The secret of the Slavic alphabet. Cyril and Methodius: a brief biography, interesting facts from the biography, the creation of the Slavic alphabet

#Kirill #history #Russia #history of Russia #Cyrillic

In May, Russian humanists celebrate the Day of Slavic Literature. On this day we remember the creators of our alphabet, Cyril (before accepting monasticism - Constantine) and Methodius, two brothers from the city of Thessalonica (Thessaloniki). Their father held a high military position. Most scholars consider them to be Greek by ethnicity. In Slavic countries, for example in Russia, they prefer to be considered Slavs.

Constantine (c. 827-869) showed extraordinary talents from infancy. Before he was 5 years old, while studying at the Thessaloniki school, he was able to read the most thoughtful of the church fathers, Gregory the Theologian. Rumors about the boy's talent reached Constantinople, and he was taken to the court of Emperor Michael III, as a fellow student of his son. Under the guidance of the best mentors, including Photius, the future famous patriarch, Constantine studied ancient literature, philosophy, rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy and music. He knew Slavic languages ​​well, as well as Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Arabic. In poor health, imbued with religious enthusiasm and love of science, Constantine was ordained early and became a priest, as well as the patriarch's librarian.

At the insistence of his friends, he taught philosophy. The “philosopher” Cyril (he received this nickname) participated in disputes with the iconoclasts (with the former Patriarch Annius) and in theological disputes with Muslims. Kirill's speeches turned out to be very convincing.

Methodius, the eldest of eight brothers, was in military service and was the ruler of a certain Slavic principality, located either in Thessaly or in that part of Macedonia called Slavinia. Methodius took monastic vows and spent some time with his brother Cyril on Mount Olympus.

In 858, Cyril received a new order from the emperor - to go with Methodius to the pagan Khazars, who asked to send learned men to them. The path to the Khazars lay through Korsun, where the missionaries stopped for a while to study the Hebrew language and discovered the relics of St. Clement of Rome, most of whom they took with them. The Khazar Kagan received them friendly. He was not baptized himself, but allowed anyone who wanted to be baptized. The Kagan threatened with the death penalty those Greeks who would convert to Mohammedanism or Judaism. During that period, the preaching of Cyril and Methodius touched the Slavs living in Khazar territory. In Korsun, as Cyril’s life tells, he met a “Rusyn” and found a gospel and a psalter in Russian, written in “Russian characters.”

Upon returning to Constantinople, Cyril resumed his scientific studies, and Methodius accepted the abbess at the Polychronium Monastery. Around 861, the baptism of the Bulgarian Tsar Boris followed, and then of all Bulgaria.

In 862, the main work of the entire life of the holy brothers began. This year, at the request of the Moravian prince Rostislav, they were sent to Moravia to instruct its population in the truths of the faith in his own Slavic language. Christianity was brought to Moravia and Pannonia by Latin missionaries from southern Germany, who performed services in Latin, which is why the people remained semi-enlightened. Sending the brothers to Moravia, the Byzantine emperor said to Cyril: “I know that you are weak and sick, but besides you there is no one to fulfill what they ask. You are Solunians, and all Solunians speak pure Slavic.” “I am weak and sick, but I am glad to go on foot and barefoot, I am ready to die for the Christian faith,” answered Kirill. “Do the Slavs have an alphabet? - he asked. “Learning without the alphabet and without books is like writing a conversation on water.” It is believed that before leaving for Moravia, Cyril created the Slavic alphabet and, together with Methodius, translated several liturgical books into Slavic.

In Moravia, Cyril and Methodius were met with the hostility of the entire Catholic clergy; but on their side were the people with their prince. They brought with them sacred and liturgical books in the Slavic language, began to teach the people the Slavic speech they understood, built churches, and started schools. Latin priests complained about them to Pope Nicholas I, who demanded them to be tried in Rome. When they arrived there, Nicholas I had already died; his successor Adrian II, having learned that they were carrying with them the relics of St. Clement, met them solemnly outside the city; Cyril presented him with the Gospel and other books in the Slavic language, and the Pope, as a sign of their approval, placed them on the throne in the Church of St. Mary, and then services were performed using these books in several churches in Rome.

The distribution of Slavic worship and Slavic books was allowed to them by a special papal message. In Rome, Kirill became seriously ill and died. Before his death, he told his brother: “You and I, like two oxen, drove the same furrow. I am exhausted, but don’t think about leaving the work of teaching and retiring to your mountain again.”

Methodius, consecrated by the Pope as bishop of Pannonia and equipped with a bull in which worship in the Slavic language was approved, arrived to Kocel, the prince of that part of Moravia that lies beyond the Danube. The Latin priests turned the German emperor against him. By order of the Salzburg archbishop and the cathedral, Methodius was exiled to Swabia, where he remained in captivity, suffering severe torture, for about three years. He was beaten, thrown out into the cold without clothes, and dragged through the streets by force. The vicar of the Salzburg Archbishop Gannon was particularly cruel.

Pope John VIII in 874 insisted on the release of Methodius and elevated him to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia, with the rank of papal legate; but soon he was again put on trial for the fact that he did not believe in the procession of the Holy Spirit “and from the Son” and allegedly did not recognize his hierarchical dependence on the Pope. The pope forbade him from Slavic worship, and in 879 he once again summoned him to Rome, where Methodius was completely acquitted of the accusations brought against him and again received a bull allowing Slavic worship. Then the German clergy convinced Prince Svyatopolk to make as vicar instead of Methodius a certain German Viking priest, who tried to insist on the abolition of Slavic worship, assuring that the papal bull given to Methodius did not allow, but prohibited this service. Methodius anathematized him and complained about him to the Pope, who once again confirmed the right to worship in the Slavic language, under the condition: when reading the Gospel in Slavic, first read it in Latin.

Around 871, Methodius baptized the Czech prince Borivoj and introduced Slavic worship in the Czech Republic. The preaching of his disciples penetrated into Silesia and Poland. Shortly before his death, in 881, Methodius visited Constantinople, at the invitation of Emperor Basil. Comforted and encouraged by the attention of the emperor and patriarch (Photius), Methodius, already elderly and weak, returned to Moravia to complete his great work - translating the sacred books into Slavic. On April 6, 885, he died, leaving as his successor, the Moravian Archbishop, the best of his students, Gorazd, and about 200 Slavic presbyters trained by him.

The main merit of the great enlighteners, especially Cyril, is that Cyril and Methodius compiled the alphabet for the Slavs. This is recognized by everyone, although the linguistic sources that served the brothers to compile the alphabet are named differently. The time and place of compilation of this alphabet, as well as the question of which of the two currently known Slavic alphabets, Glagolitic or Cyrillic, was invented by Cyril, is also a matter of debate.

At the end of Methodius’s life, all the canonical books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were translated into Slavic. This complete translation of the Bible has not survived. But, as you know, “manuscripts don’t burn.” In any case, such a huge work could not pass without a trace for many followers of Cyril and Methodius. In addition to translations, Cyril is credited with the essay “On the Right Faith” and several prayers, Methodius is credited with a translation of Photius’s “Nomocanon” (preserved in a 13th-century manuscript in the Rumyantsev Museum) and “Paterikon” - short lives of saints and eight speeches of his brother, spoken by Khozar in defense of Christianity against Mohammedanism. Moreover, several works are associated with the name of Cyril and Methodius, the authenticity of which is disputed.

Cyril and Methodius are not direct characters in Russian history. They acted in the historical arena at a time when the Russian state was just taking shape. But since the Cyrillic alphabet formed the basis of the Russian alphabet, and the Russian language represents the basic structure of all Russian culture, it was impossible not to mention Cyril and Methodius in this book.

Vladimir Valentinovich Fortunatov
Russian history in faces

Koloskova Kristina

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Cyril and Methodius. The work was completed by a student of grade 4 “a” of the Municipal Educational Institution “Secondary School No. 11” in the city of Kimry, Tver Region, Kristina Koloskova

"And the native Rus' of the Holy Apostles of the Slavs will glorify"

Page I “In the beginning was the word...” Cyril and Methodius Cyril and Methodius, Slavic educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity, the first translators of liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. Cyril (before taking monasticism in 869 - Constantine) (827 - 02/14/869) and his older brother Methodius (815 - 04/06/885) were born in the city of Thessaloniki in the family of a military leader. The boys' mother was Greek, and their father was Bulgarian, so from childhood they had two native languages ​​- Greek and Slavic. The brothers' characters were very similar. Both read a lot and loved to study.

Holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, educators of the Slavs. In 863-866, the brothers were sent to Great Moravia to present Christian teachings in a language understandable to the Slavs. Great teachers translated the books of the Holy Scriptures, using Eastern Bulgarian dialects as the basis, and created a special alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet - for their texts. The activities of Cyril and Methodius had a pan-Slavic significance and influenced the formation of many Slavic literary languages.

Saint Equal to the Apostles Cyril (827 - 869), nicknamed the Philosopher, Slovenian teacher. When Konstantin was 7 years old, he had a prophetic dream: “My father gathered all the beautiful girls of Thessaloniki and ordered one of them to be chosen as his wife. Having examined everyone, Konstantin chose the most beautiful; her name was Sophia (Greek for wisdom).” So, even in childhood, he became engaged to wisdom: for him, knowledge and books became the meaning of his whole life. Constantine received an excellent education at the imperial court in the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople. He quickly studied grammar, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, and knew 22 languages. Interest in science, perseverance in learning, hard work - all this made him one of the most educated people of Byzantium. It is no coincidence that he was nicknamed the Philosopher for his great wisdom. Saint Equal to the Apostles Cyril

Methodius of Moravia Saint Methodius Equal to the Apostles Methodius entered military service early. For 10 years he was the manager of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. Around 852, he took monastic vows, renouncing the rank of archbishop, and became abbot of the monastery. Polychron on the Asian shore of the Sea of ​​Marmara. In Moravia he was imprisoned for two and a half years and dragged through the snow in the bitter cold. The Enlightener did not renounce his service to the Slavs, but in 874 he was released by John VIII and restored to his episcopate rights. Pope John VIII forbade Methodius to perform the Liturgy in the Slavic language, but Methodius, visiting Rome in 880, achieved the lifting of the ban. In 882-884 he lived in Byzantium. In mid-884, Methodius returned to Moravia and worked on translating the Bible into Slavic.

Glagolitic is one of the first (along with Cyrillic) Slavic alphabets. It is assumed that it was the Glagolitic alphabet that was created by the Slavic enlightener St. Konstantin (Kirill) Philosopher for recording church texts in the Slavic language. Glagolitic

The Old Church Slavonic alphabet was compiled by the scientist Cyril and his brother Methodius at the request of the Moravian princes. That's what it's called - Cyrillic. This is the Slavic alphabet, it has 43 letters (19 vowels). Each has its own name, similar to ordinary words: A - az, B - beeches, V - lead, G - verb, D - good, F - live, Z - earth and so on. ABC - the name itself is derived from the names of the first two letters. In Rus', the Cyrillic alphabet became widespread after the adoption of Christianity (988). The Slavic alphabet turned out to be perfectly adapted to accurately convey the sounds of the Old Russian language. This alphabet is the basis of our alphabet. Cyrillic

In 863, the word of God began to sound in Moravian cities and villages in their native Slavic language, writings and secular books were created. Slavic chronicles began. The Soloun brothers devoted their entire lives to teaching, knowledge, and service to the Slavs. They did not attach much importance to wealth, honors, fame, or career. The younger, Konstantin, read a lot, reflected, wrote sermons, and the eldest, Methodius, was more of an organizer. Constantine translated from Greek and Latin into Slavic, wrote, creating the alphabet, in Slavic, Methodius “published” books, led a school of students. Konstantin was not destined to return to his homeland. When they arrived in Rome, he became seriously ill, took monastic vows, received the name Cyril, and died a few hours later. He remained to live with this name in the blessed memory of his descendants. Buried in Rome. The beginning of Slavic chronicles.

The spread of writing in Rus' In Ancient Rus', literacy and books were revered. Historians and archaeologists believe that the total number of handwritten books before the 14th century was approximately 100 thousand copies. After the adoption of Christianity in Rus' - in 988 - writing began to spread faster. The liturgical books were translated into Old Church Slavonic. Russian scribes rewrote these books, adding features of their native language to them. This is how the Old Russian literary language was gradually created, works of Old Russian authors appeared (unfortunately, often nameless) - “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, “The Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh”, “The Life of Alexander Nevsky” and many others.

Yaroslav the Wise Grand Duke Yaroslav “loved books, read them often both night and day. And he gathered many scribes and they translated from Greek into the Slavic language and they wrote many books” (chronicle of 1037) Among these books were chronicles written by monks, old and young, secular people, these were “lives”, historical songs, “teachings” , "messages". Yaroslav the Wise

“They teach the alphabet to the entire hut and shout” (V.I. Dal “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language”) V.I. Dal In Ancient Rus' there were no textbooks yet, education was based on church books, you had to memorize huge texts-psalms - instructive chants. The names of the letters were learned by heart. When learning to read, the letters of the first syllable were first named, then this syllable was pronounced; then the letters of the second syllable were named, and the second syllable was pronounced, and so on, and only after that the syllables were formed into a whole word, for example BOOK: kako, ours, izhe - KNI, verb, az - GA. That's how difficult it was to learn to read and write.

IV page “Revival of the Slavic holiday” Macedonia Ohrid Monument to Cyril and Methodius Already in the 9th – 10th centuries, in the homeland of Cyril and Methodius, the first traditions of glorifying and venerating the creators of Slavic writing began to emerge. But soon the Roman Church began to oppose the Slavic language, calling it barbaric. Despite this, the names of Cyril and Methodius continued to live among the Slavic people, and in the middle of the 14th century they were officially canonized as saints. In Russia it was different. The memory of the Slavic enlighteners was celebrated already in the 11th century; here they were never considered heretics, that is, atheists. But still, only scientists were more interested in this. Wide celebrations of the Slavic word began in Russia in the early 60s of the last century.

On the holiday of Slavic writing on May 24, 1992, the grand opening of the monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius by sculptor Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov took place on Slavyanskaya Square in Moscow. Moscow. Slavyanskaya Square

Kyiv Odessa

Thessaloniki Mukachevo

Chelyabinsk Saratov Monument to Cyril and Methodius was opened on May 23, 2009. Sculptor Alexander Rozhnikov

On the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, near the Far Caves, a monument was erected to the creators of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius.

Monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius The holiday in honor of Cyril and Methodius is a public holiday in Russia (since 1991), Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Republic of Macedonia. In Russia, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia the holiday is celebrated on May 24; in Russia and Bulgaria it is called the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature, in Macedonia - the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia the holiday is celebrated on July 5th.

Thank you for your attention!

More than a hundred years before the baptism of Rus', almost at the same time as the founding of the Russian state, a great thing happened in the history of the Christian church - for the first time the word of God was heard in churches in the Slavic language.

In the city of Thessaloniki (now Thessaloniki), in Macedonia, inhabited mostly by Slavs, lived a noble Greek dignitary named Leo. Of his seven sons, two, Methodius and Constantine (Cyril in monasticism), had the lot to accomplish a great feat for the benefit of the Slavs. The youngest of the brothers, Konstantin, already from childhood amazed everyone with his brilliant abilities and passion for learning. He received a good education at home, and then completed his education in Byzantium under the guidance of the best teachers. Here the passion for science developed in him with full force, and he assimilated all the bookish wisdom available to him... Fame, honors, riches - all sorts of worldly blessings awaited the gifted young man, but he did not succumb to any temptations - he preferred the modest title of priest and the position of librarian to all the temptations of the world at Church of Hagia Sophia, where he could continue his favorite activities - study the sacred books, delve into their spirit. His deep knowledge and abilities earned him the high academic title of philosopher.

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius. Ancient fresco in the Cathedral of St. Sofia, Ohrid (Bulgaria). OK. 1045

His elder brother, Methodius, first took a different path - he entered military service and for several years was the ruler of a region inhabited by Slavs; but worldly life did not satisfy him, and he became a monk at the monastery on Mount Olympus. The brothers did not have to calm down, however, one in peaceful book studies, and the other in a quiet monastic cell. Constantine more than once had to take part in disputes on issues of faith, defending it with the power of his mind and knowledge; then he and his brother, at the request of the king, had to go to the land Khazars, preach the faith of Christ and defend it against Jews and Muslims. Upon returning from there, Methodius baptized Bulgarian Prince Boris and Bulgarians.

Probably, even earlier than this, the brothers decided to translate sacred and liturgical books for the Macedonian Slavs into their language, with which they could have become quite comfortable since childhood, in their native city.

To do this, Konstantin compiled the Slavic alphabet (alphabet) - he took all 24 Greek letters, and since there are more sounds in the Slavic language than in Greek, he added the missing letters from the Armenian, Hebrew and other alphabets; I came up with some myself. All the letters in the first Slavic alphabet totaled 38. More important than the invention of the alphabet was the translation of the most important sacred and liturgical books: translating from such a language rich in words and phrases as Greek into the language of the completely uneducated Macedonian Slavs was a very difficult task. It was necessary to come up with suitable phrases, create new words in order to convey concepts new to the Slavs... All this required not only a thorough knowledge of the language, but also great talent.

The work of translation was not yet completed when, at the request of the Moravian prince Rostislav Constantine and Methodius were to go to Moravia. There and in neighboring Pannonia, Latin (Catholic) preachers from Southern Germany had already begun to spread Christian teaching, but things went very slowly, since the services were performed in Latin, which was completely incomprehensible to the people. Western clergy, subordinate to the Pope, held a strange prejudice: that worship can only be performed in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, because the inscription on the Cross of the Lord was in these three languages; the eastern clergy accepted the word of God in all languages. That is why the Moravian prince, caring about the true enlightenment of his people with the teachings of Christ, turned to the Byzantine emperor Mikhail with a request to send knowledgeable people to Moravia who would teach the people the faith in an understandable language.

The Tale of Bygone Years. Issue 6. Enlightenment of the Slavs. Cyril and Methodius. Video

The emperor entrusted this important matter to Constantine and Methodius. They arrived in Moravia and zealously set to work: they built churches, began to perform divine services in the Slavic language, started and taught searching. Christianity, not only in appearance, but in spirit, began to quickly spread among the people. This aroused strong enmity in the Latin clergy: slander, denunciations, complaints - everything was used in order to destroy the cause of the Slavic apostles. They were even forced to go to Rome to justify themselves to the pope himself. The Pope carefully examined the case, completely acquitted them and blessed their labors. Constantine, exhausted by work and struggle, no longer went to Moravia, but became a monk under the name of Cyril; he soon died (February 14, 868) and was buried in Rome.

All the thoughts, all the concerns of Saint Cyril before his death were about his great work.

“We, brother,” he said to Methodius, “drew the same furrow with you, and now I am falling, ending my days.” You love our native Olympus (monastery) too much, but for its sake, see, do not leave our service - with it you can quickly be saved.

The Pope elevated Methodius to the rank of Bishop of Moravia; but at that time severe unrest and strife began there. Prince Rostislav was expelled by his nephew Svyatopolkom.

The Latin clergy strained all its forces against Methodius; but despite everything - slander, insults and persecution - he continued his holy work, enlightening the Slavs with the faith of Christ in a language and alphabet they understood, with book teaching.

Around 871, he baptized Borivoj, Prince of the Czech Republic, and established Slavic worship here too.

After his death, the Latin clergy managed to oust Slavic worship from the Czech Republic and Moravia. The disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius were expelled from here, fled to Bulgaria and here they continued the holy feat of the first teachers of the Slavs - they translated church and instructive books from Greek, the works of the “church fathers”... The book wealth grew and grew and our ancestors inherited a great heritage.

The creators of the Slavic alphabet are Cyril and Methodius. Bulgarian icon 1848

Church Slavonic writing especially flourished in Bulgaria under the Tsar Simeone, at the beginning of the 10th century: many books were translated, not only necessary for worship, but also the works of various church writers and preachers.

At first, ready-made church books came to us from Bulgaria, and then, when literate people appeared among the Russians, the books began to be copied here, and then translated. Thus, along with Christianity, literacy appeared in Rus'.

The creators of the Slavic alphabet are Methodius and Cyril.

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).

Emperor Michael sent the Greeks to Moravia - the scientist Constantine the Philosopher (he received the name Cyril Constantine 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. Brothers Constantine and Methodius were born in Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki in Greek) into the family of a military leader and received a good education. Cyril studied in Constantinople at the court of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III, knew Greek, Slavic, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic 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 translate the Holy Scriptures into the Slavic language; however, there was no alphabet capable of conveying Slavic speech 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 Thessaloniki (the city was considered half-Greek, half-Slavic). In 863, the Slavic alphabet was created (the Slavic alphabet existed in two versions: the Glagolitic alphabet - from verb - “speech” and the Cyrillic alphabet; until now, scientists 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 Slavic. The Slavs were given the opportunity to read and write in their own language. The Slavs not only acquired their own Slavic alphabet, but also the first Slavic literary language was born, many words of which still live in Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages.

The secret of the Slavic alphabet
The Old Slavic alphabet got its name from the combination of two letters “az” and “buki”, which designated the first letters of the alphabet A and B. An interesting fact is that the Old Slavic alphabet was graffiti, i.e. messages scrawled on the walls. The first Old Slavonic letters appeared on the walls of churches in Pereslavl around the 9th century. And by the 11th century, ancient graffiti appeared in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. It was on these walls that the letters of the alphabet were indicated in several styles, and below was the interpretation of the letter-word.
In 1574, a most important event occurred that contributed to a new round of development of Slavic writing. The first printed “ABC” appeared in Lvov, which was seen by Ivan Fedorov, the man who printed it.

ABC structure
If you look back, you will see that Cyril and Methodius created not just an alphabet, they opened a new path for the Slavic people, leading to the perfection of man on earth and the triumph of a new faith. If you look at historical events, the difference between which is only 125 years, you will understand that in fact the path to establishing Christianity on our land is directly related to the creation of the Slavic alphabet. After all, literally in one century, the Slavic people eradicated archaic cults and adopted a new faith. The connection between the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the adoption of Christianity today does not raise any doubts. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in 863, and already in 988, Prince Vladimir officially announced the introduction of Christianity and the overthrow of primitive cults.

Studying the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first “ABC” is a secret writing that has a deep religious and philosophical meaning, and most importantly, that it is constructed in such a way that it represents a complex logical-mathematical organism. In addition, by comparing many finds, the researchers came to the conclusion that the first Slavic alphabet was created as a complete invention, and not as a creation that was created in parts by adding new letter forms. It is also interesting that most of the letters of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet are number letters. Moreover, if you look at the entire alphabet, you will see that it can be conditionally divided into two parts, which are fundamentally different from each other. In this case, we will conditionally call the first half of the alphabet the “higher” part, and the second “lower”. The highest part includes the letters from A to F, i.e. from “az” to “fert” and is a list of letter-words that carry a meaning understandable to a Slav. The lower part of the alphabet begins with the letter “sha” and ends with “izhitsa”. The letters of the lower part of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet do not have a numerical value, unlike the letters of the higher part, and carry a negative connotation.

In order to understand the secret writing of the Slavic alphabet, it is necessary not just to skim through it, but to read carefully into each letter-word. After all, each letter-word contains a semantic core that Konstantin put into it.

Literal truth, the highest part of the alphabet
Az is the initial letter of the Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun Ya. However, its root meaning is the word “initially”, “begin” or “beginning”, although in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of a pronoun. Nevertheless, in some Old Slavonic letters one can find Az, which meant “one”, for example, “I will go to Vladimir”. Or “starting from scratch” meant “starting from the beginning.” Thus, the Slavs denoted with the beginning of the alphabet the entire philosophical meaning of existence, where without beginning there is no end, without darkness there is no light, and without good there is no evil. At the same time, the main emphasis in this is placed on the duality of the structure of the world. Actually, the alphabet itself is built on the principle of duality, where it is conventionally divided into two parts: higher and lower, positive and negative, the part located at the beginning and the part that is at the end. In addition, do not forget that Az has a numerical value, which is expressed by the number 1. Among the ancient Slavs, the number 1 was the beginning of everything beautiful. Today, studying Slavic numerology, we can say that the Slavs, like other peoples, divided all numbers into even and odd. Moreover, odd numbers were the embodiment of everything positive, good and bright. Even numbers, in turn, represented darkness and evil. Moreover, the unit was considered the beginning of all beginnings and was highly revered by the Slavic tribes. From the point of view of erotic numerology, it is believed that 1 represents the phallic symbol from which procreation begins. This number has several synonyms: 1 is one, 1 is one, 1 is times.

Beeches(Beech) is the second letter-word in the alphabet. It has no digital meaning, but has no less deep philosophical meaning than Az. Buki means “to be”, “will be” was most often used when using phrases in the future form. For example, “boudi” means “let it be,” and “boudous,” as you probably already guessed, means “future, upcoming.” In this word, our ancestors expressed the future as an inevitability, which could be either good and rosy or gloomy and terrible. It is still not known for certain why Constantine did not give a numerical value to Bukam, but many scientists suggest that this is due to the duality of this letter. Indeed, by and large, it denotes the future, which every person imagines for himself in a rosy light, but on the other hand, this word also denotes the inevitability of punishment for committed low deeds.

Lead- an interesting letter of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, which has a numerical value of 2. This letter has several meanings: to know, to know and to own. When Constantine put this meaning into the Vedi, he meant secret knowledge, knowledge as the highest divine gift. If you put Az, Buki and Vedi into one phrase, you will get a phrase that means “I will know!”. Thus, Constantine showed that a person who discovered the alphabet he created would subsequently possess some kind of knowledge. The numerical load of this letter is no less important. After all, 2 - deuce, two, pair were not just numbers among the Slavs, they took an active part in magical rituals and in general were symbols of the duality of everything earthly and heavenly. The number 2 among the Slavs meant the unity of heaven and earth, the duality of human nature, good and evil, etc. In a word, the deuce was a symbol of the confrontation between two sides, heavenly and earthly balance. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Slavs considered two to be a devilish number and attributed a lot of negative properties to it, believing that it was two that opened the numerical series of negative numbers that bring death to a person. That is why the birth of twins in Old Slavonic families was considered a bad sign, which brought illness and misfortune to the family. In addition, the Slavs considered it a bad sign for two people to rock a cradle, for two people to dry themselves with the same towel, and generally to perform any action together. Despite such a negative attitude towards the number 2, the Slavs recognized its magical power. For example, many exorcism rituals were performed using two identical objects or with the participation of twins.

Having examined the highest part of the alphabet, we can state the fact that it is Constantine’s secret message to his descendants. “Where is this visible?” - you ask. Now try to read all the letters, knowing their true meaning. If you take several subsequent letters, then edifying phrases are formed:
Vedi + Verb means “know the teaching”;
Rtsy + Word + Firmly can be understood as the phrase “speak the true word”;
Firmly + Oak can be interpreted as “strengthen the law.”
If you look closely at other letters, you can also find the secret writing that Constantine the Philosopher left behind.
Have you ever wondered why the letters in the alphabet are in this particular order and not in any other? The order of the “highest” part of the Cyrillic letters can be considered from two positions.
Firstly, the fact that each letter-word forms a meaningful phrase with the next one may mean a non-random pattern that was invented to quickly memorize the alphabet.
Secondly, the Old Church Slavonic alphabet can be considered from the point of view of numbering. That is, each letter also represents a number. Moreover, all letter-numbers are arranged in ascending order. So, the letter A - “az” corresponds to one, B - 2, D - 3, D - 4, E - 5, and so on up to ten. Tens begin with the letter K, which are listed here similarly to units: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, 80 and 100.

In addition, many scientists have noticed that the outlines of the letters of the “higher” part of the alphabet are graphically simple, beautiful and convenient. They were perfect for cursive writing, and a person did not experience any difficulties in depicting these letters. And many philosophers see in the numerical arrangement of the alphabet the principle of the triad and spiritual harmony that a person achieves, striving for good, light and truth.
Having studied the alphabet from the very beginning, we can come to the conclusion that Constantine left his descendants the main value - a creation that encourages us to strive for self-improvement, learning, wisdom and love, remembering the dark paths of anger, envy and enmity.

Now, revealing the alphabet, you will know that the creation that was born thanks to the efforts of Constantine the Philosopher is not just a list of letters with which words begin that express our fear and indignation, love and tenderness, respect and delight.

The question that still torments modern philological researchers is this: what alphabet did the brothers invent - Glagolitic or Cyrillic?

Both the Glagolitic alphabet and the Cyrillic alphabet are two alphabets with which the monuments of the Slavic language that have reached us were written.

Both Glagolitic and Cyrillic are two alphabets of the Slavic language

Nowadays we don’t use the Glagolitic alphabet at all: in the eyes of modern people, it is a set of letters that are incomprehensible in design. Cyrillic is much more familiar to us: this alphabet is the basis of modern Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian and Bulgarian languages. There is an opinion that it originated on the territory of the first Bulgarian state as a kind of compromise between the Bulgarian clergy and nobility, who insisted on conducting services in the language of the local flock, and the dogmatic Greek clergy, who asserted the monopoly position of the Greek language.

However, let us return to the question that haunts modern philology.

The logic and consonance of the words will incline you to the opinion that the Cyrillic alphabet is, without a doubt, the alphabet that was invented by Kirill. However, the Old Church Slavonic sources that have reached us do not provide unambiguous information: they date back to the tenth century, in which both the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabet already existed. Accordingly, it is impossible to establish which alphabet appeared first and which of them was invented by the younger brother of Thessaloniki (both Cyril and Methodius were natives of Thessaloniki). Therefore, this question still remains open.

A little history...

Cyril and Methodius traveled to Great Moravia from the Byzantine capital after the Moravian prince Rostislav came to Constantinople with an unusual request. The Christian principality under his control on the Middle Danube was subordinate to a bishop in the German town of Passau, but Rostislav wanted to have his own bishop and people preaching not in Latin, but in a language understandable to local residents. In order to avoid possible conflicts with the Germans, the emperor and patriarch of Byzantium sent not a new bishop to Moravia, but the already well-known educators Cyril and Methodius with the words: “You are Thessalonians, and all Thessalonians speak pure Slavic.”

Both brothers had unique strengths: Methodius, for example, before being tonsured was the governor of one of the Byzantine provinces, which developed in him the talent of an organizer and a person versed in the laws. Cyril, in turn, was an experienced polemicist on religious issues: he took part in Byzantine embassies to the Arab Caliphate, and went to the Lower Volga to the Khazars.

Also, the younger Thessalonian was distinguished by his exceptional ability for languages: he knew Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac, and was interested in comparative grammar. It was Kirill who said about the need to create a new alphabet: “Who can write a conversation on water and not be branded a heretic?” - I mean that the inhabitants of Moravia did not have their own alphabet.

Before becoming a monk, Methodius was the governor of one of the Byzantine provinces

During the three and a half years of their stay in Moravia, the brothers translated all the texts for worship from Greek, and also taught several dozen people new literacy. Their work was not without difficulties: the Latin clergy, represented by the Germans, strongly opposed any translations, insisting that texts could only be studied in one of the three “sacred” languages ​​- Hebrew/Latin/Greek, while in the languages ​​of the local flock they can only be subject to explanation. Cyril and Methodius, accused of heresy, were summoned by Pope Nicholas I, but he died before their arrival. His successor, Andrian II, greeted the “Slavic apostles” cordially: he allowed services in the Slavic language in some Roman churches, and the disciples of Cyril and Methodius with his consent were able to become priests.

Together, Cyril and Methodius translated almost the entire Bible and translated the Nomocanon, a collection of teachings for the main holidays of the church. They also compiled the first legal monument in the Slavic language - “The Law of Judgment for People.”

On his deathbed, February 14, 869, Cyril said to his brother Methodius: “You and I, like two oxen, plowed the same furrow. I am exhausted, but don’t think about leaving the work of teaching and retiring to your mountain again.” Methodius heeded his instructions and continued to educate his students, engage in literary work and translations along with the post of archbishop, to which he was soon appointed.

“Life is given to man so that it serves him, and not he serves it,” one of the brothers once said. But they really succeeded.