News
30/05/2018. The 24th of May is the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture
May 24, 2018:
The National Library of Karelia celebrated the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture dedicated to the creators of Slavic writing, Byzantine monks and brothers Cyril and Methodius.
Saints equal-to-the-apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius (IX century) made the first and most important contribution to the development of writing of the Slavs: they created the Slavic alphabet (Cyrillic alphabet) and translated the Gospel into the Slavonic language. They were canonized by the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria in the XIII century and the canonization process was coincided with their feast day on 11 May according to the Julian calendar and on 24 May according to the Gregorian calendar. From Bulgaria, the cult of holy brothers spread to other Christian lands.
Priest Evgeny Baryshev, a clergyman of the parish of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, in his welcoming speech noted the outstanding importance of the spiritual and enlightenment mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the development of the culture of the Slavic peoples.
A specialist of the Subdepartment of Rare Books of the National Library Nadezhda Kipnis told about the secret of two alphabets, Glagolitic and Cyrillic, and presented to the audience rare Cyrillic editions of XVI-XVIII centuries kept in the library.
An unexpected and very pleasant surprise finished the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture. A protopriest Konstantin Savander on behalf of the Petrozavodsk and Karelian Eparchy gave a rare copy of the Festal Menaion of 1883 to the National Library of Karelia.
We gratefully accepted this gift, which will be kept in the Subdepartment of Rare Books of the library. It is significant that the library's collection was replenished with another rare edition printed in the Old Slavonic language, the basis of which was created in the IX century by the Byzantine monks, brothers Cyril and Methodius. And all book lovers and admirers of old manuscript and printed books are invited to visit the Subdepartment of Rare Books of the National Library of Karelia.