Zadar, May 20, 2003 (IKA) — During the Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, after the Concluding Collect and before the Apostolic Benediction, on June 9 at the Zadar Forum, representatives of the Zadar Archdiocese, Zadar County and the city of Zadar will present gifts to the Holy Father.
The Zadar Archdiocese will present the Pope with a modern copy of the first personal liturgical prayer book in Croatia — Sister Cika’s Breviary, a check for the sum of money collected during the Lenten Campaign of the Zadar Archdiocese for the purchase of a device for the Neurological Ward of the Zadar General Hospital and a bouquet of flowers. Sister Cika’s Breviary, a liturgical collection from 11th century Zadar, was intended for personal use within the structure of the Liturgy of the Hours and contains votive offices in honor of the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary, a selection of daily and special prayers, and various instructive writings. This was the first Book of the Hours in Europe intended for personal use and dates from circa 1060–1066, nearly two centuries before such prayer books were in use in the rest of Europe. This was the first completely preserved Croatian book with musical notation by domestic composers of Cika’s time, adorned with narrative miniatures and illuminations, and containing prayers of Carolingian and Byzantine origin. Textual, contextual and paleographic analyses show that all the prayers were written in the form as prayed by a woman, which was unusual because Church prayers were otherwise written in the form prayed by a man. From the liturgical aspect, this prayer book made the official prayers of the Church available to the “ordinary believer,” who in Cika’s time did not actively participate in such prayer. The Liturgy of the Hours was not even stipulated by canon law for cloistered nuns. Cika created the prototype of the personal breviary, which was later adopted by the nobility, religious and other distinguished groups in medieval society.
On behalf of the city of Zadar, the mayor of Zadar, Bozidar Kalmeta, will present the Pope with an oil painting of Zadar by the academic painter Mile Skracic.
Zadar County will present a replica of antique lace framed on a burgundy background with gold elements, after a drawing from the beginning of the twentieth century. It is the work of the foremost Pag lacemakear, Marija Orlic Vedopika, employing the authentic style and technique. The motif contains all the elements of classical lace. Of particular interest is a section reminiscent of sea foam. The county will also present a monetary donation to the Pope to be used for humanitarian purposes.