Alphabet Day (May 24)

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the Saint’s Day of Sts. Cyril and Methodius on May 11 of the old Julian calendar, which is May 24 on the new revised Julian calendar and the Common Era calendar.
During 1991, Russia, which for over half a century repressed the Russian Orthodox Church, as the Soviet Union was being dissolved, designated May 24 as a joint holiday by the emerging Russian government and the revived Russian Orthodox Church. Officially the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature, it is popularly known as Alphabet Day and celebrates the establishment of the Cyrillic alphabet, named for Saint Cyril, as the official alphabet of the Russian language.

The rise of the Cyrillic alphabet was not immediate. Introduced into Bulgaria in the middle of the ninth century, it became important in the emergence of the Bulgarian nation and facilitated the development of Bulgarian literature and culture. Russia adopted Christianity officially as the state religion in 988. The development of both Christianity and Russian culture was slowed between the 12th and 14th centuries when Russia was dominated by the Tartars, who destroyed many of the churches. The Tartars were finally turned back following the battle of Kulikov in 1380, and Bulgaria proved a major resource for rebuilding Russian orthodoxy. About this time, a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet call Abur or Old Permic was introduced into Russian by the missionary priest Stepan Khrap (1340–1396), now known as Saint Stephen of Perm. His alphabet was used until the 17th century, when Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725) mandated the use of the present Cyrillic alphabet. The work of Saint Stephen of Perm is remembered on April 26, which is both his saint’s day and Old Permic Alphabet Day.

Following the proclamation of the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature in 1991, little was done in the way of celebration. The Russian Orthodox Church was still relatively weak, many in government were still atheists, and the day conflicted with the end of the university year. However, toward the end of the first decade of the new century, government attitudes toward the revived Orthodox Church mellowed. In 2010, the patriarch of the Russian church invited the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to join in the celebrations with the backing of the government. They were held at the recently dedicated Cathedral of Christ the Savior (the largest Orthodox church in the world). The 2010 celebration signaled a new level of church-state cooperation in Russia.

References
Odynova, Alexandria. “Kremlin and Church Unite on Alphabet Day.” Moscow Times (May 25, 2010). Posted at http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/kremlin -and-church-unite-on-alphabet-day/406714.html. Accessed May 27, 2010. Tachiaos, Anthony-Emil N. Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica: The Acculturation of the Slavs. Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2001.

Alphabet Day (May 24) 2019-11-07T01:05:00-08:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: mc