On May 19, Friday, at 6:00 p.m., in the “Petya Dubarova” hall of the “Morsko Casino” CC, a public lecture on the topic “Truths and legends about the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius” will be given. The speaker will be one of the greatest contemporary connoisseurs of Cyril and Methodius work – Prof. D.I.N. Dimo Cheshmedzhiev.
He is a professor at the Cyril and Methodius Scientific Center at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, a professor at Plovdiv University, a guest lecturer at the Sorbonne Universities in Paris, Venice, Nitra, Lodz and Rome, author of hundreds of scientific monographs, studies and articles dedicated to the Holy Brothers and their work, as well as the cults of Bulgarian saints in the Middle Ages.
Recently, Cyril and Methodius were at the center of a “scandal” in our familiar society. Actually, not exactly them, but their relics, which suddenly appeared out of nowhere and were displayed for worship in a Bulgarian temple.
Of course, when it comes to relics of saints, the most important thing is not whether they are real or not, but the faith with which one approaches them, but it is remarkable that great historical figures cannot find peace even after their death – they begin the posthuman period of their lives!
But even without this “scandal”, in recent years, interest in the personalities and work of the Slavic apostles St. St. Cyril and Methodius has grown sharply. They found themselves at the center of a heated discussion related to the role of Bulgaria in the creation and preservation of the Slavic script, of the two Slavic alphabets – Glagolitic and Cyrillic. Moreover, the problem is politicized, entire countries have made it part of their state ideology and policy.
For this reason, the lecture will discuss all historical information about their life and activities. The development of the idea of Cyril and Methodius, which is mostly contained in various hagiographical (lives) and hymnographical (services, canons or individual troparia) sources, decorating their church cult, will be traced in detail. Particular attention will be paid to their iconographic images, which are less or completely unknown to the general public, and which carry important information about their veneration.
An important highlight of the lecture will be the tracing of the transformation of the idea of Cyril and Methodius in Bulgaria. First of all, the appearance of their common holiday – on August 25 or May 11.
Secondly, their “transformation” from “Slavic apostles”, as is the case in the oldest works dedicated to them, to “Bulgarian apostles”, in order to reach the appearance of reports that they are “Bulgarians by birth” in both their lives from the 13th century. This process ended during the Bulgarian revival, when the two became symbols of the Bulgarian national cause, banners of the struggle for an independent Bulgarian church!
The event is organized by the Municipality of Burgas, Regional Historical Museum – Burgas and CC “Sea Casino”.
