An exhibition of rare Orthodox books dedicated to the Day of Slavic Writing has opened in Vitebsk

May 23, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. An exhibition of rare Orthodox books dedicated to the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture has opened at the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, the cultural institution informed a BELTA correspondent. More than 40 publications are presented in two halls, including liturgical books and literature of spiritual and moral content. Among the most interesting exhibits are the 1758 Gospel of the Pochaev Lavra, 19th-century Festal Menaions with neume notation, a 1916 Bible with color engravings, and a 1957 album with images of the Patriarchs of Moscow and All Rus'. The exhibition also includes a facsimile edition of the 16th-century book "The Life of Saint Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky," a handwritten Psalter, and St. Andrew of Caesarea's commentary on the Apocalypse (19th century). The collection is supplemented with modern Orthodox and liturgical literature, adapted books for children, and publications of the Vitebsk Diocese (the reference book "Vitebsk Diocese: Monasteries, Churches, Parishes" (2010), Archbishop Dmitry's monograph "Vitebsk Diocese: History and Modernity," etc.). Molds of publications by Francysk Skaryna, Vasil Tupinsky, and Simeon Polotsky, as well as a set of materials about the printing house of the Kuteinsky Monastery near Orsha, help to form an idea of the first early printed books in Belarusian lands. A special place in the exhibition is occupied by items from archaeological excavations: the famous 11th-century "babino pryaslitsе" (spinning whorl), book clasps found in Vitebsk, styluses of the 12th-13th centuries, and the first birch bark letter found in Belarus at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries. Familiarization with the exhibition will allow museum visitors to expand their knowledge of the history and development of Slavic writing. The exhibition will run until June 17. The Day of Orthodox Writing is celebrated on May 24, the Day of Remembrance of Saints Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius. In 863, Christian preachers and missionaries, Saints Brothers Cyril and Methodius, were sent to Moravia by decree of the Byzantine Emperor to preach to the Slavs. The brothers created the first Slavic alphabet and translated liturgical books into the Slavic language, thereby laying the foundations of Slavic writing and culture.-0-