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On May 11, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honours the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius

The monument to Sts. Cyril and Methodius in front of the National Library in Sofia
Photo: BGNES

On May 11, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honours the memory of the Holy Equal-to-the Apostles and Co-Patrons of Europe Sts. Cyril and Methodius, creators of the original Bulgarian alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet known in Bulgarian as Glagolitsa.

The Glagolithic alphabet

The first written notices of the tribute to the Thessalonian brothers Cyril and Methodius on May 11 in Bulgarian National Revival period literature are found in Neofit Rilski's 1852 "Christomatija slavyanskogo yazaka" (Collectanea of the Slavic language).


The first celebration was organized on the initiative of the Bulgarian diplomat Naiden Gerov on May 11, 1851 in the diocesan school "Sts. Cyril and Methodius" in Plovdiv. In 1857 the day of the holy brothers was honored in the Bulgarian church "St. Stephen" in Constantinople, together with a service for Saint Ivan of Rila. On May 11, 1858 this day was celebrated in Stara Zagora (then Eski Zara) following the suggestion of the then teacher S. P. Ivanov with a "divine service" and a moving speech about the life and work of Cyril and Methodius. 

After 1878, May 11 became a school-wide feast of the Slavic first teachers within the boundaries of the Bulgarian Exarchate. 

With the establishment of the Gregorian calendar after 1916, the Day of the Founders of the Third Alphabet in United Europe started to be celebrated on May 24 by Bulgarians around the world. It is an official holiday in the civil holiday calendar of Bulgaria, formulated as: the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture and of Slavic letters.


The missionary activity of Cyril and Methodius included the translation into Slavic-Bulgarian of the most important Church books, by which the Holy Brothers broke the dogma of preaching only in the three then sacred languages: Hebrew, Greek and Latin. They were accused of heresy, but after a dramatic struggle Slavic-Bulgarian was recognized by the Roman Church as the official liturgical language.

The basilica San Clemente in Rome
Saint Cyril the Philosopher died in 869 in Rome and the Basilica of San Clemente in the Eternal City was chosen as his final resting place. Methodius continued their work until the end of his earthly journey in 885.

According to the Czech archaeologist prof. Zdeněk Klanica, Archbishop Methodius of Great Moravia is buried in the South Moravian village of Mikulčice, which is located in the territory of present-day Bohemia. This is one of the places that attract Bulgarians from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria and Germany, as well as foreigners who wish to pay homage to the saint.

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Photos: BGNES, Alexandra Delova

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Radio Bulgaria History and religion    basilica San Clemente Cyril Cyril and Methodius Glagolithic alphabet Glagolitsa Methodius Moravia Rome the brothers from Thessaloniki the Thessalonian brothers

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