Three Previously Unknown Copies of Ostrog Bible Discovered on Mt. Athos

MT. ATHOS — Researchers have discovered three previously unknown copies of the 1581 Ostrog Bible in closed monastic libraries on Mt. Athos, expanding knowledge of one of the most important monuments of Ukrainian religious and literary heritage.

The discovery was made during a research expedition led by Sergei Shumilo, director of the International Institute of Athonite Heritage. The expedition examined Ukrainian early printed books preserved in Athonite collections. Before the discovery, approximately 350 copies of the Ostrog Bible — the first complete printed edition of the Holy Scriptures in Church Slavonic — were known to survive. The 1,256-page volume marks its 445th anniversary this year.

Researchers traced the histories of the three newly identified copies. One may have belonged to the Ukrainian writer St. John Vishensky, who lived as a monk on Mt. Athos. Another belonged to disciples of St. Paisius Velichkovsky and was transferred from the monastery he led in Romania. The third belonged to Hieromonk Kallistos Menovsky and was donated in 1754 to the Ukrainian Cossack skete of Cherny Vyr on Mt. Athos.

Shumilo also identified 32 Cyrillic books from the 16th and 17th centuries and 143 Ukrainian publications from the 18th century in the collections. He said the discoveries demonstrate the significant spiritual and cultural connections between the Kyiv Church, Ukrainian Cossacks, and Mt. Athos.

The research was supported by the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe and the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Previously, the UOJ reported that archaeologists uncovered a fourth-century Christian basilica beneath an Italian city.