We have arrived! Excited to find out what’s behind the door... Grisha informs us that it’s the year 1116 and we have landed in Polatsk. We open the door and we see a beautiful house, or is it a library? We are not sure, but it looks amazing. We see a little girl, around 12 years old. She is arguing with her parents about something. They didn’t seem to see us, so we listen in to the conversation conversation. The girl who is called Pradslava is telling her parents that she doesn’t want to marry. She wants to become more than only a wife and a mother. Her father started to talk in a loud voice telling her that he has picked a very fine husband for her and that she will be happy and wealthy! But she persisted: "I don’t want to marry ANYONE!" I want to care not only for one or two people but also for my entire country! Her father couldn’t understand what she was talking about and told her that they will continue this conversation later, when she comes to her senses...
We stood there and didn’t know what was going on. Who is this very special young lady of only 12 years old standing up for herself in such a matter? Grisha tells us that this little girl is soon to become Saint Euphrosyne Of Polacak. "You are witnessing a very special moment as she decides now to not take the traditional path in life, which would mean marry a Prince, have kids, and so on," Grisha says. "Instead, she will choose to become a nun, an enlightener, and a peacemaker, who will play a very big role in many peoples' lives and for Belarusians today. In the coming days she will go to the monastery and devote her life to the church and will change her name to Euphrosyne. And she will do all of this without telling her parents!"
"Wow, that is so brave!" Marta and Masha say at the same time.
Grisha says: "Let's do something different in this travel. Let's see what will become of this little girl in 40 years. Let us travel to the year 1156..." We step into our Grisha, super excited by this unexpected surprise of visiting one hero twice in her lifetime. Before we know it, Grisha opens the door and... there we are, in the middle of a beautiful church. "This must be the Church of the Holy Saviour that still stands today in Polatsk after having survived occupations, military attacks and various destructions" Marta says. "Wow its beautiful! Just look at all these frescoes!"
We stood there and didn’t know what was going on. Who is this very special young lady of only 12 years old standing up for herself in such a matter? Grisha tells us that this little girl is soon to become Saint Euphrosyne Of Polacak. "You are witnessing a very special moment as she decides now to not take the traditional path in life, which would mean marry a Prince, have kids, and so on," Grisha says. "Instead, she will choose to become a nun, an enlightener, and a peacemaker, who will play a very big role in many peoples' lives and for Belarusians today. In the coming days she will go to the monastery and devote her life to the church and will change her name to Euphrosyne. And she will do all of this without telling her parents!"
"Wow, that is so brave!" Marta and Masha say at the same time.
Grisha says: "Let's do something different in this travel. Let's see what will become of this little girl in 40 years. Let us travel to the year 1156..." We step into our Grisha, super excited by this unexpected surprise of visiting one hero twice in her lifetime. Before we know it, Grisha opens the door and... there we are, in the middle of a beautiful church. "This must be the Church of the Holy Saviour that still stands today in Polatsk after having survived occupations, military attacks and various destructions" Marta says. "Wow its beautiful! Just look at all these frescoes!"
| Then we look more towards the altar of the church and see that something big is happening. Many people are excited and screams are heard now and then. We want to see what is going on. We get closer.. and then we see it! It’s a big Cross that Euphrosyne is holding. That must be the thing everyone is going crazy for... but why? It's just a cross. Well.. have we underestimated THIS cross! We hear Euphrosyne explaining to the crowd the magic of this cross: ‘This very cross I hold in my hand is made of Cypress (a tree!), and inside of it there are pieces of many important Christian Saints to be found. It is made of gold and silver plates and precious stones. As you will see there is also several inscriptions on the cross!" She continues by saying that this is our pride, our unification: "I want this cross to bring happiness, wisdom and spirituality to everyone." We hear loud applause and cant wait to see the cross up close! When we see it we are blown away by its beauty. It is truly one of a kind symbol! |  |
When all calms down a bit, we finally get the chance talk to Euphrosyne. We tell her how magnificent we think the cross is. She smiles and asks what brings us here? We explain her that we traveled from the future to meet Belarusian heroes. Euphrosyne laughs and says: "yes we all have our missions in life." Then suddenly Masha says: "do you know that this cross that you specially made is in the future a spiritual symbol of Belarus?!" Euphrosyne seems to be very happy to hear this. But then Marta adds: "Oh yeah... and it also disappeared…" Euphrosyne's eyes got very big and she started to talk a bit louder: "What do you mean - disappeared???"
"We are truly sorry to have to tell you this," Masha says, "but it is true: in 2018, no one really knows what happened to the cross or where it is!" The biggest spiritual symbol of Belarus it is also one of the biggest mysteries. Euphrosyne just stared at us for a while in disbelief. After some time, she spoke: "I am a bit shocked right now, so I would like you to leave and let me think about this." We apologize again and let her know that she is an amazing woman and that she means a lot to Belarusians even in the 21st century! "Thank you ladies, I wish you a good trip back to the future!" She then leaves us.
"We are truly sorry to have to tell you this," Masha says, "but it is true: in 2018, no one really knows what happened to the cross or where it is!" The biggest spiritual symbol of Belarus it is also one of the biggest mysteries. Euphrosyne just stared at us for a while in disbelief. After some time, she spoke: "I am a bit shocked right now, so I would like you to leave and let me think about this." We apologize again and let her know that she is an amazing woman and that she means a lot to Belarusians even in the 21st century! "Thank you ladies, I wish you a good trip back to the future!" She then leaves us.
Now that went well... When we get back to Grisha he tells us a very interesting thing about the cross: turns out, there are many stories and theories about where it could be. Places like Moscow, a small provincial town nearby, or stolen by the Nazis during the WWII. Others believe it was sold during an auction and we should be looking in places like the USA or in private collections of Western Europe. Even the United Nations is looking for it! "But my favorite one," Grisha adds, "is that it is hidden in the walls of the Sofia Church, located right here in Polatsk! Perhaps Euphrosyne feared the cross would be stolen, so she hid it in "plain sight!"
As we go back to our time in Grisha, we feel very pleased to have met this wonderful lady. Euphrosyne knew what she wanted from a very young age, and she wasn't afraid to go against very powerful traditions. She has given future Belarus something very important: a story of a brave woman that inspired others to do good. She passed on a lot of knowledge and spiritual power to future generations. She has built a church, a monastery, and a school. She started icon painting workshops. She copied and wrote books. She brought a sacred icon to her church. We are very grateful to have witnessed a glorious masterpiece of religious craftwork, the Cross of St. Euphrosyne. To this day, it is still a Belarusian national symbol and a national mystery!
As we go back to our time in Grisha, we feel very pleased to have met this wonderful lady. Euphrosyne knew what she wanted from a very young age, and she wasn't afraid to go against very powerful traditions. She has given future Belarus something very important: a story of a brave woman that inspired others to do good. She passed on a lot of knowledge and spiritual power to future generations. She has built a church, a monastery, and a school. She started icon painting workshops. She copied and wrote books. She brought a sacred icon to her church. We are very grateful to have witnessed a glorious masterpiece of religious craftwork, the Cross of St. Euphrosyne. To this day, it is still a Belarusian national symbol and a national mystery!
In addition to being an enlightener and scribe,
Euphrosyne was known for her peacemaking missions.
Euphrosyne was known for her peacemaking missions.
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