Culture

HEROES OF THE FAITH - HEROES OF THE HISTORY, exhibition opened in the PROGRES Gallery

An exhibition of icons, frescoes, mosaics, rosettes and calligraphy, created by the Academy of the Serbian Orthodox Church for arts and conservation, was opened at the PROGRES gallery yesterday evening. The title of the exhibition is HEROES OF THE FAITH - HEROES OF THE HISTORY. The hagiographies were created in Todor Mitrovic`s (Mth), Goran Janicijevic`s and Rajko Blazic`s class and calligraphy was done by Dragan Bosnic, Mth.The exhibition was opened by Dean of the Academy of SOC archpriest-staurophor dr Radomir Popovic opened the exhibition.

During his speech, Dean led the visitors through history of the early Christian Church on territories of Gaul and Moesia, on which are nowadays France and Serbia.

He specially thanked the patron of the exhibition, Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Serbia, and its representatives - secretary of state Mr. Dragan Curovic and Mr. Dragan Novakovic. In the end , Dean gave word to His Grace Bishop Atanasije of Hvosno, the vicar of His Holiness, in order to bless and open the exhibition.

Psalms- The Kovilj Monastery Choir

The Book of the Psalms - the Psalter is one of the most beautiful, most profound, and best-known books in the Old Testament. Every single truth of the Christian faith is prefigured and preached in the pages of the Psalter. God's laws, the whole act of the creation of the visible and the invisible worlds, the tumultuous history of the people of Israel, the Providence of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, the life of the Church and its temptations, a diversity of subjects on God and Man and their mutual relationship - all of these are to be found in the Book of the Psalms. Moreover, what makes the Psalms so unique is that whenever you chant or read them, you are looking as if through a mirror into your own soul!

FIRST BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA IN SERBIAN LANGUAGE

Protodeacon Radomir Rakic Bible Encyclopedia, I - II , pp. 600 и 632, Theological Academy in Srbinje (Foca), 2004.

The year of 2004. saw the publication the Bible Encyclopedia in two volumes by Protodeacon Radomir Rakic, lecturer at the Theological Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade and Lecturer in the New Testament at the Theological Academy in Srbinje (Foca) as well as the official interpreter of the Holy Synod of Bishops. The first volume includes terms from A to L on a total of 586 pages, and the second volume comprises 632 pages, in encyclopedic format in two columns with four geographic maps on sub- covers and many illustrations, diagrams, etc. This work, the first of its kind in the Serbian language, has been no less than 10 years in preparation by the author, using the best biblical encyclopedias in the world as his model, including the Russian encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nikifor from the end of the 19th century reprinted in Moscow in 1992. German works used included Fritz Rienecker’s Lexikon zur Bibel and the six-volume biblical dictionary published by Brockhaus, Das grosse Bibellexikon. English works of greatest aid to the author were Harper’s Bible Dictionary (San Francisco, 1985), as well as The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vols. 1-3 (London, 1980).

The fifth Orthodox Music Festival in Pomorie, Bulgaria

Pomorie will greet more than 700 choristers from nine countries for the fifth Orthodox Music Festival, to be held from June 7 to 11. Among the new participants this year is the chamber choir of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Berlin. Russian and Greek church officials are expected to be present at the festival.

Officially named for the Holy Virgin Mother (Света Богородица - Достойно есть), the festival drew applications for participation from more than 3000 candidates; out of these were chosen 31 groups from Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.

Belgrade Theological Student Choir in the United States

NEW BOOK: The Temple of Nativity of the Saint John the Baptist, Radovan Pilipovic, Belgrade 2008.

The temple dedicated to the Nativity of the Saint John the Baptist is located on the Central Cemetery (Zaplanjska 47a Street). The peculiarity of the temple can be found in its origin. It had the significant role in the recent spiritual past of Belgrade. The adaptation of the common, mundane building due to the requirements of the Church, which was built in the cemetery area, caused the construction of the temple. Firstly, in 1948 one of the premises was turned into the chapel, what was followed by the construction of the administrative affairs office. The permission which allowed the public worship in the remaining part of the facility concluded the whole issue on the temple. The church bell tower was built in 1969. It left the strong architectural imprint and provided the actual exterior appearance of the church.