The Library of Manasija Monastery

The documentary treasures of Serbian monasteries, in which centuries-old records are kept, rest in their treasuries, most often as part of their library collections. Archival materials find refuge on library shelves and in display cases, where layers of paper bear witness in their own way to events long past. At Manasija Monastery, the writings of the past, especially those from the 19th century, have been carefully bound into bundles and placed in archival boxes. Although they are arranged chronologically, these records still await more thorough processing.

The archival heritage of Manasija Monastery reveals that our church and monastery archives preserve materials and historical sources in which precious information is recorded. Work lies ahead on deeper research and on a more complete and clearer arrangement of these archival materials: some writings have survived without any identification or time frame, while others are arranged chronologically but without deeper classification. Certain documents preserved in the library of Manasija Monastery allow a partial insight into the monastery's rich past; for a fuller picture, the materials need to be processed, researched and classified.

Among the other monasteries of central Serbia, Manasija Monastery stands out for its extensive archival holdings, covering the period from 1802 to 1887. These surviving records bear witness, among other things, to the administration of the monastery - among them are correspondence with church and state authorities, the annual reports of the superiors, as well as documents concerning estates, finances, leases and the renovation of monastery buildings. A special place in this corpus is held by technical documentation that sheds light on the plans for the construction and restoration of the monastery buildings and of the mills on the Resava.

Besides the above, the archive of Manasija Monastery also preserves the legacy of Bishop Hrizostom of Braničevo (1911–1989), kept in five boxes of correspondence and papers which on the one hand portray his personality, life and work, and on the other provide significant information on Serbian church history in the period from 1952 to 1989. While the monastery walls preserve the spirit of the centuries, its archive remains a silent witness, but also a living guardian of time, whose voice still waits to be fully heard.

In the period after the Second World War, the new authorities temporarily confiscated certain library and archival materials from the Manasija library; the inventory of the library of that time has not survived, nor are there any records of everything that was taken away. To this day the books taken from the monastery have not been returned, and their fate is unknown. With faith that the time has come for what was taken from the monastery to be returned to it, we hope that the Manasija books confiscated by the revolutionary authorities will in the end reach the place to which they belong. Should that happen, it is possible that there will be interesting findings both about books belonging to the holdings of the library of Manasija Monastery, and perhaps about archival materials that are currently not accessible.

The monastery library at Manasija, as the guardian of old manuscripts, rare printed books, archival materials and numerous monographs and periodicals, as the keeper of our written heritage, continues to bear witness to Orthodox spirituality, learning and culture, withstanding in its own way time and its challenges. Although much has been taken away or has vanished in the whirlwinds of the centuries, the Manasija library still stands as a beacon of knowledge, in whose books are reflected centuries of struggle, creation and endurance. Today, in the spiritual peace of the walls of Manasija Monastery, scholars, researchers and pilgrims can find books that for centuries have borne witness to the endurance of the Christian faith as the foundation of Serbian culture and spirit.