ПРАЗНИКЪТ НА СЛАВЯНСКИТЕ АПОСТОЛИ КИРИЛ И МЕТОДИЙ СРЕД ЮЖНИТЕ СЛАВЯНИ ПРЕЗ ХІХ–ХХ ВЕК
THE DAY OF THE SLAVIC APOSTLES CYRIL AND METHODIUS AMONG THE SOUTHERN SLAVS IN THE 19TH–20TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: The article aims at exploring the celebration of the Day of the Slavic Apostles Cyril and Methodius among the Southern Slavs in the 19th and 20th centuries. The personality, activity, cultural and historical heritage of Saints Cyril and Methodius were imposed permanently in the mass consciousness of the Slavic nations in the 19th century owing to Slavic studies, the Slavophil movement and the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. This holiday evolved faster and more widely among Western Catholic Slavs than among Eastern Orthodox Slavs, and through a third model, unique only to the Bulgarians. They have the oldest tradition among all Slavic peoples in this area. On the basis of that historical tradition and actual political necessity in Bulgaria, a transition from the celebration of the Slavic Apostles Cyril and Methodius from the religious sphere to civil life occurred already in the mid-19th century. The Day of the Slavic Apostles Cyril and Methodius became the first Bulgarian national holiday celebrated on May 11 on the Orthodox Church Calendar. After the change of calendar style in 1916, this holiday began to be celebrated on May 24. Among Slovenians and Croats this holiday is part of the Catholic Church calendar on July 5. Among the Serbs throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries there was absolutely no tradition of civil or church celebration of Cyril and Methodius. In the Republic of Northern Macedonia the Day of the Slavic Apostles became an official holiday in 1998, in the Republic of Serbia – as late as in 2019. In both countries, as in Bulgaria, it is celebrated on 24 May.

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