Gavril Stefanović Venclović’s pioneer work on transferring Christian tradition to vernacular language

Gavril Stefanović Venclović, hieromonk, hard-working scribe and inspired orator from the first half of the XVIII century, marked one of the key periods in the history of Serbian culture. He left some 20000 hand-written pages behind, out of which some 9000 written in vernacular language. His transcripts were primarily made for church service needs, yet, trying to reach his flock, Venclović was translating and adapting them to vernacular language. In his effort to make them understandable and available to “illiterate peasant”, not only that he translated the sermons, but also tried to explain segments that were abstract or of more complex terminology by inserting examples from everyday life. Trying to be as closest to his audience, Venclović used expressions and terms they were familiar with, thus his sermons were entered by numerous details from folk language, customs and everyday life. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177028