site.btaA Nation’s Strength Lies in Knowledge, Not Only in Sword, Says Continue the Change MP Aylin Pehlivanova

“There can be no state without literacy and spiritual memory. The wisdom of our ancestors was precisely in understanding that the strength of a nation lies not only in the sword, but in knowledge, books and spiritual unity,” MP Aylin Pehlivanova (Continue the Change) said in a declaration from the parliamentary rostrum ahead of May 24, the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian Alphabet, Education, Culture, and Slavic Literature.

Cyril (Constantine) (827-869) and Methodius (815-885) were Bulgarian missionaries born in Salonica (Thessaloniki), who devised the first writing system for Slav languages (Glagolitic) in 855 AD or 862-863 AD. 

Pehlivanova said Saints Cyril and Methodius gave Slavic nations not only a writing system, but also the right to language, spirituality and belonging. She said they affirmed the right of every nation to hear God’s word in its own language and develop its culture through its own script and identity. 

She said historical records show that after the arrival of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius in Bulgaria, the country became a spiritual centre of the Slavic world. Literary traditions first developed around Pliska and later flourished in Ohrid and Veliki Preslav, she said, adding that Veliki Preslav marks its official holiday on May 24.

Pehlivanova also said it was the duty of modern generations to preserve this heritage and educate future generations to respect language, knowledge and historical memory.