On August 25, the Stauropegium of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine published an electronic version of the liturgical Apostle in Aprakos format.
This is reported by the Stauropegium of The Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine.
The publication continues a series of liturgical translations of the Holy Scriptures into Ukrainian from Greek, carried out by the initiative group EUM (Ἑνωτικὴ Οὐκρανικὴ Μεταφρασις), the Unifying Ukrainian Translation: http://eum.org.ua.
The version can be downloaded via this link.
It should be recalled that at the beginning of this year, on January 27, in the Stauropegium of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine, the first liturgical Gospel-Aprakos was presented, translated into Ukrainian from Greek.
According to the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Ukraine, Bishop Michael of Koman, the Aprakos Gospel is currently used in Greek-speaking Local Churches, therefore the publication of the Aprakos in Ukrainian is intended to introduce Orthodox Ukrainians to this structure of the liturgical text.
There is no single authoritative translation for all Churches, the “synodal” type. Therefore, the publication of the said translation made from Greek offers two opportunities at the same time: to try out a new translation in worship and home reading, and a new structure of the Gospel text in liturgical use in modern Ukraine. In addition, the appearance of another Ukrainian translation can serve as an impetus for the joint effort of all Christian jurisdictions to create a single version of the Holy Scriptures translated into Ukrainian, which would become equally authoritative for all.
The Aprakos Gospel is a type of liturgical books of the Holy Scriptures, the text of which is arranged not in sequential order, but in line with the annual calendar schedule of liturgical readings, starting from Easter Sunday. This is the first Aprakos Gospel in Ukrainian over several centuries, a new, improved translation from Greek, published for liturgical use in the Orthodox environment, following the example of the Greek liturgical tradition.
A total of 1,000 copies were printed for free distribution with the financial support of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (Ecumenical Patriarchate).
Recently, on August 15, the second Aprakos Gospel was presented in Kyiv’s St. Andrew’s Church. The edition is a joint project of the His Beatitude Metropolitan Volodymyr Foundation, the Pereyaslav-Vyshneve Diocese, and the Stauropegium of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine. Unlike the first, the second edition has A4 size, that is, closer to the desktop format.
The translation of the Gospel was carried out by the EUM translation group. One of the translators who worked on the project is a Ukrainian priest Rostyslav Vorobiy. He noted that during the translation the group tried to preserve the peculiarities of the style of evangelists involved, even if it did not always correspond to the modern norms of the Ukrainian language. The main thing, in his opinion, is to convey to the readers the mood and features of each author’s presentation.
Project manager Maryna Burdeyna emphasized that the main goal of their work is to make the text of the Gospel more relatable and understandable to people.