Peresopnytsia Gospel to be accessible to everyone

The Peresopnytsia Gospel is the first known translation of the gospel texts into the Ukrainian literary language, which was written between 1555 and 1561. This book became a factor of strengthening the Ukrainian language and served as an important protective shield during a period that was marked by the spread of Latin throughout the territory of Western Ukraine. The Peresopnytsia Gospel as well as other printed books of that time and later is evidence of the high level of Ukrainian culture in those remote times, respect for the wisdom of books, i.e., intelligence.

It is known that Taras Shevchenko bowed his head to the Peresopnytsia Gospel. During his sojourn in Pereiaslav as a member of the Archaeographic Commission, in a report he noted the refined and splendid ornamentation of the Peresopnytsia Gospel as well as the fact that it was written in “the Little Russian dialect of 1556.”

Today the book has become a symbol of Ukrainian statehood: three Ukrainian presidents have sworn their fidelity to the Ukrainian people on it. But after swearing on the Peresopnytsia Gospel, none of our presidents showed any interest in this holy book or appealed to scholars with a request to restore or reprint it. Meanwhile, everyone who has ever seen this valuable book knows that its cover, parchment pages, and the once bright miniatures are in dangerous condition.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) has launched an initiative to restore the book and publish a facsimile edition (the restoration and scrupulous copying of the original edition by preserving all its features: size, format, paper quality and color, illustrations, etc.). The initiators also promise to place electronic facsimile copies of the Peresopnytsia Gospel on the Internet, which will enable a huge number of people to familiarize themselves with it. This will be a nice present for Ukrainian students, who are studying Ukrainian history.

The plan to save and restore the Peresopnytsia Gospel (2007) is a joint project of the Kyiv Province of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The ceremonial printing of the first page of the facsimile edition of the Peresopnytsia Gospel took place at the ADEF-Ukraina publishing house on Jan. 20. According to information available on the UOC (MP) Web site, Members of Parliament, ministers, former Ukrainian presidents, leading figures of science and culture, the first patrons of the project, as well as the higher clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (MP), priors of UOC (MP) monasteries, academicians of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine and its associate Manuscript Institute were invited to the event.

According to sources close to the UOC (MP), not only will patrons of the project receive facsimile editions of the Peresopnytsia Gospel during the festivities dedicated to the 1020th anniversary of the Christianization of Rus’, they will also be recorded in the book’s academic edition, where the details of restoring the Peresopnytsia Gospel will be described.

God be with you, ladies and gentlemen!