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 Kiril
and Metodij are the founders of the Macedonian literacy. They protected the
position's of Christianity, and accepted their mission to Moravia to organise
the church and to oppose Germany. For this reason, Kiril created
the alphabet "Glagolica" and wrote the necessary church books, which was
in the same time the first Macedonian literary language. Kiril and Metodij
became the creators of the first Macedonian alphabet.
Konstantin, Metodij and 10 of their students went to
Moravia in 863 in a special mission: to educate Rostislav's people, and
to spread Christianity in a understandable language. This meant
that in that time, the language of the Macedonian was very similar
with the people of Moravia.
The Macedonian missionary's were greeted by the prince Rostislav
with great respect, where soon they succeeded with great achievements to
educate the people. Although they educated many people, the German priesthood
did not accept the defeat and started to send calumny letters to the Pope
in Rome. They attacked the work of the brothers from Solun, and that is
why the Pope called Konstantin and Metodij to explain themselves.
The brothers announced their arrival in Rome, and informed
the Pope that they were bringing the bones from the Pope St. Kliment. They
were greeted with honour by the Pope and the people, where Konstantin and
Metodij succeeded to explain and prove that they were right. The Pope then
blessed their liturgy, giving them the right to continue with the
work. This was followed by a big liturgy which was held in Rome.
Till then Konstantin received a priest title, and he
became a monarch and as it was customary, change his name to Kiril.
Meanwhile Kiril became very ill in Rome and before going
back to Moravia, he died in 869. His grave can still be found in the church
St. Kiril, in the city of Rome. With deep pain from this loss, Metodij
was on his way to Moravia with his students, but they did not reach their
goal, because the German's destroyed Rostislav, and they stopped in Panonija.
They were also followed by the German priesthood. Metodij was then sent
to prison and torched , while his students were persecuted, locked up,
taken to markets, and sold throughout Europe.
Unable to cope with the physical pain, Metodij died in
885, far away from the fatherland.
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