The Church Slavonic (Slavic) language was devised in the ninth century. Based on Old Bulgarian, it was created by the Greek missionary brothers Cyril and Methodius. As the first written Slavic language it has become the mother of all modern Slavic languages and continues in daily use in the services of the Slavic Orthodox Churches. (Russian, Bulgarian, Polish etc.) This is a comprehensive grammar of the Church Slavonic language, covering etymology, parts of speech, and syntax. This English edition was translated from the Russian and includes an explanation of grammatical points that would be taken for granted by a native Russian speaker. Long used as a seminary textbook both in North America and Russia, Archbishop Alypy's work is an absolutely unique publication in English and is essential for anyone desiring to study Church Slavonic, from beginning learner to advanced scholar. Texts for practice are largely drawn from the Gospels. This is both a unique and authoritative work. AUTHOR: John Shaw was born in Ndola in 1947, in what was then Northern Rhodesia and received his primary and most of his secondary education in that country. Shortly before Zambian independence in October 1964, his father, a chief superintendent in the Northern Rhodesia Police, resigned and his parents immigrated to Rhodesia. John attended Chaplin School, Gwelo, to complete his GCE certificate. In March 1966, he joined the British South Africa Police and served in the district branch of the Force until his retirement in August 1981, with the rank of superintendent. Shortly after Zimbabwean independence he moved to South Africa with his wife and three daughters, securing a job with Johnson & Johnson, Midrand, in the security field where he remained for 28 years, retiring as their Industrial & Employee Relations Manager in 2008. He settled in White River where he spends his time writing, playing tennis and visiting the Kruger National Park.