Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

the readings from the Acts and Epistles provided for the
services between the thirty-fifth week after Pentecost and
Holy Saturday, and the menologion comprising readings
for the period between 1 September (the beginning
of the indiction) and 3 October, the commemoration
of St. Dionysius Areopagites.
The readings supplied with their corresponding liturgical
elements: antiphons, prokeimena and alleluia, together
with the liturgical indications are a valuable source for the
earliest liturgical practices introduced with the conversion
of Bulgarians and followed by Bulgarian Church in the
epoch of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. The language
of Enina Apostolos is an ancient example of the phonetic
and syntactic features of Old Bulgarian.
From the time of its discovery until today the
fragment has proven to be of crucial importance for
establishing basic linguistic, textological, orthographic,
paleographic, historic and liturgical issues of the
Slavonic cultural heritage based on the works of St Cyril
and St Methodius.
The text of the Apostolos Lectionary (selected parts or
readings from the Acts and Epistles, arranged according
to the liturgical calendar) is of great importance as
it comprises the basic formulae of Christian dogma.
As an inseparable part of the text corpus for the
Christianization of Slavs and the performing of Slavonic
liturgy in vernacular, the New Testament text preserved
in Enina Apostolos is a witness of the affiliation of Slav
people to Christianity – a crucial change in their history
and culture.
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