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Studying and researching the valuable items from the Preserves collection is one of the most important areas of the museum research activity. This process is continuous and the results are always inspiring for future discoveries.
Thus, when studying the collection of manuscripts of the Preserve, researchers have found that a separate sheet of an ancient manuscript, dating from the 16th century, is part of one of the most famous oriental patericons Apophthegmata Patrum in the Slavic edition.
The manuscript was created in the 4th-6th centuries in the Sinai and Palestine areas. It is based on stories of the feats and teachings of Egyptian monks including local materials. Copies and different editions of the patericons in Greek and Latin have been preserved as well as in many languages of Eastern Christianity: Coptic, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, Arabic, Ethiopian, and others. Around the 10th century, it was translated in Old Bulgarian and quickly spread to the Slavic lands.
The sheet of the manuscript from the Preserve's collection contains the end of the spiritual guidance that one should not believe in a dream because it may cause temptation from the devil. Several stories related to monastic feats have been provided to confirm this:
- an evil spirit came to the monk and called himself the archangel Gabriel. However, after the monk replied that he was unworthy to see the angels, he disappeared;
- another monk saw the demons and reproached them. Then they decide to take revenge, and one of them appears in the image of Christ to the monk. The old man closed his eyes and said that he did not want (not worthy) to see the Lord. The devil disappeared;
- an unfinished tale of a saint who lived in an area where there was no food, and he was fed by angels. Once he saw demons in the form of angels, led by a king on a chariot of fire, who promised to ascend him just as he ascended Elijah the Prophet.
This unique sheet from the manuscript of the 16th century was restored by the specialists of the National Scientific and Research Restoration Center of Ukraine in 1985-1993.
Lets #stayathome and discover the beauties of the Preserves collection together!

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