Prayer book for the blind

The Volyn eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has published Molytvoslov, a collection of Old Church Slavonic prayers in Braille format for the blind. Part of a project called “To See God with the Fingertips,” this is one of a handful of Ukrainian publications designed for people with vision problems.

The Molytvoslov is a thick book. “I have long wanted to offer blind people the possibility to study religious texts, and I learned the Braille system specifically for this purpose. I set the first prayers in Braille by hand together with two seminary students,” said Reverend Valentyn Marchuk, the project initiator.

“Most of the people to whom I applied for help advised a more simple solution: to tape-record prayers for the blind. But from my talks with blind believers I understood that a book is necessary.”

Molytvoslov’s press run is 650 copies. The first to receive the books will be Volyn-based libraries and schools as well as churches and civic organizations in all oblasts of Ukraine. According to Reverend Marchuk, if there is a need for more copies of Molytvoslov, an additional number will be published, reports Anatolii BABAK.