A commemoration book is a small book in which Orthodox Christians write down the names of both living and deceased Christians. The names are then read out during the service. Believers order prayer services for someone’s health or the memory of a deceased person, and write down their names on the pages of the commemoration book, which is also called a “Synodic” or “Diptych”.
The “Commemoration Book” from the collection of the Kuybyshev Museum Complex was printed in 1904 in Moscow. It has two tin covers and a tin binding, which has been, unfortunately, lost.
The book was restored by its owners — a spine made of black fabric was sewn on by hand with light-colored threads.
A relief half-length image of St. Seraphim of Sarov, the wonderworker, hieromonk of the Sarov Monastery and the founder of the Diveyevo convent, is printed on the top cover.
Icons of Seraphim of Sarov are usually painted from his lifetime portrait, made by the monk of the Sarov monastery Serebryakov. The relief (convex) image of the elder on the displayed commemoration book is somewhat different from the canonical one.
On the bottom cover is a knee-length image of St. Theodosius of Uglich, Archbishop of Chernihiv, with whose participation the process of reunification of the Kyiv and Moscow branches of the Russian Orthodox Church took place.
The book contains 28 pages in total, decorated by thin frames with geometric patterns in the corners. They are printed typographically on white paper.
The book begins with the section “For Health”. In this section, in special lines, the owner can write down the names of those for whose health they can pray on their own or order a prayer service in the church. The next section is called “For Repose”. In it, empty lines are filled with the names of those people for whose repose one needs to ask God.
The section titles are printed in blue ink. Under the titles, an eight-pointed cross is depicted in a radiant glow. The text “The Days Established by the Holy Orthodox Church for the Commemoration of the Dead” is printed at the very end of the “Commemoration Book”. This text is an informational article with the dates on which it is customary to pray for the deceased.
On the page between the sections “For Health” and “For Repose” one can see the engraving “The Crucifixion of Christ”.
The “Commemoration Book” from the collection of the Kuybyshev Museum Complex was printed in 1904 in Moscow. It has two tin covers and a tin binding, which has been, unfortunately, lost.
The book was restored by its owners — a spine made of black fabric was sewn on by hand with light-colored threads.
A relief half-length image of St. Seraphim of Sarov, the wonderworker, hieromonk of the Sarov Monastery and the founder of the Diveyevo convent, is printed on the top cover.
Icons of Seraphim of Sarov are usually painted from his lifetime portrait, made by the monk of the Sarov monastery Serebryakov. The relief (convex) image of the elder on the displayed commemoration book is somewhat different from the canonical one.
On the bottom cover is a knee-length image of St. Theodosius of Uglich, Archbishop of Chernihiv, with whose participation the process of reunification of the Kyiv and Moscow branches of the Russian Orthodox Church took place.
The book contains 28 pages in total, decorated by thin frames with geometric patterns in the corners. They are printed typographically on white paper.
The book begins with the section “For Health”. In this section, in special lines, the owner can write down the names of those for whose health they can pray on their own or order a prayer service in the church. The next section is called “For Repose”. In it, empty lines are filled with the names of those people for whose repose one needs to ask God.
The section titles are printed in blue ink. Under the titles, an eight-pointed cross is depicted in a radiant glow. The text “The Days Established by the Holy Orthodox Church for the Commemoration of the Dead” is printed at the very end of the “Commemoration Book”. This text is an informational article with the dates on which it is customary to pray for the deceased.
On the page between the sections “For Health” and “For Repose” one can see the engraving “The Crucifixion of Christ”.
