Divine Liturgy Research Articles

Itinerant Musicians of Western Polissia: Mykola Muravets

The person and career of the outstanding traveling musician Mykola Muravets from Western Polissia were characterized in general terms on the basis of the newly acquired expedition materials. This notorious hurdy-gurdy player was born in 1906 on the Murava farm near the village of Shtun of the Volodymyr-Volyn District, Volyn Gubernia. At the age of 11, because of burns from a fired gas shell, he completely lost his sight. The boy was distinguished by his beautiful voice and had an excellent memory and musical ear, so the fellow villagers advised his parents to send him to study with an experienced and a well-known hurdy-gurdy player by the nickname "Matiya".
 Having quickly mastered the basics of the instrument, Mykola began his itinerant performance activity, which was quite prolific and, in certain periods, even highly paid during the time of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Besides house shows and street performances, he also performed at cathedrals, secular mass gatherings, and in fairs and markets.
 In 1944, the musician’s family could not avoid the calamity of the Second World War. During the events of the Volyn tragedy, the Poles burned down his house with his beloved hurdy-gurdy inside. Due to his family’s poverty, he would never manage to replace his hurdy-gurdy. However, in that moment, a new stage of his musicianship began with the transition to using another instrument - the bandonion – to continue his busking.
 Unlike the hurdy-gurdy playing period, when Muravets dealt mostly with invitations to holidays and celebrations, the following period encouraged the musician to do more busking. The peasants treated the busker with respect and took care of him. Whoever was richer invited him to their houses to eat, spend the night, sing songs, and gifted him with headscarves, fabric, and money. In addition to invitations to houses and street forms of busking, a very important part of Mykola’s busking was participating in religious feasts at churches and monasteries. Mykola Muravets sang akathists, prayed for the health of the living and peace of the deceased, and the offspring of livestock. His knowledge of the Psalter, the Divine Liturgy, and skill in reciting the Akathist led to the high authority of the busker and strengthened his position in the social hierarchy of the village, equating him to a clergyman. The main ritual duties consisted in mourning the deceased in his own and other villages.
 In addition to being honoured among the fellow villagers, Mykola Muravets was greatly respected among blind musicians, whom he repeatedly hosted at his own home for meetings. Particularly, the buskers of the entire district elected a blind man, Mikolay, as their leader.
 There is a genre palette in the repertoire of Mykola Muravets. At the beginning of his career, he mainly performed only religious and moralistic works, which he mainly learnt from his teacher – Matvyi Kovalchuk, and the rest later from other blind musicians during busking.Mykola Muravets died on May 22nd, 1995.

"To Recover What Has Been Lost": Essays on Eschatology, Intertextuality, and Reception History in Honor of Dale C. Allison Jr. ed. by Tucker S. Ferda et al.

Reviewed by: "To Recover What Has Been Lost": Essays on Eschatology, Intertextuality, and Reception History in Honor of Dale C. Allison Jr. ed. by Tucker S. Ferda et al. Olegs Andrejevs tucker s. ferda, daniel frayer-griggs, and nathan c. johnson (eds.), "To Recover What Has Been Lost": Essays on Eschatology, Intertextuality, and Reception History in Honor of Dale C. Allison Jr. (NovTSup 183; Leiden: Brill, 2021). Pp. xx + 450. $159. One of the household names in NT studies, Dale C. Allison Jr. is presented with a remarkable volume. The twenty essays are arranged in three groups reflecting "areas of Allison's scholarship" (p. 2). Part 1 is devoted to "Eschatology"; part 2 to "Intertextuality"; and part 3 to "Reception History." Of course, these research areas are not the only building blocks in Allison's still growing legacy. Both the collection's list of contributors and the topics they have chosen frequently reflect other principal areas of Allison's academic impact. One of Allison's major contributions to NT scholarship is his and W. D. Davies's monumental ICC commentary on Matthew's Gospel (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988–1997), which, more than two decades after the closing volume's publication, remains a standard reference in the field. It is no surprise that a number of fellow Matthean specialists contribute to the present collection (Foster, Gundry, Konradt, and Evans). Overall, a quarter of the volume's essays direct the readers' attention to Matthew's Gospel: Paul Foster, "The Eschatology of the Gospel of Mathew"; Mark Goodacre, "The Orthodox Redaction of Mark: How Matthew Rescued Mark's Reputation"; Robert H. Gundry, "Topographical Christology in Matthew's Narrative of Jesus' Birth and Infancy"; Chris Keith, "The Book of the Genesis of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1)"; and Lidija Novakovic, "Matthew and Paul on Torah Observance: Is Matthew's Gospel Anti-Pauline, Pro-Pauline, or Un-Pauline?" Two more essays focus on Synoptic texts that have parallels in Matthew: Brant Pitre, "From Reimarus to Allison: The Quest for Jesus and the Christological 'Thunderbolt' (Matt 11:25–27 // Luke 10:21–22)"; and Rafael Rodríguez, "Your Will Be Done: Remembering Jesus' Submission [End Page 536] to the Father." Gundry's essay develops a proposal introduced in his own commentary on the First Gospel. Another major building block of Allison's legacy, one for which he is equally well known, is his work on the historical Jesus. This broad area is engaged by seven contributions: James Hamilton Charlesworth, "Clarifying the Background of Jesus' Eschatological Parables (4Q541)"; James Crossley, "Jesus and John Ball: Millenarian Prophets"; Paula Fredriksen, "Al Tirah ("Fear Not!"): Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology, from Schweitzer to Allison, and After"; Stephen J. Patterson, "Bultmann's Jesus in America"; Pitre (see above); Rodríguez (see above); and Gerd Theissen, "The Peril of Modernising and De-modernising Jesus: A Cognitive Perspective." Highlighting the volume's elegant design, its bookends connect Allison to towering figures in twentieth-century biblical research: Albert Schweitzer (Fredriksen) and Rudolf Bultmann (Patterson). Fredriksen's contribution opens by juxtaposing Allison and N. T. Wright: "Much is gained when Second Temple Jewish apocalyptic is denied, redefined, or quietly discarded" (p. 17). She concludes her essay with a quotation from Allison (p. 33): "To do history is not to do theology" (Dale C. Allison Jr., Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2010] 462). These two statements capture well what Allison's work is and is not like, what elevates him to the level of Schweitzer and Bultmann, what will require future scholarship to interact with his work. That interaction will not be limited to Jesus and the Gospels. Further prominent areas of Allison's research include the epistle attributed to James of Jerusalem, the brother of Jesus (ICC commentary; London: T&T Clark, 2013), and the Testament of Abraham (CEJL commentary; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2003). Four of the volume's essays address James and the Testament of Abraham: Alicia J. Batten, "The Letter of James and the Divine Liturgy"; Craig A. Evans, "James and Paul on the Works of the Law and the Pure Food of 4QMMT"; John S. Kloppenborg, "Verbatim Citations in James"; and Jared W. Ludlow, "Untimely Death: Is There a...

"Great Vespers" by B. М. Ledkovsky in the singing tradition of the Orthodox Church in America

The article deals with a collection of hymns by the famous church composer and regent B. M. Ledkovsky, a representative of the Russian musical diaspora, whose creative path during the last almost twenty-five years of his life was connected with the United States of America. The verbal basis of the collection was made up of the liturgical texts of the Great Vespers service translated from Church Slavonic into English. Without making a detailed excursion into the historical past of America and without having the intention to create a picture of the formation and establishment of Orthodoxy on American soil (this topic, multi-level and multi-valued, is worthy, in our opinion, of more than one special study), the author touches only on individual events and facts of this history. Referring to the modern church-singing practice, which is accepted today in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCOR) only partially, and focusing mainly on some features of the services of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), the author considers "Great Vespers" as a collection that generally corresponds to one of the rites of the Russian Orthodox Church, along with the All – Night Vigil written by B. M. Ledkovsky. The English-language verbal basis used in “Great Vespers” is seen as specific to the liturgical work of B. M. Ledkovsky, who always belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church – both in Russia and abroad after the revolution, but at the same time very consonant with the liturgical practice of the OCA, which gradually switched to the national, English language. Published in 1976 St. Vladimir's Seminary Press (SVS Press), one of the leading theological educational institutions of the Orthodox Church in America, where B. M. Ledkovsky worked as a teacher of church music for a number of years, "Great Vespers", composed by the composer on the order of the Seminary, was published after his death. The final revision and preparation of the collection for publication was made by D. Drillock, a student and junior colleague of B. M. Ledkovsky, E. and J. Erikson, R. Evich. They also, as indicated in the publication, carried out an English-language adaptation of the liturgical texts. It is characteristic that the musical component of most of the Great Vespers chants is the material of Obikhod Ledkovsky (All-Night Vigil), published in 1959 in Jordanville in the printing house of St. Job of Pochaevsky Holy Trinity Monastery. Individual hymns of this collection (litanies, Sunday troparia, and others) were later included in the editions of St. Vladimir Seminary in 1980 and 1982 in English ("Holy Week"; "Divine Liturgy", “The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts”). The proposed article examines the composition of the collection, with its features, based on the material of several hymns, shows the confirming statements of the composer and the approaches to harmonization that are fundamentally important for him, which he uses here and in other works. Some attention is also paid to the analysis of musical and linguistic parameters of harmonizations, the issues of vocalization of the chanted liturgical text.

About the poem "We have identified the true light": reflections on the article by Oleksiy Dmitrievsky

The article analyzes the origin of singing the stikhiron «We have seen the true light», which is sung almost daily at the Divine Liturgy, referring to the reflections of the famous Russian scholar in the field of liturgy Alexei Dmitrievsky (XIX-XX centuries), who raised the issue about that problem more than a hundred years ago. Why are other hymns used instead of this hymn on certain days, what is the significance of this stikhiron for the worshipers - participants in the Christian temple service, how best to get out of the problem of the need to replace that stikhiron with another prayer on some days of the year? What are the regional features of this custom in Western Ukraine, where do Greek Catholic customs dominate? The author tries to answer these questions in the light of various liturgical sources and instructions.

A theological and ethical analysis of the response of the Eastern Orthodox to the COVID-19 pandemic

The response of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the COVID-19 pandemic reflects its distinctive theological and liturgical traditions as well as its decentralized system of governance. Foundational beliefs and practices inform Orthodoxy’s understanding of the imperative to care for the physical well-being of the sick. Points of disagreement arose in Orthodox communities concerning public health restrictions on attendance at the Divine Liturgy, the use of a common communion spoon, whether diseases may be transmitted through the Eucharist, and the appropriateness of receiving vaccinations tested or produced with cell lines derived from the tissue of aborted fetuses. Such contested matters reflect points of tension between characteristic beliefs and practices of Orthodoxy and its commitment to care for the health of neighbors during a global pandemic.

Manuscript 105 from the “Dumitru Stăniloae” Ecumenical Library of the Metropolitan Church of Moldova and Bucovina in Iasi - an exemplary document of adapting chants to Romanian in Moldova

Abstract Ms 105 from the “Dumitru Stăniloae” Ecumenical Library is an extensive Chrysantean Anthologhion, consisting of 236 leaves, written in Romanian with Cyrillic characters by copyist Hariton Vasiliu from Horaita Monastery (Neamt County), between 1857-1879. The chant content is specific to the musical collection this codex belongs to, namely the service of Vespers, Matins, and the Divine Liturgy, freely organized in the manuscript; for this reason, the typical ritual order could not be observed. The musical sources of Ms. 105 are exclusively repertoire collections in the Romanian language, mainly the psaltic prints circulated during that period (about 50% of the total). Their composers are initiators of the implementation of the Chrysantine reform in the Romanian Principalities: Macarie the Hieromonk, Anton Pann, Nectarie Frimu, Dimitrie Suceveanu – they were all important personalities who, through their works, contributed significantly to the replacement of church chanting in Greek with chanting in the “mother tongue” (i.e. Romanian). The other set of chants in Ms. 105 (50% of the total) are, however, from local manuscript sources and are mainly composed by unknown musicians.

СТАНОВЛЕННЯ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ ПРОДУЦЕНТІВ РАДІОПРОГРАМ ДУХОВНОЇ ТЕМАТИКИ В УКРАЇНСЬКІЙ ЕМІГРАЦІЇ

<p><strong><em>The purpose</em></strong><em> of the article is to comprehend the aspect of religious radio broadcasting in the structure of radio programs of Ukrainian emigration in the radio space of foreign countries in the twentieth century.</em></p><p><strong><em>The research methodology </em></strong><em>is based on the use of general scientific methods of archival research (digitized issues of the Ukrainian daily «Svoboda» in 1935–1991 available in free access), monitoring of identified mentions of the presence of Ukrainian-language programs in the radio space of different countries, clipping , the names of the program, its periodicity, the name of the radio station on which the broadcasts were available, the areas covered by it, characteristics, references to the source of information and its author, etc., historiographical, systematization, deductive and method of observation.</em></p><p><strong><em>Results.</em></strong><em> </em><em>As a result of the research, the orientation of Ukrainians to spiritual practices and religious themes in the radio space of foreign countries was stated. The founders of the programs for Ukrainian believers were representatives of various religious organizations in North and South America, Europe and even Australia. Based on the capabilities of the organizers, the programs were created on a regular basis, and broadcast on a permanent broadcast network, as well as non-periodic holidays and annual anniversaries. Priests and members of their families became the authors and hosts of such programs. The team of radio amateurs included a treasurer who was responsible for collecting and rationally using funds donated by the community and provided by the flock to support the presence of the Ukrainian word of God in the radio space. Some programs, such as Evangelical Morning, a project of Ukrainian Baptists in North America, were briefly spread to Soviet Ukraine, from where they received grateful feedback from underground listeners. The main religious holidays were timed to broadcast the Divine Liturgy, for the sick, those who do not have the opportunity to join the action in person</em></p><p><strong><em>Novelty.</em></strong><em> For the first time in the scientific discourse the achievements of the spiritual and religious segment of the radio programs of the Ukrainian emigration in the XX century are comprehended.</em></p><p><strong><em>The practical significance</em></strong><em> of the research results is the introduction of documented data on the state of development, achievements and thematic, genre diversity, musical diversity and polyphony of Ukrainian radio programs on the spiritual life of Ukrainians in different countries.</em></p><p><strong><em>Key words:</em></strong><em> Ukrainian-language radio program, Radio Service of God, radio broadcast, religious radio program, world Ukrainian radio.</em></p>

Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies by Stefanos Alexopoulos and Maxwell E. Johnson

Reviewed by: Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies by Stefanos Alexopoulos and Maxwell E. Johnson David M. Friel Stefanos Alexopoulos and Maxwell E. Johnson Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press Academic, 2022 Alcuin Club Collections 96 xli + 430 pages. Paperback. $59.95. Assembled by two academics leading in their field, this new volume fills a real void in liturgical scholarship of the Christian East. As the introduction notes (xiii–xiv), other studies of Eastern Christian worship have largely been short, introductory, or limited in scope, and many of them have fallen out of date. This project, by contrast, addresses in detail the full range of liturgies, including the Divine Office, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments. It also draws upon the manifold advancements that have strengthened the field of liturgical scholarship in recent decades. It attends, moreover, to the uniqueness of the Armenian, Byzantine, Coptic, Ethiopian, East Syrian, West Syrian, and Maronite rites, while also emphasizing the essential communion among them. The first substantial introduction to Eastern Christian liturgies in more than half a century, this book continues the line of classic studies that includes the work of Irenée-Henri Dalmais (Eastern Liturgies), Donald Attwater (The Christian Churches of the East), and Alphonse Raes (Introductio in liturgiam orientalem). The introduction serves as an excellent primer on the origin, evolution, and character of the major liturgies of the Christian East. It rightly and proudly asserts that "Christianity originated [End Page 224] as an Eastern religion" (xiv), and it gives the reader an initial taste of what it clearly conveys is a plentiful wellspring. Abundant tables assist with comprehension and visualization, and numerous citations of liturgical texts (translated into English) keep the work well grounded. The general structure of the work, as the authors note (xl), follows the outline employed by Dalmais. Chapter 1 ("Christian Initiation and Reconciliation") surveys the practices and texts of the various Eastern rites, and, where appropriate, it distinguishes the logic of the Eastern rites from that of the Western rites. Punctuated by extraordinarily helpful tables (4–5, 12–13, 26, and 34), the first section of this first chapter argues convincingly that the unity of baptism, post-baptismal chrismation, and first communion in the Eastern traditions has helped them to maintain a more integral approach to initiation than what has developed in the Christian West. The second section of the chapter turns its attention to the practices associated with reconciliation, highlighting the interplay between communal and individual penance and ultimately concluding that "the sacrament of repentance is in crisis in the current practice of Eastern Christian churches" (56). Chapter 2 ("The Eucharistic Liturgies") prioritizes the Byzantine Divine Liturgy in a way that the other chapters do not, undoubtedly because the immensity of the subject does not permit a thoroughgoing study of each of the seven rites. Even still, the chapter begins with short sections that highlight some of the unique aspects of the Eucharistic liturgies proper to each rite. Thereafter, it considers the preliminary rites and liturgy of the word, the pre-anaphoral rites, the anaphoras, the communion and dismissal rites, and the liturgy of the presanctified. The chapter concludes with interesting sections on the consecration and on liturgical commentaries, exploring their meaning within Eastern Eucharistic theology. Chapter 3 ("The Liturgical Year and the Liturgy of the Hours") approaches its topic in two principal sections, each subdivided into sections on the seven rites. Numerous tables and outlines help to make this chapter very readable. The authors [End Page 225] acknowledge that "the current Western rhythm of life that has almost taken over the whole world" (211) poses a challenge for the celebration of the liturgical year and Divine Office among Eastern Christians, particularly in diaspora communities. Nevertheless, these features of the Eastern liturgies contribute both anamnetic and eschatological dimensions to the celebration of the liturgy, encouraging the worshiper to look back in remembrance upon the events of salvation history and to look forward with hope to the kingdom of God. Two sacraments are the focus of Chapter 4 ("Marriage and Holy Orders"). Addressing marriage, the authors begin by noting some of the ways in which marriage differs in the Christian East and West and...

Choral concertos of the Divine Liturgy: a passing tradition

Choral concertos of the Divine Liturgy: a passing tradition

Care for the Departed for the Benefit of the Living

"This article explores the care for the departed in the liturgical practice of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Divine Liturgy and the memorial services show how the Church prays for both the departed and the mourners, thus creating a cycle of ecclesiastical communion. We are reminded of the greatness of the benefit of praying for and to the departed and of the mode of our salvation. Keywords: care, departed, Eastern Orthodox Church, Divine Liturgy, funeral. "

Language as a Means of Communication with God

The communicative function of the language of translation, as can be seen from the examples of God's names contained in the oldest Slavic translations of a biblical nature, is an important component of understanding a whole range of liturgical texts and part of the Christian cultural identity of the believer. The need to translate biblical and liturgical texts therefore stems from the needs of believers. One desires to understand as best and as accurately as possible not only the text of the Bible but also the liturgical process itself. The liturgical process contains a number of symbols, actions, gestures and scenes reminiscent of the Divine Performance in the cosmos. In the Bible and in the Divine Liturgy, individual biblical events are constantly present. The understanding of the biblical and liturgical texts is therefore based not only on the correct use of terms but also on a reliable description of the realities. This principle is one of the starting points on which the holy Thessalonian brothers built their translation work.

Perceptions of the Body and Sacred Space in Late Antiquity and Byzantium

Perceptions of the Body and Sacred Space in Late Antiquity and Byzantium

COLORING AS A RICH IN CONTENT COMPONENT IN IMAGINATIVE AND LITURGICAL SOURCES OF PRIEST VESTMENTS OF LATE XX – EARLY XXI CENTURIES

Priest vestments are an expressive way of a priest, a tool of cult which during the Divine Liturgy is combined with the belief involving clothing and its sacral components into this religious procedure.The article focuses on the peculiarities of colour in imaginative and liturgical sources of priest vestments. The research interprets a religious plot cultural and valuable potential of colouring as weighty priority criterion for defining artistic and stylistic features of folk ornaments in clerical clothing. It was also revealed the bases of colouring which besides the esthetic function have established canonical standards. Liturgical clothing`s combination of colours which have a significant symbolic meaning has been highlighted. The colour scheme of priest vestments on the example of the researched works from Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil territories of the given chronical period has been analysed. Key words: colour, colour scheme, priest vestments, symbolic meaning, liturgical clothing.

Eating, Eschatology, Expectation: Fasting and Salvation in Serbian Orthodox Christianity

ABSTRACT Practising Orthodox Christians in the central Serbian town of Kraljevo ‘work on’ their salvation by striving to live a ‘liturgical life’ structured around attending the Divine Liturgy, taking Divine Communion regularly, and fasting. However, in these committed churchgoing circles there is little explicit eschatological discussion about the Second Coming. The paper argues that the intensity of fasting practices in the liturgical everyday not only produce more proximate expectations, but also provide potential glimpses of the Divine now, thus removing the emphasis on a far-sighted eschatological vision. With a concerted focus on working on oneself in the present, the liturgical day-to-day does not need an abstract, sequential future to imbue it with meaning. But, just as such a lifestyle is a path to salvation, so too it produces social differentiation: churchgoing Orthodox find themselves out of kilter with contemporary Serbian society.

On earth as it is in heaven? Reinterpreting the Heavenly Liturgy in Byzantine art

Abstract Compositions representing the Heavenly Liturgy - the liturgy that is presided over by Christ in heaven, of which the earthly liturgy is a reflection - first appear around the beginning of the fourteenth century in the decoration of Byzantine domes. Most scholars argue that such scenes depict an ancient concept, almost as old as liturgical exegesis itself. I contend that this view is based on a flawed reading of liturgical commentaries, of the biblical texts from which the commentaries draw inspiration, and of the Divine Liturgy itself. I argue that the scene of the Heavenly Liturgy represents both an exegetical stream independent of texts and an understanding of the eucharistic liturgy during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that existed in visual form in tandem with traditional textual interpretations of the rite. The scene, devised by painters and their patrons, therefore constitutes a concurrent exegetical tradition that both derived from the commentaries and deviated from them.

The Belgrade Nightingales: A Russian Choir in London, 1939–1940

In April, 1939, ten women — daughters of Russian refugees — travelled to London for what was intended to be a stay of between one and two years. In Belgrade they had lived in student accommodation, the ‘Society for the Assistance to Former Pupils of the Kharkov Institute of the Empress Maria Feodorovna’ which was run by Maria Alexeevna Nekludova. While in London, they would study English and also sing in English at Divine Liturgy served by Archimandrite Nicholas Gibbes, former English tutor to the Russian Royal Family. This is the story of what happened to those women and how the Second World War impacted their future lives. The Choir Director was Maria Rodzianko, wife of Fr Vladimir Rodzianko, who in later years was appointed by Bishop Nicholai (Velimirovich) to be a priest in London.

Investigating the Holy Eucharist and the term ‘people of God’ according to the Eastern Orthodox Church

This article unpacks aspects of the Eucharist and how it is understood in various churches using a literature study methodology. It also looks at the notion of the “people of God’. The Greek word εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), means "thanksgiving", appears fifteen times in the New Testament and is a critical aspect of the Christian faith. The weekly celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday’s is an requisite activity of the Church because the Eucharist establishes the Church as the Body of Christ. The Eucharistic celebration is also known as the Divine Liturgy and is believed to impart the actual Body and Blood of Christ to the faithful. In the act of communion, the entire Church, those past, present, and even forthcoming are unified in eternity. It is the source of her life, the superlative act of her thanksgiving and of her sacrifice of praise to the creator God. The Holy Eucharist is the very core of Christian life, and the means by which each believer is nourished by God's grace and tender mercy. At the Divine Liturgy, the Church is continuously changed from a human community into the Body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the holy People of God.

Новые литургические сюжеты в русской живописи XVI века

The article deals with the earliest stage of the formation of liturgical scenes in Russian art. In the 16th century, several new subjects appear that depict the liturgy directly: Let All Human Flesh Be Silent, The Cherubikon, The Vision of St. Gregory the Theologian, Now the Powers of Heaven... etc. The first one appears in the conch of the central apse of the Moscow Kremlin Assumption Cathedral (1513–1515), which is believed to have been repeated in 1642–1643, when the cathedral was painted anew. A liturgical plot (perhaps The Vision of St. Gregory the Theologian) was also contained in the altar painting of the Chudov Monastery Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin (1518–1519). If we assume the original system of painting was preserved during subsequent renovations, the iconography of specific scenes could reflect the tradition of their depiction in the middle but not in the beginning of the 16th century. In fact, the oldest extant Russian depiction of the Great Entrance is the scene of the Holy Divine Liturgy on the north iconostasis door of the Archangel Michael Church in Riga. This is a Pskov monument of the middle of the 16th century, now partially hidden by layers of late renovation, but with preserved iconography. It can be considered as a forerunner of the more complex scene The Cherubikon, common at the turn of the 17th century. All the liturgical plots can be found in the late 16th — early 17th centuries monuments. They have an established iconography, which, in one case, is based on the motif of the transfer of the Holy Gifts, borrowed from Byzantine monuments; in the other, the scene The Service of the Bishop was taken as a base. Apparently, all these subjects appear in different regions (Moscow, Pskov) almost independently of each other, although there is the possibility of their influence on each other.

Restaurarea unui antimis datat 1822

"Restoration of an antimension dated 1822 The antimension is a consecrated liturgical textile object, it is kept on an altar, and without it the Divine Liturgy cannot be celebrated. The antimension is made of a rectangular linen or silk cloth, decorated with the representation of the Entombment of Christ and of the four Evangelists, in various printing techniques. The restoration operations carried out include mechanical dry cleaning, removal of wax deposits, rehydration and regaining the original shape of the piece. Keywords: Antimension, restoration, cult objects, Romanian in the Cyrillic alphabet, Slavonic "

The Liturgical Service of the Hegumen According to the Canons of the Constantinople Council of 1276

Abstract Metropolitan of Kiev Cyril the Second and Russian bishops sent a bishop of Saray to Constantinople with questions concerning the most difficult problems of church management and features of liturgical service. The canons were translated into Russian probably in the 14 th century, and several new questions-and-answers were added during the translation. There are several canons about hegumens and the features of their liturgical service in the Russian text. They include questions about the tonsure of a dying man; the singing of the Trisagion with ripidia; the service of the Prothesis (Pros­komedia); the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross; and the final prayers at the Divine Liturgy. The research let to purpose that all of these articles were added by Russian authors, so they are the evidence of the liturgical service and monastic life in Russia in the 14 th century.