#Exhibit of the Month

The Gospel is a fundamental liturgical book of the Orthodox Church that brings together the four apostolic testimonies about the Son of God - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - "inspired by the same Holy Spirit, the one true and sole author of the Gospel." The Gospel, or the Good News, testifying to the Glory of Christ, refers to the full teaching and deeds of the Savior; the four Gospels are regarded as the four sustaining pillars of the Church.
St. Jerome (c. 340-420), author of the first complete Latin translation of the Holy Scriptures, assigned to the four evangelists the living creatures that appear in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel (1:5). Thus, the Evangelist Matthew, the first to relate the Nativity of the Lord, is accompanied in imagery by the angel who announced the miracle; the Evangelist Mark, likened to St. John the Baptist - "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" - is associated with the lion. The Evangelist Luke, who opens his Gospel with the priest Zechariah, is personified by the winged ox, recalling the ox's sacrificial role; and the Evangelist John, for his elevated theological vision, is associated with the eagle.
This altar Gospel, printed in 1890 at the Lavra Pecerska printing house in Kyiv, contains - in addition to the four canonical Gospels - other liturgical texts: readings for Vespers, the Divine Liturgy, prayers, and services.
It is a large-format Gospel measuring 37 × 48 cm, bound in cardboard and leather. The gilded metal cover is fitted with two metal clasps and gilt edges. Five vertical-oval icon plaques in polychrome enamel are applied to the cover, which is engraved with vegetal and geometric ornamentation. The central plaque depicts the "Resurrection of the Lord"; in the corners of the upper register appear the faces of the Evangelists Matthew and John, and in the lower register those of Luke and Mark. Printed in red and black, the volume comprises 428 leaves; the text is enriched with various typographic ornaments - vignettes, initials, engravings, frontispieces, etc. Pagination is indicated on the leaves, the folio number appearing in the upper right.
The Gospel of Matthew is printed on pages 1-105, the opening page accompanied by the scene of the Nativity of the Lord. The Gospel of Mark continues on pages 104-168, its representative scene being the Baptism of the Lord. The Gospel according to Luke occupies pages 172-273, its opening page bearing the scene of the Annunciation. The Gospel according to John is included between pages 280-358, the evocative scene being the Crucifixion of the Lord.

The Lavra Pecerska printing house, cited in the colophon, has long roots - traditionally founded by Archimandrite Elisei Pletenetsky (1595-1624) in 1615 - although the precise dates of its earliest publications remain a matter of debate. This copy entered the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova under inventory number FB-23062-35; acquired in 1982, it was transferred to the MNIM collections in 1996 from the holdings of the Museum of the History of Religion.

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COMMEMORATIVE WALKING TOUR

September 8, 2024

Mereni village, Anenii Noi district

On September 8, 2024, in Mereni village, Anenii Noi district, the Commemorative Walking Tour took place, an event organized by the National Museum of History of Moldova, in partnership with the Institute of History of the Moldova State University, the Association of Former Deportees and Political Detainees from Moldova, the Sybir Memorial Museum in Białystok (Poland), the Genocide and Resistance Research Center in Vilnius (Lithuania), the Museum of History and Ethnography in Mereni and the open-air Museum Complex in memory of the victims of political repressions.

In the Republic of Moldova, this action takes place for the first time, as part of an international project "Memorial Peloton", and aims to honor the memory of all the victims of totalitarian regimes and the dramatic events that took place in Central Europe after the signing of the secret Hitler-Stalin protocol, on August 23, 1939.

The Commemorative Walking Tour started in the courtyard of the open-air Museum Complex in memory of the victims of political repressions, in the presence of the survivors of Stalinist repressions and deportations from Mereni, and gathered around 30 historians, museographers, lawyers, painters, civil society representatives and media from the Republic of Moldova, Poland, and Lithuania. The greeting from the coordinators from the Republic of Moldova was addressed by the Associate Professor, Dr. Ludmila Cojocaru, head of the Museum of Victims of Deportations and Political Repressions, NMHM and Mr. Alexandru Postica, President of the Association of Former Deportees and Political Detainees from Moldova, both speakers mentioning the importance of involving Moldovan society in European commemorative projects. On behalf of the European partners, the greeting was addressed by the coordination of the "Memorial Peloton" project, Dr. Piotr Poplawski, Sybir Memorial Museum in Białystok (Poland), who emphasized the importance of the participation of the Republic of Moldova, together with Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia in the common effort of edification a European memory.

Among the guests of honor at the event in Mereni was Mr. Liudas Gintautas Dabkus, Attaché of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Chisinau, who reiterated the importance of involving the local communities in the Republic of Moldova, especially the young generation, in historical knowledge and the promotion of democratic values in the society of the Republic of Moldova.

The Commemorative Walking Tour included four stops at the most representative places of memory in the Center sector of Mereni, under the coordination and guidance of University Professor, Dr. Hab. Gheorghe Postică, National Museum of History of Moldova. The participants of the walking tour had also the opportunity to visit the household of some descendants of the former deportees from the village of Mereni - the Baciu family, who told about the sufferings and cases of anti-communist resistance of the people of Mereni during the Soviet occupation. At the end of the walking tour, the participants were invited to the opening of the photo-documentary exhibition "Childhood in the Gulag", presented by Associate Professor, Dr. Ludmila Cojocaru and Associate Professor, Dr. Virgiliu Bîrlădeanu, Head of the Contemporary History Section, Institute of History of the Moldova State University.

The conclusions and future projects, articulated within the framework of the "Memorial Peloton" actions in the Republic of Moldova, were presented by the General Director of National Museum of History of Moldova, University Professor, Dr. Hab. Eugen Sava and the representatives of partner institutions: University Professor, Dr. Hab., Wojciech Śleszyński, Director of the Sybir Memorial Museum in Białystok (Poland) and Dr. Arunas Bubnys, General Director of the Genocide and Resistance Research Center in Vilnius (Lithuania).

The "Memorial Peloton" originated from the Sybir Memorial Museum in Białystok, Poland, in 2017, and after 2022, expands to other European countries marked by the dramatic events that took place after the signing of the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on August 23, 1939, secretly dividing Europe between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. This year, 2024, the commemorative action takes place in Riga/Latvia (August 21), Vilnius/Lithuania (August 23), Białystok/Poland (August 24), Mereni/Moldova (September 8).

#Exhibit of the Month

Altar Gospel (1890)

COMMEMORATIVE WALKING TOUR

September 8, 2024

Mereni village, Anenii Noi district

#Exhibit of the Month