The Newsletter Special Edition No.2 is dedicated to the 1150 years of the Moravian Mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius and 1150 years of the official declaration of Christianity as state religion
in Bulgaria by Tsar Boris I and imposition of official policy of literacy due to the emergence of
the fourth sacral language in Europe.
We are proudly presenting:
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SS. CIRYL AND METHODIUS AND THE BULGARIAN ALPHABET
By rescuing the creation of Cyril and Methodius, Bulgaria has earned the admiration and respect of not only the Slav peoples but of all other peoples in the world and these attitudes will not cease till mankind keeps implying real meaning in notions like progress, culture and humanity. Bulgaria has not only saved the great creation of Cyril and Methodius from complete obliteration but within its territories it also developed, enriched and perfected this priceless heritage (...) Bulgaria became a living hearth of vigorous cultural activity while, back then, many other people were enslaved by ignorance and obscurity (…) Тhe language of this first hayday of Slavonic literature and culture was not other but Old Bulgarian. This language survived all attempts by foreign invaders for eradication thanks to the firmness of the Bulgarian people, to its determination to preserve what is Bulgarian, especially the Bulgarian language which has often been endangered but has never been subjugated…
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-Prof. Roger Bernard, French Slavist
Those who think of Bulgaria as a kind of a new state (…), those who have heard of the Balkans only as the “powder keg of Europe”, those cannot remember that Bulgaria was once a powerful kingdom and an active player in the big politics of medieval Europe. Such lack of historical awareness deprives the superficial western observer from the idea of what Bulgaria is, what its deep spiritual structures are. But what fate has deprived Bulgaria of in political terms, it has generously compensated for, culturally. The whole of the Orthodox world lived a couple of centuries on the cultural heritage created to a great extent in Bulgaria, by the Bulgarians…
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-Prof. Sante Graciotti: Italian Slavist
The flesh of the Bulgarian state was conceived by khan Asparuh, its cultural spirit was created by Cyril and Methodius. The foreign invaders could not defeat this realm of culture and spirit because language, literacy and literature stood as guards for the Bulgarian people…
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-Acad. Dmitry Likhachev, Russian Scholar
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onstantine, the youngest child of Byzantine official Leo, was born in Thessaloniki in 827. According to the legendary Old
Bulgarian writing “Assumption of Cyril” (12th c.) Maria, the mother of Constantine and Methodius, descends from the aristocratic circles of the Bulgarian Slavs from the territory of the Byzantine Empire 6th– 7th c. His extraordinary intellectual talents were apparent from an early age and he was sent to study at the famous Magnaura in Constantinople. The young scholar gained fame for his brilliant erudition, but declined the offers for state service. Instead, he became the chartophylax (“the keeper of the sacred books”) in the Patriarchal Cathedral of “St.Sophia” and taught at Magnaura. The Byzantine state officials used the talented theologian and philologist in their diplomatic missions to the Arabs and Khazars.
In 851 Constantine joined his brother Methodius into a monastery and devoted his time and efforts to the creation of the Slavonic alphabet and literary language. In 855 he completed his work on the Glagolitic alphabet on the basis of the Bulgarian dialect of Thessalonica, which had probably been his mother tongue. It is a southeastern Bulgarian Rup dialect which shares the most significant features of the Bulgarian language. With the help of their disciples,
Constantine and Methodius started active translation of the Christian texts into Old Church Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) language.In 863 the Byzantine Empire sent the brothers to Great Moravia.
C ethodius, the elder of the Holy brothers, was born circa 815. Like their father Leo, Methodius started his military career at
an early age. Being an aristocrat of aBulgarian-Slav origin, he served as governor of a Slavic principality within the Byzantine Empire. In some literary records it is said that he had a family. He retired from public life due to political reasons and became a monk. Later he was appointed Father Superior of the Polychronos Monastery in Asia Minor and was offered the position of metropolitan bishop, but he decided to devote his life to the enlightenment of the Slavs. It is in his monastic community that Methodius was able to create working conditions for his brother Constantine to develop the Slavonic languages and alphabet norms. He himself was actively involved in the design of letters and the translation of the liturgical books during the mission to Great Moravia and to the very end of his turbulent life.
When Constantine – Cyril was on his deathbed he told his brother: “Behold, my brother, we have shared the same destiny, ploughing the same furrow; I now fall in the field at the end of my day. I know that you greatly love your holy Mountain; but do not for the sake of it give up your work of enlightenment…”
By a papal bull Methodius was ordained Bishop of the Middle Danube and Pannonia. Most certainly he maintained contact with Knyaz Boris – Mikhail and the Bulgarian Church. Historical evidence show the old city of Syrmium/Srem was (today Srem, Serbia) within Bulgarian lands in 9th – 11th c., adjacent to the territories of his eparchy. Likewise in this connection the lead seal of Archbishop Georgy, the second most important religious figure in Bulgaria at that time, was found in the belongings of the Slavic Prince Kocel of Great Moravia.
The German clergy sued Methodius in court and sent him in exile for three years. He was freed only after the interference of Pope John VIII who ordained him archbishop of Moravia in 873. Secret manipulations did not cease and in 879 Methodius left for Rome where he defeated his opponents once more. The progress on his mission was hindered by the compromises the new ruler of Moravia – Prince Svatopluk (870-894) arranged with the German clergy. Nevertheless, Methodius carried on translating and creating original sermons and songs till his death (April 6th, 885). It is believed that he was buried in the medieval town of Mikulcice, an archeological preserve under the auspices of UNESCO in Czech Republic.
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KNYAZ BORIS MIKHAIL THE BAPTIST
uring t he 9th c. Bulgaria established itself as one of the three great powers in Europe, becoming a dangerous rival and a desirable partner for both the Byzantine and Frank Empires. Bulgarian choice to join the Christian civilization was a well thought out decision of the sage Bulgarian statesman Boris I (r. 852–889, d. 2 May 907).
Although Bulgarian lands were among the first to be hospitable to Christianity in Europe, in mid-9th c. Bulgaria was still the biggest pagan empire on the Old Continent. Tsar Boris I realized that the new religion could unite his people with its common moral values and would affiliate the newly formed nation to the Christian civilization. And it is a fact that Christian faith was the one that shaped the culture and mentality of the Bulgarians. It is the Christian faith again that became the leading force through times of greatness and dark challenges.
Due to political concerns Bulgaria converted to Christianity according to the eastern rites of the Byzantine Empire (864). Some of the boyars attempted an up-rising against “the bad law”. The rebellion was smashed uncompromisingly by Knyaz Boris-Mikhail.
All Christian sermons were delivered in Greek by Byzantine clergy and thus remained incomprehensible for the majority of the Bulgarians. As a ruler of a powerful state Boris I, whose Christian given name was Mikhail, aimed at constituting an independent Bulgarian Church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate procrastinated in answering his petition. Boris I solved the problem radically, starting negotiations with the Pope in Rome. Finally, using deftly the rivalry between the two Churches, on March 4th, 870 Bulgaria was given the right of independent archbishop and clergy. And soon after, opening the country to the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarians gained an alphabet and liturgical books written in Old Bulgarian language
In 889 Boris I – already an old prince retired to a monastery. (The title prince, “knyaz” or “kniaz” in Bulgarian, means a leader in war and peace. It existed in Old Bulgarian language before the time of Boris I. In the Nominalia of the Bulgarian Khans, Asparuh and his predecessors were listed bearing exactly this title. Knyaz is also mentioned in Old Bulgarian testimonials, written down with Greek letters.)
In 893 Tsar Boris I was brought out of retirement by the pagan demonstrations of his son Vladimir whose reign endangered the positions of the Christian faith in Bulgaria. Boris dethroned him and punished him with blinding. By the decision of the People’s Council of Preslav Old Bulgarian language became official for state matters and liturgy. The act of moving the capital from the city of pagan Pliska to Great Preslav made the process irreversible.
Boris I went back to his monastery and died there on May 2nd, 907. He was later canonized as a saint and his memory has been kept in reverence by the Bulgarian people for eleventh centuries now as the “Saint Tsar” who led his people out of the darkness of pagan wrong ways and gave them true faith and Enlightenment.
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TSAR SIMEON THE GREAThe reign of Simeon the Great (893 – 927) marked Bulgaria’s zenith in the Middle Ages. Tsar Boris' third son – Simeon achieved political and military hegemony over Southeastern Europe and prompted a cultural growth of unseen rate and scope. Simeon received extremely fine education at the famous Magnaura in Constantinople and
was known in the West and in the East as a brilliant expert in ancient philosophy, rhetoric and history. He was called “half-Greek” which back then meant he was equaled to the ancient philosophers.
As he was meant to follow a career in the Church, Simeon took the monastic vows and after 886 he returned to the capital of Pliska and participated in the cultural and educational reforms along with Naum, Clement and the other leading figures of the young Bulgarian Christian culture. The political circumstances surprisingly led the young prince to the throne in 893. The educated ruler who was first-hand familiar with the ideology of the Byzantine ecumenicalism not only dared question the ambitions of the Byzantine Empire, but he promoted the idea of the Bulgarians’ rights over the crown of the Roman (Christian) Empire.
Tsar Simeon’s reign marked the Golden Age of the Bulgarian culture. The combination of a well-educated ruler, a patron for the arts and literature and an active figure of the culture elite was a rare phenomenon in the Middle Ages. For his love of letters Simeon was compared by his contemporaries to historical figures like the biblical King David and the Egyptian Ptolemy. Tsar Simeon’s intellectual circle included Clement, Naum, Chernorizets Hrabar, Constantine of Preslav, John the Exarch and other authors whose work crossed the borders of Bulgaria and turned into spiritual and cultural legacy for the Orthodox Slav people.
A new Ptolemy as he presented himself to them,But not in faith, in desire mostly And due to his collection of all Divine and most precious books
With which his palaces he’d filled He earned himself Eternal memory…”
The most significant historical consequence from Simeon’s reign was the establishment of a civilization of eternal values. The original and translated literary works, created at those times in Bulgaria, were copied for centuries ahead in Russia, Serbia and other countries and the influence of the Old Bulgarian language and culture had momentous effect onto the development of their national cultures. In this regard, Old Bulgarian language was once called the "Latin Eastern Europe".
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-From “An Eulogy to Tsar Simeon”
onstantine Cyril the Philosopher, with the help of his brother Methodius, created a writing system which allowed the adequate transcription of the phonetic characteristics of the Bulgarian dialect of Thessalonica. This graphic system is known
today as the Glagolitic alphabet. In the period of 9th - 11th c. the Glagolitic alphabet was in wide use all over the Bulgarian territories and then was exported to Serbia and Russia. Some of the preserved Glagolitic manuscripts are Codex Zographensis, Codex Marianus, Rila Glagolitic folia, the Sinaitic Glagolitic Sacramentary (Euchologium) fragments and Asseman Gospel.The Glagolitic alphabet was the first Slavic alphabet, which most accurately and fully reflects the Old Bulgarian language. Later, the Old Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet was created and used for the first time in Bulgaria in the end of the 9th c. or the beginning of the 10th c. For two centuries the two alphabets existed concurrently.
ALPHABETS AND OLD BULGARIAN LANGUAGE
upported by the rulers Boris I and Simeon the Great – the Cyrillic and the Old Bulgarian were
implemented as the official language of the Bulgarian Church and State in the end of 9th c.The emergence of the Cyrillic alphabet was a direct result from the use of the Greek uncial script in the Bulgarian state administration in the period of 7th-9th c. Letters for the typical Bulgarian phonemes (“б”, “ж”, “ч”, “ш” ) were added to the 24 Greek letters under the influence of the Glagolitic alphabet. The earliest known Cyrillic inscript in Bulgarian lands dates back to 921 or 922.
The Cyrillic, was based on the principles devised by the talented philologist Constantine Cyril the Philosopher, but the main achievement of his work was the Old Bulgarian literary language. In the famous An Account of Letters Chernorizets
Hrabar wrote: “Should you approach a Greek student and ask him who created your letters or translated your books and when, very few of them will know. However, if you approach even the youngest Slav pupil and ask him, “Who has created your alphabet and translated your books,” all of them know and the answer they will give you is: “St. Constantine the Philosopher, called Cyril: he created our alphabet and translated our books, along with his brother Methodius…” After their mission to Central Europe, the work of Cyril and Methodius returned to its natural environment – Bulgaria.
Thanks to Bulgaria the Old Bulgarian language and literature later came to use to other Slav people. Today the Cyrillic alphabet is used in Bulgaria, its kindred Macedonia, also in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, even in Mongolia.
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FIRST BULGARIAN INFLUENCE
he establishment of the Bulgarian Christian civilization in 9th - 10th c. gave foundation for expansion of the Orthodox – Byzantine community in Europe.
In the period of 9th -10th c. this process included Bulgaria, Serbia, Old Russia (what is today Russia, Ukraine, Belarus) and in the 13th – 15th c., Lithuania. In the 14th c. this Orthodox community was joined by the principalities of Walachia and Moldova which used the Old Bulgarian language till 18th c. For hundreds of years the Old Bulgarian language and alphabet had been the third ‘classical language” in Europe along with Latin and Greek.
The concepts of First and Second South-Slavic Influence gained popularity in Russian historical studies and the world Slavic Studies in the 19th c. Facts prove that the influence in question was Bulgarian, considering the earlier and more fundamental inclusion of Bulgarians in the cradle of Christian civilization. The First Influence (10th - 11th c.) was performed by means of exporting Bulgarian books to Kiev, and by influence of outstanding Bulgarians scholars and translators. According to Joachim’s Chronicles: “Simeon, Tsar of the Bulgarians sent a lot of educated clergy and books. And Vladimir sent delegates to the Emperor and Patriarch in Constantinople pleading for a metropolitan. They were very much joyful and sent Michael for a metropolitan, a very well-educated and pious man who was Bulgarian and together with him – four bishops and a lot priests, deacons and Slavonic acolytes... They toured these lands, preached to Vladimir’s lords and soldiers, educated the people and converted to Christianity hundreds and thousands everywhere…”
Despite the anachronisms, this tale depicts the role of the Bulgarians in the Christianization of Kievan Rus’ (988). Although at the same time Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire were each other’s most fierce rivals, the Empire sent Bulgarian clergy to Kiev because of the similarity in languages and the fact that it was Bulgaria which preserved the work of Cyril and Methodius. Some of the books sent as gifts to the Knyaz in Kiev were from the library of Tsar Simeon the Great. In 971, during the Byzantine occupation of the Bulgarian capital of Preslav the precious books were taken away. The Bulgarian heritage was adopted and developed by the Russian men of letters. Russian scholar acad. Dmitry Likhachev wrote: “The Russian literary language emerged mainly on the basis of the Old Bulgarian language.”
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CHERNORIZETS HRABARerhaps the most mystical person of Bulgarian medieval history is the author of the remarkable text “An Account of Letters” – a brilliant apology of the life work of the apostles Cyril and Methodius. The intelligence of that Old Bulgarian writer showed him as a person of high erudition and bright polemical passion. He was a fervent defender
of letters and refuted the Three Sacred Languages dogma according to which the name of Christ could only be glorified in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. His motivation was that Constantine - Cyril the Philosopher had created letters under God’s guidance with the purpose of singing glory to His name. Chernorizets Hrabar outlined the enormity of Cyril’s life work with the words “God gave understanding to the Slavs” bringing Bulgarians and other Slavonic people out of darkness and into the light, out of the ways of ignorance and into the path of truth.
Chernorizets Hrabar was part of that elitist circle of intellectuals and scholars who in the end of 9th c. engaged with restricting and overcoming the Byzantine influence in Bulgaria. They gave independence to Old Bulgarian education and culture. Some researches see Hrabar as the nickname of Simeon the Great who in his early years was a Black Robe Wearer (monk). According to others the pseudonym must have belonged to Kliment of Ohrid, or to Naum, or to John the Exarch… There is also an opinion that in fact the author was anonymous and his work was dedicated to the alphabet of Constantine - Cyril the Philosopher under the title of “An Account of the Letters of the brave (hrabar) black robe wearer”.
Contemporary researchers are united by the statement that Chernorizets Hrabar (Hrabar is a name you can find in Bulgarian Medieval records) is an Old Bulgarian scholar from the so called Simeon’s circle. Unfortunately, only one of his works is preserved, most probably a part from a bigger body of texts. Still these hundred lines are the best ones of Old Bulgarian prose and show us a writer of great talent.
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-An Account of Letters by Chernorizets Hrabar (copy of 14th c.)
he new wave of Bulgarian cultural influence was sensed most strongly in the last decades of the 14th c., the time of the Ottoman invasion and the
decline of the medieval Bulgarian statehood. The most outstanding figures of the time were St. Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow (1376 – 1406), Gregory Tsamblak, Metropolitan of Kiev and Lithuania (1406 – 1420) and a number of other Bulgarian cultural and spiritual leaders. The Russian Church, literature and Orthodox music have their deep roots inthe heritage of medieval Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian influence made strong impact in Wallachia and Moldova which were parts of the Bulgarian territories for centuries. The two principalities, which took their own course of development in the following century, adhered to the Bulgarian cultural traditions.
Eminent figures like St. Nikodemos of Tisman, Gregory Tsamblak, the Metropolitans Damian and Teoctist left lasting traces in the culture and spirituality of the present day Romanian people. The most outstanding representatives of the Bulgarian spiritual influence in Serbia were St. Patriarch Jefrem, St. Romil of Vidin, Gregory Tsamblak, Constantine of Kostenets, Vladislav Grammaticus, Dimitar Kantakuzin. Thus the tendency emerged towards the stablishment of more or less common Balkan spiritual space of the Slav people
under Ottoman yoke. Cyprian in Russia, Jefrem in Serbia, Nikodemos of Tisman in Wallachia are regarded as national saints. Gregory Tsamblak, chased away from Veliko Tarnovo by the Ottoman Turks, was an unique spiritual leader, possessing the rare characteristics of being a representative of several national literary traditions –Bulgarian, Serbian, Moldavian, Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Byzantine.
The Italian Slavist Prof. Sante Graciotti wrote: “For a second time Bulgaria stirred up a powerful spiritual process of international significance. The monks seeking refugee from the Ottoman invasion brought cultural message to Kiev and Moscow. This was a symbol! – by its political death Bulgaria continued living in Europe by means of the culture it had created.”
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SECOND BULGARIAN INFLUENCE
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-Alphabetical Prayer of Constantin of Preslav (9th c.)
-Codex Assemanianus (10-11th c.)
-Enina apostolus (11th c.)
-East Slavonic Copy of Tsar Simeon's Florilegium (11th c.)
-Colophon of Tudor Doksov. Homiles against Arianism by Athanasius of Alexandria (9th c.)
S.S. Cyril and Methodius were canonized by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the end of the 9th c., when the first writings in their praise were created in Bulgaria. Initially, the Church celebrated their memory on the day of their assumption – St. Cyril on February 14th and St. Methodius on April 6th. Later, as they were commemorated as the Holy brothers, their grateful followers paid respect to the saints on April 6th. Since April 6th falls within the Great Lent, the Bulgarian Church choses May 11th to celebrate the memory and the work of Cyril and Methodius. This day is also related to the memory of Emperor Constantine the Great - Saint and Equal to the Apostles, and to city of the New Rome – Constantinople he built. It is hardly a coincidence that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church choses May 11th as a patron day of the other Constantine – the equal to the apostles St. Cyril and his brother – the equal to the apostles St. Methodius. Consequently SS. Cyril and Methodius became flagman figures for the Slavonic idea in the Czech Republic and nowadays in Slovakia. In Bulgaria the cult to the Holy Brothers gained incredible popularity, since the first decades of the 19th c., with regard to the struggles for
independent Bulgarian Church and the onset of ideas of the New Bulgarian Enlightenment during the National Revival. The Holy Brothers were declared “Equal to the Apostles and Patrons of Europe” by the Rome-catholic church. They are especially revered in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia. The Orthodox Church commemorates SS. Cyril and Methodius on May 11th, and the laity celebrates on May 24th. The cult to the Seven Saints originated in Ohrid in the 11th c. and was authorized by the Archbishop of Ohrid for the whole of Bulgaria. After the restoration of the Bulgarian Kingdom in 1186, the Seven Saints were worshipped nationwide by the Bulgarian people and the cult was adopted by the Patriarchate in Veliko Tarnovo. In the Middle Ages the Seven Saints were commemorated on March 27th. Today the Church pays tribute to their memory on July 27th.
The everlasting disputes on the ethnic origin of Cyril and Methodius are highly emotionally charged. In Middle Ages the Holy brothers werepraised and worshipped as “Bulgarian educators”. Authors from that time related their mission mostly, often entirely with Bulgaria and the Bulgarians. Those were the prominent Archbishop Theophylact of Ohrid (11th – 12th c.), Demetrius Chomatenus (first half of 13th c.) and other authors who were Romans by origin and wrote in Greek language. The Holy Brothers – Cyril and Methodius were born in Thessaloniki – the second important political and cultural center of Byzantine Empire. Vita Methodius reads that both their mother and father came from “very good and decent families, for long blessed by God and favorite to the king…” Politically the brothers were Romans (Byzantine subjects) but what were they by blood and tongue? The medieval sources claim that as Thessalonians they
spoke pure Slavonic. As long as abstract Slavonic did not exist, the language they spoke must have been Old Bulgarian.“Slavs i.e. Bulgarians”, wrote Theophylact of Ohrid. There were great numbers of Bulgarian Slavs and Kuberian Bulgarians in the region of Thessaloniki at that time. At the time it was more than usual for eminent figures of Bulgarian-Slavic origin to enter the Byzantine elite like Patriarch Nicetas I (mid-8th c.), the rebel Thomas the Slav, the wealthy archontesse Danilida, the influential families Glava, Vrana, Radini and Boyla etc. The Byzantine Empire had always had pragmatic policy of sending diplomats and missioners to countries of same ethnic population. The mission of Constantine-Cyril and Methodius complied with these practices. Constantine and Methodius followed the example of St. Apostle Paul. Above all they believed firmly in the power of the Christian idea and their conscious intention was to work for the salvation of the Slavic people, as written in the medieval sources, they were related to Bulgaria by blood. “It was Bulgaria they craved for and thought and hoped Bulgaria would be ready to give them peace…” These strong words reflect the legacy to their disciples and the coming generations.
THE CULT TO SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS AND THEIR DISCIPLES
The Holy Brothers – Symbols of the Bulgarian Idea
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Patrons of EuropeI declare Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius heavenly
Co-Patrons of all of Europe before God. Peace to all people of good will!
-Pope John Paul II (1980) Apostolic Letter
yril and Methodius brought to Great Moravia the cultural heritage of the Classical Antiquity, accumulated in the Byzantine Empire and in Bul-garian lands. Archbishop Methodius strived for the establishment of a
lawful state. Stone churches and schools for the clergy and scribes were built among the swamps and woods of Central Europe. The Mission to Great Moravia ended in persecution..., but the work of Cyril and Methodius was not sentenced to oblivion. It was rescued by the Bulgarians and their ruler Boris – Mikhail the Baptist. Ac-cording to Prof. Dimitri Obolensky, world famous scholar:
The mission of Cyril and Methodius suffered a collapse in Moravia and was rescued by the Bulgarian people. By providing shelter for their disciples, the Bulgarians managed to secure further development of this heritage and later transmit its spiritual and cultural products to the other Slav people in Southeastern and Eastern Europe. It is namely in Bulgaria where the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius received greater support and was preserved for the use of the Slavs in Europe.
Back then the crucial role of Bulgaria was widely known and the alphabet and the language were seen as Bulgarian contribution to the world cul-ture. An Arabian author from the 10th c. wrote: “…The Bulgarians have books of their own, they have translated the Gospel into Slavic language…”
Today, the patron day of SS. Cyril and Methodius May 11th/24th is the brightest expression of the Bulgarians’ national identity and reverence for educa-tion and culture. The Holy Brothers have been acknowledged in the whole of the Christendom and their May 24th is celebrated in Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia etc.
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Without any doubt the legacy of SS.Cyril & Methodius has a civilizational impact. By disapproving the three-language dogma according to which only Latin, Greek and Hebrew were considered sacred languages, they have created the “Fourth Path of literacy” for many
nations, and by that, they have enriched the entire human civilization. In honor of this heritage Dr. Milen Vrabevski and his Bulgarian Memory Foundation
organized an exhibition dedicated to the 1150 years of the Moravian Mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius and the creation of the Old Bulgarian
language and alphabet.
Click Here To Find Out MoreThe exhibition traces the Cyril and Methodius deed from the Moravian mission and the arrival of the students and followers of the Holy Brothers in Bulgaria to the Golden Age of Bulgarian
culture. Special attention in the exposition is paid to the large-scale cultural activities in the educational centers of medieval Bulgaria - Pliska, Preslav and Ohrid, under the auspices of
the Bulgarian royal court in the person of Boris-Mihail I the Baptizer, Simeon I the Great and Peter I the Bulgarian.
In the spirit of the Cyril and Methodius deed, today we also have a reason to recall the importance and permanence of our literary heritage to the history of
European civilization of knowledge, prosperity and spirituality. I sincerely hope that we will educate the younger generation to worship the word, to be proud of their native Cyrillic al-
phabet and to be excited by the memory of the Golden Age of Bulgaria, cradle of the idea of literature, created in a native language.
With the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007, the Cyrillic alphabet becomes the third official alphabet of the European family, after the Latin
and the Greek alphabets, and thus, for the second time, Bulgaria gives official status of the Bulgarian alphabet - the Cyrillic in Europe. In this way
Bulgaria gives impetus to the cultural dialogue, integration and the creation of a shared cul-tural tradition and identity that educates the spirit of the
European future.
Civilization Legacy~Page IX~
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-Dr. Milen Vrabevski
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