Cyril, Methodius, and the alphabet

Saints Cyril (Constantine the Philosopher) and Methodius received a Byzantine mission and in 863 went to Great Moravia to teach Christianity in a language Slavs understood.

Cyril created Glagolitic — the first Slavic alphabet suited to liturgical translation. Disciples later developed Cyrillic, which today bears Cyril’s name.

The brothers translated key Greek texts — Gospels, Apostolos, Psalter — making worship accessible beyond Greek-speaking elites.

After Methodius died in 885, some disciples found refuge with Knyaz Boris I; Clement and Naum worked in Ohrid and expanded the schools.

May 24 (feast of the holy brothers) became Bulgaria’s day of education and culture in the twentieth century, rooted in ninth-century Slavic literacy.

Monastery of Saint Naum near Ohrid, museums at Pliska and Preslav, and Old Bulgarian manuscript copies trace the letter from mission to textbook.

Bulgarian communities abroad include the topic in schools and celebrations, linking knowledge to family life.