Bulgaria's Orthodox church celebrates May 11 the feast day of the enlighteners Sts. Cyril and Methodius, two of the fathers of Slavic literary culture.
The brothers are also celebrated as the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet.
They were born in Thessalonica, in 827 and 826 respectively. Both were outstanding scholars, theologians, and linguists.
In the 9th century the Holy Brothers Sts. Cyril and Methodius created the Slavic alphabet and made the first translations in it. Their disciples introduced the alphabet in Bulgaria, putting the beginning of its journey to the world. Several centuries later, Patriarch Evtimii launched a literary reform and updated the alphabet, assuming that words are the expression of the divine essence of things.
The Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet has been in existence for more than eleven centuries, but it will be introduced for the first time in the European Union after the country obtains full membership.
Pope John Paul II proclaimed the two Sts Cyril and Methodius Co-patrons of Europe together with St Benedict of Norcia in 1980.