Alphabet of Cyril and Methodius year. Equal to the Apostles Cyril (†869) and Methodius (†885), Slovenian teachers. Brothers in Rome

It is not human nature to appreciate what he has long and habitually used. Only with the advent of old age or premature illnesses does the price of health become known. The homeland is especially dearly loved for a person living far away. Air, bread, loved ones reveal their true value only with loss or at least the threat of loss. It is difficult for us, who have been able to read and write since childhood, to understand the magnitude of this gift. Therefore, let’s use our will and strain our imagination - imagine ourselves as illiterate.

Our princes cannot communicate their will to distant cities, they cannot send them a decree or a letter. Therefore, our people are so small that the voice of the leader is heard both by those standing closest and by those farthest away. The surrounding peoples are completely alien to us. We don’t know their history, we don’t communicate with them. They are for us - "Germans", i.e. mute, because we do not understand their language. Our knowledge of the world around us, our memory of our history is so small that it is retained by collective memory. Everything that exceeds its volume is necessarily forgotten, is not immortalized and is carried away by the river of time. We have no poetry except folk poetry, and no science except witchcraft and priestly knowledge. We, of course, do not write love letters or promissory notes. Unique and original in our denseness, we do not need anyone and are not interesting to anyone.

Only if a strong and numerous enemy, an enemy at a higher level of development, becomes interested in our open spaces and riches, do we risk emerging from the historical shadow. But then we risk becoming the object of military expansion and someone else’s cultural mission. We risk dissolving like a trickle in a strange and aggressive sea.

Often the alphabet comes along with faith and a new way of life. All the peoples to whom the sword was brought Islam, began to write in Arabic script. Where you set your foot Catholic missionary, people eventually began to write in Latin letters. But with us everything was different. In the spirit of evangelical love, the Greek Church sought to evangelize, but did not strive at any cost to turn newly converted peoples into Greeks. For the sake of us, the Slavs, and for our salvation, the Church accomplished an intellectual feat and composed a new alphabet for us. If we knew the name of the one who first tamed a horse or invented a potter's wheel, then the name of this person would be worthy of greater glory than the names of mythical heroes. How much more glory do the creators of the Slavic alphabet - the brothers Cyril and Methodius - deserve?

Any alphabet is similar to periodic table. This is not a set of symbolic signs, but a harmonious unity that reflects the worldview of the people, their deep thoughts about this world and the future. Through the image of the alphabet, Scripture reveals to us the idea of ​​the infinite perfection of the Creator, of God as the fullness of being. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev. 22:13).

Life Kirill And Methodius described many times and in detail. Let's say a few words about their creation - about Slavic alphabet.

At first there were two of them - Cyrillic And Glagolitic. Moreover, scientists believe that the Glagolitic alphabet existed earlier. It did not catch on and is known today only to philologists. But the Cyrillic alphabet took root and grew into such a branchy tree that a lifetime would not be enough to list its leaves. "War and Peace" And "The Brothers Karamazov" blossomed on Cyrillic branches. Is it just them?

The alphabet bears the name of his younger brother - Kirill (before monasticism - Konstantin). Even in his early youth he earned the nickname Philosopher for his keen mind and extensive knowledge. Not getting enough of the usual teaching, he early began to memorize the works of Gregory the Theologian and pray to him. Pure and high-flying spirit "singer of the Holy Trinity" I also reported to Konstantin. Only thanks to his theological giftedness and prayerful depth was Constantine able to accomplish the work entrusted by God.

So in any sacred work, first of all it was necessary to humble yourself and humble yourself. It was necessary to fall in love and learn the Slavic language, to literally dissolve in it, without forgetting the native Greek. To convey Slavic speech in writing the language of the Hellenes was taken as a basis. But in it 24 letters, and many Slavic sounds are missing from it. No sound "b", there is no corresponding letter, without which you cannot write the most important word “God”. No hissing, no sound "h". In a word, what was needed was not a tracing paper, not a copy, but creativity and the creation of something new that had never existed before. Some letters were taken from Jewish. So, "shin" And "tsade" turned into "sh" And "ts", preserving the style almost unchanged.

As a result of labors impossible without help from above, an alphabet appeared, consisting of 38 letters. Since then, a lot has changed in the phonetics of Slavic languages. Stopped sounding "er" And "Fuck it." They have not left the spelling, but they used to be pronounced, and now they have turned into solid And soft signs and modestly indicate the softness and hardness of consonants. Started to sound different "yat". Where the Russian reads in the Old Church Slavonic text “forest”, “demon”, “to you”, Ukrainian pronounces “lis”, “bis”, “tobi”. Much else has changed in the Slavic languages ​​and dialects, but the structure of the Slavic alphabet has been preserved. The skeleton is hard, and the proverb is true: “If there were bones, the meat would grow.”

It is interesting that Slavic writing was first in demand where it is used today Latin alphabet. Baptized in 830 Great Moravian Duchy wished to have the Holy Scriptures in her native language. Prince Rostislav turned his gaze to Byzantium, which, unlike Rome, knew how to listen to those who received Baptism from it. Emperor Michael I didn’t think long and sent Constantine (Kirill), with whom I was brought up together and whose talents I knew firsthand, to the Slavs.

It's not the residents' fault Moravia, Pannonia and other Slavic lands, that the cause of the Thessalonica brothers was suppressed by the aggressive mission of the German bishops. In history it often happens that what is done by some is understood and used in its entirety by others. It was the same with our alphabet. On the territory of modern Czech Republic for the first time the Easter chant written in Slavic letters was heard: From time immemorial beashe the word (John 1:1). Since then, this intelligent, written word has spread further than the creators of the alphabet dreamed of.

Praise to Cyril and Methodius is not only an annual prayer memorial or singing an akathist. This is, firstly, the desire to realize in life the great ideal of the Slavic Orthodox brotherhood, the brotherhood of those who read the Gospel written in Cyrillic.

This, of course, is a thoughtful and loving attitude towards the Slavic alphabet. Today we, who know so much, whose speech is thickly peppered with vocabulary borrowed from a variety of cultures, need the Church Slavonic language like a cool shower in the middle of a sultry summer. In this language, each letter has a name. If you pronounce them one after another, then often three adjacent letters form a sentence. Where in the Russian alphabet we mechanically pronounce: "ka", "el", "um", - in Slavic we say: “what”, “people”, “thinking”. That is, we ask ourselves the question: “People, what (how) are you thinking?”

Where in Russian they usually list: “er”, “es”, “te”,- Slavic commands: “rtsy”, “word”, “firmly”. That is: let your word be firm. And how many more such theological and philological discoveries await a book lover interested in the Slavic alphabet? This is not just the absorption of information indifferent to faith and morality. This is always good edification.

This language must be taught not only in Sunday schools and in the course of Slavic philology. It is worth getting acquainted with it in a regular school during history lessons, or the native language, or the foundations of Orthodox culture.

Every time we look lovingly at pages numbered with letters rather than numbers; on pages with Greek "izhitsa" or ornate "xi" And "psi", we will travel back in time. This will be a journey to those distant times when the Thessaloniki brothers forged a golden key for the Slavs to open the door to the spiritual treasury. I think that travel will be gratitude at the same time.

The siblings Cyril and Methodius came from a pious family that lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki (in Macedonia). They were the children of the same governor, a Bulgarian Slav. Saint Methodius was the eldest of seven brothers, Saint Constantine (Cyril was his monastic name) the youngest.

Saint Methodius first served, like his father, in a military rank. The king, having learned about him as a good warrior, appointed him as a governor in one Slavic principality of Slavinia, which was under the Greek power. This happened at the special discretion of God and so that Methodius could better learn the Slavic language, as the future spiritual teacher and shepherd of the Slavs. Having served in the rank of governor for about 10 years and having experienced the vanity of everyday life, Methodius began to dispose his will to renounce everything earthly and direct his thoughts to the heavenly. Leaving the province and all the pleasures of the world, he became a monk on Mount Olympus.

And his brother Saint Constantine, from his youth, showed brilliant success in both secular and religious-moral education. He studied with the young Emperor Michael from the best teachers in Constantinople, including Photius, the future Patriarch of Constantinople. Having received an excellent education, he perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages; he especially diligently studied the works of St. Gregory the Theologian, for which he received the nickname Philosopher (wise). At the end of his studies, Saint Constantine accepted the rank of priest and was appointed keeper of the patriarchal library at the Church of Saint Sophia. But, neglecting all the benefits of his position, he retired to one of the monasteries near the Black Sea. Almost by force, he was returned to Constantinople and appointed a teacher of philosophy at the highest school of Constantinople. The wisdom and strength of faith of the still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the iconoclast heretics, Aninius, in a debate.

Then Cyril retired to his brother Methodius and for several years shared monastic exploits with him in a monastery on Olympus, where he first began to study the Slavic language. In the monasteries that were on the mountain, there were many Slavic monks from various neighboring countries, which is why Constantine could have a constant practice here, which was especially important for him, since almost from childhood he spent all his time in the Greek environment. Soon the emperor summoned both holy brothers from the monastery and sent them to the Khazars to preach the gospel. On the way, they stopped for some time in the city of Korsun, preparing for the sermon.

Here the holy brothers learned that the relics of the Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome, were in the sea, and they miraculously found them.

There, in Korsun, Saint Constantine found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in “Russian letters,” and a man speaking Russian, and began to learn from this man to read and speak his language. After this, the holy brothers went to the Khazars, where they won the debate with Jews and Muslims, preaching the Gospel teaching.

Soon, ambassadors from the Moravian prince Rostislav, oppressed by the German bishops, came to the emperor with a request to send teachers to Moravia who could preach in the native language of the Slavs. The emperor called Saint Constantine and told him: “You need to go there, because no one will do this better than you.” Saint Constantine, with fasting and prayer, began a new feat. With the help of his brother Saint Methodius and his disciples Gorazd, Clement, Savva, Naum and Angelar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavic the books without which the Divine service could not be performed: the Gospel, the Psalter and selected services. Some chroniclers report that the first words written in the Slavic language were the words of the Apostle Evangelist John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word.” This was in 863.

After completing the translation, the holy brothers went to Moravia, where they were received with great honor and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers and filed a complaint to Rome. In 867 St. Methodius and Constantine were summoned by Pope Nicholas I to Rome for trial to resolve this issue. Taking with them the relics of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, Saints Constantine and Methodius went to Rome. When they arrived in Rome, Nicholas I was no longer alive; his successor Adrian II, having learned that they were carrying with them the relics of St. Clement, met them solemnly outside the city. The Pope approved the Divine Service in the Slavic language, and ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and the Liturgy to be celebrated in the Slavic language.

While in Rome, Saint Constantine, informed by the Lord in a miraculous vision of his approaching death, took the schema with the name Cyril. 50 days after accepting the schema, on February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril died at the age of 42. Before his death, he told his brother: “You and I, like a friendly pair of oxen, drove the same furrow; I’m exhausted, but don’t think about leaving the work of teaching and retiring to your mountain again.” The Pope ordered the relics of St. Cyril to be placed in the Church of St. Clement, where miracles began to be performed from them.

After the death of Saint Cyril, the pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kocel, sent Saint Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia, to the ancient throne of the holy Apostle Antrodin. At the same time, Methodius had to endure a lot of troubles from heterodox missionaries, but he continued the Gospel preaching among the Slavs and baptized the Czech prince Borivoj and his wife Lyudmila (September 16), as well as one of the Polish princes.

In the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated the entire Old Testament into Slavic, except for the Maccabean books, as well as the Nomocanon (Rules of the Holy Fathers) and the patristic books (Paterikon).

The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 at the age of about 60 years. The funeral service for the saint was performed in three languages ​​- Slavic, Greek and Latin; he was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad, the capital of Moravia.

Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were canonized in ancient times. In the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of the Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners of the Slavs has been honored since the 11th century. The oldest services to saints that have survived to our time date back to the 13th century.

The solemn celebration of the memory of the holy high priests Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius was established in the Russian Church in 1863.

The Iconographic Original for May 11 says: “Our Reverend Fathers Methodius and Constantine, named Cyril, Moravian bishops, Slovenian teachers. Methodius is in the likeness of an old man, with gray hair, wearing the cord of duty like Vlasiev, with the saint’s vestments and omophorion, holding the Gospel in his hands. Constantine - monastic vestments and in the schema, in his hands is a book, and in it is written the Russian alphabet A, B, C, D, D and other words (letters) all in a row...”

By decree of the Holy Synod (1885), the celebration of the memory of Slavic teachers was classified as a middle church holiday. The same decree determined: in prayers at litia, according to the Gospel at matins before the canon, at dismissals, as well as in all prayers in which the ecumenical hierarchs of the Russian Church are remembered, to remember after the name of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra the Wonderworker, the names: like our holy father Methodius and Cyril, Slovenian teachers.

For Orthodox Russia, the celebration of Sts. to the First Teachers has a special meaning: “By them, the Divine Liturgy and all church services began in the language of the Slovenians, which is akin to us, and all church services were performed, and thus an inexhaustible well of water flowing into eternal life was given to us.”

In 862, in the state of the Western Slavs, Great Moravia, religious sermons were distributed in Latin. For the people this language was incomprehensible. Therefore, the prince of the state, Rostislav, turned to Michael, the emperor of Byzantium. He asked to send preachers to his state who would spread Christianity in the Slavic language. And Emperor Michael sent two Greeks - Constantine the Philosopher, who later received the name Cyril, and Methodius, his elder brother.

Cyril and Methodius were born and raised in the city of Thessaloniki in Byzantium. There were seven children in the family, Methodius was the eldest, and Konstantin (Kirill) the youngest. Their father was a military leader. From childhood they knew one of the Slavic languages, since in the vicinity of the city there lived a Slavic population that was quite large in number. Methodius was in military service, after service he ruled the Byzantine principality, which was inhabited by the Slavs. And soon, after 10 years of rule, he went to a monastery and became a monk. Cyril, since he showed great interest in linguistics, studied science at the court of the Byzantine emperor from the best scientists of that time. He knew several languages ​​- Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Slavic, Greek, and also taught philosophy - hence his nickname Philosopher. And the name Cyril was received by Constantine when he became a monk in 869 after his severe and prolonged illness.

Already in 860, the brothers traveled twice for missionary purposes to the Khazars, then Emperor Michael III sent Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia. And the Moravian prince Rostislav called on the brothers for help, as he sought to limit the growing influence on the part of the German clergy. He wanted Christianity to be preached in the Slavic language, and not in Latin.

The Holy Scriptures had to be translated from Greek so that Christianity could be preached in the Slavic language. But there was one catch - there was no alphabet that could convey Slavic speech. And then the brothers began to create the alphabet. Methodius made a special contribution - he knew the Slavic language very well. And thus, in 863, the Slavic alphabet appeared. And Methodius soon translated many liturgical books, including the Gospel, Psalter and Apostle, into the Slavic language. The Slavs had their own alphabet and language, and now they could write and read freely. Thus, Cyril and Methodius, the creators of the Slavic alphabet, made a huge contribution to the culture of the Slavic people, because many words from the Slavic language still live in the Ukrainian, Russian and Bulgarian languages. Konstantin (Kirill) created the Glagolitic alphabet, which reflected the phonetic features of the language. But until now, scientists cannot agree on whether the Glagolitic alphabet or the Cyrillic alphabet were created by Methodius.

But among the Western Slavs - Poles and Czechs - the Slavic alphabet and literacy did not take root, and they still use the Latin alphabet. After the death of Cyril, Methodius continued their activities. And when he died, their students were expelled from Moravia in 886 and Slavic writing was banned there, but they continued to spread Slavic literacy in the countries of the eastern and southern Slavs. Bulgaria and Croatia became their refuge.

These events took place in the 9th century, and writing appeared in Rus' only in the 10th century. And there is an opinion that in Bulgaria, based on the “glagolitic” alphabet, the Cyrillic alphabet was created by the disciples of Methodius, in honor of Cyril.

In Russian Orthodoxy, Cyril and Methodius are called Saints. February 14 is the day of memory of Cyril, and April 6 is Methodius. The dates were not chosen by chance; Saints Cyril and Methodius died on these days.

On May 24, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The name of these saints is known to everyone from school, and it is to them that all of us, native speakers of the Russian language, owe our language, culture, and writing.

Incredibly, all European science and culture were born within the monastery walls: it was in the monasteries that the first schools were opened, children were taught to read and write, and extensive libraries were collected. It was for the enlightenment of peoples, for the translation of the Gospel, that many written languages ​​were created. This happened with the Slavic language.

The holy brothers Cyril and Methodius came from a noble and pious family who lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. Methodius was a warrior and ruled the Bulgarian principality of the Byzantine Empire. This gave him the opportunity to learn the Slavic language.

Soon, however, he decided to leave his secular lifestyle and became a monk at the monastery on Mount Olympus. From childhood, Constantine showed amazing abilities and received an excellent education together with the young Emperor Michael 3rd at the royal court.

Then he became a monk in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.

His brother Constantine, who took the name Cyril as a monk, was distinguished by great abilities from an early age and perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages.

Soon the emperor sent both brothers to the Khazars to preach the gospel. As the legend says, along the way they stopped in Korsun, where Constantine found the Gospel and the Psalter written in “Russian letters,” and a man speaking Russian, and began to learn to read and speak this language.

When the brothers returned to Constantinople, the emperor again sent them on an educational mission - this time to Moravia. The Moravian prince Rostislav was oppressed by the German bishops, and he asked the emperor to send teachers who could preach in the native language of the Slavs.

The first of the Slavic peoples to turn to Christianity were the Bulgarians. The sister of the Bulgarian prince Bogoris (Boris) was held hostage in Constantinople. She was baptized with the name Theodora and was raised in the spirit of the holy faith. Around 860, she returned to Bulgaria and began to persuade her brother to accept Christianity. Boris was baptized, taking the name Mikhail. Saints Cyril and Methodius were in this country and with their preaching they greatly contributed to the establishment of Christianity in it. From Bulgaria, the Christian faith spread to its neighboring Serbia.

To fulfill the new mission, Constantine and Methodius compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated the main liturgical books (Gospel, Apostle, Psalter) into Slavic. This happened in 863.

In Moravia, the brothers were received with great honor and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they filed a complaint to Rome.

Taking with them the relics of St. Clement (Pope), which they discovered back in Korsun, Constantine and Methodius went to Rome.
Having learned that the brothers were carrying holy relics with them, Pope Adrian greeted them with honor and approved the service in the Slavic language. He ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and the liturgy to be performed in the Slavic language.

Saint Methodius fulfilled his brother’s will: returning to Moravia already in the rank of archbishop, he worked here for 15 years. From Moravia, Christianity penetrated into Bohemia during the lifetime of Saint Methodius. The Bohemian prince Borivoj received holy baptism from him. His example was followed by his wife Lyudmila (who later became a martyr) and many others. In the mid-10th century, the Polish prince Mieczyslaw married the Bohemian princess Dabrowka, after which he and his subjects accepted the Christian faith.

Subsequently, these Slavic peoples, through the efforts of Latin preachers and German emperors, were torn away from the Greek Church under the rule of the Pope, with the exception of the Serbs and Bulgarians. But all Slavs, despite the centuries that have passed, still have a living memory of the great Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners and the Orthodox faith that they tried to plant among them. The sacred memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius serves as a connecting link for all Slavic peoples.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Cyril (in the world Constantine) (c.827-869)

Methodius (815-885) Slavic enlighteners

The names of the two enlightenment brothers are associated with the most important event in the history of Slavic culture - the invention of the alphabet, which gave rise to Slavic writing.

Both brothers came from the family of a Greek military leader and were born in the city of Thessaloniki (modern Thessaloniki in Greece). The elder brother, Methodius, entered military service in his youth. For ten years he was the governor of one of the Slavic regions of Byzantium, and then left his post and retired to a monastery. In the late 860s he became abbot of the Greek monastery of Polychron on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.

Unlike his brother, from childhood Cyril was distinguished by his thirst for knowledge and, as a boy, was sent to Constantinople to the court of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III. There he received an excellent education, studying not only Slavic, but also Greek, Latin, Hebrew and even Arabic. He subsequently refused public service and was tonsured a monk.

For several years, Cyril worked as a librarian to Patriarch Photius, and then was appointed as a teacher at the court school. Already at this time, his reputation as a talented writer was established. On behalf of the patriarch, he wrote polemical speeches and participated in religious debates.

Having learned that his brother had become abbot, Cyril left Constantinople and went to the Polychron monastery. Cyril and Methodius spent several years there, after which they made their first trip to the Slavs, during which they realized that in order to spread Christianity it was necessary to create a Slavic alphabet. The brothers returned to the monastery, where they began this work. It is known that the preparation for translating the sacred books into the Slavic language alone took them more than three years.

In 863, when the Byzantine emperor, at the request of the Moravian prince Rostislav, sent the brothers to Moravia, they had just begun translating the main liturgical books. Naturally, such a grandiose work would have dragged on for many years if a circle of translators had not formed around Cyril and Methodius.

In the summer of 863, Cyril and Methodius arrived in Moravia, already carrying the first Slavic texts. However, their activities immediately aroused the discontent of the Bavarian Catholic clergy, who did not want to cede their influence on Moravia to anyone.

In addition, the appearance of Slavic translations of the Bible contradicted the regulations of the Catholic Church, according to which church services should be held in Latin, and the text of the Holy Scriptures should not be translated into any languages ​​other than Latin.

Therefore, in 866, Cyril and Methodius had to go to Rome at the call of Pope Nicholas I. To earn his blessing, the brothers brought to Rome the relics of St. Clement, which they discovered during their first trip to the Slavs. However, while they were getting to Rome, Pope Nicholas I died, so the brothers were taken in by his successor, Adrian II. He appreciated the benefits of the enterprise they had conceived and not only allowed them to worship, but also tried to get them ordained to church positions. Negotiations about this dragged on for a long time. At this time, Cyril unexpectedly dies, and only Methodius, on the instructions of the Pope, was consecrated to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia.

With the permission of Adrian II, he returned to Moravia, but was never able to begin his activities, because the Salzburg Archbishop Adalvin, taking advantage of the unexpected death of Pope Adrian, summoned Methodius to his place, ostensibly for an introduction, and then arrested him and put him in prison. There Methodius spent three years and only at the insistence of the new Pope, John VIII, was released. True, he was again forbidden to conduct services in the Slavic language.

Returning to Pannonia, Methodius violated this regulation and settled in Moravia, where he translated holy books and continued to perform divine services. Over the course of six years, the group of students he created did a tremendous amount of work: they not only completed the translation into Slavic of all the books of the Holy Scriptures, but also translated the most important documents that made up the collection Nomokannon. It was a collection of decrees that determined the norms for the performance of worship and all church life.

Methodius' activities gave rise to new denunciations, and he was again summoned to Rome. However, Pope John VIII realized that nothing could prevent the spread of the Slavic alphabet, and again allowed Slavic worship. True, at the same time he excommunicated Methodius from the Catholic Church.

Methodius returned back to Moravia, where he continued his activities. Only in 883 did he go to Byzantium again, and upon his return he continued his work, but soon died, leaving as his successor a student named Gorazd.

To this day, scientists continue to debate about what kind of alphabet Kirill created - Cyrillic or Glagolitic. The difference between them is that the Glagolitic alphabet is more archaic in its lettering, and the Cyrillic alphabet turned out to be more convenient for conveying the sound features of the Slavic language. It is known that in the 9th century both alphabets were in use, and only at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries. Glagolitic alphabet has practically fallen out of use.

After the death of Cyril, the alphabet he invented received its current name. Over time, the Cyrillic alphabet became the basis of all Slavic alphabets, including Russian.