Orthodox Book Day in 2025: the history and traditions of the holiday

Orthodox Book Day is celebrated annually in Russia on March 14, aimed at popularizing spiritual literature. In 2025, it falls on a Friday. Read about the history and traditions of the holiday in the Izvestia article.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia came up with the idea to dedicate a special day to the Orthodox book in 2009. He noted the importance of spiritual literature for Christian and secular youth, and also stressed the need to popularize it. To do this, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) proposed the creation of publicly accessible parish and monastery libraries and the introduction of a new holiday.

The Holy Synod approved the Patriarch's initiative, and in 2010 Orthodox Book Day appeared on the church calendar. March 14 was chosen as the date for it, the day when the first precisely dated printed book in Russia, The Apostle, was published in 1564. It was published by the Moscow first printers Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets.

This event became a starting point in the history of Russian book publishing. Before that, books were a luxury item, as it took a lot of time and resources to create each copy. The text and illustrations were copied by hand, and the cover was decorated with precious stones, gold and pearls. Fedorov and Mstislavets created a device that made it possible to significantly reduce the cost and speed up the process of publishing a book. It was enough to type the text once with the help of relief blocks (letters) to make many copies.

Lent – 2024: beginning and end, nutrition calendar, spiritual meaning

On March 18, Orthodox Christians will begin their longest and strictest fast.

"The Apostle" is one of the most important liturgical books, which is used both in churches and during home prayers. Therefore, the beginning of book printing in Russia was a great event for the Orthodox Church. It is assumed that the "Apostle" of 1564 was released in a large circulation — about 2 thousand copies. However, only 50 have survived to this day.

Traditionally, on Orthodox Book Day, educational events dedicated to spiritual literature are held throughout Russia. As noted by the head of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kliment (Kapalin) of Kaluga and Borovsk, a member of the Supreme Church Council, this is not only about the Holy Scriptures, the works of the holy fathers, theological and church historical books. Attention is also paid to works of art that reflect Christian values and traditions.

"Their (events. The main task is to give people, especially young people, the opportunity to feel the importance of the book for each person. Modern people are more and more busy with external chores, and when they come home, they often don't even have a shelf with books at home...> A person needs to be reminded that by forgetting about books, he steals internally, impotents himself," Metropolitan Clement emphasized.

The celebration of Orthodox Book Day takes place throughout March and April. During this time, creative evenings, book fairs, quizzes, meetings with authors, literary contests, and charity events are organized. Some libraries and temples open book collections for poor families. At the same time, it is allowed to donate not only religious, but also secular works. The main condition is that the book should be kind and useful for the young reader.

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the history and traditions of the feast in honor of the Finding of the Head of John the Baptist.