Around the date of May 24, the work of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius is always remembered. What an imprint the two brothers from Thessaloniki left in the Bulgarian national memory is well demonstrated by the glorious episode with the presentation of the Samara flag into the hands of the Bulgarian volunteers (May 6, 1877). On one side of the flag, the nuns from the Samara Virgin Monastery embroidered the Iverskaya Virgin Mary, and on the other - the faces of St. Cyril and Methodius. The speech on the occasion of the presentation of the flag says: "Just as in the ninth century Cyril and Methodius liberated the Slavs, and especially us, the Bulgarians, from idolatry and ignorance, so today they will also be found among the Bulgarian volunteers, will encourage them in battles and will help them finally free Bulgaria and our fatherland from Turkish slavery."
Two years earlier, from the pages of the newspaper "Zname" (May 9, 1875), Hristo Botev would write, evaluating the work of Cyril and Methodius: "In the history of almost all European nations, there are such personalities whose activity had a universal human character and therefore, due to its global significance, deserves respect and esteem from the side of every single person. (…) And in the history of our downtrodden and enslaved people today, there are pages in which the Bulgarian genius has recorded such important and famous events that give us the right to be proud that we too have once contributed something to the history of universal human progress, and which, of course, should arouse honor and respect not only in the soul of our young generation, but of every honest, sincere and grateful Slav." In a characteristic style, with his usual foresight for the future, the poet - revolutionary Hr. Botev ends his article like this: "May 11 will soon be a holiday of our revolution and our freedom." (in the new style, May 11 corresponds to May 24).
Taking into account what Botev wrote, it is good to clarify to what the activity of the two brothers owes its significance as a magnificent feat. In his article “Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher and Methodius in the Pan-European Development”, Academician Emil Georgiev concludes: “The writing created by Cyril and Methodius occupies an exceptional place in the cultural life of medieval Europe. This is the first major, officially accepted – by the state and the church – writing in a vernacular language. (…) We can say that before Cyril and Methodius, two cultures existed on our continent: one, which was based on the Latin script – in Central and Western Europe, and the second, which was based on the ancient Greek script – in a limited area of the Balkan Peninsula, in Byzantium. And suddenly a third culture appeared, based on the ancient Bulgarian script. It quickly covered the entire eastern half of the continent. (…)
Cyril and Methodius also established the first national literary language in medieval Europe – Old Bulgarian. (…)
In European literary development, Old Bulgarian literature leads the way in the acquisition of the vernacular. While other European literatures used the foreign and dead Latin language, or the ancient Greek language, the earliest Slavic writers introduced the vernacular into literature. European literature knows no deeper and stronger conviction in the necessity and importance of writing, of literature in the vernacular, than that with which the first Slavic writers fought for it. (…)
The struggle undertaken by Cyril and Methodius against the "trilinguals" is a struggle for equality of peoples. Cyril and Methodius rebel against some peoples considering themselves God's chosen ones and having the right to their own writing and books in their native language, while others consider themselves "barbarians" and are deprived of the right to education and their own church.
The other important aspect of the merits of Cyril and Methodius for Slavic writing and culture is the continuity that their work receives. This happens through their students – continuers, on the one hand, and on the other – due to the far-sighted policy of the Bulgarian rulers St. Prince Boris the Baptist and Tsar Simeon the Great. As Professor Dora Mircheva notes: “Having passed through the pen of the greatest writers of Bulgaria from the 9th-10th-11th centuries: Clement of Ohrid, Constantine of Preslav, Tsar Simeon, John the Exarch, Chernorizets the Brave, Gregory the Presbyter and Monk Cosmas the Presbyter, in the two Old Bulgarian literary centers of Preslav and Ohrid, the Old Bulgarian language reached an exceptionally high level of development during the Golden Age. (…) Old Bulgarian literature from the first centuries – canonical and non-canonical – was perceived in Old Russia, “transplanted” there, as D. S. Likhachev puts it. On Russian soil, a process of gradual Russification of Old Bulgarian texts is observed.”
The historical merit of the medieval Bulgarian state in immortalizing the work of Cyril and Methodius has been emphasized repeatedly. Academician Dimitar Angelov writes: "The role of Bulgaria as the first and main center of Slavic writing and culture in the Middle Ages is indisputable. Bulgaria is the first country to become a written and cultural center of Slavism and in which the work of Cyril and Methodius and their students rests on the most solid and sound foundations."
In the words of the Bulgarian scholar from France Jean-Yves Le Guillou: “The success in imposing the Old Bulgarian language in cultural life and religion is the first aspect of the revolutionary work of Cyril and Methodius.
In the face of powerful opposition, they managed to elevate the language to the level of Latin and Greek.
And what's more, between the Eastern and Western blocs of this period – Byzantium and Rome, the two great reformers imposed the right of the Third World, imposed the right of the Slavic world to raise its voice."
Prof. Donka Petkanova formulates the following important conclusion: "Finally, we should not forget that the work of Cyril and Methodius spread among many peoples. It became the reason for the strengthening of Bulgarian-Russian cultural communication, for a significant literary exchange between Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia. The Old Bulgarian Cyrillic-Methodical language, with editorial (mainly orthographic) changes, became the literary language of both the Russians and the Serbs. Thus, over the centuries, the work of Cyril and Methodius acquired pan-Slavic significance."
In conclusion, let us recall the words of Professor Vladimir Kolesov: "The unity of all Slavs in the past takes us to that moment when the new Slavic culture was created from the formless pagan mass and, with the genius of the brothers Cyril and Methodius, was preserved in written form for the future. This is our common birthday, the beginning of Slavic culture and enlightenment. Today we are all obliged to honor those who in such a distant past thought about us." Or, as the poet said: "and we have given something to the world / and to all Slavs to read a book; / and when they call him: "Bulgarian!" furiously, / let him be proud of this name honestly."
