Day of Slavic Literature and Culture: a truly national holiday. Day of Slavic Literature and Culture

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

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

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

Two directions are now divided in which Slavic writing developed:

1. Pictorial views. Creating a three-dimensional image and perception.
2. Descriptive views. Creating planar perception by inscriptions on the plane.

Previously, our ancestors, when talking about objectivity and functions, called their writing:

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

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

• Glagolitic- middle of the tenth century;
• initial letter(Old Slovenian) - presumably the end of the 10th century;
• ABC- a variant of pre-revolutionary tsarist Russia;
• Alphabet- 1918 (Lunacharsky's reform).

Some scholars present the Glagolitic as one of the ways to pronounce and write capital letters. But this issue is still being investigated. Here is what the Russian philologist Sreznevsky I.I. tells us. (1848):

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

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

Features and Reza. By their names, one can judge their origin - they drew letters and cut them. This is a type of lettering.

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

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

Rasenskie Molvitsy - a letter from the Etruscans.

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

What is special about Slavic writing and culture

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

• to speak - to speak;
• verbasha - speaking, pronouncing;
• verb - we speak;
• verb is action.

The initial letter as the capital part of the words had different styles of writing. The following several options for the artistic image of ancient letters can be cited as an example:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Guslitsky style - comes from the Old Believer settlement Guslitsy

Vetka style in Belarus

There are many variants of the image of Slavic letters. Our ancestors the Slavs were famous masters of arts and arts. Therefore, letters could be depicted by scribes with a creative approach. The main feature of the initial letter is that it formed the basis of such languages ​​\u200b\u200bknown to us as Latin (Latin) and English.

The worldview of the Slavs was changed even by modifying the written language. If earlier letters and words were perceived volumetrically with a semantic and figurative-symbolic load, now they are perceived on a plane, faceless, carrying only sounds that add up to words.

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

When is the day of Slavic writing celebrated?

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

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

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

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

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

Cities and villages dressed in greenery, as if preparing for an important holiday for all of us - the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture, annually celebrated on May 24 in all Slavic countries as a token of gratitude and veneration for two brothers - Cyril and Methodius, the creators of Slavic writing.

Initially, the holiday, which existed in Bulgaria as far back as the 10th-11th centuries, was celebrated only by the church. In Russia, it was also a church holiday. The Church canonized Cyril and Methodius as saints, and on May 18, 1863, the Holy Synod adopted a decree proclaiming May 24, according to the new style, as the Church holiday of the Salun brothers.

At the state level, for the first time officially Day of Slavic Writing and Culture was solemnly celebrated in the Russian Empire in 1863, in honor of the 1000th anniversary of the creation of the Slavic alphabet by Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Unfortunately, during the Soviet era, the Day of Slavic Literature was canceled as a holiday that unites all Slavs, and was not celebrated for many decades. And only in 1986 the holiday was revived.
And in the Union, for the first time, the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture was celebrated in 1986 in the city of Murmansk, and then in Vologda, Novgorod, Kyiv and Minsk. Since 1987, the holiday has already become widespread in society, the name "Day of Slavic Writing and Culture" has been assigned to it. On January 30, 1991, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, May 24 was declared the Holiday of Slavic Literature and Culture. And in 1992, a monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius was solemnly opened in Moscow on Slavyanskaya Square. The creator of the monument is the sculptor V.M. Klykov.

In our time, the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture is the only state-church holiday in Russia. On May 24, the Church honors the memory of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius.

Slavic writing was created in the 9th century, around 862. First, two alphabets were created - Glagolitic and Cyrillic.

Now about the great teachers themselves. It is known that the brothers were Orthodox monks and the Slavic alphabet was created in a Greek monastery. Among the oldest monuments of Slavic writing that have survived to this day, there are also biographies of the creators of Slavic writing - Saints Cyril and Methodius. Of greatest interest are "The Life of Constantine the Philosopher", "The Life of Methodius", "Eulogy to Cyril and Methodius".

From the biographies of Saints Cyril and Methodius, we know that Cyril and Methodius, Greeks, brothers, were born into the family of a Byzantine commander in the Macedonian city of Thessalonica (Thessalonica). Now this city belongs to modern Greece and is located on the coast. In addition to Cyril and Methodius, there were five more brothers in the family. Methodius was the eldest of the seven brothers, and Constantine the youngest. Methodius was supposedly born around 815. His secular name, alas, is unknown. According to the assumption of many researchers, the mother of the brothers was Slavic, and it is for this reason that the brothers knew the Slavic language from childhood as well as Greek. Most likely it was one of the dialects of the ancient Bulgarian language. Cyril was born around 827. And before being tonsured into monasticism, he bore the secular name Constantine. He became Cyril almost before his death.

Both brothers received an excellent education and a good upbringing. Methodius first followed in the footsteps of his father and decided to make a military career, but then around 852 he took monastic vows, and later became abbot of the Polychron monastery on Bithynian Olympus (Asia Minor). Cyril, gifted with philological abilities from a young age, gravitated toward the sciences from a young age. Already at the Thessalonica school at the age of 14, he read the books of one of the fathers of the Church of the 4th century - Gregory the Theologian. Then Constantine was educated in Constantinople by the greatest scholars of his time, such as Leo the Grammarian and Photius (the future patriarch), studying ancient literature, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, rhetoric and music. After completing his studies, Cyril took the priesthood and began working as a librarian in the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

Neither wealth, nor marriage with a beauty seduced the young man, who then bore the name Konstantin. His favorite pastimes were meditation and prayer. But Constantine turned out to be a very sought-after person, in 851-52 he had to go to the court of the Arab caliph Muttawakil as part of the embassy of the asikret George, where the future educator had theological disputes with Muslim scientists. Returning to Constantinople, Constantine went to his brother in the monastery. But soon after returning, both brothers - both Cyril and Methodius - at the request of the Moravian prince Rostislav (Rastica), were sent by the Byzantine emperor to Great Moravia (863-866).

From "Tales of Bygone Years" we learn that once the Slavic princes Rostislav, Svyatopolk and Kotsel sent ambassadors to the Byzantine king Michael with a request to send a teacher, "who would instruct and instruct, and explain the holy books." Further it is reported: “... sent them Constantine the Philosopher, named Cyril, a righteous and true husband. And he created 38 letters for them - some according to the pattern of Greek letters, others according to Slavic speech. From the very first he began in Greek: after all, they are from “alpha”, he is from “az” ... ”.

The brothers translated the Apostle, the Gospel, the Psalter, the Octoechos and other church books. But at that time, Great Moravia was subordinated to the Bishopric of Passau in Bavaria, and the activities of the brothers of the Enlightenment ran into the fierce resistance of the German clergy, who were categorically against Slavic writing and Slavonic liturgy, insisting that the liturgy be performed only in Latin. Despite the fact that Cyril and Methodius prepared disciples, none of them managed to become priests under such conditions, and the brothers left Moravia together with 867 disciples, going to Venice, hoping to ordain their disciples in Byzantium in Constantinople.

Having received an invitation from the pope in Venice in 868, Constantine and Methodius set off for Rome. In Rome, Pope Adrian II consecrated Slavic books, and the disciples of Constantine and Methodius became priests and deacons. And then a misfortune happened: still not at all old Constantine, who was only 42 years old, became seriously ill and died in Rome on February 14, 869. Before his death, Kirill told his brother: “You and I, like two oxen, led the same furrow. I am exhausted, but don’t you think to leave the work of teaching and retire to your mountain again.

They buried the great Slavic teacher in the Basilica of St. Clement. Methodius outlived his brother by 16 years and carried out his order. At the end of the same 869, Methodius was appointed archbishop of Pannonia (Great Moravia). However, in 870 Great Moravia was occupied by the troops of the East Frankish kingdom, and Methodius was arrested and exiled to one of the monasteries in Swabia. Only the uprising of the people of Moravia and the intervention of Pope John VIII helped in 873 the new Moravian prince Svyatopolk achieve the release of Methodius. But Pope John VIII forbade Methodius to celebrate the liturgy in the Slavic language. Then Methodius went to Rome in 880, where he managed to achieve the abolition of the discriminatory ban.

Methodius died on April 8, 885, the location of his grave is unknown. He left as his successor the best of his students, Archbishop Gorazd, and about two hundred Slavs trained by him. But the disciples of Methodius, who defended the Slavic liturgy after his death, were expelled from Moravia and settled in Bulgaria. It was in this country that a new Slavic alphabet was created based on the Greek; in order to convey the phonetic features of the Slavic language, the alphabet was supplemented with letters borrowed from the Glagolitic alphabet. This alphabet, having spread among the Eastern and Southern Slavs, later received the name "Cyrillic" - in honor of Cyril (Konstantin).

Although some scientists express doubts about the correctness of assigning a name to the alphabet, referring to the fact that in the "Life of Methodius" there is such a phrase: "Cyril persuaded his brother to go with him, because he knew the Slavic language." In addition, evidence has been preserved that Methodius translated the works of Constantine from Greek into Slavic, so it is possible that it was the eldest of the brothers who became the creator of the new alphabet. However, there is no solid evidence for this yet.

With the adoption of Christianity, Ancient Russia switched to the Slavic alphabet, inviting from teachers who continued the work of Cyril and Methodius. And in Kyiv, and in Novgorod, and in other cities, schools were created for teaching Slavic literacy.

Today in the world there are about 60 peoples whose writing was based on the Cyrillic alphabet. And many thanks to the two great brothers for leaving us a legacy that will continue to unite the Slavic world.

F. I. Tyutchev

Great day of Cyril's death -
What a warm and simple greeting
millennial anniversary
We will honor the holy memory?
What words to capture this day,
As not with the words spoken by them,
When I said goodbye to my brother and friends,
He reluctantly left his ashes to you, Rome...
Involved in his work
Through a number of centuries, through so many generations,
And we, and we pulled a furrow
Among temptations and doubts.
And in turn, like him, without completing the work;
And we will get off it and, holy words
Remembering him, we then exclaim:
"Do not change yourself, great Russia!"
Do not believe, do not believe strangers, dear land,
Their false wisdom or their impudent deceptions,
And, like Saint Cyril, you don't leave
Great service to the Slavs.

The holy Equal-to-the-Apostles primary teachers and Slavic enlighteners, the brothers Cyril and Methodius, came from a noble and pious family that lived in the Greek city of Thessalonica.

Saint Methodius was the eldest of the seven brothers, and Saint Constantine, that was the name of Saint Cyril before becoming a monk, was the youngest. Saint Methodius was at first in a military rank and was a ruler in one of the Slavic principalities subordinate to the Byzantine Empire. After staying there for about ten years, Saint Methodius then accepted monasticism in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.

Saint Constantine from an early age was distinguished by great abilities and studied together with the infant emperor Michael with the best teachers of Constantinople, including Photius, the future Patriarch of Constantinople.

Upon completion of his studies, Saint Constantine accepted the holy order and was appointed curator of the patriarchal library at the church of Saint Sophia, but soon left the capital and secretly retired to a monastery. Returned to Constantinople, he was assigned as a teacher of philosophy in the higher school of Constantinople. After some time, Saint Constantine came to his brother on Olympus, spending time in unceasing prayer and reading the works of the holy fathers. Soon the emperor summoned both holy brothers from the monastery and sent them to the Khazars for the gospel sermon.

On the way, they stopped for some time in the city of Korsun, preparing for a sermon. There the holy brothers miraculously found the relics of Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome. After that, they went to the Khazars, preaching the gospel doctrine. On the way home, the brothers again visited Korsun and, taking the relics of St. Clement there, returned to Constantinople.

Saint Constantine remained in the capital, while Saint Methodius received hegumenship in a small monastery not far from Mount Olympus, where he had worked before. Soon, ambassadors from the Moravian prince Rostislav came to the emperor with a request to send teachers to Moravia who could preach in their native language for the Slavs. The emperor summoned Saint Constantine, who, with fasting and prayer, embarked on a new feat. With the help of his brother, Saint Methodius, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavonic the books without which Divine services could not be performed: the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter and selected services. After the completion of the translation, the holy brothers went to Moravia, where they were received with great honor, and began to teach worship in the Slavic language. The German bishops who were in the Moravian kingdom, out of envy at the success of Saints Cyril and Methodius, turned to Rome.

The holy brothers were called to Rome to resolve this issue. Taking with them the relics of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, Saints Constantine and Methodius set off for Rome. Having learned that the holy brothers were carrying holy relics with them, Pope Adrian went out with the clergy to meet them. The holy brothers were greeted with honor, the Pope of Rome approved the service in the Slavic language.

While in Rome, Saint Constantine fell ill and soon accepted the schema with the name Cyril. 50 days after the adoption of the schema, on February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril died at the age of 42. The Pope ordered the relics of St. Cyril to be placed in the church of St. Clement, where they began to perform miracles. After the death of Saint Cyril, the pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kocel, sent Saint Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia.

In Pannonia, Saint Methodius, together with his disciples, continued to spread worship, writing, and books in the Slavic language.

Twice there were disputes between Saint Methodius and the German bishops, up to the imprisonment of the first. Once again, Saint Methodius was summoned to Rome, but he justified himself before the pope and was again returned to the capital of Moravia - Velehrad.

The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 at the age of about 60 years. The saint was buried in the cathedral church of Velegrad.

Troparion

As an apostle of like-mindedness and the Slovenian countries, the teacher, Cyril and Methodius of God-wisdom, pray to the Lord of all, establish all the Slovenian languages ​​\u200b\u200bin Orthodoxy and like-mindedness, pacify the world and save our souls.

The project "Orthodox Holidays" was implemented by "UNIAN-Religion" with the assistance of the Kyiv Theological Academy and the Seminary. When using the material reference to the source is required.

The Day of Slavic Literature and Culture is a holiday that calls to pay tribute to Slavic writing, the customs of our ancestors and honor the memory of the creators of the Slavic alphabets Cyril and Methodius. Celebrated May 24th.

Why is this holiday important?

The Day of Slavic Writing and Culture is not celebrated in the same way as the New Year or March 8th. And in general, only schoolchildren, teachers of language and literature, librarians and some officials know and remember about it.

However, the emergence of our own writing system plays a big role for us. It doesn't matter what language we write in - Ukrainian or Russian, they are both created on the basis of the Slavic Cyrillic alphabet.

Cyril and Methodius did a great job of giving the sounds of the Slavic language a graphic form. Thanks to their work, knowledge and translations of church books began to spread, which until then were available only in foreign languages. The creation of the Slavic writing system gave impetus to the development of the literary language and book publishing among many peoples.

The history of the holiday

In ancient times, this holiday was celebrated by all Slavic peoples. But over time, as a result of various historical and political events, it was no longer celebrated. At first, Cyril and Methodius were revered only by churches, as saints Equal to the Apostles, who made a huge contribution to the development of Christianity.

The Slavic countries resumed the celebration of the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture at different times: the Czechs - in the XIV century, the rest of the peoples around the XIX century. In Ukraine, the event was legalized in 2004, although back in the 19th century the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood reminded of the role of Cyril and Methodius in the development of culture and education in Kievan Rus.

How the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture is celebrated

In addition to Ukraine, this holiday is celebrated by 8 more countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Russia, Montenegro, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

On this day, various events are held in educational institutions and libraries: laying flowers at the monument to Cyril and Methodius, talks, conferences, quizzes and concerts.

In Bulgaria, this is a national event. There, citizens hung wreaths of fresh flowers on the portraits of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles and commemorate their anthem. There are book fairs and fairs.

After the accession of Bulgaria to the EU, the Cyrillic alphabet was accepted into the ranks of its official alphabets.

Traditionally, linguists, writers, librarians, and writers pay great attention to this date.

Interesting facts about Cyril, Methodius and Slavic writing

1) The Cyrillic alphabet was created on the basis of the Greek alphabet and consisted of 43 letters: 24 Greek and 19 special characters to indicate the sound features of the Slavic language.

2) It is still not known exactly which of the alphabets was created first: Cyrillic or Glagolitic. Many scholars believe that Cyril created only the Glagolitic alphabet, while the Cyrillic alphabet was written later by Methodius or the brothers' students.

3) Methodius outlived his brother by 16 years. The location of his grave is not known.

4) It is believed that the Glagolitic and Proto-Cyrillic alphabet existed even before the birth of the Equal-to-the-Apostles saints. The first was used for church services, and the second was used in everyday life. Therefore, the Glagolitic alphabet has more complex and refined letters than the Cyrillic alphabet. The Glagolitic alphabet retained its original form, while Cyril changed the Proto-Cyrillic alphabet.

5) Due to the lack of writing, the memory of ancient people was better developed than that of modern people. This is due to the fact that our ancestors had to memorize a large amount of information.

6) Among the Slavs, writing and reading books had a magical meaning and was perceived as a sacred act. They believed that the use of the sacred alphabet (Glagolitic) in everyday life leads to the loss of her magical abilities.

Cyrillic alphabets do not serve all Slavic languages. Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia switched to the Latin alphabet a long time ago.In such non-Slavic countries as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, the peoples of the North, the Caucasus, Buryatia, Bashkiria, Kalmykia and a number of other nationalities use the Cyrillic alphabet.

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

Creators of Cyrillic

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

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

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

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

As noted

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

1. In most cities, the procession takes place on this day, when representatives of the local metropolis of the Russian Orthodox Church, students of Orthodox educational institutions and ordinary parishioners walk along the central streets, as a rule, from one temple to another.
2. Celebrations are held in many libraries. For visitors, exhibitions of rare books are arranged, which are not always seen even in reading rooms.
3. In large bookstores on May 24, writers sometimes appear talking about their works, or literary critics with lectures on the history of the appearance of books.
4. Toward evening in the parks and on the main squares you can see the performance of pop groups (most often folklore) and orchestras from the local philharmonic society.

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

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

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

Who and how to congratulate

On the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture in Russia, it is customary to congratulate everyone who is somehow connected with printing, writing, learning the Russian language, etc. Such people include:

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

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

On the occasion of the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture, gifts are often made. These are, first of all, books, but they are sometimes replaced by a subscription to a magazine, writing sets, stationery, board games (for example, Scrabble, where you need to compose words), and it would be appropriate for believers to present an icon of the creators of the alphabet. To give gifts for this holiday or not - everyone decides for himself, but you can congratulate all the Slavs. After all, even if a person’s professional activity is not related to books and language, every day he still uses the alphabet.