“St. St. Cyril and Methodius” also known as the Solun’s brothers are Methodius and Konstantin philosopher , creators and distributors of the first slavic alphabet the Glagolitic alphabet or just Glagolitsa. They are canonized as saints for the transliteration and popularization of the holy bible on Old Church Slavonic.
Methodius and Constantine philosopher were born in Sоlun (known as Thessaloniki), the Byzantian empire during the XIX century, at family of nine persons in the family of brass hat military superintendant Luv and his wife Maria. Methodius is the bigger one, he was born during the 810 year, Konstantin was born in 827 and almost at the end of his life he gets the name Cyril. Their father dies too early and they pass under the guardianship of their uncle Teoktisto, who’s a highly placed official at the Empire. During the year 843, Cyril arrives at Constantinople and starts his studies at the prestige University of the palace hall of Magnaura. For Methodius, Teoktisto has found another service as governor of administrative area, populated almost with Slavs from the bulgarian group.
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Sveti Ivan Rilski ( 876 - 946) is the first Bulgarian hermit and the founder of the grandest monastery in Bulgaria. He was born in the village of Skrino (near the town of Doupnitsa) and until the age of 25 he was a herd keeper. Then he took the monastic vows, but did not stay long in the cloister; in fact, he became devoted to living in complete seclusion, prayers, fasting and privation.
Continue reading Sveti Ivan Rilski / Saint John of Rila
Today we have evidence of the names of only five of the personal disciples of
Cyril and Methodius. These are
Clement Ohridski /of Ohrid/, Naoum, Angelarius, Gorazd and Sava.
Continue reading Cyril and Methodius and their Five Disciples - the Seven Saints
The creator of the
Slavic alphabet and the first translator of liturgical books from Greek into Old-Bulgarian was Constantine, the Philosopher, better known by his name in religion,
Cyril, adopted on his death bed. Constantine-Cyril was born in Salonika (now Thessaloniki in Greece). In 863 he and his brother
Methodius were sent by the Byzantine emperor Michael III to convert the Western Slavs to Christianity and arrange that the divine service in Greater Moravia is performed in their native tongue. This was done at the request of Rostislav, the prince of Greater Moravia, whose possessions comprised the lands of now the Czech Republic, Slovakia, part of Slovenia and part of Hungary, at that time inhabited by Slav population.
Continue reading Cyril and Methodius the Apostles of the Slavs
The Christianization of Bulgaria is the process of converting 9th-century medieval Bulgaria to Christianity. Prior to the Christianization, the First Bulgarian Empire was one of the last remaining pagan states of Europe. When Khan Boris began his reign in 852, the international situation was very complicated. The conflict with the Byzantine Empire for the rulership over the Slavic tribes in modern-day Macedonia and Thrace was still far from being resolved. In the middle Danube region, Bulgaria’s interests crossed with those of the newly created kingdom of the East Franks and the principality of Great Moravia. It was about that period when Croatia emerged on the international scene, carrying its own ambitions and demands for territories in the region.
On a more global scale, the tensions between Constantinople and Rome were tightening. Both centres were competing for the christianization that would precede the integration of the Slavs in South and Central Europe. The Bulgarian Khanate and the Kingdom of the East Franks had established diplomatical relations as soon as the 20s and 30s of the 9th century. In 852, at the beginning of the reign of Khan Boris, a Bulgarian embassy was sent to Mainz to inform Louis II for the change in Pliska, the Bulgarian capital. Most probably this embassy was also to renew the Bulgarian-German alliance.
Continue reading The Christianization of Bulgaria part I
