konstantin was one of the best students in the court school, and brilliant career he was provided. In any case, this opinion was shared by one of the highest officials in the state and its actual ruler, the logothete Theoktist. Therefore, he proposed to the young Konstantin, who had just completed his studies, to marry his, Feoktist, goddaughter. But Konstantin refused, and first got a job in a library, then retired to a monastery and, in the end, became a teacher of philosophy in Constantinople. For this he was nicknamed Constantine the Philosopher.
The Miracle of Finding Relics
In 860, Constantine and Methodius were sent on an educational mission to Khazar Khaganate. Along the way, they stopped in Chersonese, where they replenished their knowledge of the Hebrew language (Konstantin studied the Samaritan script), got acquainted with the mysterious "Russian" writings, which the researchers consider to be Sura, that is, Syrian. Here Constantine performed a miracle. Having learned that for half a century the parishioners could not worship the relics of St. Clement (the patron saint of Rome, the bishop of Rome, exiled to the Inkerman quarries and drowned in the Black Sea), Konstantin suggested that the local priest hold a divine service for gaining incorruptible relics. The service was completed, and Constantine, having brought the Chersonesites to the shore, pointed out a place in shallow water, where, indeed, the remains were found with an anchor chain around their necks. Since Clement was drowned with an anchor tied to his neck, no one had any doubts about the authenticity of the remains found. Subsequently, the relics of St. Clement served the brothers well.
Gospel for the Slavs
Apparently, the invention of the alphabet was not an end in itself for the illuminators. For some reason (maybe because they themselves were half, and according to some versions, exclusively Slavs), Constantine and Methodius sought to spread Slavic as the language of worship. Therefore, by the year 863, when Patriarch Photius of Constantinople sent the Thessalonica brothers on a mission to Moravia, they not only managed to come up with what later became known as the Cyrillic alphabet, but also translated a number of biblical texts into Slavonic, in particular, the Gospel. In Velehrad, the capital of Moravia, worship in the Slavic language quickly became popular. It is noteworthy that the brothers translated the Bible into a dialect common in Thessalonica, that is, into a language that was very familiar to them. But the Moravians understood the southern dialect with difficulty and therefore began to treat it as a bookish, sacred language. Soon a group of opponents of the actions of Constantine and Methodius, the so-called tri-pagans, arose. These people believed that the biblical texts should be read exclusively in the canonical languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. For support, the inventors of Slavic writing went to Rome.
Bishop Methodius of Moravia
In Rome, the Enlighteners were received cordially, perhaps largely due to the relics of St. Clement, part of which they took with them when they left Chersonesos, and now brought to the eternal city. The youngest of the brothers died here after a long illness, having taken the monastic vows under the name Cyril before his death. And the elder was ordained a priest, then appointed bishop of both Moravia and Pannonia. Back in Slavic lands, he continued the work of popularizing the Slavic language, but despite the efforts expended, he could not achieve great success: the political situation in the principalities changed, the ruler Roslav, who supported the brothers, was overthrown, and the new authorities looked at the Slavic-language services without enthusiasm. After holding the bishop for two years in prison, they finally allowed him to preach in Slavic.
Can you imagine life without electricity? Of course it's difficult! But it is known that earlier people read and write by candlelight and splinter. Imagine life without writing. Some of you will now think to yourself, well, well, that would be great: you don’t have to write dictations and essays. But then there will be no libraries, books, posters, letters, and even e-mail and text messages. Language, like a mirror, reflects the whole world, our whole life. And when reading written or printed texts, we seem to sit in a time machine and can be transported both to recent times and to the distant past.
But people have not always mastered the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia. And do you know to whom we should be grateful for our written word, on which our favorite books are written? For our diploma, which we study at school? For our great Russian literature, which you get acquainted 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 without Christ are speechless!
It is necessary to create an alphabet for the Slavs ...
It was thanks to the work of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius that the Slavic alphabet was created.
The brothers were born in the Byzantine city of Thessalonica in the family of a military leader. Methodius was the eldest son, and, having chosen the path of a military man, 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, having passionately fallen in love with science, amazed 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, well mastered Slavic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic. Rejecting the high administrative position offered to him, Cyril took the modest position of 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 the military early. For 10 years he was the ruler of one of the regions inhabited by Slavs. Being an honest and straightforward man, intolerant of injustice, he left with military service and retired to a monastery.
In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople to ask them to send preachers to their country and tell the population about Christianity. The emperor decided to send Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. Kirill, before setting off on his journey, asked if the Moravians had an alphabet for their language - “for the enlightenment of the people without the writings of their language is like trying to write on water,” Kirill explained. To which he received a negative answer. The Moravians did not have the alphabet, so the brothers began work. At their disposal were not years, but months. They worked from early morning, barely blossoming, and until late evening, when their eyes were already rippling from fatigue. In a short time, an alphabet for the Moravians was created. It was named after one of its creators - Cyril - Cyrillic.
With the help of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavonic. 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 used in Russian Orthodox Church during worship.
The Slavic alphabet existed in Rus' unchanged 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 who barely saw them would immediately want to master the letter.
Each letter had its own name - "az" - A; "beeches" - B; "lead" - B; "verb" - G; "good" D.
From here and catchphrases"Az and beeches - that's all the sciences", "" Who knows "Az" and "Beeches" books in his hands. In addition, letters could also denote numbers. In total, there were 43 letters in the Cyrillic alphabet.
The Cyrillic alphabet existed in the Russian language without changes until Peter I, who removed the obsolete letters without which it was quite possible to do - “yus big”, “yus small”, “omega”, “uk”. In 1918, 5 more letters left the Russian alphabet - “yat”, “fita”, “izhitsa”, “er”, “er”. For a thousand years, many letters have disappeared from our alphabet, and only two have appeared - “y” and “ё”. They were invented in the 17th century by the Russian writer and historian Karamzin. And finally, 33 letters remained in the modern alphabet.
And what do you think, where did the word "AZBUKA" come from - by the name of the first letters of the alphabet, "az" and "beeches"; 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 Greek alphabet: "alpha" and "beta". carriers Western languages so they call it: "alphabeta". We pronounce it like the 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 like deaf and dumb,” it is written in the annals of those times.
Not only children, but also adults began to learn. wrote sharp sticks on wooden boards coated with wax. The children fell in love with their teachers Cyril and Methodius. Little Slavs went to classes with joy, 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 or seven years and was very expensive. In a precious salary, 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, "she" was expensive. Her one could be exchanged for a herd of horses or a herd of cows, for sable fur coats. And the point here is not in the decorations in which the beautiful and clever girl was dressed up. And she walked only in expensive embossed leather, in pearls and precious stones! Gold and silver clasps adorned her outfit! Admiring her, people said: “Light, you are ours!” They 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 people. She could have died in a fire or a flood. She was greatly valued: she inspired hope, returned strength of mind. What kind of curiosity is this. Yes, folks, this is Her Majesty the Book. She has 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, in fasting and prayer, industrious monks copied and decorated books. A collection of books in 500-1000 manuscripts was considered a rarity.
Life goes on, and in the middle of the XVI century book 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. As a deacon and serving in the temple, he tried to realize his dream - holy books rewrite without scribes. And so, in 1563, he set about typesetting the first page of the first printed book, The Apostle. In total, he published 12 books in 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 teachers of Slovenia", 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 wide Rus' - our mother
The bell ringing is spreading.
Now brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius
They are glorified for their work.
“Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness,” says a Russian proverb. Cyril and Methodius, brothers from Thessalonica, are Slovenian enlighteners, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity. They are called holy teachers. Enlighteners are those who bring light and illuminate everyone with it. Without the alphabet, there is no writing, and without it there is no book that enlightens people, and therefore moves life forward. Monuments to great educators around the world remind us of spiritual achievement Cyril and Methodius, who gave the world the Slavic alphabet.
In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Literature is celebrated all over the world. In the year of the millennium from the date of the creation of the Slavic script in Russia, the Holy Synod adopted a resolution that established “every year, starting from this 1863, on May 11 (24) day church celebration Venerable Cyril and Methodius. Until 1917, Russia celebrated religious holiday Day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius. With coming Soviet power this one was forgotten great holiday. In 1986 it was revived. This holiday began to be called the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.
Quiz
1. Who created the Slavic alphabet? (Cyril and Methodius)
2. What year is considered the year of the emergence of Slavic writing and book business? (863)
3. Why are Cyril and Methodius called "Thessalonica brothers"? (Birthplace of the brothers-enlighteners the city of Thessalonica in Macedonia)
4. Who was the elder 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 who was a warrior? (Cyril is a librarian, Methodius is a military leader,)
7. What was Cyril called for his mind and diligence? (Philosopher)
8. In whose reign the Slavic alphabet was changed - simplified. (Peter 1)
9. How many letters were there in Cyrillic before Peter the Great? (43 letters)
10. How many letters have become 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)
The brothers Cyril and Methodius, whose biography is at least briefly known to everyone who speaks Russian, were great educators. They developed an alphabet for the multitude Slavic peoples than immortalized their name.
Greek origin
The two brothers were from Thessaloniki. In Slavic sources, the old traditional name Solun has been preserved. They were born into the family of a successful officer who served under the governor of the province. Cyril was born in 827, and Methodius in 815.
Due to the fact that these Greeks knew very well, some researchers tried to confirm the guess about their Slavic origin. However, no one has been able to do this. At the same time, for example, in Bulgaria, enlighteners are considered Bulgarians (they also use the Cyrillic alphabet).
Experts in the Slavic language
The linguistic knowledge of the noble Greeks can be explained by the story of Thessalonica. In their era, this city was bilingual. There was a local dialect of the Slavic language. The migration of this tribe reached its southern border, buried in the Aegean Sea.
At first, the Slavs were pagans and lived under a tribal system, just like their German neighbors. However, those strangers who settled on the borders Byzantine Empire, fell into the orbit of its cultural influence. Many of them formed colonies in the Balkans, becoming mercenaries of the ruler of Constantinople. Their presence was also strong in Thessalonica, from where Cyril and Methodius were born. The biography of the brothers at first went in different ways.
Brothers' mundane career
Methodius (in the world he was called Michael) became a military man and rose to the rank of strategist of one of the provinces in Macedonia. He succeeded thanks to his talents and abilities, as well as the patronage of the influential courtier Feoktist. Cyril took up science from an early age, and also studied the culture of neighboring peoples. Even before he went to Moravia, thanks to which he became world famous, Konstantin (name before being tonsured a monk) began to translate chapters of the Gospel into
In addition to linguistics, Kirill studied geometry, dialectics, arithmetic, astronomy, rhetoric and philosophy from the best specialists in Constantinople. Due to his noble origin, he could count on an aristocratic marriage and public service in the highest echelons of power. However, the young man did not wish such a fate and became the custodian of the library in the main temple of the country - Hagia Sophia. But even there he did not stay long, and soon began to teach at the capital's university. Thanks to brilliant victories in philosophical disputes, he received the nickname of the Philosopher, which is sometimes found in historiographic sources.
Cyril was familiar with the emperor and even went with his instructions to the Muslim caliph. In 856, he arrived with a group of students at the monastery on the Small Olympus, where his brother was the abbot. It was there that Cyril and Methodius, whose biography was now associated with the church, decided to create an alphabet for the Slavs.
Translation of Christian books into Slavonic
In 862, ambassadors from the Moravian prince Rostislav arrived in Constantinople. They gave the emperor a message from their ruler. Rostislav asked the Greeks to give him learned people who could teach the Slavs the Christian faith on their own language. The baptism of this tribe took place even before that, but each divine service was held in a foreign dialect, which was extremely inconvenient. The patriarch and the emperor discussed this request among themselves and decided to ask the brothers of Thessalonica to go to Moravia.
Cyril, Methodius and their students set about great job. The first language into which the main Christian books were translated was Bulgarian. Biography of Cyril and Methodius summary which is in every Slavic history textbook, is known for the colossal work of the brothers on the Psalter, the Apostle and the Gospel.
Journey to Moravia
The preachers went to Moravia, where they served for three years and taught people to read and write. Their efforts also helped to carry out the baptism of the Bulgarians, which took place in 864. They also visited Transcarpathian Rus and Panonnia, where they also glorified the Christian faith in Slavic languages. The brothers Cyril and Methodius, whose brief biography includes many travels, everywhere found an attentively listening audience.
Even in Moravia, they had a conflict with German priests who were there with a similar missionary mission. The key difference between them was the unwillingness of Catholics to worship in the Slavic language. This position was supported by the Roman Church. This organization believed that it was possible to praise God only in three languages: Latin, Greek and Hebrew. This tradition has existed for many centuries.
The great schism between Catholics and Orthodox had not yet happened, so the Pope still had influence on the Greek priests. He called the brothers to Italy. They also wanted to come to Rome to defend their position and to reason with the Germans in Moravia.
Brothers in Rome
The brothers Cyril and Methodius, whose biography is also revered by Catholics, came to Adrian II in 868. He came to a compromise with the Greeks and agreed that the Slavs could conduct worship in their native languages. The Moravians (ancestors of the Czechs) were baptized by bishops from Rome, so they were formally under the jurisdiction of the Pope.
While still in Italy, Konstantin became very ill. When he realized that he would soon die, the Greek took the schema and received the monastic name Cyril, with which he became known in historiography and popular memory. Being on his deathbed, he asked his brother not to give up the common educational work, but to continue his service among the Slavs.
Continuation of the preaching activity of Methodius
Cyril and Methodius, whose brief biography is inseparable, became revered in Moravia during their lifetime. When younger brother returned there, it became much easier for him to continue to fulfill his duty than 8 years ago. However, soon the situation in the country changed. The former prince Rostislav was defeated by Svyatopolk. The new ruler was guided by German patrons. This led to a change in the composition of the priests. The Germans again began to lobby for the idea of preaching in Latin. They even imprisoned Methodius in a monastery. When Pope John VIII found out about this, he forbade the Germans to hold liturgies until they released the preacher.
Cyril and Methodius have not yet encountered such resistance. Biography, creation and everything connected with their life is full of dramatic events. In 874, Methodius was finally released and again became an archbishop. However, Rome has already withdrawn its permission to worship in the Moravian language. However, the preacher refused to submit to the changing course catholic church. He began to conduct secret sermons and rituals in the Slavic language.
The last chores of Methodius
His perseverance was not in vain. When the Germans again tried to denigrate him in the eyes of the church, Methodius went to Rome and, thanks to his ability as an orator, was able to defend his point of view before the Pope. He was given a special bull, which again allowed worship in the national languages.
The Slavs appreciated the uncompromising struggle waged by Cyril and Methodius, whose brief biography was reflected even in ancient folklore. Shortly before his death, the younger brother returned to Byzantium and spent several years in Constantinople. His last great work was the translation into Slavic " Old Testament”, with which he was helped by faithful students. He died in 885 in Moravia.
Significance of the activities of the brothers
The alphabet, created by the brothers, eventually spread to Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Rus'. Today Cyrillic is used by everyone Eastern Slavs. These are Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The biography of Cyril and Methodius for children is taught within school curriculum these countries.
Interestingly, the original alphabet, created by the brothers, eventually became Glagolitic in historiography. Another version of it, known as Cyrillic, appeared a little later thanks to the work of the students of these enlighteners. This scientific debate remains relevant. The problem is that no ancient sources have come down to us that could certainly confirm any particular point of view. Theories are built only on secondary documents that appeared later.
Nevertheless, the contribution of the brothers is difficult to overestimate. Cyril and Methodius, whose brief biography should be known to every Slav, helped not only spread Christianity, but also strengthen it among these peoples. In addition, even if we assume that the Cyrillic alphabet was created by the students of the brothers, they still relied on their work. This is especially evident in the case of phonetics. Modern Cyrillic alphabets have adopted the sound component from those written symbols that were proposed by the preachers.
Both Western and Eastern church recognize the importance of the activities carried out by Cyril and Methodius. short biography for the children of educators is in many general education textbooks of history and the Russian language.
In our country, since 1991, the annual Public Holiday dedicated to the brothers from Thessalonica. It is called the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature and also exists in Belarus. In Bulgaria, an order named after them was established. Cyril and Methodius Interesting Facts whose biographies are published in various monographs, still attract the attention of new researchers of languages and history.