Greek Nizhyn churches and their capital contribution to the church-archaeological museum at the Kyiv Theological Academy

In April of last year, I had the opportunity to visit the district city of the Chernigov province of Nizhyn for the first time. Due to its location, this city played a prominent political role in the history of the Little Russian region in the 17th and 18th centuries. “Courteous Greeks”, Serbs, Volokhs, Moldovans, Turks and Persians, who settled here mainly since the publication of the universal by the famous Hetman of Little Russia Bogdan Khmelnitsky in Chigirin on May 2, 1657; freeing all these newcomers from various kinds of civil services, duties and dependence on the Nizhyn colonels, contributed to the extraordinary revival of trade and industry. The city of Nizhyn became famous even abroad. The Nizhyn Greeks conducted extensive trade with Turkey, Poland, Hamburg, Breclav and other foreign trading cities 1 . All this could not but be reflected both in the increase in the population of this city and in its internal prosperity, expressed in the construction of churches and houses that made up the decoration of this city. Therefore, one cannot deny the justice of the opinion expressed by Mr. Shafonsky in 1786 that: “Nizhyn is famous especially for the trade produced by the Greeks, without which it might not have been in this state in which it really is” 2. With the annexation of Little Russia to Great Russia, the city of Nizhyn loses its political significance. Along with this, its trading value begins to gradually fall. Foreign trade was significantly reduced and then reduced to a minimum, but still remained in the hands of the Greeks, who enjoyed significant benefits for foreign trade. With the destruction in the current century of the Nizhyn Greek magistrate 3 and the Nizhyn Greek brotherhood, founded by the Greeks with the permission of Metropolitan of Kyiv Varlaam Yasinsky in 1696, 4 which took the Greeks under their protection and protected the rights of their freedom and property. The number of Greeks living in Nizhyn has decreased quite noticeably, and at the same time trade has passed from their hands to the Jews, who currently make up almost a good third of the Nizhyn population. In their hands, foreign trade, especially in bread, tobacco and other products of the local region, again revived significantly, and the city of Nizhyn can now be considered one of the rich and trading cities of our happy Ukraine. In the city of Nizhyn there are a lot of churches and very ancient in their construction, for example, the castle church in the name of the Epiphany of the Lord. But I turned my attention exclusively to the local Greek churches, since partly from the inquiries of strangers, and most of all thanks to my personal acquaintance with the venerable and necessarily amiable, who was at that time the epitrope of the Greek churches, Anastasius Yuryevich Kounelakis, I managed to find out that in these churches a lot of rare and interesting objects in archaeological terms have still been preserved. Taking advantage of the present, very pleasant in such cases, acquaintance with the epitrope, who even offered me the very kind service of showing all these rarities, I decided to examine the churches and their attractions. There are actually three Greek churches in Nizhyn: two in the city itself - in honor of the Archangel Michael and All Saints, and one in the Greek cemetery in honor of the holy blessed king Constantine. The last church was founded recently, namely in 1820 on July 6, at the expense of the once famous rich Greeks in Nizhyn, the Zosimov brothers, 5 and therefore I left its review until a more favorable time, focusing my attention on the first two, as more ancient and interesting. The founder of these churches was an energetic and enterprising native of the Macedonian land, the Nizhyn Greek priest Christopher, quite often referred to as Christodul Dmitriev in acts, charters and inscriptions on books and manuscripts of the library of this church 6 . The Greek churches of Nizhyn almost exclusively owe their existence to his labors, energy, efforts, and even personal material costs. For material help for the construction of these churches, he turned not only “to the common people of all the souls of the Greek race who are found in that city,” but even to the throne of the sovereign Russian Tsars Peter and John Alekseevich. Father Christopher personally traveled to Moscow twice. Meeting each time with a kind reception from the Russian tsars, he never returned from there empty-handed 8 . His works were appreciated by the archbishop of Chernigov, Novgorod and the entire north, Lazar Baranovich, who ruled Nizhyn at that time, who calls Fr. Christopher in his charters “as the first founder and ktitor of that church” 9. And the Patriarch of Constantinople Jacob, who, at his request, gave a charter in 1680, in which he declared that: “let this church of all great officials, even in the city of Izne (Nezhin), be and remain forever free and not enslaved, and not trampled upon, and very without stumbling and untroubled by any person, “No one from all those who have superior power should bother this reverent priest Christopher, but help him and give the dependents and dues to this church, inherent in his life even until his last sigh” 10. But no matter how hard Fr. Christopher worked hard to fulfill the promise he made to himself, no matter how much labor and time he spent collecting funds for the construction of churches, nevertheless, due to misunderstandings that arose with him with the “courteous” 11 Greeks themselves, for whom he worked, the plan he had conceived was not brought to the desired end. During his lifetime, Father Christopher managed to make only one stone church, in honor of All Saints, while the other in honor of Archangel Michael remained wooden 12. This can be concluded on the basis of another petition from Father Christopher, filed for help in the name of Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich in 1691 13, and on the basis of a letter from Metropolitan of Kyiv Varlaam Yasinsky in 1696 14, and on the basis of finally the inscription existing in the Church of the Archangel Michael, which states that this church began to be built in 1714, and finished in 1729. At this time, the successor to Fr. was already a priest. Christopher O. Nicholas (ἐπιτροπεύοντος τοῦ κὐρ Νικολάου, Μηχαήλου Μπουσινάκου). This church was consecrated by Metropolitan Raphael Zaborovsky of Kyiv on September 28, 1731. Subsequently, at the end of the 18th century, thanks to the efforts of the Kyiv metropolitans 15, the Church of All Saints was rebuilt again 16, in which form it remains to this day, requiring very major repairs. Having examined both Greek churches, which, in their architectural style, are no different from the Greek churches of the present time, I focused my attention mainly on those in the true sense of the treasures that, beyond all my expectations, I met in this half-forgotten almost now church of the “courteous” once rich Greeks, who are currently scattered across different cities of the Russian Empire. In the church there are a lot of ancient icons of Greek and Russian writing, for example, the icon of St. Elijah the prophet, St. Martyr Christopher (with a ram's head), St. the Great Martyr George, the Martyr Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa, etc. All these icons cover the altar wall in the cold church, on a high place. In the church itself you can see interesting icons: St. Archangel Michael, painted on March 26, 1808, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and John the Baptist. The inscription on the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, reads as follows: “this icon case and icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a silver-gilded robe were built at the expense of Ivan Afanasyevich Vafya, a native of Ioanninsky, may this remain an eternal monument, 1813”; and on the icon of John the Baptist the inscription briefly says: “this icon case was made according to the spiritual will of the deceased Nizhyn Greek Ivan Vasilyevich Ratkov, 1813, October 1st day” 17. In addition to the icons in the altar on the throne and the altar, I examined two Greek Gospels, framed in expensive silver frames with rich enamel decorations in the Byzantine style. About these Gospels, Mr. Shafonsky says: “one is in silver with enamel, printed in Venice in 1671 18, and the other is the same all in armored silver with stones, printed in Venice in the same year” 19. Thanks to the negligence of the abbots and epitropes of the Greek church, there can be no talk of stones, both on these Gospels and on the shroud and other liturgical sacred objects. All of them have long been plundered and at present only nests or frames for the stones that existed on it remain on the Gospels, and on the shroud the precious stones have been replaced with colored glass... On one of the Gospels there is the following inscription on one side: “In the summer of 7164 (1686) 20, on the 20th day of March, this holy Gospel was built under the power of the great sovereigns, kings and grand dukes John Alekseevich, Peter Alekseevich, all Great and Little and White Russia autocrats”; on the other: “This Gospel was built by priest Christopher for the church of the arch. Mikhail"; and on the other, due to amendments of a later time and filling in some places with silver, the Greek inscription is difficult to read. Here in the altar you can see a large silver cross of the most magnificent workmanship, made in Ioannina in 1636, a cypress cross set in silver, with images of saints, wonderfully carved from wood 21 and temporarily located on the occasion of St. Easter, a most beautiful shroud 22 embroidered in gold on white satin, which, as the Greek inscription on it says, was made by the labor and diligence of the priest Christodoulos (διὰ κόπου καἰ συνδρομῆς τοῦ εὐλαβέστάτου ίερέως κυρίου Χριστοδούλου κτήτορος τοῦ ναοῦ), under the power of kings John and Peter Alekseevich, during the hetmanship of Ivan Mazepa, in 1602 23. In the church itself, in a special chest, several panagia, crosses made of cypress with carved images of saints, and other attractions are kept, but I cannot help but note here one priestly belt made in 1776. This belt is woven from silver and divided by lines into seven columns or compartments. In the extreme compartments on the right and left sides there are inscriptions in the following form: Ή ἀγίαπ ό λις , Ί ερου σαλημ , and in the middle compartment: Ic Хc 1776 . The compartments, free from inscriptions, are held by a folding buckle, which seems to be made of porcelain, trimmed in silver with small topazes. On one half of the buckle there is an inscription on porcelain covered with glass: “L’amitie nous unie”, and on the other - “Donne par l’amitie”. Both of these inscriptions are surrounded by a metal colored border. About other sacred and liturgical objects worthy of full attention, which I saw in the church, I will say a little lower on another occasion. Having finally looked at the acts relating to the history of the Nizhyn Greek churches and the brotherhood that existed at them 24, I went, at the suggestion of the Venerable Anastasius Yurievich Kounelakis, to the sacristy (also a library), which is located in the bell tower. In the sacristy, painted on the plaster with images of the words of the Gospel “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God” (John 1:1), very significantly deteriorated from dampness, there is a sufficient number of priestly vestments, even valuable in material terms, but not of any scientific interest. Therefore, I turned all my attention here to the library, since the urgently needed reference for me in one of the Greek liturgical books led me mainly to this repository of undoubtedly invaluable treasures... In the library, which consists of a wardrobe and a chest of drawers, the first thing I noticed was a complete lack of any order. Time and people who have little understanding of this kind of capital have made it so that the manuscript, which could serve in the full sense of the word as a decoration for a library (I mean the Greek parchment Gospel of the 10th century), lay here in complete disorder with many torn pages at the beginning and at the end. Only later did I manage to find several leaves, or rather notebooks, from this Gospel, already half-rotted, among the book debris that really had no value. In the closet and chest of drawers, old books were mixed with new ones, and these latter alternated with manuscripts. In a word, everything was thrown into a heap in which no one wanted to mess around. Only this oblivion and complete indifference to these most important and most interesting monuments of writing and printing of the owners themselves can explain the fact that A. Shafonsky, who personally surveyed the Greek Nizhyn church and always carefully notes in his book even the most ancient monuments of the press, did not say a single word about this library and its manuscripts, and the Right Reverend Philaret of Chernigov, if he speaks about all this, it is so muted that from his words one can reliably conclude that he himself personally did not see either the library or the manuscripts in it 25. Struck by the discovery 26, which was completely unexpected for me on the one hand, and on the other by the pitiful appearance and position of the manuscripts and books that I had to meet under such circumstances for the first time in my life, I could not make a thorough review of the entire library this time, especially since the day began to quickly approach the end. Having taken the first two manuscripts that came into my hands to take home - they were Ἀρχιερατικόν from 1709 and a Greek collection of the 16th-17th centuries - having previously asked A. Yu.’s consent for this, as well as for a secondary, more thorough inspection of the library, I parted with my kind guide. A careful acquaintance with the taken manuscripts revealed their enormous scientific interest, and therefore I decided at the very first meeting of the Church-Archaeological Society at the Kyiv Theological Academy after Easter, which took place on April 24 of this year, to read an abstract about them and ask the Society to petition the clergy of the Nizhyn Greek Church for the cession of them, as well as other manuscripts and books that have fallen out of practical use, for Church and Archaeological Museum at the Kyiv Academy. My proposal was unanimously accepted by the society, which decided to contact the clergy of the named church on this matter. At the beginning of May, I went to Nizhyn for the second time with a direct goal - to carefully examine the books and manuscripts of the Greek St. Michael's Church and, just in case, to make a short but detailed description of them. This time, I presented the Society with a clergy report dated April 30, No. 240, in which, pointing to my message, the Society asked “whether the clergy of the Nizhyn Greek Church would find it possible to cede to this Society the indicated two manuscripts (i.e. Ἀρχιερατικόν 1709 and a collection with a postscript of 1658), equally as well as other books and manuscripts that may be suitable for an ecclesiastical archaeological museum." The clergyman and the church warden responded to this to the Society with their attitude dated May 21, No. 13, that they “with all their desire, cannot do anything without the permission of the diocesan authorities.” Having secured such weighty data, the chairman of the Society, the rector of the academy, now Archimandrite the Reverend Sylvester, then decided to communicate directly with the Reverend Veniamin of Chernigov about this matter. In its relation dated May 26 of the same year for No. 251 o. rector academy, outlining the progress of the case on this issue from the very beginning, wrote: “presenting this on behalf of the Church-Archaeological Society for your archpastoral discretion, I have the duty to respectfully ask your Eminence, whether it would be good for you to make an archpastoral order on the transfer to the clergy of the Nizhyn Greek St. Michael’s Church of the books and manuscripts of the said church that have gone out of church use, having an ecclesiastical archaeological interest, in the Church-Archaeological Society at the Kyiv Theological Academy." The Most Reverend Benjamin favorably accepted this petition of the Society and decided to grant its request, having first, however, demanded manuscripts and books at his personal discretion. In relation to the chairman of the Church-Archaeological Society, the Right Reverend Benjamin put forward the following resolution, submitted to the local ecclesiastical consistory: “to reclaim the requested manuscripts and books at my discretion, after which further orders will follow from my side.” The Chernigov spiritual consistory, by decree of May 31, No. 4616, communicated this resolution of the Right Reverend Veniamin to the dean of the Nizhyn churches, the priest of the St. John the Theological Church, Theodore Ioakimovich Vasyutinsky, so that he, having collected all the manuscripts and books requested by the Church-Archaeological Society at the Kyiv Theological Academy, transferred to the theological Consistory in Chernigov. With report No. 292 dated July 11, Dean Vasyutinsky sent the request to its destination. On June 29, after considering the sent manuscripts of books, His Grace Veniamin wrote the following resolution in response to the report of the Nizhyn dean: “to return the sent manuscripts to the clergy of the Nizhyn Greek Church, to announce to him that on my part there are no obstacles to the assignment of books and manuscripts to the Church-Archaeological Society at the Kyiv Theological Academy.” By decree No. 6155 dated July 11 of this year, the Chernigov spiritual consistory informed the Nizhyn dean and the clergy of the Greek St. Michael's Church about the resolution of the Right Reverend Veniamin, transmitting the decree and a bundle of books and manuscripts. Based on this decree, on September 12, in the presence of the Nizhyn dean, the headman of the Greek St. Michael's Church and one of the members of the trusteeship of this church, not without some verbal protests from the last two persons, 27 I selected for the library all the manuscripts, some scientifically important and bibliographically rare books, and even some church and liturgical items that had gone out of use. All this was transferred by me to the Society and currently constitutes a capital contribution to the church-archaeological museum at the Kyiv Theological Academy. So that readers can judge the scientific importance of the acquisition made by the Society, I will try to present here an external description of all the manuscripts, church liturgical items and some of the most interesting books. I. The Greek Gospel (ἄπρακτος), written in a beautiful and clear cursive of the tenth century, 29 with cinnabar superscripts for raising, lowering and stopping the voices of the readers, on the most magnificent parchment. The manuscript as I looked at it for the first time began on Thursday of the thirteenth week of Easter (τῆ έ τῆς ίγ ἐβδόμαδος), and ended with the Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord, but at present it should be enlarged with some notebooks at the beginning, since I managed to find several of them, as I noted above, in various book waste. Judging by the month book, which lists almost all the Constantinople holidays of that time, then this Gospel belongs to the Constantinople edition. The manuscript contains the inscription “Θεοδόσιος, βασιλεύς αὐτοκράτωρ Ρωμαίων” made twice by the same hand (ll. 92, 163 vol. according to the previous account). What the real postscript means and which of the Byzantine emperors bearing the name Theodosius 30, of course, I cannot decide in it. According to the review of the Most Reverend Porfiry, to whom I turned for permission to be perplexed about this postscript, it was made by the hand of the 11th-12th centuries, therefore later than the writing of the manuscript itself. The latter is also supported by the paleographic features of these inscriptions. II. Greek Gospel (ἄπρακτος) on parchment, written in 11th-12th century cursive, bound in 17th century. In the middle of the present manuscript there appears to be a specific date in the Arabic inscription, which, translated by Professor I. F. Gottwald, reads as follows: “this Gospel is the consolation of a poor slave named ... Shems Hani, son of Huri Jacob, son ... of the late Huri ... in the city of Antioch, year 850 from the Nativity of Christ” 31. But, according to the translator, it was made by a hand from the 13th-14th centuries in commercial forms in order to sell this manuscript on the market at an expensive price. In addition to the postscript given now, the manuscript contains quite a few other short inscriptions, also in Arabic. Both these inscriptions and the months of the present Gospel testify that the present manuscript belongs to the Antiochian edition. On the last page of the manuscript there is an inscription in Russian from the 17th century: “I sold it, Fyodor Maksimov, clean and signed with my own hand.” III. The Gospel is in the order of the current evangelists on parchment, written in the most beautiful Moldovan rite by the hand of Michael the deacon in 1546, as the inscription on the sheet says. 209 vol.: “7055 Michael the deacon wrote, October 7th day.” The manuscript is bound in purple velvet with 17th-century clasps. At the beginning of each evangelist there are beautifully artistically executed headpieces, which are painted with paints and gold. The titles are written everywhere in gold, cinnabar is found only in the articles before and after the Gospels. The capital letters in front of each evangelist are artistically painted and gilded, and there are also completely gold letters. In the margins of the text there are indications of church principles and extensive chapters, but without division into current chapters. The Book of Months is not complete and contains indications of the Gospel readings only for the days of holidays and great saints. IV. The Gospel, in the order of arrangement of the evangelists, is similar to the previous one, on parchment, written in the clear charter of the Moldovan letter of 1576, as can be seen from the following scribe's note: “by the good pleasure of the Father 32 and the haste of the Son, and the accomplishment of the Holy Spirit, do this tetroevangelium I ω ngol and the great logothete and his friends Anna in the days of the pious lord Ι ῶ 33 Peter, governor and benevolent with a bright and pure heart, and give it to this Church of God for our soul and memory and our parents and our God-given children. And whoever tries to take it and give it back, let him have an answer to give before the terrible and unwashed judgment of Christ. In the summer of 7084 (1576) October 3” (l. 72). Below on l. 265 rev. The wonderful fate of this Gospel is also described. “By the grace of God, this Tetroevangel,” says the inscription, “create both the shackles of Iv21;ngol and the great logothet, and torment him Yankul, the governor of the innocent being, of course, he cut off his head, and this Tetroevangel took away all his property. And soon Yankul was driven away from power and fled to the city of Lviv, then I Theophanes, Metropolitan of Suchavsviy, fled in fear for the sake of Yankul, having delighted Lekhov with all his property and saw this Tetroevangel from a foreigner stolen and sick in soul, as the foreigners of the Latins reviled him, and may he not perish the memory of the one who bound him, and we repaid him from the Poles, and gave the Poles a hundred of their gold for the Tetroevangel, and could not get it from them, but also forced the book to the daughter of Alexander, the commander Roksanda, the mistress of the deceased, and with great difficulty he barely wore it out from the hands of the Poles. And I also added and gave one hundred talers, as if I had not given all of mine and redeemed him. Then the door opened and I breathed into my own land and gave it to the church created by me, the church of the honorable prophet and forerunner and baptist John, to the Rechka monastery. If anyone chooses from the sons of Pan Golya (IV21; Ngola) or his wife wants to pay the memory of their parents, and they give the predicted 100 of their gold and 100 talers to the Rechka Monastery, and for payment they will take it, otherwise whoever tries to take it away from the church, such a one is cursed and cursed by the Lord God and from John the Baptist and from our humility. Written in the summer of 7200 (1692) September 10.” The appearance of the manuscript is the same as that of the previous Gospel, but much richer. The main difference between this manuscript and the previous one is the four miniature images of St., artistically executed in the Byzantine style. evangelists: Matthew (fol. 3 vol.), Mark (fol. 75 vol.), Luke (fol. 123 vol.) and John (fol. 206 vol.). The colors and gold of these images, although they still retain freshness, are not entirely due to the dampness of the room where the manuscripts were previously kept. Enamel border paint, for example, in the image of St. Evangelist Luke, has already begun to lag behind and crumble. In all of them, especially in the first three miniatures, there is a lot of similarity to each other miniature. All three first evangelists are depicted in a sitting position, on chairs that are completely similar to one another. The only difference is the position of the saint's legs. evangelists. The tables in front of the evangelists differ in size, colors and designs on them. The buildings surrounding the evangelists vary in size and coloring, and in the depiction of the Evangelist Luke, one part of the building is something completely different from the rest of the buildings in these drawings. Angels are depicted in the form of a person in all the evangelists, but are in the air: in the evangelists Matthew and Luke on the right side, and in the evangelist Mark on the left. The best of all miniatures can be considered the image of St. John the Evangelist, surrounded by rocks. His eyes are fixed on the sky, from which the rays of the Holy Spirit fall on him. One hand rests on the knee, and the other, folded into a two-fingered blessing and supported by a tunic, is directed towards the table, near which sits a young man with a halo around his head, with a scroll and a feather in his hands. This young man portrays, in all likelihood, the disciple of John the Theologian Prochorus, which can be concluded based on the postscript at the end of the Gospel of John the Theologian with the following content: “will be published after the 32nd year of Christ’s ascension on the island of Patma” (fol. 265 vol.). According to popular opinion, St. John the Theologian shared his imprisonment on this island and his labors with his beloved disciple Prokhor. The components of the Gospel are the same as in the previous Gospel, but there is a slight difference in spelling. This Gospel is bound in blue velvet, but without the decorations mentioned in the above notes and of which only traces of their existence have now been preserved. V. Greek handwritten collection, dating back to different centuries. The first half of the manuscript (ll. 1–61), containing the liturgical rites, was written, although in rather large and clear cursive writing of the 16th century, but with very important grammatical errors. The second half of the manuscript (ll. 62–137) is filled with various teachings, lives of the holy fathers and dogmatic and moral treatises. This part of the manuscript was written in different handwritings in small cursive script of the 17th century, in most cases in the modern Greek dialect. The scribe of the first half of this manuscript was undoubtedly the “sinful ignorant hieromonk Dionysius,” as can be seen from the following note at the end of the rite of consecration of the church: “Μέμνησον, ώ ἀρχιερεύς τοῦ Χρίστοῦ, ἐλάχίστου καἰ ἀμαθῆ (οῦς?) Διονυσίου ἰερομονάχου” (l. 43). Who the scribe of the second part of the manuscript was remains unknown. This collection took on its present form already in the 17th century, at the will of the bookbinder, which is proven by the existing, albeit significantly damaged, leather binding with a gold image of the Deesis stamped on it, and cherubs in the corners. The manuscript contains a lot of various types of additions at the beginning, in the middle and at the end, but only two of them are interesting. Namely, a note indicating that this manuscript belonged in 1652 to Sophronius, Metropolitan of Philippisia and Drama, who lived for some time in the city of Nizhyn 34 and another that this manuscript subsequently passed into the hands of the famous builder of Nizhyn Greek churches, priest Christodoulus (Christopher) Dmitriev, who arrived in Nizhyn in the second half of the 17th century. VI. The Archieraticon, a manuscript of 1670, is written in fairly large, clear cursive, although not entirely thorough. The scribe of this manuscript, as the postscript at the end says, was the priest (θύτης) Gabriel, who shared his work with his abbot (ἀρχηθύτης) priest Christopher, to whom, as can be seen from another inscription, the present manuscript was donated in 1690 to the Church of the Archangel Michael of the city Nezhin (fol. 16 vol.). The rites of the liturgies consist of prayers with brief descriptions of ritual actions, which are set out with minor peculiarities in the text against the rites of the same liturgies published by Gohar. There is no rite of proskomedia at all, but instead there is only one prayer: εὐχὴ τῆς προθέσεως. The manuscript contains several headpieces and many capital letters painted with paints, often depicting birds and dragons. The manuscript's spine is parchment, old. VII. A collection containing the rite of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom with the ranks of ordination to all hierarchical degrees, except episcopal. The rites are located in that place of the rite of the liturgy in the order in which they are usually performed at the present time. The manuscript is written in different 17th-century handwritings of the same hand: prayers are written in large but clear cursive, and the presentation of ritual actions is in small cursive. The manuscript contains several headers and capital letters. The manuscript is bound in leather, old. On the output sheet there is a note dated 1690, indicating that this manuscript once belonged to Sophronius, Bishop of Philippisia and Drama 35 and several other uninteresting ones. VIII. Archieraticon, a manuscript written in large, clear cursive, with the exception, however, of the presentation of ritual actions in the ranks of initiation into hierarchical degrees, which (i.e., expositions), although written by the same hand, are already in rather careless cursive, quite often with omissions in the text. This manuscript was written, as the postscript to it says, by the hand of Nicholas, the priest of the city of Moskhopoleos (ἐκ τῆς πολιτείας Μοσχοπόλεως), in 1709, June 4 (fol. 71 vol. Sn. l. 38 vol.) and not without the participation, as another postscript says, of a very wealthy man, a certain George Rallius, who did not spare material expenses for its decoration (l. 72). The manuscript, as conceived by George Rallius, who donated it to the Greek Nizhyn church to commemorate the souls of his relatives, was supposed to be distinguished by its artistic richness and luxury. Therefore, he instructed the priest Nicholas to make images in the manuscript of the supposed authors of the rites of the liturgy: St. John Chrysostom (fol. 1 volume), St. Basil the Great (fol. 22 vol.) and St. Grigory Dvoeslov (l. 47 vol.), and color up to 80 capital letters and several headers. Priest Nikolai took upon himself this work, but fulfilled it far from the same perfection as the first assignment. In his drawings, which are often quite complex and sometimes occupy entire pages (in fol.), one can see the lack of artistic talent and the poverty of creative imagination. Therefore, his faces are similar to one another, the drawings are extremely monotonous and monotonous, and consist of figures that are easily depicted with lines, such as snakes of various sizes and types, dragons climbing through trees, birds, swamp flowers, and most often from the heads of cherubs and seraphim, etc. Sometimes all these figures provide material or content for one drawing (fol. 41), which in this case is already a wonderful mixture of figures and unnatural positions (l. 41, 51 vol., etc.). There is a lot of gold and silver in the drawings and the predominant colors are: green, bright crimson, dirty blue, etc. The text of the rites of the liturgy without the rite of proskomedia, instead of which there is only the prayer “εὐχὴ τῆς προθέσεως”, as well as the texts of other rites and prayers found in this manuscript, with the exception of the prayer “εὐχὴ ἐτεέρα συγχωρητικὴ τοῦ άγίου Μαξίμου τοῦ λογίου ", represents an almost literal similarity with the text of the same rites and prayers published by Gohar in his Ευχολογιον. IX. Menaion for the month of December, a manuscript written partly on white thin paper and partly on gray, in the year 7137 (1619), June 12. This manuscript belonged to the famous priest of the Greek church, Christodoulos, who donated it, as the notes explained on the manuscript say, to this church (ll. 317 vol., 338, etc.). In addition to these signatures, there are others - 1686 and 1814. The spine is contemporary with the origin of the manuscript itself. X. Irmologius, manuscript written in small, not entirely legible cursive, in 1754, January 9. There is no beginning in the manuscript, but it begins with the 4th song of the canon for the Nativity of Christ. XI. A collection of morning and evening prayers for the lamp, a manuscript written in cursive from the 18th century. The prayers are the same and are arranged in the same order as in Gohar in his Ευχολογιον, edit. Venet. 1730 an. pag. 28, 29, 39–42. XII. The stichera, containing stichera for the whole year round, collected and laid out on hooks by Chrysapha, the protopsalon of the great Church of Christ, was written on shiny transparent paper in beautiful and legible cursive, as the signature says, in 1764, February 20, by John of Peloponis. Each stichera begins with a capital letter, written in rather ornate cinnabar. The binding of the manuscript is old with the remains of silver clasps. There are later inscriptions on the manuscript, one of which says that this book was brought as a gift (ἀφιερωθέν) by Chrysapha to the great patriarchal church, and the other that it is the property of the Greek Nizhyn church and was donated by Alexander Konstantinovich Ioanniko. XIII. Octoechos on hook notes, a manuscript written in 1671, July 18, in barely legible cursive and dotted with many cinnabar notes. In order to judge the importance of this manuscript in a scientific sense, I consider it positively necessary to cite here a very extensive, but extremely curious postscript to it with the original under the line: “This book, containing sweet-sounding songs, was finished, the postscript says, in the year from the creation of the world 7179, and from the incarnation of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ 1671, July 18. This book was completed by labor, expenses and great diligence of the sacred deacon, admirer of the holy life-giving sepulcher of the Lord, Mr. Christopher, archdeacon of the great Church of Christ, in the greatest authority of the most holy and most enlightened ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Mr. Dionysius, who was the son and pupil of the glorious country of Trinov, located near the Larissa metropolis. This book was written by me, the insignificant one, the least of all, the ignorant and sinner Chrysaphos, who set out the stichera here not according to the rules generally accepted for a long time, but with some new embellishments, sweet sounds and melodies that have just appeared, adopted for melodic songs in Constantinople. All this was made public and stated by me to the extent that it was achievable for me and personally depended on me, and also to the extent that it was consistent with the instructions of my teacher, Mr. George Redestin. Let people who are more experienced, more knowledgeable and who have studied a lot come, both to make up for what is missing and to correct what is going the wrong way. Those of the pious Christians of the Greek race and the indigenous inhabitants of Hellas, who come across this weak work of mine, sing songs with pleasure and praise God in the highest with hymns and doxologies and his three-solar and three-legged Deity. Those who practice singing sweet-sounding songs, remember for the sake of the Lord and me the sinner who did what is written, so that together we may receive a reward before God for interceding before Him for each other, and so that at the second coming, on the terrible day of judgment, we will be rewarded with the right side from the impartial righteous judge, the sweetest Jesus Christ and our God. Amen. Anyone who wanted to steal or take away this book through theft or greed, let him be cursed by the holy fathers, and part of him with Judas the traitor and with those who crucified the Lord, and God and the holy angels will be his enemies on the day of judgment. Amen". 36 From the postscript that follows this afterword, written by me in an extremely illegible hand, you can see that this manuscript was handed over by Patriarch Dionysius to a certain Russian Metropolitan Stefan 37. The manuscript is incomplete; several pages are missing at the beginning and at the end. The spine is old leather. XIV. The Lenten and Colored Triodion, a manuscript written by the hand of John Papodopoulos of Peloponnia in 1765, February 8, on thick shiny paper with vignettes and initial letters made with cinnabar. The presentation of the stichera on hook notes, with new decorations (εἰς and έ oi καλλωπισμόν) was made by the already famous protopsalt of the Greek Church of Constantinople, Chrysaphos. The binding is contemporary with the manuscript. XV. Octoechos manuscript of the 17th century, written in small cursive. The manuscript includes the Sunday stichera of all eight voices, set on hook notes, and the entire Sunday service. At the end of the manuscript there is an exposition of "Alleluia" on notes, Easter services and other articles. The manuscript has no beginning or end and is generally broken and mixed up. On the output sheet there is an unfinished article explaining the meaning of musical notations. The old binding has been preserved. XVI. The Anthologium of Music, an 18th-century manuscript, is written in very illegible cursive. The spine is new with decorations. On the output sheet there is a note: “Ηικολάος Ί ωάννου Κούμανδρος.” XVII. Music Anthologium of the 18th century, written in the same hand as the previous copy. The inscription on the manuscript: "Νικόλαος Ί ωάννου Κούμανδρος 1811 15 Ουβρίου 15 (21) Νιζνα". XVIII. Music Anthology of the 17th century, written in clear cursive. The spine is a modern manuscript. XIX. Excerpt from a 19th-century manuscript Anthology, unbound. XX. Syntagma of Matthew Vlastar, written in clear cursive script of the 17th century, but only its first half. When selecting Greek liturgical and other printed books, of which there are a lot in the library, I tried, firstly, to ensure that the museum’s library contained a full range of liturgical books, and secondly, that the selected books were either distinguished by the antiquity of their publication, or bibliographic interest, or the importance of their content, or, finally, had on them some inscriptions related to the history of local churches or interesting in some other way respect. In total, up to forty titles were selected and received by the museum, some of them deserve special attention from bibliographers. The Divine and Holy Gospel, reprinted again for the second time at the expense and considerable expense of Nicholas Glyka of the Ionians and corrected with all care by the priest of Mithras Michael, dedicated to the most holy and wise Metropolitan of Philadelphia Meletius Typalda, the most glorious exarch of the patriarchal throne, in the year from the incarnation of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ 1686. The Gospel is arranged by week, starting with Easter. The binding is green parchment, but badly damaged. The Divine and Holy Gospel of the Greek-Vlachian Church, now for the first time set forth in both dialects, sent out to the churches of the Greek model τύπον έστριομμένον), published for the common benefit of the Orthodox at the expense of the most pious, holiest and most glorious ruler and leader of the entire Ugrovlahia John Constantine, governor of Bessarabia at a time when the helm of Orthodoxy was held in his hands by the all-holy metropolitan Theodosius, in the summer of 1693. Published in the most holy “Ugrovlahian metropolis”. How did this Gospel get to Nizhyn? The answer to this question can be found in the postscript in the modern Moldavian dialect on the same title page. This postscript says the following: “this holy and divine Gospel, Greek and Romanian, is dedicated and donated as a gift to the holy churches of God in the city of Nizhyn (Nizhna) in honor of the week of All Saints and the saints of the Archangel Michael and Gabriel by Mr. (Pan) Constantine Catacuzino, the great steward. May it serve the needs of the holy churches of God and in good memory of the one who dedicates it. Given (this holy Gospel) through his honor, Mr. Zgura-Stilvich, to the (Nizhyn) fraternal churches - summer 1698.” The Gospels are arranged in order of readings from the week of Easter. The Gospel binding is old, but still well preserved, with images imprinted on it. The Arabic Gospel, published at the end of the 17th or at the very beginning of the 18th century, with a dedication to Hetman Mazepa, whose coat of arms is depicted at the end of the Gospel. The dedication is as follows: γετμάνον καβαλερον τοῦ ἐνδόξου τάγματος τοῦ ἀγίου ἀποστό λου Ἀνδρέου τοῦ προτοκλήτου, κύριον κύριον Ι ὼ άννην Μαζέπαν. Ἐπιγρἀμμα ήροελεγεῖον. Διὰ τὸ ὅ περ ἰδίαις δαπάναις έξέδωκε τῶ ἀραβικῷ ἤ δη τύπ ῳ Θεῖον καὶ ἰερὸν Εὐαγγέλιον. ?? Μαζέπα κῦδος ἔχεις. P ίστιος ὥ σπερ ἐπεί τελέθεις στύλος εὐαγεύς σύ Ί ρά ἔπη Κυρίου, σαῖς δαπάνησι δίδως. “ Ετερον πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν Ἄ ρα τίς ἔστιν ό Θεσπεσίαν βίβλον ἄμμι πορίζων , Ἀγγελίης ἐσθλῆς δεσποτικῶν ἐπέων , Καίπερ Ἄ ραψι πέλουσιν ἀτάργε σεβάσματι πιστοῖς Θώκω, ἀρχομένοις Ἀντιόχου πόλιος; Μαζέπυ οῦτος Ἰ ωάννης γε ό Γετμάνος εῦχος Καί κράντωρ μικρ ᾶ ς Ρωσίας εὐσεβέος. P ηθύος ὅ ς χαρίτων ψυχοσώστών οὑνεκα ἐῶν, Εἰς δόξαν Θεῖαν, ήμέτερον δ ’ ἔλεος Τήν προθύμως σφετέροις ἀναλώμασιν ἔκθετο τύπ ῳ Ζήτω, εὐεργὸς ἐς λυκάβαντὸ ἄρα. Τῆς ὐμετέρας ὑψηλότητος ταπειναὶ προς Θεόν εὐχεται οί ἐν Ἀρα βία εὐσεβεῖς ἀμφοτέρων τῶν τάξεων. Ἐλέ ῳ Θεοῦ Ιωάννης Μαζέπας , Γέτμανος τῶν τῆς βασιλικῆς Γαληνοτάτης μεγαλειότης Ζαποραγικῶν στρατευμάτων, και τοῦ ἐνδοξου τάγματος τοῦ ἁ γίου αποστόλου Ἀνδρέου τοῦ πρωτοκλήτου καβαλέρος. In the margins of this Gospel there are many handwritten notes from the 17th century, such as the following: “Ἐνταῦθα ἄρχεται τὸ Μηνολόγιον” (fol. 10), “Αναγινώσκεται "(fol. 17). τὴν ὔv ψωσιν. και τῇ δ ’ τῆς πρώτης ἔβδόμαδος τῶν νηστειῶν εῖς τὴν παννυχίδα . Και ἀπὸ τοῦ παρ &#9#972; ντος ἐρυθροῦ ση μείου λέγε ἀκολούθως εἰς τὴν παννυχίδα καἰ τὰ παρόντα. Ὅ ταν εἴπης. Ἄ ψες ἡμῶν τὰ παραπτώματα ἡμῶν ( λέγε εὐθύς ) αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν, ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὐρήσεται, κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν , π ᾶ ς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει καὶ ό ζητῶν εὑρίσκει, καί τῶ κρούοντι ἀνοιγήετεται. "" (fol. 77), etc. On the right side the following remarks are constantly made: "" τῆς παρασκευῆς ", " τέλος τοῦ ίβ εὐαγγελίου τῶν παθῶν καὶ τοῦ μεγάλου σαββάτου εἰς τὸν όρθρον ", etc. The book is bound in excellent leather with gilded images imprinted on it. Teaching Gospel in the modern Moldovan dialect of 1643. The afterword with it is as follows: “By the will of the Father and with the haste of the Son and the accomplishment of the Holy Spirit, by the command of our pious ruler Ιῶ (lui) Basil the governor, by the grace of God, the ruler of the land of Moldova, this book of the spoken Gospel was printed in his gospodar's printing house in his God-saved desktop city of all, in his hospodar's monastery Three saints, in the year from the creation of the world 7151, and from the incarnation of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ 1643 38.” The printing of this book is clear and beautiful. At the beginning of the articles, the vignettes and capital letters are very well done. In front of the Gospel is the Moldovan coat of arms with verses in the Moldovan dialect and a preface to the readers from Metropolitan Varlaam, “Desar of the Moldovans.” Old leather binding. The rite for the renovation of the church with the blessing of the all-holy and divine ruler of the ecumenical patriarch Gabriel, under the power of the high ruler John Constantine Bassarava, governor of all Ugrovlahia, now for the first time published by the dependent of the all-holy Metropolitan Sophia Avxentius, for distribution as a gift to bishops, in Bukarest Ugrovlahia, in the summer of salvation 1708, in the month of December, by Hieromonk Anfim from Iveria. This rank was later adopted into the Greek Euchologium and remains there to this day. This small book (in quart.), 25 leaves, in a simple paper binding, is, as its name partly shows, a bibliographic rarity. On the output sheets there are several short handwritten sayings, for example: “A man stands in water up to his neck, asks for a drink, but cannot get drunk,” “Do not seek, man, wisdom, seek meekness, if you find meekness, you will overcome wisdom,” etc. 39 περὶ εὐταξίας καὶ τοῦ καθήκοντος ἑκάσ του των ? ἀνηκ ό ντων εἰς τὸ πολιτίκόν. Ὀδηγία τῆς ἐις τό εξῆς ἀποφάσεως τῶνὡ ς τύπον ἤ δη συλλεχθεισῶν &##8017; ποθέσεων, καὶ συμφωνία τῶν το πικῶν ἐθίμων, τῶν ὡ ς ἐπὶ τὸ ? ἀκριβῆ τοῦ δικαίου συντήρησιν , καὶ πρὸς τὸ τῶν πτωχῶν ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου ἀνεπηρέαστον. Φιλοπονιθὲν παρὰ τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου σοφωτάτου καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεστάτου ἡγέμονος πάσης Οὐγροβλαχιάς κυρίου κυρίου Ἰὠ άννου Ἀλεξάνδρου Ι ὠ άννου Yψηλάντη βοεβόδα. Κατὰ τὸν ἔβδομον χρόνον τῆς Θεοστηρίκτου, αὐτοῦ Αὐθεντείας, ἱεραρχοῦντος τοῦ πανιερολογιώτατον μητροπολίτον ? καί πάτριον γλῶτταν , ἐν τῆ τυπογραφία τῆς ἁ γιωτάτης μητροπόλεως Οὐγρόβλαχίας. Ἐν ἔτη σωτηρίω 1780, κατὰ μῆνα Σεπτέμβριον . Book in simple paper binding. In addition to these rare books, the museum received the following: Typikon 1643; Triodion 1748; Triodion with inscription 1748; Euchologium 1777; Pendicostarium 1675; Pendicostarium 1801; Paracliticus 1671; Collection of liturgies 1814; Orologion 1760; Archieraticon 1778; Irmology 40 1832; Anthology 1784; Menaea, containing the months from January to April inclusive, 1779; Menaion with services in the months from May to December 1778; Minea February 1784; Minea March 1779; Minea September 1775; Minea November 1778; Minea December 1779; Minea April 1780; Minea August 1749; Minea October 1732; Minea June 1732; Minea July 1672; Minea August 1673; Minea June 1689; service to the Wonderworker Spyridon of Trimifunsky 1743; Collected Works against the Latins, 1692; Margaret (Μαργαρίται) 1730; 2 books New Treasure of the 17th century, Collection of selected lives of saints from September to July of the 17th century, Holy Catechism or interpretation on the liturgy of Nicholas Bulgari and Leontius Glyka of 1681 and περὶ τῶν ἀοράτων διὰ τῶν ὀράτων ἐννοούμενων πραγμάτων ... Thomas Mandakasi Castorian. In addition to books and manuscripts, the museum also received some church and liturgical items that were interesting from an archaeological point of view. Air, artistically embroidered with silks. In the middle of the air is embroidered with silk the Mother of God with the Eternal Child in her arms, surrounded by radiance and with a crown on her head. The evangelists are embroidered on the sides, between which there are similarly executed figures of four great martyrs: Barbara, Paraskeva, Catherine, Iulita and Kirik. All facial images are made with remarkable clarity and inimitable skill. According to some, this air is a Venetian work of the 17th century. The shroud is painted with paints on linen, about 2 arshins long, and a quarter and arshins wide. Jesus Christ is depicted lying in a tomb, which stands next to a cross crowned with a crown of thorns. The Savior's tomb is surrounded by weeping wives in this order: almost at the head of the Savior is Mary of Cleopas, next to her is the Mother of God, then at the feet of the Savior is Mary Magdalene and Mary of Jacob 41 . Opposite the Savior’s head stands Archangel Michael, and opposite his feet stands Archangel Gabriel, both with a candle in one hand and a censer in the other. Around the shroud is the troparion: O’ εὐσχή μων ’ Ιώσήφ ... Three icons of the XVII-XVIII centuries. Russian letter: Mother of God, St. the Great Martyr Procopius and the Venerable Alexander of Svirsky and one folded icon of the same time in Greek writing, depicting St. Martyr Charlampius and Saints John Chrysostom and Basil the Great. A mica mirror, half-decayed, with carved decorations and gilding. Ἑ ρμηνεία or calendar table for several years to determine the holidays of the entire year. On the sides are depicted the so-called moonlights. This table is pasted onto folding boards one and a half arshins long and three quarters of an arshin wide. The origin of this table is not earlier than the beginning of this century. The Church-Archaeological Society at the Kiev Theological Academy, recognizing the scientific importance of such a rich addition to its museum and appreciating the services provided to it in this matter by the dean of the churches of the city of Nizhyn, priest F. I. Vasyutinsky and the former epitrope of the Nizhyn Greek churches A. Yu. Kounelakis, at a meeting on September 16 of this year elected them to its corresponding members. Archive of the Minister. foreign affairs, Greek files, cardboard 117, case No. 4. Shafonsky about Chernig. voivodeship part II p. 477. The Greek Nizhyn magistrate was established after the publication in 1785 of April 21 days, the so-called city regulations, on the basis of a special decree of Empress Catherine II given to the Senate on September 1, 1785. The original of the charter is kept in a safe deposit box. Greek church at number 38. The case about the construction of this church by Zosimami and its transfer to the brotherhood is kept under No. 15 in Greek. Tender. churches. Greek affairs of the arch. min. foreign cases, maps 64, no. 17; No. 14; Maloross. ligament affairs 31, No. 12, etc.; gram. Lazar Baranovich, stored in Greek. tender church No. 53·, archierat. RKP. 1709; minea december m. rkp. 1629; service to St. Spiridia, printed. 1745 etc. In order to more clearly imagine the origins and activities of the builder of Nizhyn Greek churches, I think it would not be superfluous to quote here verbatim his petition, submitted in 1691 to the Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich: “To the Great Sovereigns, Tsars and Grand Dukes John Alekseevich, Peter Alekseevich, to all Great and Little and White Russia, the priest of yours, strikes with his forehead your pilgrim of the Macedonian land. Christopher. I, your pilgrim, have seen great impudence from the busurmans and heard about your royal majesty’s indescribable mercy. He went to your great sovereigns' name, to the Little Russian city of Nezhin, and remembering the commandment of God, according to his promise, he bought land in Nezhin, built two stone churches: one in the name of All Saints, and the other of the Archangel Michael. But due to my poverty and poverty, I don’t have anything to build iconostases and church vessels in those churches. Merciful great sovereigns, tsars and grand dukes John Alexievich, Peter Alekseevich, autocrats of all great and small and white Russia! Grant me, your pilgrim, for the all-merciful Savior and the Most Pure Mother of God and for your great sovereigns many years of health, and for the commemoration of the blessed memory of your father, the state of the great sovereign, the Tsar and the Grand Duke, Alexei Mikhailovich, all of Great and Little and White Russia, the autocrat and brother of your sovereign, the Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Alekseevich of all great and small and white Russia autocrat. Look, great sovereigns, at my beggarly misery of your great sovereigns with salaries to those mentioned churches of God for the construction of iconostases and for church vessels, which God will notify you, the great sovereign, and I, your wretched pilgrim, must pray to God for you great sovereigns and for your royal blessed majesty. Great sovereigns, have mercy!” I extracted this petition from the arch. minister foreign affairs, Little Russian, affairs of St. 87, No. 41 l. 6. For the first time, Father Christopher traveled to Moscow in 1686 and received “30 rubles from Nizhyn income for a church building.” The second time - in 1691 and received “a salary from the great sovereigns for the installation of iconostasis in the built churches from the Siberian order in sables for 50 rubles.” Malor. affairs arch. min. foreign affairs of St. 84, No. 41, l. 12 and 10. The certificate is kept in a delicate Greek church at number 48. I made this excerpt from a modern translation of the letter of Patriarch Jacob, written in 1680 in the name of Fr. Christopher. This translation, as well as the original itself, written on parchment, with the lead patriarchal seal of 1679, is currently kept in delicate storage. Greek, churches In the original, the quoted passage reads like this: κατά το κάστρον Ί ζνα , εικαί διαμένη είς αἰῶνα τὰ ἄπαντα πανελεύτερος καί ἀδούλατος, καί ἀκαταπάτητος, καί ὅ λως άνεπήρταστος , καί ἀνενόχλητος παρὰ παντός προσώπου , μηδενὸς τῶν άπάντων ἔχοντος έξουσίαν καθυπερβένειν αὐτοῦ καί ένοχλεῖν ? αυτὸν καί νέμεσθαι τά είσοδήματα καί δικαιώματα τῆς έκκλησίας αὐτῆς έφόρου Ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ᾶ χρις τελευταίας ὰναπνοῆς . This is what, regarding the disagreements that arose at that time, the famous hierarch of the southern Russian church Lazar Baranovich was forced to write in 1682: “The honorable Father Christopher, presbyter of the Greek church of Nezhin, having anointed all the souls of the Greek race who were in that city with the Commonwealth, he built the church to salvation through many labors, crafts and in various ways, with the blessing of our bishops, he tried to bring it to completion. matter: what many persons wanted in the hope of wanting to be the Church of God, the mercy of the thousand how much he owed, which the church when it began to take its own baking and love of all that kind for the presbytery of his father Christopher with vigilant care to see for himself, there were some things not so z’piety, like the delicacies of z’ktitorov, subsumed by the created providence The priests of the church, collected by the decay of the debts in advance, pay the sum for this lien, then bring it to perfect decoration, and having won this, even without repaying the said debts into the turbation of the changed Father Christopher, they are allowed to lie down and the church estate in the interception of their will to have and, in addition to his priestly will, dispose of it. In that, just as the Church of God, so the priestly ambitions are given a lie. “Presently, we, the shepherd, by our episcopal authority, order all the ktitors who are called that church, so that after reading this to our universal, all the church property of which the debts exchanged should be given to the honest Father Christopher, as they handed over to the first founder and ktitor of that church, which from that hour no one except himself was in charge, so that no one would dare to be called a ktitor.” This station wagon is stored under No. 48 in Greece. tender churches. About this church, the Bishop of Slutsk and administrator of the Kyiv Metropolis wrote in 1719 that it, “standing for a long time, has become dilapidated and requires complete restoration.” The original is kept in a delicate Greek church number 51. In the universal of the Kiev Archbishop Varlaam Vanatovich in 1725 it is mentioned that he confirmed the patent “for the foundation of the stone church of St. Archangel Michael, given to the metropolis” and now allows “the newly founded above-mentioned church to be safely built.” Gram. kept in the local church under number 58. I am building, your pilgrim, Father Christopher wrote in this petition, your royal pilgrimage of the Church of the Archangel Michael and All Saints, one stone, and the other wooden (which of these churches is wooden, from here it is impossible to understand for sure), collecting from Orthodox Christians, and now, Sovereigns, I am dragging your pilgrim, to you great sovereigns to Moscow for your sovereign salaries. Arch. min. foreign dela malor, dela, sv. 87, No. 41 l. 11. See the original in Greek. tender church at number 38. Metropolitan Samuil, for example, in 1784 persuaded the Nizhyn Greeks to “take all measures to complete the construction of a stone church, begun long ago by this brotherhood and to this day without completion and any care left, fearing for their negligence in the seven so important matter of God’s judgment and church torture, according to the holy rules.” Original in gentle Greek church at number 47. It (i.e., the Church of the Archangel Michael) is not the first that the Greeks who settled in Nizhyn built, says Shafonsky, who visited Nizhyn personally, but before it in 1692 the first was “wooden, and after it was stone, in the name of All Saints, which stood in the place where now a new one is being built in the same name.” (i.e. in 1783). The first one was dismantled due to its disrepair. Chernig. viceroy Af. Shaf. ed. court. Kyiv. 1851, part 11, page 467. The inscriptions we have given represent a rather free translation of the inscriptions existing on the same icons, and therefore we consider it not superfluous to present them in the originals, which read like this: εἰκόνος τοῦ ἀγίου καί θαυματούργου Νικολάου κεχρυσομένης ἔγινε διὰ δαπάνης καἰ εὐλαβείας Ἰ ωάννου Α᾿θανασίου Βαφια τοῦ έξ Ί ωαννίνων καἰ εις μνημόσυνον τὸν αἰώνιον. 1813 Ὀκτωμρίου 1. β ) Τό παρὸν εἰκονοστάσιον ὅ μου μεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἀγίου Ἰ ωάννου τοῦ προδρόμου ἔγινε δι ’ έξόδων τοῦ 1813 Οκτωμβρίου 1. Full title of the Gospels: Θεῖον καί ἰερὸν εὐαγγέλιον. Τὸ πάλαι μἐν παρὰ Ἀντωνίου τοῦ Πινέλλου τυπωθέν , νῦν δἐ τοῖς ἴσοις τύποις παρὰ Νικολάου τοῦ Γλυκέος μετατυπωθἐν καί μετὰ ?? σοφωτάτω μητροπολίτη Φιλαδελφείας κυρίω Μιλετίω τῶ χορτακίψ ὐπερτίμψ έΕάρχψ τοῦ πατριαρχικοῦ. 1671. Con privilegio. About Chernigov. viceroy Part II p. 467. A. Shafonsky incorrectly names the year (1682) in which the salary for this Gospel was made. Chernig. us. Part II, p. 467. According to Shafonsky and the Right Reverend Philaret, particles of the Life-Giving Cross are stored at this cross (Chernig. Nam. Part II, p. 467); Histor. stat. Description Chernig. diocesan Chernig. 1874, book. VII, p. 385. Shafonsky says about this shroud that on it “near the head of the Savior there are stones” (Chernig. nam. Part II, p. 467), and His Eminence Philaret adds that “the shroud is decorated with pearls and stones” (Hist. stat. Description. Chernig. eparch. book VII, p. 467), but at the present time, as we noted above, instead of precious stones Multi-colored glass is inserted into the socket. On the shroud, in addition to the above inscription, there is another, short one, which reads as follows: εὐρίσκεται αιῶνα αίῶνος . In addition to the indicated inscriptions, the words of the troparion are embroidered on the shroud: Ό εὐσχήμων Ιωσὴφ. Recently a brochure appeared, published by Professor A. A. Fedotov-Chekhovsky, under the title: “Acts of the Greek Nizhyn Brotherhood,” Kyiv 1884. Looking through this brochure, to our surprise, we did not find in it the preface that is so usual in such cases and scientifically necessary, so the reader can remain completely unaware of where these acts were extracted by the publisher-professor. The title of the brochure does not explain this very important issue at all. In fact, if we assume that the publisher collected these acts from all Russian repositories, then we can point to a very important repository of acts, the Moscow archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where, without any doubt, the publisher of the acts did not look. Here he would have found quite a few interesting acts relating to the history of the brotherhood and the construction of churches. If we think that the publisher “copied” these acts in the Greek Nizhyn church, where they are still kept, then it is not clear why the publisher omitted from attention the letter of Archbishop Victor of Chernigov, 1796. December 22 days or a very important decree of 1786 dated April 2, with the signatures of many Chernigov bishops, as well as other royal decrees and letters of grant stored in the church. It is impossible not to blame Mr. Professor for not mentioning in his publication that the universals of Lazar Baranovich had already been published earlier (see letters of Rev. Lazar Baranovich, ed. 2, Chernigov, 1665, pp. 219–224), that in addition to the translation into Russian of the charter of Patriarch Jacob in 1680, his “publisher” there is a translation that is more scientifically valuable, a translation of contemporaries, which is kept in the church between other documents that the publisher, dwelling in such detail on the seals of Russian metropolitans and hetmans, does not pay any attention to the lead seal of the already mentioned Patriarch Jacob, which has a date different from the time of publication in the light of the letter itself, i.e. “1679”, finally one cannot ignore in silence the important fact that the Greek the original acts were published extremely carelessly. In general, we could present to the “professor-publisher” other demands that are not unknown to him, very important from a scientific point of view, but we leave this until a more favorable time... In St. Michael's Church, writes Rev. Filaret in his history. stat. description of Chernigov. dioceses, two Greek handwritten Gospels on parchment, three printed Greek ones, in Ioannina one 1645, the other 1671... Two handwritten Gospels in Slavic; on one it is written: Michael the deacon wrote in the summer of 7055 Oct. 7, therefore 1546... The Lenten Triodion in Greek, printed in Ioannina, 1748. (K. VII, pp. 384–385). I explain such a superficial description of the library of St. Michael’s Church only by the fact that the learned Eminence did not have the opportunity to examine it personally, but believed the clergy list. Otherwise, it becomes completely incomprehensible why the Right Reverend mentions, for example, the Slavic Gospel of 1546 and does not say a word about another Slavic Gospel, more valuable for its artistic miniature images and more interesting for its detailed historical inscriptions. Below I will have the opportunity to cite all of these inscriptions. In addition to the inscriptions in this manuscript, there is also a specific date for when the manuscript was written. Finally, it is not clear why Rev. Philaret mentions the Lenten Triodion of 1748, printed in Ioannina, and does not say anything about books that are more valuable and rare in bibliographic terms, such as the Greco-Moldavian Gospel of 1693, the Arabic Gospel of the late Χ VII or early XVIII century, the Greek Gospel of 1686, or even the monthly menaions of the 17th century, etc. All these books, as shown by those existing on them inscriptions have been kept in the library of St. Michael's Church for a very long time. The venerable Anastasy Yuryevich, my cicerone, had not said anything about the manuscripts before, and as it turned out later, he himself looked at them only for the first time with me. Consequently, I owe this discovery to completely random circumstances that led me to this book depository... These protests arose due to the fact that in this case I had to deal with new people who knew only by hearsay the petition of the Archaeological Society for the concession of books and manuscripts by the St. Michael's Church. Rector Fr. Iliodor, “the bright lamp of the Greek Church,” as the Right Reverend Veniamin of Chernigov characterized him in one decree, died during the summer months, and the active and zealously concerned about bringing the Nizhyn Greek churches into a splendid appearance, the epitrope Anastsy Yuryevich Kounelakis, due to various kinds of troubles he had with Greek society, left this position and was replaced by a new person, not yet accustomed to their new responsibilities. Therefore, a matter that began with some people and ended with others, very naturally could not proceed without some kind of perplexity and wrangling... A detailed description of the manuscripts and books received by the museum of the Church-Archaeological Society at the Kiev Theological Academy has already been prepared by me for printing and will soon begin printing in the “Proceedings of the Kiev Theological Academy”. The time of writing of Greek manuscripts, which do not have exact dates, was determined at my personal requests by His Eminence Porfiry Uspensky, a famous paleographer, and a professor at Kazan University, orientalist Joseph Fedorovich Gottwald. The antiquity of the Gospel of the 10th century is also indicated by the fact that in it we find the Gospel reading for the liturgy on Good Friday: 157), which can no longer be found in later manuscripts. Saint Theodosius the Great reigned in Constantinople in 379–395, Saint Theodosius II in 408–450, and finally Theodosius III in 715–717. The dots in the translation of the inscription mean the omission of names that were not understood by Professor Gottwald. I present these, as well as other inscriptions, without observing the signs and spelling of the originals, in order to facilitate the readers and editors. In a detailed description I present their originals. This is the explanation given for this word, which is very often found in Moldavian manuscripts and books: “the king of Ternopi and the memorable Michael or John (abbreviated as Ιῶ)", i.e. the baptist of Bulgaria Boris-Mikhail. Paisius writes among other things: “from him came the tribe and clan of the Bulgarian kings up to Shishman John the last; all then his name and they signed the title, which he had, then John, that is, Ioannovich” (Golubinsky Brief sketch of the Orthodox churches. M. 1871, p. 658. See gram. Lazar Baranovich, stored in Greek. nezhin. church, number 52. Since the note about the ownership of some manuscripts and books by Sophronius, Metropolitan of Philippisia and Drama, is found on them very often, I consider it worthwhile to cite one of them here: “Ή πα ρούσα λειτουργία, says the inscription, ὑπάρχει κἄμοῦ , τοῦ ταπεινοῦ μητροπολίτου Φιλίππων καί Δραμ ᾶ ς κυρίου Σοφρονίου καί όποῖος τὴν ἀποξένοσει , νὰ ἐχη τάς άράς tshi άγιων triakooishi όεκα καί όκτω θεοφιύρων ήμΰιν έν tsh νύν αίώνι καί τψ έν μέλλοντι.” This inscription is repeated almost verbatim in other manuscripts. The translation was done freely by me, and therefore I consider it worthwhile to cite the inscription in the original: 7179, ἀπό δἐ τῆς ένσάρκου 1671, Ί ουλίω ίή ίνθ · ἐτελειόθη οῦν διὰ συνδρομῆς καί ἐξόδου, καί μίζωνος ἐπιμελείας τοῦ ἐν ἰεροδιακόνοις προσκυνητοῦ τε τοῦ καί ἀρχιδιακόνου τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ μεγάλης έκκλησίας, ἐν τῆ μεγίστη έξουσία ιοῦ παναγωτάτου, λογιωτατου τε, καί οίκουμενικοῦ πατριάρχου κυρίου κυρίου Διο νυσίου τοῦ κωνσταντινοπολἰτου, ὑπάρχοντος γέννημα καί θρέμμα τῆς ?? Λαρίσσης. E γράφη δἐ καί παρ ’ ἐμοῦ τοὐ εὐτελοῦς καί ελάχἰστου, καί ἀμαθοῦς ἀμαρτωλοῦ τε ὐπἐρ πάντας Χρυσάφου, δῆθεν καί πρωτοψάλτου τκκλησἰας , οὐ μέντοι ἐκτονισθεῖσα , ἀλλ ’ ἐν καινῶ ?? καθάπερ τὰ νῦν ἀσματολογεῖται τοῖς μελωδοῦσιν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει. ? κατὰ τὴν ῆν παρέλαβον εἰσήγησιν παρὰ τοῦ ἐμοῦ διδασκάλου κυρίου κῦρ Γεωργίου τοῦ Ραιδεστίνου, καί πρωτοψάλτου τος τού Χριστοῦ με γάλης ἐκκλησίας έκτεθηκ ὼ ς κάί τονῆσας , τοῖς δἐ τελειοτέροις ἐμπειροτέροι τεκαί πολυμαθεστέροις ἐκκεἰοθω τῶν μἐν ἀποδεομένων εἰς ἀ απλήρωσιν , τῶν δἐ οὐκ ὀρθῶς προβάντων εἰς ἐπανόρθωσιν. Οσοι δἐ τῶν εὐσεβῶν καί ὀρθοδόξων χριστιανῶν τοῦ γένους τῶν γραικῶν , καί τῆς Ἐλλαδος ῥ ιζουχίας , έντυγχάνοντες τῷ μικρῷ ?? έν ὑψίστοις εἰς ῦμνον καί δοξολογίαν τῆς τρισηλίου καί τρισακτίνου αὐτοῦ θεότητος. , ?? ?? Θεοῦ τὸν μισθόν ὐπἐρ ἀλλήλων πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐντεὐξεως , καί ἀξιωθείοιμεν έν τῆ δευτέρα παρουσία καί φρικτῆ ήμέρα τῆς ? δι καίου κριτοῦ, τοῦ γλυκυτάτου Ἰησού Χριστοῦ, τοῦ Θεοῦ ή ῶν . Ἀμήν. Ὁ δέ βουληθὴς πλεονέκτψ καί κλοπίμψ χειρί καθαρπ ᾶ σαι καί ἀποστερῆσαι , ἔχοι τὰς ἀρὰς ιῶν ἀγίων πατέρων καί μερίς αὐτοῦ μετὰ τοῦ προδότου Ἰοῦδα καί τῶν σταυρωσάντων τὸν Κύριον , καί ἔχοι τὸν Θεὸν καί τοὐς ἀγιους αὐτοῦ ἀγγέλους πολεμίους αὐτῷ έν ήμέρςα τῆς κρίσεως. Ἀμήν. This is none other than Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky, who spent his childhood in Nizhyn, had a brother here as an archpriest, built the monastery of the Mother of God Nazareth and in 1721 donated his entire library here. "Chernig. Eparch. Ved.", 1861, No. 6, pp. 323–332 · Brief. description Bdagoveshch. mon. ed. br. Zosimov, M. 1815, pp. 11–17, 54–58. The title of the book is somewhat more complete and detailed than the afterword I cited. I leave the title of this curious book without translation in order to give an accurate idea about it. The book of Irmologii is extremely interesting and rich in its content. In addition to the usual irmos for all voices, it contains the following interesting articles: ?? τίμίου καί ζωο ποιοῦ οταυροῦ ἐ κ τοῦ Ἰ λλυρικοῦ ωρολογὶου ὲπτιγραφεῖσα καί μεταφραοΟεῖσα "." περί σημασίας τῶν δακτύλων τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ ἱερεώς ἐν τῶ εὐλογεῖν τὸν Χριστώνυμον λαόν "." "" Μανουήλ τοῦ Ξάνθινοῦ περὶ συγγρενειάς περαγροφὴ "and other articles bearing the general title in the title of the book: "καὶ ἄλλα ὠ φέλιμα ". All the inscriptions we have given are on the shroud and are written in the Slavic alphabet. You might be interested in: