Kreshen Gospels and Psalms welcomed in city and village

by Vladimir Vdovikov, Information Officer, Bible Society of Russia

n A Kreshen villager shows her joy at having the new translation of the Gospels and Psalms

KAZAN, Tatarstan, Russian Federation — When you stand in the precinct of the Church of Tikhvin, Icon of the Holy Virgin, you can see the minarets of two mosques. The picture is symbolic: Islam is Tatarstan’s chief religion but more than 300,000 Kreshen – people of Turkic origin confessing Christianity – also live here. The Church of Tikhvin is the Kreshen parish church in Kazan and the spiritual centre for all the Kreshens of the region. The Bible Society of Russia (BSR) supports this Orthodox minority in their desire to have Scriptures available in their mother tongue.

First books

Last December in Kazan during a conference entitled The Ethnic and Confessional Traditions of the Kreshen, a volume containing the Letters from James, Peter, John and Jude – the first books to be translated into Kreshen Tatar since before the Russian Revolution – was given an official presentation here. Earlier Archbishop Anastasii of Kazan and Tatarstan had asked the BSR to reprint parts of the New Testament translated in the 19th century by the missionary linguist Nikolai Ilminsky. (See World Report 359.)

On July 15 the BSR’s edition of the Gospels and Psalms in Ilminsky’s translation were formally presented to the Kreshen parishes in Tatarstan. The ceremony took place in the parish Church of Tikhvin, Icon of the Holy Virgin, which is the religious and cultural centre of the Kreshen who live in Kazan.

Congratulations

After the solemn liturgy, Archbishop Anastasii offered his congratulations on the publication. He said he saw a great need for the Gospel because people were experiencing a spiritual emptiness and a sense of the futility of life. What is more, he said, people in Tatarstan were surrounded by a different religious culture and, “This book will help many Kreshen turn to Orthodox Christianity,the faith of their ancestors.”

In the countryside, away from the capital, the need for Scriptures is even more evident. After the large-scale event in Kazan, we made the five-hour drive to the small Kreshen village of Bolshie Aty, southeast of Kazan, where Father Ioann Churashov, Dean of the Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin, welcomed us to his house.

Although he is 72, his memory remains quite clear: the Book of Revelation is possibly his favourite book of the Bible and he seemed to us to know it all by heart. He and his brother Father Michael used to translate Scripture and liturgical texts for use in their local communities. The Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin was the first in the twentieth century to use a liturgy in the Kreshen language.

At three in the afternoon we went over to the church. About 30 people were already there.

“In the summer only a few parishioners come to the services – they have to work hard in their kitchen gardens to produce food for themselves,” Father Ioann explained. In his address he thanked God and the BSR for the gift of the Holy Scripture for the Kreshen people. Alexander Stolyarov, theTranslation Co-ordinator in the St Petersburg branch of the Society, expressed the hope that the publication of Ilminsky’s translation of the Gospels and Psalms would awaken the interest of young Kreshen people in their own history, language and culture.

“It is my belief that some of the people who read this book will certainly become translators of the Scriptures into Kreshen [Tatar],” he said.

When people took their copies of the book the first thing they did was to kiss the cover. They showed their joy and their enthusiasm at receiving Scripture but also the responsibility they felt.

One lady asked Father Ioann, “Has this book been blessed by the church hierarchy?” His answer astonished her.

“The Gospel cannot be blessed by anyone,” he said. “The Gospel gives its own blessing.” (WR 363/25 - 10.01) [PHOTOS]