Konstantin Preslavski ABC prayer ABC prayer
“ABC PRAYER” (893–894) Konstantin Preslavski (9th-10th century) Bulgarian poets
Konstantin Preslavski ABC PRAYER (literal translation from Old Bulgarian into Bulgarian)
Behold, I pray to God and think: God is over every creature and the creator of what is visible and what is not seen. Lord, the living spirit, give up and breathe into the world this word, which will be for the good of everything that lives in your commandments. Protect the holy lamp on the belly, light in the patekite on the tozi, some diri the words of the Gospel and pray that you may receive your free gift. Fly now and the Slavic tribe. Who is the baptism of all the creatures that they desire, and behold, they will call your choirs; Your mercy, God, they pray sadly. But today give me an abundant word, Father, blessed and blessed soul, on me, prayers of help from you. Rye your izdigam vinagas on the mountain, so that you may receive strength and wisdom from you, so that you may give us worthy strength and protect every creature. Deliver me from Pharaonic malice, give me the cherubic mind and mind, oh, honorable trinity, turn my sorrows into joy and peace of wisdom, and describe to you the wonders of taking silat on the hexagon. Nowadays I'm going to rip on the teacher. The followers had and did for them, clearly directing the word of the Gospel, giving praise to the trinity in divinity, which gave rise to every age - young and old with their own minds - and one new people, giving praise to the father, son and holy spirit, due honor to someone , power and glory from every creature and breath, forever and ever. Amine.
ABC PRAYER (poetic translation from Old Bulgarian into Bulgarian: Emanuil Popdimitrov, 1933)
Behold, I pray to God and think: And God is a light, who from here we see is holy and wondrously holy is invisible! In the Lord-spirit, move thi in the heart of God, let me lie with the fiery word - Yes, in the right way, let everything be done, live in your most pure commandment! I know that your law is a living lamp and at the end of the day the light is incorruptible and the gift of the Gospel is thirsty. Litna Dnes and the Slavic tribe, mercy on your krasta and tarsi. But for me, pray for help, Father, blue and bright soul - having asked, - give your powerful word to me, let my eyes rise and receive wisdom, strength, which you abundantly bestow from heaven upon all creatures. Take away the Pharaoh's malice from the pride, heal me, give me the cherubic power of the six-crested king! Yes, I describe your miracles with inspiration, the steps of the pack are glorious, what teachers are two, forever young, sketch. Yes, clearly directing your word for the people! On Svetat the Trinity was glorified: all praise was given to her! And my people, the Father and the Sin and the Light, exalted the spirit - today, forever and ever, and until the Amen.
ABC PRAYER (literal translation from Old Bulgarian into Bulgarian: Klimentina Ivanova)
I pray to God with this thought: God, for the creation of all things, both the creator of the world, both visible and invisible, the Lord Spirit has flown, the life-giving one, for the breath into the earth of the word, some help given to everything that lives according to your plans. The protection that shone brightly on your belly and the light of your heels (according to Proverbs 6:23). Think evangelically of Jaduva, pray to her and give your gift and receive it. Fly now and the Slavic tribe! Kom krashchenie behold the striving of all the birds, wishing and behold your choirs will be called. You have mercy, O God, we pray earnestly. But give me this day an abundant word, Father, Blue and Blessed Soul, on me, praying for help! Ratse nagora, I am without spirit, let me receive intelligence and strength from you, protect you for those worthy of you, and protect all nature from you. Save me from Pharaoh’s wickedness and give me a cherubic mind and mind, O most holy and honorable Trinity, turn you into joy and repose with wisdom and health and describe to you many wonderful miracles. On the six-crylite there was power, I followed the Teacher, following the deed and not ready to explain the Gospel word, I praise the Trinity as a deity [one], which is praised by all ages, young and old, with their own and dissipated. The new people are eternally glorified, giving back to the Father and the Sin and the Holy Spirit; honor and strength and glory are given to them, from all things done and created, for all things forever and ever. Amine!
ABC PRAYER (translation from Old Bulgarian into Church Slavonic)
With this word I pray to God: God of all creation, Creator, Visible and invisible, Send the Lord the Living Spirit, May the word breathe into my heart, May it be for success for all who live in Ti’s commandments. Zelo is the lamp of Life, Thy Law, the light of the paths, who seeks the words of the Gospel and asks for Thy gifts to be accepted. All have turned to baptism, Thy people have been baptized willingly, Thy mercy, O God, they earnestly ask for, But now give me a broad word, Father, Son and Most Holy Soul, who asks for help from You. For I will always lift up my hands, The strength of acceptance and wisdom belong to You. You give strength to those who are worthy, and you give every purpose. The hope of all the ends of the earth, deliver Pharaoh from my malice. Give me cherubic thought and mind. Oh, Honest Most Holy Trinity, turn my sorrow into joy. Let me chastely begin to write Your wondrous Miracles, I will receive the power of the Six-Winged One, now walking in the footsteps of the Teacher, following His name and deed. I will make manifest the word of the Gospel, giving praise to the Trinity in the Divinity, Who sings to every age, young and old in their minds, a new language, giving praise ever to the Father, the Son and the Most Holy Spirit, to Him is honor and power and glory from all creation breathing forever and ever . Amen.
Literature
- Vasya Velinova.
Bishop Konstantin Preslavski has the floor. - Sofia: Time, 1998. - ISBN 954-4568-12-8. - Kuyo Cuev.
ABC prayer in Slavic literature. - Sofia: BAN, 1974. - Kuyo Cuev.
Question for authorship of the ABC prayer // Slavist. studios. Collection on the occasion of the V international Slavist. congr. to Sofia. - Sofia, 1963. - William R. Veder.
Utrum in alterum abiturum erat: A Study of the Beginnings of Text Transmission in Church Slavic. - Bloomington: Slavica, 1999. - ISBN 0-89357-277-2. - Veselin Panayotov.
For editing on ABC Prayer // Yearbook at the School of Bishops. Konstantin Preslavski", XV A. - Tarnovo, 2000. - Ukrainian Radian Encyclopedia.
Russian ABC prayer
“ABC Prayers” was written by a disciple of St. Methodius (brother of St. Cyril), an outstanding Bulgarian writer and church leader, Konstantin of Preslav (Bishop of Preslav the Great), who lived at the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, [1] no later than 893. [2] The erroneous attribution of the “ABC Prayer” to Saint Cyril, the enlightener of the Slavs (before becoming a monk, bore the name Constantine the Philosopher) goes back to the replacement of the original title with the words “The Sitsa Speech of Saint Cyril” when extracted from the full text. [3]
The ABC Prayer is an acrostic poem in which each line begins with a different letter of the alphabet. The poetic technique of acrostic was used even before the appearance of the “Explanatory ABCs” among the Slavs - Byzantine hymnographers followed it when writing church chants and hymns. For example, the alphabetic acrostic was used to create the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos, many kontakia of St. Roman the Sweet Singer, the canons of St. Joseph the Songwriter and other works of Byzantine spiritual literature.
Scientists believe that the prototype of the Slavic “ABC Prayer” was the “Alphabet” of St. Gregory the Theologian [4] - a poem of 24 lines of 12 syllables, each of which begins with the next letter in the Greek alphabet. However, this Greek text, unlike the “ABC Prayer,” is not a complete work, but only a selection of moralizing maxims, such as “it’s bad to be poor, but it’s even worse to get rich through evil.”
Prayer to Cyril and Methodius: how to read?
The names of these saints are invariably associated with the creation of Slavic writing and other educational activities. However, they are revered not only for translating the texts of the Holy Scriptures and creating the alphabet, but also for the fact that they provide all kinds of help and patronize people who pray for this.
Who were these saints?
A prayer is offered to Cyril and Methodius, although the saints did not bear these names from birth. The brothers were named Mikhail and Konstantin. They were born into a noble family that lived in the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki. The head of the family, the father of future preachers and educators, was in military service, and their grandfather was a nobleman at the imperial court in Constantinople. Accordingly, the brothers grew up in prosperity, did not experience any need, and received a good education.
The city in which the saints spent their childhood was bilingual. On its streets they spoke not only Greek, but also the Thessalonica dialect, that is, the language of the eastern and southern Slavic tribes. Thus, Slavic speech was familiar to future educators from early childhood.
The brothers received the names Cyril and Methodius after taking monastic vows. Michael became Methodius, and Constantine, respectively, Cyril. Saints are venerated both in the Western Christian tradition and in the Eastern one. The order of their names in the world is Cyril and Methodius, but during church service the order of mention changes. This is due to the fact that Methodius had a higher rank than his brother.
What do the saints pray for?
Prayer to Cyril and Methodius, as a rule, relates to the topic of education, gaining knowledge, or teaching work. In other words, the saints pray:
- parents worried about their children's academic success;
- students who are bad at any subject;
- teachers experiencing difficulties in their work.
This specificity is due to the brothers’ lifetime activities. Cyril and Methodius not only compiled the alphabet and translated many sacred texts into the Slavic language, thereby laying the foundation for church services not in the Greek dialect, they were also teachers.
How can I pray for help in my studies?
Prayer to Cyril and Methodius for help in mastering knowledge has been helping to cope with learning difficulties for several centuries. You can address the saints in your own words; it is not at all necessary to memorize ready-made texts. However, we must not forget that prayer is not a set of magic words, saying which you can indulge in idleness. Prayer helps you organize yourself and calm down. In other words, knowledge does not appear in the head after prayer; turning to the saints only helps to master it.
A prayer to Cyril and Methodius, which helps in teaching, may sound like this:
“Holy teachers, Equal-to-the-Apostles Methodius and Cyril! I ask you for help in learning, which is difficult. I ask you to endow my mind with insight, strengthen my memory and cleanse my soul from worries and vain desires. I ask you for help in achieving my goals, for they are good. Help me avoid worldly temptations, don’t let me be distracted by the insignificant, save me from the vain. Amen"
How to pray for children's education?
Of course, the most powerful prayer to Cyril and Methodius is read by mothers who worry about their children. Every difficulty that a child encounters, all his failures are perceived very painfully by parents, causing anxiety, confusion and excitement in their hearts. Prayer addressed to holy mentors will help cope with such a condition and, of course, contribute to the child’s success.
A prayer for the children of Cyril and Methodius could be like this:
“Illuminators of God, Methodius and Cyril! Hear me, servant (proper name), comfort and help me with earthly concerns. I pray to you with humility in my heart and faith for the mercy of our Lord, for whose glory you brought light to people’s teachings. I ask for your help and guidance for my child (child’s name). He can’t handle (description of the problem). Guide, holy mentors, clear the mind of unnecessary and empty things, endow memory with strength and thought with clarity. Amen"
How to pray to a teacher?
It's not just children and young people who need help with their studies. Teachers often experience much more stress than their students. This happens for various reasons. Some get lost in the rapidly changing requirements for education and a large number of teaching aids. Others cannot find a common language with their students, do not understand children and worry about their own inability to interest children in a school subject.
Prayer to Cyril and Methodius will help you cope with this. An example of her text:
“Holy mentors, teachers Methodius and Cyril! I pray for your help in my work, for I have lost confidence in myself. Please, guide me, show me where I am wrong and why I am not coping. I pray you, give my thoughts clarity, my mind purity, and my words intelligibility. I ask you, Methodius and Cyril, for help in a good cause, not for my own sake, but for my disciples. Amen"
“ABC prayer” in Russia
The “ABC prayer” was widespread in the ancient Russian written tradition, as evidenced by the large number of its variants. To date, scientists have discovered and published 43 copies of the “ABC Prayer” of the 12th-17th centuries (23 of them are extracts from the full text with an erroneous attribution to St. Cyril), all of Russian origin.
The “ABC Prayer” was first published in 1825 in the Russian edition of Joseph Dobrovsky’s book “Cyril and Methodius, Slovenian First Teachers”, as an appendix to which M. P. Pogodin included the text of the prayer from two lists: the Pskov one from 1494 and from the collection of the Volokolamsk Monastery XVI century. A critical edition of the text for all lists is presented in the book WR Veder. "Utrum in alterum abiturum erat?"
Notes
- Kuyo Cuev.
Question for authorship of the ABC prayer // Slavist. studios. Collection on the occasion of the V international Slavist. congr. to Sofia. - Sofia, 1963. - pp. 325-336. - William R. Veder.
Utrum in alterum abiturum erat: A Study of the Beginnings of Text Transmission in Church Slavic. - Bloomington, 1999. - pp. 79-80. - William R. Veder.
Utrum in alterum abiturum erat: A Study of the Beginnings of Text Transmission in Church Slavic. - Bloomington, 1999. - P. 62. - [www.orthedu.ru/culture/slava/17-34/24-27.htm Website of the Novosibirsk and Berd Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.]
- In the Glagolitic alphabet, yat at the beginning of words is read as [ja].
Options for the “Explanatory ABC”
The texts of the prayer given below are conveyed in modern letters of the Russian alphabet, with the exception of the first letters of the acrostic, while preserving the sound of the original text.
“I pray to God with this word”
The text was discovered among the manuscripts of the former Patriarchal Library in a collection that once belonged to Patriarch Nikon.
A
With a word, he is praying to God:
the whole creature of the Zizdik,
in
the and innocent,
the Obliga
of the Soul, is the living,
it
is in the heart in the heart,
the
same will rage on the success of everyone
who
willing in the subject.
Indeed,
Thy Law is the lamp of life
,
the light of the paths,
and
seeks the words of the Gospel
and
asks for Thy gifts to be accepted.
all
turned to baptism,
people
willingly be named,
mercy
, O God, earnestly ask.
But
now give a long word about me,
O
Father, Son and Most Holy Soul,
for
help from You.
For
I will lift up my hearts forever,
You
receive strength and wisdom.
For
you give strength to the worthy, and hypostasis for all purposes.
are loved
.
Pharaoh
's malice,
give me thought and intelligence
to the Ѡ
, Honest Most Holy Trinity, shift my sorrow to joy.
Let me
chastely begin to write
wondrous
wonders,
of the
six-winged ones.
Today
I follow in the footsteps of the teacher, following his name and deed,
and
with them [5] I will create the word of the Gospel, giving praise to the Trinity in the Divinity,
and
every age, young and old, sings to them. zoom,
the
language is new, giving ever praise to the Father, the Son and to the Most Holy Spirit, to Him be honor and power and glory from all creation and breath from all ages and forever. Amen
“I am the light of the world”
The text of this “ABC Prayer” from the handwritten “Collection of Words and Teachings,” which dates back to the mid-17th century, is stored in the library of Moscow University.
A
I am the light of the world
God
I am before all ages
I
eat all the mystery in man and the thought
I
say to men My
law
is good to those who do My
I
am my wrath against sinners
The
life of all creation
I
am a transgressor On nothing
My
Earth established My Throne, And
in heaven
I
marched on the gates of hell, crushed and the iron faith was broken,
As
lawlessness,
do not do the will of My people,
My
disobedient
. I You
are our God and protector
About
us I will call upon the tongues and nations to glorify Me
May
give rest to all my creation
Pharaoh
, I will not hear you, and I will not hear you.
With
My word
Thy
steadfast hand, the Lord
of Pharaoh
, flooded the Red Sea.
The
cherubs serve me with fear and I
believe
heaven is a Christian
and
I don’t give food for you in the desert
Worm
and fire are prepared for sinners
With
noise and will burn the oak groves
Shield
armed for battle Mountains leaping up at My appearance Your
horde
My
baptism
Destroy x I will scatter the whole universe with the south wind. I
have
preached prophecies and the apostles have taught about Me. .
Prayer to Saints Methodius and Cyril Equal to the Apostles
About the glorification of the language of the Slovenian teachers and educators, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Methodius and Cyril. To you, as children of your father, enlightened by the light of your teachings and writings and instructed in the faith of Christ, we now earnestly resort to you and pray in contrition of our hearts. Even if your covenant, like children disobedient, was not kept and about pleasing God, as if it were cleansed, careless, and from like-mindedness and love, even in words, like brothers in the faith and according to the flesh, you made a good testament, fallen away, even as it was anciently in life Do not turn away your ungrateful and unworthy ones, but reward them with good for evil, so even now your prayers will not turn away your sinful and unworthy children, but, as you have great boldness in the Lord, diligently pray to Him, that He may instruct and turn us to the path of salvation, while discord and the discord that arises among brothers of the same faith will be pacified, those who have fallen away will be brought back into unanimity, and will unite us all with unity of spirit and love in one, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We know, we know, how much the prayer of a righteous person can do for the mercy of the Lord, even if it is offered for sinful people. Do not forsake us, your sad and unworthy children, whose sin is for the sake of your flock, gathered by you, divided by enmity and seduced by temptations from the Gentiles, diminished, its verbal sheep scattered, admired from mental wolves, give us zeal for Orthodoxy through your prayers, Let us warm ourselves with it, preserve the traditions of our fathers well, faithfully observe the charters and customs of the church, let us run away from all strange false teachings, and so, in a life pleasing to God on earth, we will be worthy of the life of paradise in heaven and there with you, together with the Lord of all, in the Trinity we will glorify the One God in forever and ever. Amen.
Troparion of Saint Methodius Equal to the Apostles, tone 4
Thy Saint, O Christ, grant Thy mercy from above to those who are creating the bright triumph of the Dormition, open the doors of the Kingdom, and resolve our bonds of many sins through the intercession of Thy holy disciple, our father.
Kontakion of Saint Methodius Equal to the Apostles, tone 2
Let us all sing of the divine and faithful Methodius, people, and please us with love, as the great Slovenian shepherd, the honorable servant of the Trinity, the banisher of heresy, prays for all of us.
Troparion of St. Cyril Equal to the Apostles, tone 4
From the shrouds he diligently created Wisdom for himself, a sister, God's Voice, having seen the radiant one, like a pure maiden, receive him like the monists, bringing her with gold, sowing her soul and mind, and finding herself like another Cyril, blessed, wiser in mind and name.
