Ceremony to present Spiritual Revival awards, special prizes

All the material and immaterial values created by the Belarusian nation act as staples, on which basis the national statehood was born and developed. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement during the ceremony held on 10 January to present Spiritual Revival awards, special prizes for people of culture and art, and the special prize Belarusian Sport Olympus.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that today’s evening represents a continuation of the lightest, most familial, and most beautiful holiday Christmas. “The prizes we present on these winter days every year are a token of the original traditions that connect ages and generations. A token to the spiritual force of Belarusians, who are wise and hardworking, Belarusians, who love their native land and honor the ancestors,” he said.

The first laureates of the Spiritual Revival awards were honored in Belarus more than 25 years ago. “Back then we couldn’t even fathom what challenges we may face in the fight for our spirituality, for our historical legacy, and our way of life. And we couldn’t imagine how relevant the tradition to award people, who dedicate themselves to the noble work of preserving our spiritual origins, will be,” the president pointed out. “But we’ve always known and today we recognize particularly acutely that all the material and immaterial values created by the Belarusian nation act as staples, on which basis the national statehood was born and developed.”

“They are in works of the first enlighteners of the Belarusian land, in the temples, palaces, and museums built by our architects, in works of music, pictorial art, poetry, and prose created by our talented compatriots,” the president continued. “They are in heroic deeds of the winner nation, which gifted us peace, independence, the very right to live; heroic deeds of the hardworking nation, which revived the native land after it was scorched by fire.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko underlined the role Orthodox Christianity plays. Over 1,000 years ago it united Slavs into an ancient state and taught them mercy, love for peace, and love for their neighbors.