The Peresopnytsia Gospel dates from the 16th century, and is one of the most beautiful surviving East Slavic manuscripts. It was compiled in 1556 at the Peresopnytsia monastery in the Ukraine. The manuscript is inscribed in Glagolitic characters. The Glagolitic alphabet was invented by Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 9th century to translate the Bible and other religious works into old Church Slavonic, the language of the Bulgarians and Serbs, and the liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church. Although it is not in daily use it was used for religious purposes until the late 19th century in Croatia.
     Two Ukrainian Presidents, Leonid Kravchak in 1991 and Leonid Kuchma in 1994 took the oath of office on the Gospel. The stamp was issued in 2000, and shows a miniature of a monk inscribing a manuscript, possibly the Peresopnytsia Gospel itself.