the preservation of works of ancient church poetry, which up to now has preserved the characteristics of the ancient chanting manner of singing and ancient scansion, and about the preservation of manuscripts from bygone centuries, full ofhistarical significance, which have brought to perfection the composition of the book as a total object. I could not help reminding all these connoisseurs of the arts that have been forgotten or half-forgotten by the modern world, those arts that are even more auxiliary and yet are absolutely essential to the organisation of this ritual as an artistic whole: the art of fire, the art of smell, the art of smoke, the art of dress, etc., up to and including the utterly unique Trinity holy bread (pmifora) , with its mysterious and secret recipe, the distinctive choreography that emerges in the measured movements of the priests as they come in and out, in the converging and diverging of their countenances, in their circling around the throne and the church, and in the church processions. He who has tasted the charm of antiquity knows well how ancient all this is, how it lives as an inheritance and the only direct branch of the ancient world ta have survived, particularly of the sacred tragedy ofthe Hellenes. Even such details as the specific, light touching of various surfaces, of holy objects made of various materials, of the icons anointed and saturated with oil, fragrances, and incense - and touching besides with the most sensitive parts of our body, the lips - become part of this total ritual, as a special art, special artistic spheres, as for example the art of touch, the art ofsmell and so on. In eliminating them we would deprive ourselves of the fullness and completeness of the artistic whole. I3 Iwill not discuss the occult element that is characteristic of any work of art in general, and of church ritual in particular. This would take us into a realm that is too complex. Nor can I talk here about the symbolism that is inevitably present in any art, particularly the art oforganic cultures. For us even the external, we might say the superficial consideration ofstyle as a totality of all means of expression is enough to speak of the Lavra as an entire artistic and historical monument that is unique anywhere in the world and that requires infinite attention and care. The Lavra, considered in a cultural and artistic context, should, like a single entity, be a real 'museum' without losing a single drop of the precious liquid of culture that has been gathered here with such style, in the very midst of the stylistic multiplicity of epochs, throughout the Moscow and Petersburg periods of our history. As a monument and a centre of high culture, the Lavra is infinitely necessary for Russia, and in its entirety, what's more, with its day-ta-day existence, its very special life that has long since disappeared into the realm of the distant past. The whole distinctive organisation of this
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