"Mahutny Boža" (, translated as "Almighty God") is a famous Belarusian hymn, based on a poem by Natallia Arsiennieva and music by

Mikola Ravienski Mikola Ravienski (; 5 December 1886 - 9 March 1953) was a Belarusian composer, conductor and music critic who authored music for the famous hymn Mahutny Boža (Almighty God). Early life Ravienski was born on 5 December 1886 into the family of a ...

. It was translated into English by

Vera Rich Vera Rich (born Faith Elizabeth Rich, 24 April 1936 – 20 December 2009) was a British poet, journalist, historian, and translator from Belarusian language, Belarusian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. Biography Born in London in April 1936, ...

. The hymn has given its name to a festival of ecclesiastical music in

Mahilioŭ Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...

and became one of the protest songs during the 2020-21 Belarusian protests.

History

In 1947 composer

wrote music for the poem "Prayer" written by Natallia Arsiennieva four years earlier. Soon it became widely used by Belarusian communities in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. Since the late 1980s, the hymn has gained popularity in post-Soviet

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. In 1993 the

Catholic Church in Belarus The Catholic Church in Belarus is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The first Latin Rite diocese in Belarus was established in Turaŭ between 1008 and 1013. Catholicism was a traditionally ...

initiated a festival of ecclesiastical music in

which was named after the hymn. In 1995 the hymn was proposed as one of the candidates for the

national anthem of Belarus The "State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus" ( be, Дзяржаўны гімн Рэспублікі Беларусь ), better known as "" (; "We, Belarusians"), is the national anthem of Belarus. It was originally written in the 1940s and adopt ...

. However, the government of

Alexander Lukashenka Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лукашенко, Aleksandr Grigoryevich Luka ...

instead adopted the old anthem of Soviet Belarus with some variation to the lyrics. In 2005 Mahutny Boža was translated into English by

. During the 2020-21 Belarusian protests the hymn became one of the protest songs and its performance was banned within the Belarusian parishes of the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. In spring 2021, the hymn was recognised as "one of the most popular Belarusian music pieces".

Lyrics

{, class="wikitable" , + !Belarusian lyrics (

Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, ...

) Магутны Божа !Belarusian lyrics (

Łacinka The Belarusian Latin alphabet or Łacinka (from be, лацінка or łacinka, BGN/PCGN: ''Latsinka'', ) for the Latin script in general is the common name for writing Belarusian using Latin script. It is similar to the Sorbian alphabet a ...

) Mahutny Boža !English translation Almighty God , - , Магутны Божа! Ўладар сусьветаў, Вялікіх сонцаў і сэрц малых! Над Беларусяй, ціхай і ветлай, Рассып праменьні свае хвалы. , Mahutny Boža! Ŭładar suśvietaŭ, Vialikich soncaŭ i serc małych! Nad Biełarusiaj cichaj i vietłaj Rassyp pramieńni svaje chvały. , O God almighty, O Lord of creation, Of splendid suns and of humble hearts, To Belarus, peaceful and patient, The radiance of Thy glory impart. , - , Дай спор у працы штодзеннай, шэрай, На лусту хлеба, на родны край, Павагу, сілу і веліч веры У нашу праўду, у прышласьць — дай! , Daj spor u pracy štodzionnaj šeraj, Na łustu chleba, na rodny kraj, Pavahu, siłu i vielič viery U našu praŭdu, u pryšłaść — daj! , O bless our daily toil, performed soundly, For native land and for bread to live, Honour and dignity and faith abounding In our cause, in our future - O give! , - , Дай урадлівасьць жытнёвым нівам, Учынкам нашым пашлі ўмалот! Зрабі магутнай, зрабі шчасьлівай Краіну нашу і наш народ! , Daj uradlivaść žytniovym nivam, Učynkam našym pajšli ŭmałot! Zrabi mahutnaj, zrabi ščaślivaj Krainu našu i naš narod! , The fruitfulness of our fields do Thou foster, Good winnowed grain give as toil's reward, O make them free, O make them prosper - Our people and our country, O Lord!

References

External links

The hymn’s lyrics
Беларуская аўтакефальная праваслаўная царква nowiki/>Belarusian_Autocephalous_Orthodox_Church.html" ;"title="Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church">nowiki/>Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church">Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church">nowiki/>Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
Hymn Mahutny Boža in organ performanceIlya Silchukou- Mighty God (Official Video)
Belarusian music Belarusian songs 1947 songs

History

Lyrics

References

Further reading

External links