The ''Varaždin Apostol'' ( sr-Cyrl, Вараждински апостол, hr, Varaždinski apostol) is a hand-written Orthodox

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic ...

written in 1454. It is named after the northern

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n city of

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

. The book represents the oldest preserved text in

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

from the territory of today's Croatia. It contains the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

and the

New Testament epistles The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

, and is kept today in the Museum of Serbian Orthodox Church in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. The ''Varaždin Apostol'' was made by three transcribers of Countess Kantakuzina Katarina Branković, daughter of the Serbian despot

Đurađ Branković Đurađ Branković (; sr-cyr, Ђурађ Бранковић; hu, Brankovics György; 1377 – 24 December 1456) was the Serbian Despot from 1427 to 1456. He was one of the last Serbian medieval rulers. He was a participant in the battle of Anka ...

and his wife

Irene Kantakouzene Irene Kantakouzene ( el, Ειρήνη Καντακουζηνή, ''Eiréne Kantakouzené'', modern pronunciation ''Eiríni Kantakouziní'' , sr, Ирина Кантакузин / ''Irina Kantakuzin''; 1400 – May 3, 1457), known simply as Desp ...

, and the wife of

Ulrich II, Count of Celje Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

. The text is written in the Resava orthography (''

Manasija monastery The Manasija Monastery ( sr, Манастир Манасија, Manastir Manasija, ) also known as Resava (Ресава, ), is a Serbian Orthodox monastery near Despotovac, Serbia founded by '' Despot'' Stefan Lazarević between 1406 and 1418. Th ...

'') with elements of the Raška orthography and the

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

redaction, too. The language is the Serbian dialect of

Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...

. On the occasion of the 550th anniversary of the ''Apostol'', the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

issued a limited edition of 300 copies. As a gift from the

Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana ( sr, Митрополија загребачко-љубљанска, Mitropolija zagrebačko-ljubljanska) is an Eastern Orthodox eparchy (diocese) and one of the five honorary Metropolitanates of the Ser ...

, copies went to, among others,

Serbian Patriarch Pavle Pavle ( sr-cyr, Павле, ''Paul''; 11 September 1914 – 15 November 2009) was the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1990 to his death. His full title was ''His Holiness the Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and ...

, Croatian president

Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatian lawyer and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was prime minister of SR Croatia (1990) after the fir ...

, the

Lepavina Monastery The Lepavina Monastery ( sr, Манастир Лепавина, Manastir Lepavina) is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Presentation of Mary and located at the village of Sokolovac, near the town of Koprivnica in Croatia. From the ...

, and the

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

city archive.http://www.manastir-lepavina.org/novosti/index.php/weblog/detaljnije/arhijerejska_liturgija_u_hramu_sv_arhidjakona_stefana_u_malom_pogancu1/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varazdin Epistle 1454 books 15th-century biblical manuscripts 15th century in Croatia Medieval Serbian literature Serbian books Serbian manuscripts South Slavic manuscripts

Apostol Apostol may refer to: People Apostol is an East European name and name element derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος "apostle", and therefore found mainly in Christian societies and cultures. Given name * Apostol Mărgărit (1832–1903 ...

History of the Serbs of Croatia Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana Cyrillic manuscripts

See also

References