History of Russia: Exhibition “Russian saints and Russian Sanctity in the ancient Russian song manuscripts” in Saint-Petersburg

October 12, 2012 in the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg) was held the opening of the exhibition "Russian saints and Sanctity in the ancient Russian song manuscripts".

The exhibition is organized through educational program "Days of Sergius of Radonezh" and it is timed to the 620th anniversary of the repose of the Monk.

The exhibition features manuscripts of the XII-XVIII centuries, including chants in honor of the Russian saints, preserved the most ancient examples of musical notation. Chants evoke images of the saints in the Russian musical and poetic form.

The four sections of the exhibition show four ranks of the Russian sanctity: Reverends, saints, holy Princes, fools. The exhibition features chants, praising Reverends Sergius of Radonezh, Cyril of Belozersk, Theodosius of the Caves; Metropolitans of Moscow and All Russia Peter, Alexis and Jonah; equal to the apostles Prince Vladimir and Olga and etc. The chants are recorded in manuscripts created in Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, and Solovetsky Cyril-Belozersky Monastery, as well as other book centers.