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 Saints Cyril and Methodius and 1150 years of the official declaration of Christianity as state religion in Bulgaria by Tsar Boris I and imposition of official policy of literacy due to the emergence of the fourth sacral language in Europe. We are proudly presenting: • PUBLISHED BY COMAC-MEDICAL • ~Page I~ SS. CIRYL AND METHODIUS AND THE BULGARIAN ALPHABET 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 Bulgarian language 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 Bulgarians… -Prof. Sante Graciotti: Italian Slavist The flesh of the Bulgarian state was conceived by “ khan 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 • PUBLISHED BY COMAC-MEDICAL • ~Page II~ 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 principality within the Byzantine circles of the Bulgarian Slavs from the Empire. In some literary records it is said that territory of the Byzantine Empire 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 Constantinople. 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 Church Slavonic (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, Serbia) within Bulgarian lands in 9th – 11th c., adjacent to the territories of his eparchy. Likewise in this connection the lead seal of Archbishop Georgy, the second most important religious figure in Bulgaria at that time, was found in the belongings of the Slavic Prince 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 boyars 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 title 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 saint 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.