Arkhangelsk, November 10, 2016
Photo: http://www.arh-eparhia.ru/
A Braille prayer book for the blind has been presented in Arkhangelsk. The publication was blessed by Metropolitan Daniel of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory. The unique book was printed in the regional specialized library for the blind, reports the Arkhangelsk Diocese’s website.
Methodologist at the library for the blind Nikolai Smirnov related how the idea of creating the unique prayer book was born. “Once a reader asked me to print her prayers in Braille. I printed something for her, but then it occurred to us that we must prepare a whole prayer book so that it might be available for everybody, because we had not had such a book before,” said Nikolai.
According to the specialist, the technical process entails difficulties related to transcribing the text into Braille: “It’s done by a special computer program and a special printer is used for printing in Braille. If an average print page has fifty lines and each line has up to eighty characters, then a Braille page has twenty-seven lines and each line has twenty-eight characters. Thus three – four Braille pages make up one page of a text in print.”
Photo: http://www.arh-eparhia.ru/
Photo: http://www.arh-eparhia.ru/
According to Metropolitan Daniel, today’s event is of great importance as henceforth visually impaired people who bear a heavy cross will be able to read prayers which were composed by the holy fathers. “Through prayer the heart, the main organ of our body, transforms. Strong prayers give one’s heart a deep feeling which we call happiness, joy, bliss. The more people partake in prayer, the better,” said the archpastor during the presentation at the creative hall of the youth center.
Photo: http://www.arh-eparhia.ru/
Twelve copies of the Braille prayer book have been issued in Arkhangelsk in total, each consisting of two parts. During the presentation ceremony blind believers received the edition as a gift and Metropolitan Daniel blessed everybody with an icon of St. Matrona of Moscow. According to the library director Svetlana Borisova, the icon will become the main relic of this center.
