site.btaMPs Pay Tribute to Sts Cyril and Methodius and Bulgarian Alphabet

MPs from several parliamentary groups paid tribute Friday to the legacy of Saints Cyril and Methodius and the Bulgarian alphabet in declarations ahead of May 24, the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius.

On May 24, Bulgaria celebrates the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, of the Bulgarian Alphabet, Education and Culture, and of Slavic Literature. Constantine (Cyril) (827-869) and Methodius (815-885) were Bulgarian missionaries born in Salonica, who devised the first writing system for Slav languages (Glagolitic) in 855 AD or 862-863 AD.

Addressing Parliament Democratic Bulgaria MP Anna Bodakova said that "having one’s own alphabet means having symbols through which the invisible becomes visible – thought, memory, faith and knowledge," adding that the alphabet was "a refuge of memory, a bridge between generations and proof that a single word can preserve, evolve and speak across time," while Bulgaria held a key place in the history of Slavic literacy through the Preslav and Ohrid literary schools, where the written word became a foundation of Bulgarian spirituality and statehood. 

MP Aylin Pehlivanova of Continue the Change said "there can be no state without literacy and spiritual memory" and described knowledge, books and spiritual unity as the true strength of a nation, adding that Saints Cyril and Methodius gave Slavic nations not only a writing system, but also the right to language, spirituality and belonging, while the arrival of their disciples in Bulgaria turned the country into a spiritual centre of the Slavic world. 

Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) MP Atidzhe Alieva-Veli said more than 250 million people around the world use the Cyrillic alphabet every day, describing it as Bulgaria's contribution to global civilization and cultural progress, and added that May 24 defines Bulgaria's place on the world map and remains a symbol of the country's enduring spiritual and cultural legacy more than 11 centuries later.