THE MACEDONIAN HERITAGE OF SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS (Macedonskie dziedzictwo cyrylometodejskie)

This text focuses on the secular tradition of Cyril and Methodius in Macedonia. The analysis is based on documents and rare poems which described the existence of these saints. There was a solid political raison d'etre for the presence of these materials and two saints in the Macedonian tradition. They appeared themselves, together with the Slavic ethos, in opposition to unfamiliar nations in the second half of the nineteenth century. At that time they were found together with some other heroes in the national pantheon. Their existence was the evidence that the Macedonian people did belong to the Christian Slavic world. They also acquired importance as Christian teachers and missionaries to Slavic lands. Even in the twentieth century they were still mentioned because their activities, beliefs, and foundations were needed to create an independent state. Even in the atheistic communist era these two saints were symbols of moral and religious values. They became the patron saints of many schools and educational institutions. When Macedonia became an independent state in 1991 the cult of Cyril and Methodius did not expire. That fact was the evidence of the uninterrupted Macedonian tradition, and of the necessity of the existence of a founding myth which continually confirms Macedonian cultural identity.