Rome, 24 May 2024 (MIA) — Cyril was centuries ahead of his time and "incorporated not only his life but also ours in Europe many, many centuries ago," President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova said today after the prayer service in honor of St. Cyril at his tomb in the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome.

"We have to respect that. Cyril was clear about the meaning of the word and the thought, because it means unification, understanding, listening and speaking," Siljanovska Davkova said.

According to MIA's reporter in Rome, the President stressed that St. Cyril's message that language is a code of understanding was proof that what he had in mind was to unify the Pan-Slavic world.

"They belong to him and he belongs to everyone," Siljanovska Davkova said after the prayer service also attended by Macedonian believers from Italy and Austria who came to pay respect to St. Clement.

The Metropolitan Pimen of Europe, who with the Metropolitan Timotej of Debar and Kichevo led the prayer service at the St. Cyril tomb, said the event had been organized for the 56th time. 

Pimen said St. Cyril's legacy "showed that the Lord God can be glorified in any language," which was important for Macedonians. "We remain a special part of all Slavic nations with our own Macedonian literary language, which is not a copy of any other," he said. mr/