07 July 2025
Social Credit: Episode #4: The Gap
In this video, we discuss a central tenet of Douglas Social Credit Theory: the gap between the flow of total costs/prices and the flow of total incomes.
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The First Book Ever Printed in Ukraine Was This Illustrated Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles
Ss Cyril & Methodius, whose Feast is today, invented the alphabet in which this book is printed. That alphabet's descendants are the Cyrillic alphabets of today.
From Aleteia
By J-P Mauro
The work, preserved for nearly half a millennium, has been digitized by the Bodleian Library and can be viewed online.A priceless piece of Ukrainian Christian history, preserved for the better part of 500 years, is one of the latest exhibits to enter the world of digital art. Titled Apostol, or Apostolos, the work contains the texts of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. It was digitized and placed online for the world to view thanks to the Bodleian Library.
The digital copy of the work was published in the Bodleian Digital Library on April 4, 2022. In a video announcement of the new addition, Bodleian’s Head of Book Conservation, Nicole Gilroy, and retired Professor of Slavonic Studies Ralph Cleminson touch on its significance. Viewers are treated to historical context surrounding the book, while getting an up-close look.
For example, Professor Cleminson explained why the book only contains the Acts and Epistles, rather than the entire New Testament:
“In the Eastern tradition, one did not actually get a complete Bible, as a rule. You would have the four Gospels as a book, then you would have the Apostles as a book, and then you would have the Apocalypse as a book. That gives you a complete New Testament. You didn’t normally have the whole New Testament between two covers.”
Apostol
According to Bodleian, this is the first book that was ever printed in L’viv, Ukraine, between 1564 and 1581. It was one of 10 titles that were printed in that time frame by Ivan Fedorov, who was considered to be one of the fathers of Eastern Slavonic printing. The text is an exact reproduction of an edition of the Acts and Epistles that Fedorov printed in Moscow in the previous decade.
The work features a full page portrait of St. Luke, which is featured in the video, but can be better viewed on slide 36 of Bodleian’s digital record. The image of St. Luke is drawn in the line-art style popular in the medieval era and places St. Luke before a desk where he writes his Gospel. It is reminiscent of many Eastern icons of the saint.
The portrait of St. Luke and the beautiful medieval calligraphy adorning each page are worth a look in their own right, but the book’s cover may be the most valuable artistic aspect. This is the original binding from the 16th century, painstakingly preserved for nearly half a millennium.
Cover art
As with most books of its era, the Apostol is bound between two boards that have been tightly covered with brown tanned goatskin, or possibly hairsheep leather. The cover features two types of precious metal tooling, in both gold and silver. Nicole Gilroy explained how the artistic indentations were applied to the cover:
“It’s decorated with tooling, which is decoration that’s created by applying hot metal tools to the leather,” Gilroy said.
Professor Cleminson went on to note that there are only 119 extant copies of this 16th-century printing, and of those this is one of the best. It is in great condition for its age and it stands as a valuable historical example of early Eastern European book printing. It is unknown how many surviving copies retain their original binding, but it is likely private collectors would not have had access to the same dedicated team of conservators that the Bodleian enjoys.
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Why Do Relics Have a "Class," and Can You Get a Relic for Yourself?
In 1991, I was blessed to hear the Mass of All Saints at St John Cantius Church, Chicago. They had over 1000 relics on display for veneration.
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From Aleteia
By John Burger
Third-class relics are any object touched to a first- or second-class one.Relics have been a time-honored phenomenon in the Church. Relics -- parts of bodies or belongings of saints, or objects used in the crucifixion of Christ -- are venerated by the faithful and serve as reminders that we have saintly intercessors who have gone before us and can pray for us.
According to the University of Dayton, the word "relic" comes from the Latin reliquia (remains) and relinquere (to leave behind).
The Council of Trent taught that through the veneration of relics, "many benefits are bestowed by God on men," said the University of Dayton. It continued:
When speaking of relics, we distinguish primary or first class relics, which are strictly parts of the body, and secondary relics, which are objects that have been touched and/or used by the saint.
Bits of cloth that have been touched to an actual first or second class relic are called third class relics.
When the Knights of Columbus sponsored a nationwide tour of the heart of St. John Vianney several years ago, members of the faithful who went to venerate the relic could be seen touching prayer cards, rosaries, and other items to the small case that enclosed the heart.
For some people, this may have simply been a devout act of veneration of the saint who is known as the patron of parish priests. For others, it might have been their way of "making" a third-class relic for personal devotion.
"I would say that 3rd class relics have the same basic 'function' as the higher classes of relics," said Brother Joseph Brom of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius in Chicago. "They are a reminder of the holiness of the saints and of incarnational, tangible reality of the Church. Though, they are less precious because they aren't a 'limited resource' -- and they are not to be displayed for public veneration because they are not regulated and authenticated as 1st- and 2nd-class relics are."
Abundance of relics
Shaun McAfee, editor of EpicPew, wrote about a similar experience he had when he lived in Rome. In an article in the National Catholic Register, he described going to Mass in Rome on All Saints Day. In the homily, the priest mentioned that he owned several relics.
"Taking advantage of every situation that might increase my faith and holiness, I had an idea: create a third-class relic," McAfee wrote.
For those interested in doing this, the question arises: Where might one find a first-class relic from which to make a third-class? Many churches and cathedrals, particularly older ones, contain relics, which might be available in a display case. So would shrines dedicated to particular saints, not to speak of the final resting place of the canonized.
In addition, there are several places of interest that have an abundance of relics:
- St. John Cantius Church, Chicago is home to about 1,800 relics. A small portion are on public display.
- The Maria Stein Shrine in Maria Stein, Ohio, has 1,100 relics in 970 reliquaries representing 900 saints.
- St. Anthony Chapel in Pittsburgh claims to be home to the largest collection of publicly venerated Christian relics in the world outside of the Vatican, with 5,000 relics in its collection.
- Finally, there is Treasures of the Church, a kind of relics traveling show mounted by Fr. Carlos Martins, C.C. Treasures of the Church gives people "an experience of the living God through an encounter with the relics of his saints in the form of an exposition.