On Sunday, January 20, the
ceremony dedicated to issuing the first leaf of the facsimile edition of the
Peresopnytsia Gospels took
place. The festive event was held in the manufacturing centre of the Publishing
House "ADEF-Ukraine", situated in the town of Bucha, the Kyiv region.
The ceremony started with
Moleben "Before Every Good Work"
served by Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church His Beatitude Metropolitan
Volodymyr. Bishop of Vasylkiv Luka, Bishop of Boryspil Anthony, Bishop of Sumy
and Okhturka Ilariy and of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Alexander served with him.
At the event were also present: the Abbess of the Odesa Holy Archangel Michael Convent
hegumeness Seraphima (Shevchik), the first President of independent Ukraine
Leonide Kravchuk, the ex-Minister of Culture and Tourism Yuriy Bogutskyi, the
academician of NASU Petro Tolochko, the poet Boris Oliynyk and others.
After the Moleben the
festival part of the event commenced by the introductory word of hegumeness
Seraphima, in which she told about the significance of the Peresopnytsia
Gospels for the Ukrainian state and its people.
Then she yielded the floor to the first
President of independent Ukraine Leonide Kravchuk, who said in particular: "I know how important for Ukraine this book is. The Peresopnytsia Gospels became not
only the great spiritual book for the Ukrainian independent state. God was
willing that it acquired the status of the book of state significance, on which
the presidents swear fidelity to Ukraine. I had an extremely great and lucky
chance to put my hand upon this sacred book and to swear fidelity to my
Motherland. It was the first time in history of the Ukrainian State."
After that the floor was
given to the representative of the President's Administration Yuriy Bogutskyi: he gave the sincere
greetings of Victor Yushchenko and informed that the Head of the State took
this project under his patronage and would do everything in order that the
people got the facsimile edition as soon as possible. "Today we are present at
the most outstanding event", said the academician of NASU Petro Tolochko, "I
should say at the event of historical significance. Today the facsimile edition
of the Peresopnytsia
Gospels is initiated. This book is unique not only by its canonical
spirituality, but by the unique artistic value."
The academician thanked His
Beatitude "for the initiative of re-editing this record - a symbol of
national spirituality". The
culmination of the festive event was printing the first leaf of the shrine - it
was presented to the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Thereafter handing out of
the nominal certificates to the patrons of the facsimile edition and
restoration of the Peresopnytsia Gospels took place. Among them there were: His
Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr, Metropolitan of Donetsk and Mariupol Ilarion,
Bishops of Sumy and Okhtyrka Ilariy, Bishop of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyi Alexander
and others persons.
Upon completion
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine addressed those present. "I'm
sincerely grateful to you for your hearty response to the initiative of
re-publishing of this wonderful record which testifies to the eternity of
faith, to the eternity of our life and our hope," noted the Archpastor. "Let
these sacred moments we are experiencing here together be commemorative for us,
let them help us to appreciate once more the invaluable treasures of our
people, our culture and our Orthodox faith."
The Peresopnytsia Gospels is a national shrine of our state
and a prominent record of the Ukrainian written culture. It is the first known translation of
the canonical text of the Gospels into Ukrainian language.
The work on the manuscript started on August
15, 1556 in the Dvoretsky Monastery of the Zaslavsky
princes at the Holy Trinity Church. Then the Gospel of St.Matthew and the first
part of the text of the Gospel of St.Mark were also translated.
Later the monks stopped
their work for some time and resumed it only in 1561 in the Peresopnytsia Monastery at the Church of
the Nativity of the Theotokos (now the village of Peresypnytsia in the Rivne region). They
completed the work on August 29, 1561.
Only once in four years the
Peresopnytsia Gospels is
taken out of repository so that the Presidents of our country could lay hands
on it in course of inauguration, swearing fidelity to the people of Ukraine.
The Peresopnytsia Gospels is unavailable to the wide circles of public. Thus the actual problem arises of publishing
this work with the help of the modern polygraphist facilities, reproducing all
details of its initial view.
Maxim
Sydorenko
Photos by Maxim Brusnyka | |
|
