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Home , Boris II of Bulgaria, Bulgarian alphabet, Chernorizets Hrabar, Gregory Tsamblak, John the Exarch, Knyaz

Issue May/14

No.2

Copyright © 2014 Comac Medical. All rights reserved

Dear Colleagues, The Newsletter Special Edition No.2 is dedicated to the 1150 years of the Moravian Mission of Cyril and Methodius and 1150 years of the official declaration of Christianity as state religion in by Boris and imposition of official policy of literacy due to the emergence of the fourth sacral language in Europe.

We are proudly presenting:

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SS. CIRYL AND METHODIUS AND THE BULGARIAN

By rescuing the creation of Cyril and Methodius, Bulgaria has earned the admiration and respect of not only the Slav peoples but of all other peoples in the world and these attitudes will not cease till mankind keeps implying real meaning in notions like progress, culture

“and humanity. Bulgaria has not only saved the great creation of Cyril and Methodius from

complete obliteration but within its territories it also developed, enriched and perfected this priceless heritage (...) Bulgaria became a living hearth of vigorous cultural activity while, back then, many other people were enslaved by ignorance and obscurity (…) Тhe language “ of this first hayday of Slavonic literature and culture was not other but Old Bulgarian. This language survived all attempts by foreign invaders for eradication thanks to the firmness of the Bulgarian people, to its determination to preserve what is Bulgarian, especially the which has often been endangered but has never been subjugated…

-Prof. Roger Bernard, French Slavist

Those who think of Bulgaria as a kind of a new state (…), those who have heard of the Balkans only as the “powder keg of Europe”, those cannot remember that

“Bulgaria was once a powerful kingdom and an active player in the big politics of medieval Europe. Such lack

of historical awareness deprives the superficial western observer from the idea of what Bulgaria is, what its deep spiritual structures are. But what fate has deprived “ Bulgaria of in political terms, it has generously compensated for, culturally. The whole of the Orthodox

world lived a couple of centuries on the cultural heritage created to a great extent in Bulgaria, by the …

-Prof. Sante Graciotti: Italian Slavist The flesh of the Bulgarian state was conceived by “ Asparuh, its cultural spirit was created by Cyril and Methodius. The foreign invaders could not defeat this “realm of culture and spirit because language, literacy and literature stood as guards for the Bulgarian people…

-Acad. Dmitry Likhachev, Russian Scholar

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onstantine, the youngest child of ethodius, the elder of the Holy Byzantine official Leo, was born in brothers, was born circa 815. CThessaloniki in 827. Like their father Leo, Methodius According to the legendary Old started his military career at Bulgarian writing “Assumption of Cyril” (12th an early age. Being an aristocrat of a c.) Maria, the mother of Constantine and Bulgarian-Slav origin, he served as governor Methodius, descends from the aristocratic of a Slavic within the Byzantine circles of the Bulgarian Slavs from the Empire. In some literary records it is said that territory of the 6th– 7th c. His he had a family. He retired from public life extraordinary intellectual talents were due to political reasons and became a monk. apparent from an early age and he was Later he was appointed Father Superior sent to study at the famous Magnaura in of the Polychronos Monastery in Asia . The young scholar gained Minor and was offered the position of fame for his brilliant erudition, but declined metropolitan bishop, but he decided to devote the offers for state service. Instead, he his life to the enlightenment of the Slavs. became the chartophylax (“the keeper of the It is in his monastic community that sacred books”) in the Patriarchal Cathedral Methodius was able to create working of “St.Sophia” and taught at Magnaura. The conditions for his brother Constantine Byzantine state officials used the talented to develop the Slavonic languages and theologian and philologist in their alphabet norms. He himself was diplomatic missions to the Arabs and Khazars. actively involved in the design of letters and the translation of the liturgical In 851 Constantine joined his brother books during the mission to Great Moravia Methodius into a monastery and devoted and to the very end of his turbulent life. his time and efforts to the creation of the Slavonic alphabet and literary language. In When Constantine – Cyril was on his 855 he completed his work on the Glagolitic deathbed he told his brother: “Behold, my alphabet on the basis of the Bulgarian dialect brother, we have shared the same destiny, of Thessalonica, which had probably been ploughing the same furrow; I now fall in his mother tongue. It is a southeastern the field at the end of my day. I know that Bulgarian Rup dialect which shares the you greatly love your holy Mountain; but most significant features of the Bulgarian do not for the sake of it give up your work language. With the help of their disciples, of enlightenment…”

Constantine and Methodius started By a papal bull Methodius was ordained active translation of the Christian Bishop of the Middle Danube and texts into Old (Old Pannonia. Most certainly he maintained Bulgarian) language.In 863 the Byzantine contact with Knyaz Boris – Mikhail and the Empire sent the brothers to Great Moravia. Bulgarian Church. Historical evidence show the old city of Syrmium/Srem was (today Srem, ) within Bulgarian lands in 9th – 11th c., adjacent to the territories of his eparchy. Likewise in this connection the lead seal of Georgy, the second most important religious figure in Bulgaria at that time, was found in the belongings of the Slavic Kocel of Great Moravia.

The German clergy sued Methodius in court and sent him in exile for three years. He was freed only after the interference of Pope John VIII who ordained him archbishop of Moravia in 873. Secret manipulations did not cease and in 879 Methodius left for Rome where he defeated his opponents once more. The progress on his mission was hindered by the compromises the new ruler of Moravia – Prince Svatopluk (870-894) arranged with the German clergy. Nevertheless, Methodius carried on translating and creating original sermons and songs till his death (April 6th, 885). It is believed that he was buried in the medieval town of Mikulcice, an archeological preserve under the auspices of UNESCO in Czech Republic.

• PUBLISHED BY COMAC-MEDICAL • KNYAZ BORIS MIKHAIL ~Page III~ THE BAPTIST uring t he 9th c. Bulgaria established itself as one of the three great powers in Europe, becoming a dangerous rival and a desirable partner for both the Byzantine and Frank Empires. Bulgarian choice to join the Christian civilization was a well thought out decision of the sage Bulgarian statesman Boris I (r. 852–889, d. 2 May 907). Although Bulgarian lands were among the first to be hospitable to Christianity in Europe, in mid-9th c. Bulgaria was still the biggest pagan empire on the Old Continent. Tsar Boris I realized that the new religion could unite his people with its common moral values and would affiliate the newly formed nation to the Christian civilization. And it is a fact that Christian faith was the one that shaped the culture and mentality of the Bulgarians. It is the Christian faith again that became the leading force through times of greatness and dark challenges. Due to political concerns Bulgaria converted to Christianity according to the eastern rites of the Byzantine Empire (864). Some of the attempted an up-rising against “the bad law”. The rebellion was smashed uncompromisingly by Knyaz Boris-Mikhail. All Christian sermons were delivered in Greek by Byzantine clergy and thus remained incomprehensible for the majority of the Bulgarians. As a ruler of a powerful state Boris I, whose Christian given name was Mikhail, aimed at constituting an independent Bulgarian Church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate procrastinated in answering his petition. Boris I solved the problem radically, starting negotiations with the Pope in Rome. Finally, using deftly the rivalry between the two Churches, on March 4th, 870 Bulgaria was given the right of independent archbishop and clergy. And soon after, opening the country to the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarians gained an alphabet and liturgical books written in Old Bulgarian language In 889 Boris I – already an old prince retired to a monastery. (The prince, “knyaz” or “kniaz” in Bulgarian, means a leader in war and peace. It existed in Old Bulgarian language before the time of Boris I. In the Nominalia of the Bulgarian Khans, Asparuh and his predecessors were listed bearing exactly this title. Knyaz is also mentioned in Old Bulgarian testimonials, written down with Greek letters.) In 893 Tsar Boris I was brought out of retirement by the pagan demonstrations of his son Vladimir whose reign endangered the positions of the Christian faith in Bulgaria. Boris dethroned him and punished him with blinding. By the decision of the People’s Council of Preslav Old Bulgarian language became official for state matters and liturgy. The act of moving the capital from the city of pagan Pliska to Great Preslav made the process irreversible. Boris I went back to his monastery and died there on May 2nd, 907. He was later canonized as a and his memory has been kept in reverence by the Bulgarian people for eleventh centuries now as the “Saint Tsar” who led his people out of the darkness of pagan wrong ways and gave them true faith and Enlightenment. TSAR SIMEON THE GREAT he reign of Simeon the Great (893 – 927) marked Bulgaria’s zenith in the Middle Ages. Tsar Boris' third son – Simeon achieved political and military hegemony over Southeastern Europe and prompted a cultural growth of unseen rate and scope. Simeon received extremely fine education at the famous Magnaura in Constantinople and was known in the West and in the East as a brilliant expert in ancient philosophy, rhetoric and history. He was called “half-Greek” which back then meant he was equaled to the ancient philosophers. As he was meant to follow a career in the Church, Simeon took the monastic vows and after 886 he returned to the capital of Pliska and participated in the cultural and educational reforms along with Naum, Clement and the other leading figures of the young Bulgarian Christian culture. The political circumstances surprisingly led the young prince to the throne in 893. The educated ruler who was first-hand familiar with the ideology of the Byzantine ecumenicalism not only dared question the ambitions of the Byzantine Empire, but he promoted the idea of the Bulgarians’ rights over the crown of the Roman (Christian) Empire. Tsar Simeon’s reign marked the Golden Age of the Bulgarian culture. The combination of a well-educated ruler, a patron for the arts and literature and an active figure of the culture elite was a rare phenomenon in the Middle Ages. For his love of letters Simeon was compared by his contemporaries to historical figures like the biblical David and the Egyptian Ptolemy. Tsar Simeon’s intellectual circle included Clement,

Naum, , Constantine of Preslav, and other authors whose work crossed the borders of Bulgaria and turned into spiritual and cultural legacy for the Orthodox Slav people. A new Ptolemy as he presented himself to them, “ But not in faith, in desire mostly And due to his collection of all Divine and most precious books “ With which his palaces he’d filled He earned himself Eternal memory…” - From “ An Eulogy to Tsar Simeon” The most significant historical consequence from Simeon’s reign was the establishment of a civilization of eternal values. The original and translated literary works, created at those times in Bulgaria, were copied for centuries ahead in Russia, Serbia and other countries and the influence of the Old Bulgarian language and culture had momentous effect onto the development of their national cultures. In this regard, Old Bulgarian language was once called the " Eastern Europe". • PUBLISHED BY COMAC-MEDICAL • ~Page IV~ AND OLD BULGARIAN LANGUAGE

onstantine Cyril the Philosopher, with the help of his brother Methodius, created a Cwriting system which allowed the adequate transcription of the phonetic characteristics of the Bulgarian dialect of Thessalonica. This graphic system is known today as the Glagolitic alphabet. In the period of 9th - 11th c. the Glagolitic alphabet was in wide use all over the Bulgarian territories and then was exported to Serbia and Russia. Some of the preserved Glagolitic manuscripts are Codex Zographensis, Codex Marianus, Rila Glagolitic folia, the Sinaitic Glagolitic Sacramentary (Euchologium) fragments and Asseman . The Glagolitic alphabet was the first Slavic alphabet, which most accurately and fully reflects the Old Bulgarian language. Later, the Old Bulgarian alphabet was created and used for the first time in Bulgaria in the end of the 9th c. or the beginning of the 10th c. For two centuries the two alphabets existed concurrently.

upported by the rulers Boris I and Hrabar wrote: “Should you approach a Greek Simeon the Great – the Cyrillic student and ask him who created your Sand the Old Bulgarian were letters or translated your books and when, implemented as the official language of the very few of them will know. However, if Bulgarian Church and State in the end of 9th you approach even the youngest Slav pupil c.The emergence of the Cyrillic alphabet was and ask him, “Who has created your a direct result from the use of the and translated your books,” all of uncial script in the Bulgarian state them know and the answer they will give administration in the period of 7th-9th c. you is: “St. Constantine the Philosopher, called Letters for the typical Bulgarian Cyril: he created our alphabet and translated phonemes (“б”, “ж”, “ч”, “ш” ) were our books, along with his brother Methodius…” added to the 24 Greek letters under the After their mission to Central Europe, the influence of the Glagolitic alphabet. work of Cyril and Methodius returned The earliest known Cyrillic inscript in to its natural environment – Bulgaria. Bulgarian lands dates back to 921 or 922. Thanks to Bulgaria the Old Bulgarian The Cyrillic, was based on the principles language and literature later came to use to devised by the talented philologist other Slav people. Today the Cyrillic Constantine Cyril the Philosopher, but the alphabet is used in Bulgaria, its kindred main achievement of his work was the , also in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Old Bulgarian literary language. In the Russia, , Belarus, even in Mongolia. famous An Account of Letters Chernorizets

• PUBLISHED BY COMAC-MEDICAL • ~Page V~ FIRST BULGARIAN INFLUENCE

he establishment of the Bulgarian Christian civilization in 9th - 10th c. gave foundation for expansion of the Orthodox T– Byzantine community in Europe. In the period of 9th -10th c. this process included Bulgaria, Serbia, Old Russia (what is today Russia, Ukraine, Belarus) and in the 13th – 15th c., Lithuania. In the 14th c. this Orthodox community was joined by the of Walachia and Moldova which used the Old Bulgarian language till 18th c. For hundreds of years the Old Bulgarian language and alphabet had been the third ‘classical language” in Europe along with Latin and Greek. The concepts of First and Second South-Slavic Influence gained popularity in Russian historical studies and the world Slavic Studies in the 19th c. Facts prove that the influence in question was Bulgarian, considering the earlier and more fundamental inclusion of Bulgarians in the cradle of Christian civilization. The First Influence (10th - 11th c.) was performed by means of exporting Bulgarian books to Kiev, and by influence of outstanding Bulgarians scholars and translators. According to Joachim’s Chronicles: “Simeon, Tsar of the Bulgarians sent a lot of educated clergy and books. And Vladimir sent delegates to the and Patriarch in Constantinople pleading for a metropolitan. They were very much joyful and sent Michael for a metropolitan, a very well-educated and pious man who was Bulgarian and together with him – four bishops and a lot priests, deacons and Slavonic acolytes... They toured these lands, preached to Vladimir’s and soldiers, educated the people and converted to Christianity hundreds and thousands everywhere…” Despite the anachronisms, this tale depicts the role of the Bulgarians in the Christianization of Kievan Rus’ (988). Although at the same time Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire were each other’s most fierce rivals, the Empire sent Bulgarian clergy to Kiev because of the similarity in languages and the fact that it was Bulgaria which preserved the work of Cyril and Methodius. Some of the books sent as gifts to the Knyaz in Kiev were from the library of Tsar Simeon the Great. In 971, during the Byzantine occupation of the Bulgarian capital of Preslav the precious books were taken away. The Bulgarian heritage was adopted and developed by the Russian men of letters. Russian scholar acad. Dmitry Likhachev wrote: “The Russian literary language emerged mainly on the basis of the Old Bulgarian language.” CHERNORIZETS HRABAR

erhaps the most mystical person of Bulgarian medieval history is the author of the remarkable text “An Account of Letters” – a brilliant apology of the life work of the apostles Cyril and Methodius. The Pintelligence of that Old Bulgarian writer showed him as a person of high erudition and bright polemical passion. He was a fervent defender of letters and refuted the Three Sacred Languages dogma according to which the name of Christ could only be glorified in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. His motivation was that Constantine - Cyril the Philosopher had created letters under God’s guidance with the purpose of singing glory to His name. Chernorizets Hrabar outlined the enormity of Cyril’s life work with the words “God gave understanding to the Slavs” bringing Bulgarians and other Slavonic people out of darkness and into the light, out of the ways of ignorance and into the path of truth. Chernorizets Hrabar was part of that elitist circle of intellectuals and scholars who -An Account of Letters by Chernorizets in the end of 9th c. engaged with restricting and overcoming the Byzantine influence Hrabar (copy of 14th c.) in Bulgaria. They gave independence to Old Bulgarian education and culture. Some researches see Hrabar as the nickname of Simeon the Great who in his early years was a Black Robe Wearer (monk). According to others the pseudonym must have belonged to Kliment of , or to Naum, or to John the Exarch… There is also an opinion that in fact the author was anonymous and his work was dedicated to the alphabet of Constantine - Cyril the Philosopher under the title of “An Account of the Letters of the brave (hrabar) black robe wearer”. Contemporary researchers are united by the statement that Chernorizets Hrabar (Hrabar is a name you can find in Bulgarian Medieval records) is an Old Bulgarian scholar from the so called Simeon’s circle. Unfortunately, only one of his works is preserved, most probably a part from a bigger body of texts. Still these hundred lines are the best ones of Old Bulgarian prose and show us a writer of great talent.

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-Alphabetical Prayer of -Colophon of Tudor Doksov. -Codex Assemanianus -Enina apostolus -East Slavonic Copy of Tsar Constantin of Preslav (9th c.) Homiles against Arianism by (10-11th c.) (11th c.) Simeon's Florilegium (11th c.) Athanasius of Alexandria (9th c.) (XIII - XIV a.d.)

-Boyana Triodion (13th c.) -Argir Triodion (13th c.) -Pravoslav Miscellany (14th c.) -Tsar Boril Synodicon (14th c.)

SECOND BULGARIAN INFLUENCE

he new wave of Bulgarian cultural influence was sensed most strongly Tin the last decades of the 14th c., the time of the Ottoman invasion and the decline of the medieval Bulgarian statehood. The most outstanding figures of the time were St. Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow (1376 – 1406), Gregory Tsamblak, Metropolitan of Kiev and Lithuania (1406 – 1420) and a number of other Bulgarian cultural and spiritual leaders. The Russian Church, literature and Orthodox music have their deep roots inthe heritage of medieval Bulgaria. The Bulgarian influence made strong under Ottoman yoke. Cyprian in Russia, impact in and Moldova which Jefrem in Serbia, Nikodemos of Tisman were parts of the Bulgarian territories for in Wallachia are regarded as national saints. centuries. The two principalities, which took Gregory Tsamblak, chased away from Veliko their own course of development in the Tarnovo by the Ottoman Turks, was an following century, adhered to the unique spiritual leader, possessing the rare Bulgarian cultural traditions. characteristics of being a representative Eminent figures like St. Nikodemos of several national literary traditions – of Tisman, Gregory Tsamblak, the Metropolitans Bulgarian, Serbian, Moldavian, Russian, Damian and Teoctist left lasting traces Ukrainian, Lithuanian and Byzantine. in the culture and spirituality of the The Italian Slavist Prof. Sante Graciotti present day Romanian people. The most wrote: “For a second time Bulgaria stirred up a outstanding representatives of the Bulgarian powerful spiritual process of international spiritual influence in Serbia were St. Patriarch significance. The monks seeking refugee Jefrem, St. Romil of Vidin, Gregory from the Ottoman invasion brought Tsamblak, Constantine of Kostenets, cultural message to Kiev and Vladislav Grammaticus, Dimitar Kantakuzin. Moscow. This was a symbol! – by its Thus the tendency emerged towards the political death Bulgaria continued living in stablishment of more or less common Europe by means of the culture Balkan spiritual space of the Slav people it had created.”

• PUBLISHED BY COMAC-MEDICAL • ~Page VII~ THE CULT TO SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS AND THEIR DISCIPLES S.S. Cyril and Methodius were canonized by the Bulgarian independent Bulgarian in the end of the 9th c., when the first writings Church and the onset of in their praise were created in Bulgaria. Initially, the Church ideas of the New Bulgarian celebrated their memory on the day of their assumption – St. Cyril Enlightenment during the on February 14th and St. Methodius on April 6th. Later, National Revival. The as they were commemorated as the Holy brothers, their grateful Holy Brothers were followers paid respect to the saints on April 6th. declared “Equal to Since April 6th falls within the Great Lent, the the Apostles and Bulgarian Church choses May 11th to celebrate Patrons of Europe” by the Rome-. the memory and the work of Cyril and Methodius. They are especially revered in the Czech Republic, This day is also related to the memory of Slovakia and Croatia. The Orthodox Church Emperor Constantine the Great - Saint and Equal commemorates SS. Cyril and Methodius on May 11th, and to the Apostles, and to city of the New Rome – the laity celebrates on May 24th. The cult to the Seven Saints Constantinople he built. It is hardly a coincidence originated in Ohrid in the 11th c. and was authorized by the that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church choses May 11th as a for the whole of Bulgaria. patron day of the other Constantine – the equal to the apostles After the restoration of the Bulgarian Kingdom St. Cyril and his brother – the equal to the apostles St. Methodius. in 1186, the Seven Saints were worshipped Consequently SS. Cyril and Methodius nationwide by the Bulgarian people and the became flagman figures for the Slavonic idea in the Czech cult was adopted by the Patriarchate in Veliko Republic and nowadays in Slovakia. In Bulgaria the cult Tarnovo. In the Middle Ages the Seven Saints to the Holy Brothers gained incredible popularity, since the were commemorated on March 27th. Today the first decades of the 19th c., with regard to the struggles for Church pays tribute to their memory on July 27th. The Holy Brothers – Symbols of the Bulgarian Idea spoke pure Slavonic. As long as abstract Slavonic did not exist, the language they spoke must have been Old Bulgarian. “Slavs i.e. Bulgarians”, wrote Theophylact of Ohrid. There were great numbers of Bulgarian Slavs and Kuberian Bulgarians in the region of Thessaloniki at that time. At the time it was more than usual for eminent The everlasting disputes on the ethnic origin figures of Bulgarian-Slavic origin to enter the Byzantine of Cyril and Methodius are highly emotionally charged. elite like Patriarch Nicetas I (mid-8th c.), In Middle Ages the Holy brothers were the rebel Thomas the Slav, the wealthy praised and worshipped as “Bulgarian educators”. archontesse Danilida, the influential families Authors from that time related their mission mostly, often Glava, Vrana, Radini and Boyla etc. The Byzantine entirely with Bulgaria and the Bulgarians. Those were the Empire had always had pragmatic policy of sending prominent Archbishop Theophylact of Ohrid (11th – 12th c.), diplomats and missioners to countries of same Demetrius Chomatenus (first half of 13th c.) and other authors ethnic population. The mission of Constantine who were Romans by origin and wrote in . -Cyril and Methodius complied with these practices. The Holy Brothers – Cyril and Methodius Constantine and Methodius followed the example were born in Thessaloniki – the second important of St. Apostle Paul. Above all they believed political and cultural center of Byzantine Empire. firmly in the power of the Christian idea and their Vita Methodius reads that both their mother conscious intention was to work for the salvation of the and father came from “very good and decent families, Slavic people, as written in the medieval sources, they for long blessed by God and favorite to the king…” were related to Bulgaria by blood. “It was Bulgaria they craved for and thought and hoped Bulgaria would be Politically the brothers were Romans (Byzantine subjects) ready to give them peace…” These strong words reflect but what were they by blood and tongue? the legacy to their disciples and the coming generations. The medieval sources claim that as Thessalonians they

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Patrons of Europe I declare Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius heavenly “ Co-Patrons of all of Europe before God. “ Peace to all people of good will! -Pope John Paul II (1980) Apostolic Letter

yril and Methodius brought to Great Moravia the cultural heritage of the CClassical Antiquity, accumulated in the Byzantine Empire and in Bul- garian lands. Archbishop Methodius strived for the establishment of a lawful state. Stone churches and schools for the clergy and scribes were built among the swamps and woods of Central Europe. The Mission to Great Moravia ended in persecution..., but the work of Cyril and Methodius was not sentenced to oblivion. It was rescued by the Bulgarians and their ruler Boris – Mikhail the Baptist. Ac- cording to Prof. Dimitri Obolensky, world famous scholar:

The mission of Cyril and Methodius suffered a collapse in Moravia and was

rescued by the Bulgarian people. By providing shelter for their disciples, the

Bulgarians managed to secure further development of this heritage and later “ “ transmit its spiritual and cultural products to the other Slav people in Southeastern and Eastern Europe. It is namely in Bulgaria where the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius received greater support and was preserved for the use of the Slavs in Europe.

Back then the crucial role of Bulgaria was widely known and the alphabet and the language were seen as Bulgarian contribution to the world cul- ture. An Arabian author from the 10th c. wrote: “…The Bulgarians have books of their own, they have translated the Gospel into Slavic language…”

Today, the patron day of SS. Cyril and Methodius May 11th/24th is the brightest expression of the Bulgarians’ national identity and reverence for educa- tion and culture. The Holy Brothers have been acknowledged in the whole of the Christendom and their May 24th is celebrated in Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia etc.

• PUBLISHED BY COMAC-MEDICAL • ~Page IX~ Civilization Legacy Without any doubt the legacy of SS.Cyril & Methodius has a civilizational impact. By disapproving the three-language dogma according to which only Latin, Greek and Hebrew were considered sacred languages, they have created the “Fourth Path of literacy” for many nations, and by that, they have enriched the entire human civilization. In honor of this heritage Dr. Milen Vrabevski and his Bulgarian Memory Foundation organized an exhibition dedicated to the 1150 years of the Moravian Mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius and the creation of the Old Bulgarian language and alphabet.

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The exhibition traces the Cyril and Methodius deed from the Moravian mission and the arrival of the students and followers of the Holy Brothers in Bulgaria to the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture. Special attention in the exposition is paid to the large-scale cultural activities in the educational centers of medieval Bulgaria - Pliska, Preslav and Ohrid, under the auspices of the Bulgarian royal court in the person of Boris-Mihail I the Baptizer, Simeon I the Great and Peter I the Bulgarian.

In the spirit of the Cyril and Methodius deed, today we also have a reason to recall the “ importance and permanence of our literary heritage to the history of European civilization of knowledge, prosperity and spirituality. I sincerely hope that we will educate the generation to worship the word, to be proud of their native Cyrillic al- phabet and to be excited by the memory of the Golden Age of Bulgaria, cradle of the idea of literature, created in a native language. With the accession of Bulgaria to the on 1 January 2007, the

Cyrillic alphabet becomes the third official alphabet of the European family, after the Latin

and the Greek alphabets, and thus, for the second time, Bulgaria gives official status of the Bulgarian alphabet - the Cyrillic in Europe. In this way “ Bulgaria gives impetus to the cultural dialogue, integration and the creation of a shared cul- tural tradition and identity that educates the spirit of the European future. -Dr. Milen Vrabevski

http://www.comac-medical.com http://www.bgmf.eu

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