Dear Colleagues and the Readers of our Journal!

The editorial board of “Praŭnik” wishes You many happy returns on the occasion of Easter holidays and wishes You success in your creative work and peace of mind!

Easter is not just a holiday of Christians, but also a torch of Litvan Renascence: Renascence of our language, traditions, honor and the forgotten names of our ancestors. It is symbolic that the second printed issue of our journal comes out of print just on the eve of Easter. Such is our Belarusian symbolism!

We place here a text of an illustrious Belarusian Renascence figure, who did not bow to Soviet secret service torturers, Francišak Alachnovič as a bit of congratulation:

“The great spring holiday, the holiday of resurrection of the One, who taught people to love the one's neighbor as oneself, Who gave away his life for his idea, is a holiday of spring, joy and hope. The nature, awoken from its hibernal sleep, greets us with blossoming out pussy-willows and puny snowdrops – the first messengers of spring – are laughing to us with the blue brilliance of happiness, the wind from the fields brings an odour of the plough-land freed from the chains of winter… A new zeal for life arises in our souls with the coming of spring; new power is born in our veins and the also desire for work. And when in the Holy Night the bells chime and the happy call: halleluiah! Christ has arisen! - goes from one lips to another, the heart is shroud in such boundless love, everyone seems to be Your brother and You want to embrace every one and to rejoice together at the great news: “The Christ has arisen!””…

BUT IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT, IN A WILD UNSATIABLE CRAVE FOR POWER AND TORTURE OVER THE SUBJUGATED, THE HOLY COMMANDMENTS ARE FORGOTTEN OR HURLED TO THE MARKETPLACE WHERE THE SHAMELESS TRADE IN THEM, HIDING THE UGLY FACE OF THEIR ROTTEN SOUL BEHIND THE HOLY NAME – BUT TIME WILL COME WHEN A MIGHTY BELL OF JUSTICE POUNDS AND THE IMPOSTORS – TRADERS IN SOUL - WILL FALL ON THE GROUND.

And though a moan of our long-suffering people is floating like a fog over our land, wet from the blood and tears of the offended, though the enemies want to throw us into a grave and press with a huge stone – we know that time will come when a joyous call of revival is uttered by millions of lips, when the heavy stone slips with thundering roar and goes into pieces.

And this Eater may be not far away…”           

Francišak Alachnovič

1922