Two post miniatures devoted to 850th anniversary of the Cross of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk to be put into circulation

On March 21st the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus is issuing two post blocks “850th anniversary of the Cross of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk”. On the day of their release Minsk post offices will be making a special cancellation on envelopes “First Day”.

On March 21^st the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus is issuing two post blocks “850^th anniversary of the Cross of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk”. On the day of their release Minsk post offices will be making a special cancellation on envelopes “First Day”.

The Cross of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk is an altar cross created for the Church of the St. Saviour in Polotsk. The Cross was made in 1161 by goldsmith Lazar’ Bogsha to the order of Polotsk Prince George Vseslavovich’s daughter, Vseslav Charodey’s (Vseslav the magician) granddaughter Pradslava (Euphrosyne when took the veil). At the request of Euphrosyne Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenus and the patriarch Luke Hrizoverh sent some sacred objects for the cross.

The cross has 6 ends, its height is 51.8 centimeters, the length of the upper crossing is 14 centimeters, the lower one is 21 centimeter. The basis is made of cypress tree. Cross’s front and opposite sides are covered with 21 golden plates, while 20 silver plates cover its sides. The cross was decorated with precious stones and ornaments; the edge of the Cross’s front side is framed with a thread of pearls.

The plates of the front side present an iconic composition – the great, or expanded, deisus. On the top ends of the Cross there are bust-length portraitures of Jesus Christ, the Holy Mother and John the Baptist. In the center of the lower crossing there are the four Evangelists, and on the ends – the Archangels Gabriel and Michael. In the heel of the Cross right after the crossing there is an image of St. Euphrosyne of Alexandria, St. Sophia and the Great Martyr George (heavenly patrons of the customeress and her parents).

A small 4-ended cross is attached to the upper crossing, whereas to the lower – a 6-ended one. On the backside of the Cross there are images of the Church fathers: St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory Nazianzen, apostles Peter and Paul, St. Stephen, Great Martyrs St. and Glorius Demetrius of Thessalonica and St. Pantaleon. The Cross was lost during the evacuation from Mogilev to Moscow at the beginning of World War II and so far hasn’t been found. At the same time in 1943 and in 1945 the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Belarus Panteleimon Ponomarenko twice publicly mentioned the Cross as a work of art that hadn’t been lost, and was in possession of the USSR government. In 1997, with the blessing of Patriarch of Jerusalem, Diodorus II, and Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk, the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Filaret, Brest jeweller-enameler Nikolai Kuzmich made a full-size copy of the Cross.