Kyjevský polemicko-apologetický rukopisný zborník s liturgiou svätého Petra
The Kievan Polemical-Apologetical Manuscript Miscellany Containing the Liturgy of St. Peter

Summary/Abstract: The subject of our monograph is a polemical-apologetical manuscript miscellany, which is located in the National Library of Ukraine, Institute of Manuscripts, collection № 312, shelfmark Соф 104 (105). Originally it belonged to the library of St. Sophia’s Church (the Church of the Holy Wisdom). It was probably written in the late 16th century on the territory of the Kievan Metropolitanate. It is written on paper with dimensions 31 x 20 cm, has described 133 folios of written text (immediately followed by 4 blank folios), the title page is missing. The manuscript is written in semi-uncial Cyrillic script of uniform appearance. It is written in the Church Slavonic language of the Russian redaction with a recognizable influence of the Middle Bulgarian orthography. The manuscript miscellany was compiled in response to the Reformation movement and its ideas, especially as regards the issue of transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ as well as the question of the sacrificial nature of the Eucharistic liturgy. Besides, it deals with some other theological differences between Protestants and the teaching of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, especially in the theology of liturgy. The editor made a selection of tractates by the Church Fathers and Theologians, mostly those of Eastern tradition that support his opinion. He also added examples of prayers and two little-known liturgies (the Liturgy of St. James and the Liturgy of St. Peter). At the beginning he placed a comprehensive preface explaining the motives for the compilation of the manuscript and partly also the reason for choosing the particular tractates. Of particular interest here is the fact that the author refers to the testimony of other Churches, the most important one being the testimony of the Church of Rome. The preface is an interesting testimony about the relations between Christians of various denominations in the Kievan Metropolitanate, and it is an especially important source on the relationships between Latin and Byzantine Christianity in the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. Having considered certain formulations in the preface and the content of the miscellany we can infer that the author was of the Byzantine rite. His vocabulary and theological attitudes show that he attended a school of the Latin rite, or a school of the Byzantine rite, which taught according to Western models and in the Latin language. Since there is no mention of the Union of Brest (1595-1596), we may suppose that the preface (and hence the whole miscellany) was written prior to the conclusion of the Union.

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