The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

The published report of the Council of the brotherhood of Sts. Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip of Moscow (1909–1918) on the need to translate the liturgical books into Russian for home use was compiled by the Council for consideration at the General meeting of the brotherhood and was intended for making a decision on a petition to the Holy Synod. The document addresses the problem of the Church Slavonic text of the service being misunderstood by the faithful and 
suggests measures to remedy this situation. The issue of improving the quality of Church services was one of the most important activities of the brotherhood of the Moscow saints, which set out to help the Church authorities and parish institutions to ensure that the service was performed with due pomp and with the widest possible participation of the laity in reading and singing. Unfortunately, it is not known what the Synod’s reaction to this document was. Nevertheless, this report shows that the translation of the divine service into Russian was recognized in the early 20th century as a pressing problem. The introductory article presents 
the main information about the brotherhood of the Moscow Sts. Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip, as well as the specific features of creating and discussing the report. This is the first publication of the document.