Rules of reading
Rules of reading of the Minor regatta
Dear brothers and sisters!
Regatta reading is divided into stages, corresponding to the weeks of Great Lent: a certain task is given per each week, which includes one of the books of the New Testament. During some weeks the texts of the patristic interpretations are added to the books of the New Testament.
Full list of must-read texts for the participants of the Minor regatta is as follows:
I. Books of the New Testament:
- The Gospel of Matthew
- The Gospel of Mark
- The Gospel of Luke
- The Gospel of John
- The Acts of the Apostles
II. Explanatory literature:
- The Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew by St. Theophylact of Ohrid
- The Commentary on the book of the Acts of the Apostles by archbishop Averky (Taushev)
Weekly assignments can be found in the respective tabs on this page.
Once a task for the week is accomplished (i.e., after all the texts of the week required having been read), a member of the club is to report to the secretary of the Yacht Club about the completion of the stage by email regatavoshod@mail.ru in the following format: “A so-and-so yacht has completed the first/second third / ... stage of the Grand / Minor regatta”.
Ideally, members of the club are to timely implement the task provided for a week. Meanwhile, in case any member of the club cannot finish the stage in a week for whatever reason, s/he can continue the journey following some comfortable schedule, but, by all means, s/he is not to forget informing the secretary of the club about the completion of each and every stage.
Beginning from the second week of Great Lent, weekly yacht rankings will be published on our website with the indication of stages, which have been passed by the participants. Thus, in case you forget to inform the secretary of the Yacht Club that a certain level has been successfully completed, your yacht may rank last! Please, do not forget to timely report once each level is accomplished.
Every seaman is also required to keep a logbook, notes from which (around 5-7 sentences) with the most vivid impressions of the journey are to be sent to the Organizing Committee of the Yacht Club (e-mail at regatavoshod@mail.ru) together with the information on the stage completion.
First week
Assignments for the first and second stages of the Minor Regatta
Dear friends!
We congratulate you on the beginning of Great Lent and welcome you to the first stage of our journey through the pages of the Holy Scripture!
This week we are to begin, and next week – to continue and to finish reading the following texts:
The Gospel of Matthew is written by one of the twelve disciples of the Saviour – Matthew, or Levi, the son of Alphaeus, the former tax collector (publican).
This gospel was mainly focused on the Jewish audience, that is why the evangelist Matthew gives special attention to providing proof that Jesus is that very Messiah, whose coming was proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets (all the Jews knew the Holy Scriptures well, and the ancient prophecies of the Messiah were familiar to them from childhood).
This Gospel was written in the 60s of the Ist century A.D.
May God help you!
Second week
Assignments for the first and second stages of the Minor Regatta
Dear friends!
We have stepped into the second week of Great Lent and we are to start the second stage of our journey through the pages of the Bible.
This week we are to continue and to finish reading books that we have started earlier:
The Gospel of Matthew is written by one of the twelve disciples of the Saviour – Matthew, or Levi, the son of Alphaeus, the former tax collector (publican).
This gospel was mainly focused on the Jewish audience, that is why the evangelist Matthew gives special attention to providing proof that Jesus is that very Messiah, whose coming was proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets (all the Jews knew the Holy Scriptures well, and the ancient prophecies of the Messiah were familiar to them from childhood).
This Gospel was written in the 60s of the Ist century A.D.
May God help you!
Third week
Third stage of the Minor Regatta
Dear friends!
Welcome to the third week of Great Lent!
At this stage of the Minor regatta we need to read the following:
Saint Mark, or John Mark, was obviously close to the disciples of the Savior, but he was not one of the twelve apostles. Later Mark became a disciple of the apostle Peter, according to whose words this Gospel was written.
The Gospel of Mark is targeted at the Gentile Christians: there are numerous explanations of Jewish customs and words, and there are almost no quotations from the Old Testament. According to the testimony of ancient writers of the Church, the Gospel of Mark is a record of the oral preaching of the apostle Peter, made at the request of the Christians living in Rome.
This Gospel was written between the 40s – 80s of the Ist century A.D.
The symbol of apostle Mark in the church tradition is the lion, since in his Gospel Mark particularly highlights the royal dignity and power of the Savior.
The Gospel of Mark is the smallest by volume, but, dear, do not wind down! Great deeds are waiting!
May God help you!
Fourth week
Fourth stage of the Minor Regatta
Dear friends!
We have stepped into the fourth week of Great Lent – of the Veneration of the Cross.
Our task at this stage is as follows:
Saint Luke the Evangelist was most likely a proselyte, meaning descended from pagans who took on the Jewish faith; he was a doctor and a painter by occupation. Luke was not one of the twelve apostles of Christ, but, obviously, belonged to a wider range of the disciples of the Savior.
After the Ascension of Christ Luke becomes a disciple of the apostle Paul, accompanying him in all wanderings.
The Gospel of Luke was written for the Gentile Christians at the request of some noble man named Theophilus, who lived in Antioch. Given this, the central idea of the third Gospel is that the Savior came to Earth for the salvation of all the human race.
The time of this Gospel writing is between the 60s – 80s of the Ist century A.D.
The symbol of apostle Luke in the church tradition is the ox, as in the Gospel of Luke sacrificial and redemptive allegiance of Christ is specially emphasized.
May God help you!
Fifth week
Fifth stage of the Minor Regatta
Dear friends!
Welcome to the fifth week of Great Lent!
On this stage we are to read:
This gospel is written by the beloved disciple of Christ, one of the twelve - the apostle John the Theologian, the son of a fisherman Zevedeya of Galilee.
The Gospel of John was written in addition to the first three Gospels, in order to more clearly explicate the doctrine of Christ.
Among all the four evangelic texts, the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist is the most complex and theologically rich: it especially emphasizes the divine being of the Savior, and describes the deepest truth about God, faith, spiritual life, the Heavenly Kingdom.
This Gospel was written near the end of the Ist century A.D.
The symbol of apostle John the Theologian in the church tradition is the eagle, symbolizing the height of the theological teachings, set out in the fourth Gospel, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit granted to the faithful.
May God help you!
Sixth week
Sixth stage of the Grand Regatta
Dear friends!
Well, the sixth week of Great Lent has come, and here we are, entering the final stage of our Round the world regatta on the Holy Scripture.
We are to make one last speed march before the final: let's summon up one's strength and, having prayed, read two following books:
The book of the Acts of the Apostles is the only book of the New Testament, which refers to the category of historical books, that is, has the form of historical chronicles.
The book of the Acts was written by Luke at the request of the same noble Theophilus, for whom the Gospel had been previously compounded. This book describes the history of the preaching of the Apostles from the moment of the Ascension of Christ, and the beginning of the formation of the Christian Church.
The book of the Acts was not finished by the author: the narrative breaks off all of a sudden, without any logical conclusion – the reasons why are still being argued about by researchers.
The time the book was written – the 60s – 70s of the Ist century.
We wish you a successful completion of the reading! May God help you!
Lectures
Schedule of lectures for the participants of the Minor Regatta
Dear friends!
In order to help all brave travelers on the Holy Scripture, the Yacht Club “Voshod” organizes a lecture hall on topics related to the study of the Holy Scripture.
Lectures, discussions and meetings will be held at the theater and concert hall "Voshod" of Sunday School at the Church of the Holy Prince Dimitry Donskoy in the Northern Butovo district of Moscow.
Audio records of the meetings will be also published on our website – follow the news!
Schedule of the lecture hall meetings for the participants of the Minor regatta:
March 2017:
March 10 (Friday) at 19:00 – “Biblical seminar on the Acts of the Apostles”
Lecturer – well-known Orthodox theologian, writer and preacher archpriest Oleg Stenyaev.
March 11 (Saturday) at 14:00 – “Introduction to the New Testament. Patristic interpretation of the Gospel”.
Lecturer – Chairman of the Bible Yacht Club, candidate of theology, candidate of historical sciences, archpriest Andrey Alexeev.
March 18 (Saturday) at 14:00 – “Introduction to the New Testament. Patristic interpretation of the Gospel”.
Lecturer – Chairman of the Bible Yacht Club, candidate of theology, candidate of historical sciences, archpriest Andrey Alexeev.
March 24 (Friday) at 19:00 – “Biblical seminar on the Acts of the Apostles”
Lecturer – well-known Orthodox theologian, writer and preacher archpriest Oleg Stenyaev.
March 25 (Saturday) at 14:00 – “Introduction to the New Testament. Patristic interpretation of the Gospel”.
Lecturer – Chairman of the Bible Yacht Club, candidate of theology, candidate of historical sciences, archpriest Andrey Alexeev.
April 2017:
April 1 (Saturday) at 14:00 – “Introduction to the New Testament. Patristic interpretation of the Gospel”.
Lecturer – Chairman of the Bible Yacht Club, candidate of theology, candidate of historical sciences, archpriest Andrey Alexeev.
April 8 (Saturday) at 14:00 – “Introduction to the New Testament. Patristic interpretation of the Gospel”.
Lecturer – Chairman of the Bible Yacht Club, candidate of theology, candidate of historical sciences, archpriest Andrey Alexeev.
Yachts ranking
Ranking of the yachts of the Minor regatta
Dear friends!
The yacht ranking is published on our website weekly with the indication of stages, which have been passed by the participants.
Ranking of the yachts of the Grand and Minor regattas can be checked following this link.
Awards
Winners of the Minor regatta shall be awarded as follows:
- Winners of the first phase of the Minor Regatta - captains of the three yachts, who completed the route first – shall receive commemorative badges for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places (gold, gold filled, silver), as well as bricks, which will be put by the winners and prizewinners of the regatta into the foundation of the future Cathedral of St. Prince Dimitry Donskoy at a later stage.
- The second stage winner of the Minor regatta will get the challenge cup and a trip to the Orthodox summer camp.
- The winning team members of the second stage will receive cross pendants with the ground of Gethsemane, consecrated on the Holy Sepulchre.
We wish you God's help and edifying reading!
