Trouble sleeping? It may be your diet at fault if you fall asleep and wake up several times during the night. Many of us assume that an overactive mind is causing sleeplessness, but that may not be the case.
Did you know that certain foods, besides the obvious culprit caffeine, can keep you from a peaceful night’s sleep? Here are five culprits that may cause wakefulness at night.
You probably did not know that a high saturated-fat diet, low in fiber, may lead to lighter sleep. You’ll be waking up more at night. If you eat large amounts of food high in saturated fats, it can affect your deeper sleep as well as the overall quality of your sleep. Making alertness more difficult during the day, this non-REM sleep happens earlier in your sleep cycle.
2. Caffeine-rich Foods and Chocolate
Hot chocolate may seem like a great choice to catch some Z’s. However, it contains caffeine, the enemy of sleep. Sweet, fluffy marshmallows add to the anti-sleep mix, as they are loaded with sugar. This brings us to…
3. Sugar-loaded Desserts
Refined carbohydrates and sugar may cause anxiety and insomnia. They can also trigger late-night cravings. Volunteers in a research study who ate more sugar spent less time in slow-wave sleep, essential for healing and immune function; this became evident in these controlled studies. People also took longer to fall asleep and, once asleep, were more restless and frequently awoke during the night.
4. Alcohol Nightcaps
Sometimes alcohol is taken to induce drowsiness. On the other hand, according to studies, alcohol causes restless sleep. This is because the calming effects dissipate after a few hours. Studies show that after three nights of drinking before bedtime, the body becomes more resistant to the sleep-inducing effects of the nightcap.
5. Spicy Foods
Highly acidic food that can initiate heartburn is commonly a cause of interrupted sleep. Spicy dishes, such as those made with tomato products, can also be the culprit. Citrus fruits, marinated dishes, such as olives and pickles, and dairy products may be the cause of heartburn in some people, thus bringing on sleeplessness.
An empty stomach can make insomnia worse. A healthy light snack, such as a banana with almond butter, or fruits, such as kiwi or tart cherries, can help you to fall asleep and stay asleep. Also healthier in general, a diet rich in fiber, associated with deeper sleep, may lead to less wakefulness at night. Sleepwalkers might need to see a doctor. In fact, visit your doctor if you have chronic sleep problems. You may want to know the underlying cause. Meanwhile, making some dietary changes may help.
A limited supply of donor organs, paired with a massive demand for transplants, has fuelled the global organ trafficking industry, which exploits poor, underprivileged and persecuted members of society as a source of organs to be purchased by wealthy transplant tourists.
- Photo by Guillaume Piron on Unsplash
China is the only country in the world to have an industrial-scale organ trafficking practice that harvests organs from executed prisoners of conscience.
Organ transplantation is a life-saving therapy for millions of patients and one of the greatest successes of modern medicine. However, a limited supply of donor organs, paired with a massive demand for transplants, has fuelled the global organ trafficking industry which exploits poor, underprivileged and persecuted members of society as a source of organs to be purchased by wealthy transplant tourists.
Although this practice occurs in many countries, the situation in China is particularly concerning. China is the only country in the world to have an industrial-scale organ trafficking practice that harvests organs from executed prisoners of conscience. This practice is known as forced organ harvesting.
To understand forced organ harvesting, it is useful to consider a hypothetical scenario: a patient in Canada with end-stage heart disease is in need of a life-saving cardiac transplant.
Doctors in Canada tell the patient he needs to go on a waiting list until a compatible donor dies under suitable conditions. This process can take weeks, months or even years. The patient then finds a transplant program in China that can schedule a cardiac transplant from a compatible donor weeks in advance.
This raises several important questions. Cardiac transplant can only come from deceased donors, so how can the hospital match this patient with a potential “deceased” donor weeks in advance? How did the hospital find this donor? How do they know when that donor will die? Has the donor consented to have their organs harvested?
Explainer: China’s multi-billion-dollar murder for organs industry.
The answers to these questions are extremely distressing. China uses incarcerated prisoners of conscience as an organ donor pool to provide compatible transplants for patients. These prisoners or “donors” are executed and their organs harvested against their will, and used in a prolific and profitable transplant industry.
As transplant nephrologists and medical professionals, we aim to spread awareness about organ trafficking, particularly forced organ harvesting, to colleagues, institutions, patients and the public. We are involved with organizations like Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting and International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China, which have done considerable work in this area for over a decade.
China currently has the second-largest transplant program in the world. Transplant operations in China increased rapidly in the early 2000s without a corresponding rise in voluntary organ donors, which led to questions about the source of the organs.
Demonstration in Berlin, 2007, denouncing the practice of forced organ harvesting in China – Commons Wikimedia CC BY 2.0
Human rights investigations
Concerns about forced organ harvesting began to surface in 2006-7 by the work of two international human rights lawyers, David Kilgour and David Matas, who were later nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for their work. The China Tribunal, led by human rights lawyer Sir Geoffrey Nice, was formed in 2019 to independently investigate the claims of forced organ harvesting.
Despite Chinese transplant officials claiming significant transplant reform had taken place since 2015, recent evidence suggests that the barbaric practice of forced organ harvesting has continued. The American Journal of Transplantation, the world’s leading transplant journal, published a paper in April that found that brain death had not been declared in many organ retrievals in China, and that retrieval of the donor’s vital organs was the actual cause of death. In other words, these prisoners were being executed by removal of their organs for the purpose of transplantation.
China has been executing prisoners of conscience and using their organs for transplantation for decades. Transplant physicians, medical professionals and the global community must raise awareness and pressure governments, institutions and hospitals to take action.
It is essential that we conduct due diligence and avoid collaborations where transparency regarding the source of organs cannot be guaranteed. We must protest the unjust and inhumane incarceration and oppression of Uyghurs and marginalized groups around the world.
51. Beware of signing contracts that bind them, especially if there are any benefits and lures on the fishing line. This can involve you in an organization that will limit and force your freedom and free will, and in effect you will turn out to be a god-fighter and an ungodly person, than which there is nothing more dangerous and destructive.
52. For important and responsible matters, ask for a written order.
53. Don’t have illusions and don’t enjoy mirages. Many of those who seem to you to be well-off, if you look more carefully into their lives, you will find that they have entangled themselves in such nets that they will never be able to get out of them, and will perish as they are here. on earth as well as in eternity. For example, ask yourself the question: “Why do many who seem to be prosperous smoke, drink and serve the vices that enslave them?”
54. Be absolutely humble in front of everyone. Being low to the ground, there is nowhere to push you to smash your head. If you don’t stick your nose out, you won’t be hit by a deadly bullet. Earthly life is a forest.
55. It is better not to talk about the things that excite the passions.
56. The human soul is an impregnable fortress. God has entrusted the keys to it to us. We are the ones who, by our obedience to demons, are handing these keys into the hands of the wicked to destroy us.
57. Those whom you judge and accuse, you take upon yourself their guilt.
58. The most profitable investment, the most profitable deposit is virtue and charity.
59. God favors nothing so much as the removal of pride clinging to the soul. However your relations and circumstances may change towards you, your soul must remain in the same unaltered simple and virtuous disposition and condition.
60. It is better to sit at an empty table than at a table with harmful and poisonous dishes.
61. Strive with all your might for virtue, but hope more in the Lord than in your good works.
62. What you suffer for only gets a price if you don’t pollute it with your powerless words and self-promotion.
63. Imps are afraid of order.
64. Often the external unity of people leads to deep internal disunity.
65. If you do not get rid of your loose behavior with people, you will fail in all your affairs and you will never be prosperous.
66. The carnal man will betray you even if you warn him.
67. When the devil cannot fail you in matters of faith, he incites you to condemnation, fornication, anger, to trap you in moral sin.
68. Hard and gentle! Meek and firm!
69. Authority is connected with dignified Christian humility. The right view is to do everything in your power in the direction of your aspirations. Only then pray, expecting everything from God’s mercy.
70. The question is not whether you are right or wrong. It all comes down to opportunity. If you do not have the opportunity now, postpone the battle or your intention until you gather strength and means, keep silent and wait for the time.
71. Trust no one and do not reveal your heart.
72. For nothing in the world do not slander, slander and judge even in relation to your greatest enemies. Do not ally yourself with the powerful and the rich. Don’t testify, especially in divorce cases.
73. You should always be a man! But is it manly to judge, debauchery and chatter hot-not-boiling?!
74. For every good thing the devil has made a false duplicate, which you must be able to recognize.
75. Do not be like a horse that any man and rabies can eat. Be serious, firm and steady.
76. No attempt to stop the decaying process in the Church. This is pointless and dangerous today! Use God’s commandments and avoid talking about religion and politics. The power is in silence, prayer, self-absorption in one’s own heart cell. Be invisible like a beetle under a leaf. Guard your conscience, by no means flaunting it or discrediting it in front of anyone. Don’t be direct and specific, or probe the subtleties in front of people. If you do not observe this, then they will force you to change your faith.
77. Remember your sins and you will be convinced that you are always worthy of punishment.
78. Anger does not arise from disease, but from pride. In order not to give in to irritability and anger, you should not rush. Be very careful about yourself not to offend anyone with the appearance of contempt.
79. If you accept people in the name of God, then everyone will be kind to you.
80. Work hard in your affairs and you will drive away laziness, despondency and boredom, and if you pray patiently, you will be delivered from many evils.
81. When a gloomy mood attacks you, do not forget to rebuke yourself, remembering how guilty you are before God. Realize that you are not worthy of anything better and you will immediately get relief from dark, unpleasant thoughts. If you feel restless, repeat often: “Seek peace.”
82. Self-justification is a great sin. You keep sinning, then keep repenting. Thus, in the end, if death finds you in remorse, you will be saved. Do you regret it? Then with alms straighten your life and cleanse yourself from your sins.
83. When you are at enmity against someone, you offend God, and please the devil – an enemy.
84. There are no trifles in the world. Everything in the world has its price and consequences.
85. Failure to follow the advice of the wise leads to misfortune.
86. True repentance does not require days and years, but often, as with the thief on the cross, only a moment.
87. Great good and evil always begin from the small and the imperceptible.
88. Do not forget that the robber was a robber for thirty years and, having repented, entered Paradise, and Judas was with the Lord all his life, but in the end he betrayed Him.
89. If they praise you, do not say anything, relax your head and eyes and be silent, or else indicate the reason – God’s gift.
90. Do good only for God and do not pay any attention to the choir’s ingratitude. Expect reward only from the Lord. If you expect any thanks here on earth, you labor in vain and suffer privations in vain. Man is by nature ungrateful.
91. Our attention must be directed to our inner life so that we do not notice what is happening around us. Then we will not judge. Let us not be too bitter about the injustices here and treat them indifferently. Justice does not live on our land. We await a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. Don’t be bitter if people don’t value you and are unfair. You work for God, not for people. Show mercy to others, but be strict with yourself. You will not be responsible for others, so watch not them, but yourself, because you will only be responsible for yourself.
92. It is better to anticipate and be silent than to speak and then regret.
93. He who thinks he has virtue loses it.
94. Do not pray or do alms so that you are seen! This is Christ’s command.
95. He is wise who sees the good in everyone and the bad in himself; the stupid sees the bad in everyone, and considers himself the most worthy.
96. When you wake up, say: “Glory be to You, God!” and do not remember your dreams.
97. When you work, say to yourself: “Lord, have mercy!”.
98. Do not speak in church, such a habit brings sorrows.
99. When you pray diligently, beware – temptations will follow.
100. After confession and communion, ask God to protect you from returning to your former sins. If you want to do something that you shouldn’t, remember that you will have to confess it and God may not forgive you, precisely because you persist, knowing that it is not good, but you do it.
101. If you do not believe in signs and dreams and the like, they will not come true.
102. With people, especially those who are not of your sex, you should not treat freely, so as not to serve as a temptation.
103. The beam you have in your eyes when you judge others is pride – you must first of all remove it from yourself. The proud is healed by God with inner sorrows, and the humble endures everything that comes from people, telling himself that he is worthy of it. Be respectful to everyone, but not flattering. Bow and go quickly. Look to the earth, for there you will go. Humility requires yielding to others by submitting to the younger and considering yourself the worst. He who gives in gains more. Humble yourself and all your works will start. If someone is angry with you, ask them why. If someone is angry with you, please them. Keep quiet in front of everyone and everyone will love you.
104. When you are angry with someone, it is better to joke. Don’t be rude. When asked for advice, it’s best to say, “I don’t know what to say.” Laugh a little. Laughter casts out the fear of God.
105. If blasphemous thoughts about God and holy things assail you, or you condemn, reproach yourself in pride, and pay no attention to your thoughts.
106. In order to keep the fear of God in yourself, fulfill His commands, asking Him to help you in this.
107. You must not be a people pleaser. You better keep quiet. Silence is superior to people-pleasing.
108. Do not tell where what is being done and do not pass on other people’s affairs.
109. God loves works.
110. While we are on earth, we cannot be without sorrows anywhere.
111. Always adhere to the rule: where you do not foresee success, do not begin to act there.
112. Life for God – this is our earthly vocation.
113. On earth we need no attachments, neither to wealth, nor to fame, nor to fame, nor to pleasures. Everything is temporary and after the narrow and dark grave, they will not follow us.
114. In order for your prayers to be heard, first pray for your enemies, so that God will help you, despite the fact that you have become His enemy with your sins. Secondly, stretch out your hands to those in need and according to your strength, satisfy them, because only in this way you will be able to reach the height of the merciful God. Third, don’t forget to ask God to strengthen your faith. After that, it is necessary to be humble, so that God’s blessings can flow to this lowland.
115. In your attitude towards people and especially towards your friends, always keep in mind a thought that is contained in the oldest book of the Bible, dedicated to the long-suffering Job: “He who condemns his friend to a spoil, his children’s eyes run out.” In connection with this thought St. John Chrysostom noted that God is not offended by anything as much as by the offense we inflict on our friends. And you always be kind to your friends, even when, as people, they have sinned against you in some way.
116. Your successes will be so much greater, the clearer the image of the virtues you draw in your heart.
117. Do you have a competition coming up or another decisive and important moment in your life? Before that, it is necessary to concentrate – this is done with silence and prayer. Go into seclusion and in this way instill in your soul a gracious power that alone can bestow lasting victory.
118. Almost always, when we are in good physical and mental condition, breakdowns happen. It is because we forget ourselves. We drop the position of caution and restraint. Successes are most easily lost the moment they are won. The ancient ascetics taught us to adhere to a moderate but constant diet and behavior. Be very careful exactly when you feel the best because of some success of yours. The fruits of your many efforts can be lost in a moment of carelessness.
119. Christ demands that we be like children. The child feels confident holding his father’s hand. He has no doubt that the good father will give him whatever he wants. When we pray to God, we should have that same childlike, living faith in our Heavenly Father. This is one of the conditions for our prayers to be heard. It is a gift from God, and therefore before you pray for any need, first of all, ask God to deliver you from disbelief and strengthen your faith.
120. I have observed you that during the singing you get moved and shed tears. This is a very clear proof of the touch of Divine power and grace to your heart. However, be careful not to fool yourself (self-seduce, seduce yourself). In general, feelings are something impermanent and we shouldn’t trust them too much. But especially for spiritual singing, it is known that many of the saints received strong faith thanks to it. And you are doing well to listen to our wonderful church choir.
Note: The soul-beneficial teachings of Archbishop Seraphim Sobolev were recorded by his spiritual child, Nikola Mutafchiev, and were published in the book “The Sofia Wonderworker Seraphim for the Secrets of Victory”, Sofia, 2003.
About the author: Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) of Boguchar is one of the most prominent clergymen of our time. Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose episcopal ministry is almost entirely in Bulgaria. He was solemnly glorified as a newly canonized saint – Unfathomable joy overwhelmed the souls of thousands of Christians who filled the patriarchal cathedral “St. Alexander Nevsky”, to become part of this significant spiritual celebration ¬ the glorification of St. Seraphim, Archbishop Bogucharski, Sofia Miracle Worker, which took place on February 26, 2016.
The Highest Artist-God-in everything that had to be done, using His almighty power, that is, the Son, for “through Him everything came into being, and without Him nothing came into being” (John 1, 3), in the beginning and before everything else he created heaven and earth and called into being, although they never existed. If, perhaps, someone asks how and from where, then he will hear from us the following wise and truly excellent word: “Who knew the mind of the Lord? Or who was His adviser?” (Rom. 11:34).
… In each of the created deeds, the Creator was the Word, and only His wave gave life to everything. Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Creations, part 4, M., 1886, p. 9-11.
First of all, believe that there is one God who created everything, who brought everything out of nothing into being. He embraces everything. Himself being immense, and can neither be defined by the word nor comprehended by the mind. Shepherd Ermas. Monuments of ancient Christian writing in Russian translation, vol. 1, M., 1860, p. 254.
…The Creator created one whole world, so that the arrangement of many worlds would not lead to the idea of many Creators. Since the creation is one, we believe that its Creator is one. Saint Athanasius the Great. Creations, part 1, M., 1851, p. 65.
Since the Egyptians deified the visible creature and the Israelites, having lived with them for a long time, became involved in the same wickedness, then Moses, of necessity, offers them the doctrine of creation and clearly teaches that the creature has a beginning of being and that the Creator is the God of all. Blessed Theodoret of Kirsky. Creations, part 1. M., 1855, p. 7.
… If God is not alone eternal and everything else did not come from Him, then He is not God either. And if the world is co-eternal with God, therefore, equal to Him in being, then it is equal to God both in immutability, and in infinity, and in everything, which means that there is another God. But two eternal and common beginnings cannot be admitted according to the ideas of sound reason. Tertullian. Bishop Macarius (Bulgakov). Orthodox dogmatic theology, vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1851, p. 10-11)*.
God created the invisible and visible world; and soul and body He also created.
…Some say that creatures have co-existed with God from eternity; but this is impossible. For how can from eternity coexist with the Infinite in everything, beings who are finite in everything, and how are they actually creatures if they are co-eternal with the Creator? But so say the Hellenes, who introduce God as the Creator not of nature, but only of qualities. We, recognizing God as omnipotent, say that He is the Creator not only of qualities, but also of natures endowed with qualities. If so, then the creatures from eternity did not exist with God.
… The all-sufficient God brought creatures from non-existence into existence, not because he needed anything, but so that they, according to their ability to perceive, partaking of His blessedness, would enjoy and that He Himself would rejoice in His deeds, seeing them rejoicing and always insatiably satiated by the insatiable. Saint Maximus the Confessor (68, 151, 155, 148).
… The very creation points to the One who created it, the very deed announces the One who produced it, and the world preaches the One who arranged it. The whole Church throughout the world received this tradition from the apostles.
The Creator of the world is the Word of God, and this is our Lord, Who in the last times became a man and existed in this world, invisibly contains everything created and is embedded in all creation, because the Word of God governs and disposes of everything; and for this He apparently came to his own, and became flesh, and prostrated himself on a tree, in order to restore everything in Himself. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons. Works. SPb., 1900, p. 130-131 485-486.
Before the world arose, there was only the Living and Boundless God. When the world was called into being from non-existence, God, of course, did not become limited, all the fullness of life and infinity remained with Him. But this fullness of life and infinity was also expressed in creatures, living and limited, of which there are immeasurably many, and all of them are endowed with life. Archpriest John Sergiev, vol. 1, M., 1894, p. 282-283.
By the action of the will of God, the worlds, visible and invisible, were created, man was created and redeemed, all events, public and private, have been and are taking place, from which shines, like the sun from heaven, God’s Goodness, God’s Omnipotence, God’s Wisdom. Bishop Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) (109, 80).
God created the world out of nothing
People can do something not out of nothing, but through matter. But God, in fact, surpasses people by the fact that He Himself called to being the matter of His creation, which did not exist before. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (113, 149).
Just as a potter, who with the same skill made thousands of vessels, did not exhaust either art or strength, so the Creator of this universe, having a creative power not only sufficient for one world, but infinitely surpassing it, brought into being all the greatness of the visible with one wave of will. (4, 6). God does not create His creatures out of Himself, but through His activity brings them into being, just as a person who makes something with his hands does not produce his work out of himself. Saint Basil the Great (113, 150).
To imagine that God formed the world from ready-made matter would mean to equate his creativity with human art, which always needs some kind of substance (for example, a potter needs clay, a builder needs brick and stone, a carpenter and shipbuilder- in wood, a weaver in wool, a tanner in leather, a painter in paint, etc.), and not to understand the difference between man and God, not to understand that it is impossible for an image to have everything that the Prototype has. Blessed Theophylact (113, 149).
It is necessary to imagine everything in God as a whole: the will, wisdom, power and essence of things. If this is really so, then let no one trouble himself by searching and asking about matter, how and where it comes from, like those who say: if God is immaterial, then where does matter come from? How did the quantitative come from the non-quantitative, the visible from the invisible?.. To all such questions about matter, we have one answer: we must not assume that the Wisdom of God is not omnipotent and His Omnipotence is not wise. On the contrary, one must adhere to the idea that one is inseparable from the other, that both turn out to be one and the same, so that the other is seen along with the one. If in one and the same God there is wisdom and power, then He could not but know how to find the substance for the creation of beings, and could not but have the necessary power to realize thought. Saint Gregory of Nyssa (113, 149).
What would be great if God created the world from ready-made matter? And with us, an artist, having received a substance from someone, forms anything from it. But the power of God is manifested in this, that He produced from nothing whatever He willed.
… God brought everything from non-existence into existence, so that His greatness could be known from the creations. Saint Theophilus of Antioch (Bishop Macarius (Bulgakov), p. 14, 32).
Moses, making a forty-day fast on the mountain, sees God in knowledge, as it is written, and not in fortune-telling, and converses with Him, and speaks as someone speaks to his friend. He was taught by God, and he himself teaches about Him, teaches that God is eternal and does not depend on anything, but he also recognizes the non-existent as being, and from non-existence brings everything into being, and does not allow it to return to non-existence, – He Who in the beginning, with a wave and a single desire, produced from nothing the entire visible creation. Saint Gregory Palamas (65, 69).
If everything happened by itself without Providence, as the Epicureans assert, then everything would have to happen in the same way and be the same, and not different; in the universe, as in a single body, everything would have to be the sun or the moon, and with people the whole body would have to be either a hand, or an eye, or a foot. But none of this is now; we see that one is the sun, the other is the moon, and the other is the earth; and in human bodies also one is the foot, the other is the arm, the other is the head. And such a routine makes it clear that all this did not happen by itself, and even shows that everything was preceded by a reason from which one can recognize both the God who put in order and created the universe.
If God is not Himself the original cause of matter, but every being creates from ready-made matter, then it is obvious that He is powerless, because He is not able to produce anything real without matter, just as a woodcarver, no doubt, cannot make any things without wood. Saint Athanasius the Great (113, 149).
The universe was created, and God did not create it from Himself to be the same as He Himself is. On the contrary, He created her out of nothing, so that there would be no equal either to Him by Whom she was created, or to His Son, through Whom she was created … Out of nothing God created everything, but from Himself He did not create, but begot equal to Himself, whom we we call the Son of God. Blessed Augustine (113, 150).
The created world did not originate from the essence of God, but by the will and power of God it was brought from non-existence into existence… Birth consists in the fact that from the essence of the one who gives birth comes what is born, equal to him in essence. Creation and creation consists in the fact that what is created and created comes from outside, and not from the essence of the creator or creator, and, without any doubt, is not similar to him in essence. Saint John of Damascus (113, 150).
From nothing created (God the world) to glorify His greatness. Tertullian (Bishop Macarius (Bulgakov), p. 32).
So, let no one ask from what substance God made such great and wonderful creatures; He made everything out of nothing. Lactantius, Bishop Macarius (Bulgakov), p. 14.
According to Scripture, heaven, earth, fire, air and water were created from nothing. The light that was created on the first day, and everything else that was created after it, was already created from what was before. For when Moses speaks of being created out of nothing, he uses the word “created”: “God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Venerable Ephraim the Syrian. Creations, part 8, M., 1853, p. 259.
…On the first day, God, according to His almighty word, created everything from non-existence, and on the other days He already creates everything from what existed (created on the first day). Saint John Chrysostom (40, 755).
Thailand is home to the second largest population of Buddhists in the world, with some 64 millions Buddhists and 41,000 temples. Buddhism came to Thailand as early as the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka.
Theravada is the primary school of Buddhism in Thailand today and is traditionally conservative in doctrine and monastic discipline. The adherence to tradition can be seen in temples of Thailand (also called wats). From Wat Phra Kaew, regarded as the most sacred temple of Thailand, located in the Grand Palace, commonly called in English the Temple of the Emerald Buddha for the statue of Buddha which is a religious icon for the country; to Wat Phra Phutthabat, one of the oldest temples in the country and home to a stone which is said to have a footprint of the Buddha.
But in the northernmost region of Thailand stands a temple which is an amalgam of traditional and modern design—Wat Rong Khun. Renowned for its artistry and stark beauty it is known to English speakers simply as the White Temple and is one of the favorite locations for visitors in all of Thailand.
The temple was created by Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, originally from the province Chiang Rai where the temple is located, who became well known in the 1980s and 90s for art done in a contemporary style but with Buddhist imagery throughout it. Chalermchai took this further with Wat Rong Khun, using traditional Thai and Hindu architecture and Buddhist symbology and mixing it with elements of modern pop culture. There are even murals which include modern cultural references of The Matrix, Marvel characters, spaceships and the 9/11 terrorist attacks which are set into a context of Buddhist imagery.
A mural of modern events and pop culture through the lens of Buddhist traditions. (E2v, CC BY-SA 3.0)
A sculpture depicting the attempt of demons to tempt man. (Ddalbiez, CC BY-SA 1.0)
In the details of the temple the artist attempts to depict Dharma—the nature of reality regarded as a universal truth taught by the Buddha, which tells of a release from human passion or desire and accordingly a rise to new spiritual heights and understanding. When you arrive to the temple grounds you are first confronted with temptation including demons adorned with bottles of alcohol, you then cross a bridge over a sea of writhing human sculptures and arrive at the temple proper. The progression is meant to represent the transition from the cycle of life and death to the land of Buddha. The building, pristine white and shimmering glass outside and in, is demonstrative of the peace sought through the faith.
The Wat Rong Khun opened to visitors in 1997. Personally funded by Chalermchai, the work continues on Wat Rong Khun to this day, and is planned for much, much more—so much so that it is expected to continue until 2070. As Chalermchai put it, “Only death can stop my dream, but cannot stop my project.”
Staple foods have become unaffordable, warned UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, George Laryea-Adjei on Friday, who pointed out that severe malnutrition in crisis-wracked Sri Lanka was already among the highest in the region.
The alert from the UN Children’s Fund, comes as Sri Lanka continues to suffer its worst financial slump since independence in 1948.
Mr. Laryea-Adjei reports that, “families are skipping regular meals as staple foods become unaffordable. Children are going to bed hungry, unsure of where their next meal will come from.”
“As the economic crisis continues to rattle Sri Lanka, it is the poorest, most vulnerable girls and boys who are paying the steepest price.”@g_laryeaadjei calls for urgent funds, as we scale up our response.https://t.co/9HQJqtEwGa — UNICEF (@UNICEF) August 26, 2022
Mass food insecurity will only further promote malnutrition, poverty, disease and death in the region, he added.
Nascent food insecurity has compounded the social issues already plaguing the nation. The UN estimates that half of children in Sri Lanka already require some form of emergency assistance.
Education, one sector slammed by the economic crisis, has seen decreased student enrollment and a deficit in resources, in addition to commutes made dangerous by outdated infrastructure.
Mr. Laryea-Adjei further revealed that, “reports are already emerging of an increase in abuse, exploitation and violence against children due to the mounting economic pressure.”
Similarly, in Sri Lanka, there are already over 10,000 children in institutional care, mainly as a result of poverty. These institutions do not provide the key familial support that is essential for childhood development.
Unfortunately, the current crisis is pushing more and more families to place their children in institutions, as they are no longer able to care for them.
Progress ‘erased permanently’
“If the current trend continues, hard-earned progress for children in Sri Lanka is at risk of being reversed and in some cases, erased permanently,” Mr. Laryea-Adjei said.
UNICEF has been active in Sri Lanka for over 50 years. With the support of global partners, UNICEF has distributed education supplies, provided meals to pre-school children and badly needed cash transfers to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
However, the current economic crisis has revealed the vulnerability at heart of Sri Lankan social infrastructure, he noted.
George Laryea-Adjei, Regional Director for South Asia (right) visits the home of a family in Watawala, Sri Lanka.
Solutions for children
In reflecting further on the steps UNICEF should take to help Sri Lankan children affected by the economic crisis, Mr. Laryea-Adjei said, “children need to be placed squarely at the heart of the solution as the country works to resolve the crisis.
“Continuity of learning must be ensured for girls and boys of all ages, so they can prepare for their future and are shielded from the threats of child labour, exploitation and gender-based violence. Central and primary health services must be prioritized, to protect women and children against life-threatening diseases and malnutrition.”
If actions are not immediately taken to protect children against the worst effects of the global economic downturn, vulnerable children will be plunged further into poverty – and their health, nutrition, learning and safety compromised.
It therefore should be a priority of the international community to invest in the resilience of local communities as a bulwark against crisis. UNICEF said that Sri Lanka’s emergency is a warning to other South Asian countries of the risk of not preparing for economic hardship.
Mr. Laryea-Adjei concluded, “we cannot let children pay the price for crises not of their making. We must act today to secure their futures tomorrow.”
Creation of life – God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, herbs…and fruitful trees, bearing fruit after their kind” (Genesis 1:11). Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures… cattle… and beasts” (Genesis 1:24). Why does Scripture say, “Let him bring forth,” and elsewhere, “Let him bring forth”?
… Trees, plants and fruits grow annually, and due to the fact that their seeds every year must remain in the earth and certainly come from it, and it is said: “let the earth bring forth”. As for animals and beasts, they were only once, by the word of Almighty God, born of the earth and are born again not from the earth, but by natural succession from each other. That is why the Creator said about animals: “Let the earth bring forth”, that is, once and for all, let the earth give birth to animals. “And it was so” (Genesis 1:24), says the Scripture. The word of Almighty God came true: the earth was adorned with plants and animals (40, 755).
… Almighty God was pleased to give plants to the earth, but He gave fish and birds to the waters. … Because He first gave life to the universe through the waters, He also commands the waters first of all to produce living nature with the obvious goal that you, beloved, know where the root of life comes from. Saint John Chrysostom (40, 767).
Since the Creator of the world by His nature is Life, He made the very nature of the waters the mother of those who float in them and fly through the air. He commanded the earth to produce a diverse nature of animals and countless types of wild animals. And undoubtedly. He produced everything that He pleased, and is beyond all comprehension. Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Creations, part 4, M., 1886, p. 10-11.
When God said: “Let the earth bring forth” (Genesis 1:24), this does not mean that the earth produces what was already in it, but He who gave the command gave the earth the power to produce (113:157).
“Let the earth bring forth grass” (Genesis 1:11). And the earth, observing the laws of the Creator, starting from a sprout, in a short instant of time carried out all types of growth and immediately brought them to perfection (4, 73).
Just as a ball thrown down an inclined surface rolls down and does not stop until it is on a plane, so living nature, moved by one command, makes uniform transitions of beings from birth to destruction, maintaining a uniform succession of species, until it reaches end. A horse is born from a horse, a lion from a lion, an eagle from an eagle, and each animal, preserved from generation to generation, continues until the end of the universe. No time damages or destroys the properties of animals. On the contrary, their nature, as newly created, exists together with time. Saint Basil the Great (4, 137).
The earth produced everything out of itself with the help of light and waters. Although God could produce everything from the earth without them, however, such was His will and by this He wanted to show that everything created on earth was created for the benefit of man and for his service.
…God… commands the earth to produce cereals, and grass, and various fruit-bearing trees. Cereals appeared in an instant, but immediately became as if they had been growing for months. Likewise, trees, at the time of their creation, arose in one day, but by perfection and by the fruits on the branches, they seemed to be the offspring of many years.
… After the gathering of the waters on the second day, rivers, springs, lakes and swamps appeared, and then the waters scattered throughout the universe, according to the word of God, gave birth to reptiles and fish; in the abyss whales were created, and out of the water at the same time birds flew up into the air. Venerable Ephraim the Syrian. Creations, part 8, M., 1853, p. 256, 264, 267.
Our God Himself, glorified in the Trinity and Unity, created heaven and earth, and everything in them, bringing everything without exception from non-existence into being: one thing from a substance that did not exist before, such as heaven, earth, air , fire, water; the other is from these (elements) that have come from Him, such as animals, plants, seeds. For this, according to the command of the Creator, came from earth and water, and air, and fire.
…So, in the beginning, as the Divine Scripture says (Gen. 1, 2), the earth was covered with waters and was “without form”, that is, devoid of adornment. When God commanded, there were reservoirs of waters and mountains arose, and the earth, according to the Divine command, received its adornment – all kinds of cereals and plants, into which the Divine command put both the power that promotes growth, and the power that nourishes and contains the seed, that is capable of giving birth similar to each of them. At the command of the Creator, the earth also produced various kinds of animals, both reptiles and animals and livestock. All for the sake of timely use on the part of man, but some for his food, such as deer, small cattle, chamois, and the like, while others for serving him, such as camels, oxen, horses, donkeys, and the like. the like, while others for entertainment, such as monkeys, and from birds: like magpies, and parrots, and other similar things. And also from plants and herbs: some the earth produced bearing fruit, others edible, others fragrant and blooming, given to us for enjoyment, such as a rose and other similar things, others to cure diseases. For there is neither a living being, nor a plant, in which the Creator would not put some kind of power suitable for human use. For “he who knows everything before his being” (Dan. 13:42), knowing that a man will arbitrarily violate the Divine commandment and give himself over to perdition, created everything: both what is in the firmament, and what is on the earth, and what is on the waters, so that he enjoyed it.
Before the violation of the Divine commandment, of course, everything was obedient to man. For God has made him ruler over all that is on the earth and in the waters. And also the serpent was friendly to man more than other living creatures, coming to him and conversing with him with his pleasant movements. Therefore, the culprit of evil, the devil, through him offered the most evil advice to the forefathers (Genesis 3:1-5). And on the other hand, the earth itself brought forth fruits, so that living beings subordinate to man could use them; and there was neither rain nor winter on earth. After the crime, when a person became like “animals that perish” (Ps. 48, 13), as soon as unreasonable lust began to control the soul endowed with reason, when he transgressed the commandment of the Lord, the subject creature rebelled against the chief chosen by the Creator, and he was appointed to sweat till the land from which he was taken.
…Moreover, after the crime, thorns grew out of the earth—according to the saying of the Lord, according to which even a beautiful rose has thorns—leading us to the memory of the crime, because of which the earth was condemned to sprout for us thorns and thistles. That this is so, one must believe because the words of the Lord: “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gen. 1, 28) support the unceasing existence of all that up to the present time.
However, the earth will also pass away and change. Blessed is he who inherits the land of the meek (Matthew 5:5). For the land that receives the saints is immortal. Therefore, who could adequately express the astonishment of the boundless and incomprehensible wisdom of the Creator? Or who could render due thanks to the Giver of such great blessings? Saint John of Damascus. Exact presentation of the Orthodox faith. SPb., 1894, p. 43-74.
The Balkan Peninsula, as a crossroads between the Middle East and Europe, as well as a center of cultural interaction between the peoples of the East and the West, is the subject of serious attention from the Church of Christ. Shortly after the holding of the Apostolic Council, probably at the beginning of the second half of the year 51 AD. Paul begins his second missionary journey. We must note that the first Christian history, the Acts of the Holy Apostles, although it recreates the stages of geographical distribution of Christian communities from Eastern Asia to Rome, aims to reveal the inclusion of not only Jews, but also Gentiles to Christianity.
The sources for the preaching of the Apostle Paul are found in the Holy Scriptures themselves. During the second evangelistic journey of the apostle, the Spirit of God did not allow Christian preaching in the regions of Asia Minor, but brought the apostle to Troas together with Ap. Silas, Timothy and Luke. App. Luke tells how in Troas “a vision appeared to Paul at night: a man, a Macedonian, was standing before him, begging him and saying: “Go to Macedonia and help us!” After this vision, we immediately asked to leave for Macedonia, because we understood , that the Lord has called us to preach the Gospel there. And since we were traveling from Troas, we came directly to Samothrace, and the next day to Naples, and from there to Philippi, which in that part of Macedonia is the first city – a Roman colony” (Acts 16:9-12).
Reaching Philippi is no coincidence through the island of Samothraki. The preaching of Christ’s faith in Europe began here – the thousand-year-old Balkan Thracian place of worship. It is interesting why preaching was not allowed in the Asia Minor provinces. It is suggested that St. Paul is most likely responding to the invitation of the Macedonians from Philippi, who later play a defining role in his environment, but on the other hand, how can these Philippians (Macedonians) end up with him when we know that his companions were of Asia Minor origin? From this we judge that App. Pavel, who knows Greek, takes with him people from the local Eurasian population. He used their linguistic knowledge among non-Greek speakers. The mission of Ap. Pavel is “organized according to the model of capillary penetration”. The apostle did not seek to cover a large space as a territory, but rather to build strongholds that would become bases of departure for subsequent preaching. For this purpose, he skillfully and successfully used both the infrastructure of the empire and the network of the ancient city (polis) with its specific cores. It goes around the important centers and cities at the crossroads, which are a kind of gathering places for the inhabitants of the district. People often go there because they are the seat of the administration and the courts. In practice, the word reached more people than it would have if the apostle had traveled from place to place. This has also been noted by the analysts of his missionary route.
St. Paul firstly headed for the famous Via Egnatia, making a detour to Athens and Corinth. General observations, however, show that a group of his disciples managed to connect the so-called “Central” (diagonal) road leading from Rome to Byzantium and passing through Vindobona (present-day Vienna), Sirmium (present-day Sremska Mitrovica), Naisos ( present-day Nis), Serdika (present-day Sofia), Philipopol (present-day Plovdiv), Adrianople (Adrien), Byzantium, which will be discussed below. Other apostles were appointed to instruct the newly converted believers: the evangelist Luke in Philippi, Silas and Timothy in Berea. Later in his Epistle to the Romans ap. Paul explicitly confirms the fulfillment of his task by saying that he “delivered the teaching of Christ as far as Illyricum” (Rom. 15:19). In his notes on the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, bl. Theophylact Bulgarian writes: “the apostle Paul says: “because I spread the gospel from Jerusalem and the surrounding area even to Illyricum”. Do you want proof of what I am talking about, says (App. Paul)? Look at the large number of my students – from Jerusalem to Illyricum, which coincides with the borders of today’s Bulgaria. He did not say: I have preached, but fulfilled the gospel, to show that his word was not fruitless, but effective. Lest you think that he walked on a straight and broad road. “And the surrounding area,” he says, i.e. I have gone through the nations, preaching both to the north and to the south…”
St. app. Luke speaks of Philippi as “the first city in this part of Macedonia” (πρώτη της μερίδος Μακεδονίας πόλις, κολωνία) (Acts 16:12). Some think that the apostle errs in using the word μερίς (part), and justify their contention by saying that it never signified a periphery, a province, or any geographical division. It is assumed that some error was originally present in the text, and someone, wishing to correct it, replaced it with the word “μερίς”.
However, archaeological finds from Fayum (Egypt) show that the colonists there, many of whom came from Macedonia, used the word “μερίς” to distinguish the regions of the province. In this way, it is established that “Luke had a good idea of the geographical terminology used in Macedonia”. Archeology “corrects” the pessimists and proves St. Luke right. The Philippian women, who were the first to be enlightened by the apostolic preaching, were proselytes – Macedonians and Phrygians, and they prayed to the Jewish God, identifying him with the ancient Thracian-Phrygian deity “Vedyu” – “Βέδυ”. To this deity, the Macedonians owe, according to legend, the salvation of their dynasty[9]. Archaeologists have confirmed with accuracy the topographical information described in Acts. According to Prof. Thompson, from the result of their excavations, carried out from 1914 to 1938, we have obtained “accurate information about the place where the Gospel was first preached in Europe”.
After Philippi ap. Paul continued through the cities of Amphipolis (near the village of Neochori), Apollonia (on the way between Amphipolis and Thessaloniki), Thessaloniki, Veria, establishing church communities everywhere. His disciples spread his work in Macedonia, Illyria, and Thrace despite opposition from interested Gentiles and Jews (see Acts 16:9-12 and Acts 16 and 17 in general). According to ancient church tradition, St. Ap. Paul also preached in Thrace. More specifically, the hypothesis that Nicopolis, which is mentioned in (Titus 3:12), is identical with Nicopolis ad Nestum, located on the banks of the river Mesta, is also proposed. Some researchers mark the city on geographical maps showing the path of ap. Paul. Archaeological excavations and diocesan lists reveal that it was a well-known episcopal center as early as the 4th-5th centuries. Thus, by God’s suggestion, the ethno-cultural region of Thrace-Macedonia is indissolubly present in the history of Christianity from the 1st century. Paul’s assessment of this region is a model of blameless faith and participation in the grace of Christ. According to St. Ap. Paul, who felt called to preserve Christ’s teaching without impurities, the churches here were a model for the entire Christianizing world at that time.
About the sermon of St. Ap. Andrei has an extensive historical and literary book. On the one hand, there is the rich apocryphal literature, and on the other, there are the short catalogs of the apostolic missionary journeys. But the most essential problem is how to differentiate historical fragments from apocryphal legendary layers and correctly interpret the extremely mysterious geography of Scythia and ethnonym nomenclature (Scythians, Myrmidons, Anthropophagi, etc.)? Another question raised by scholarship is: do the legends about St. Andrew have a political aspect to the rise to the throne of Constantinople? One of the possible answers is that the Church of Constantinople supposedly does not feel particularly confident in its status, determined at the Second Ecumenical Council in 381 and confirmed by rule 28 of the IV Ecumenical Council in 451. Hence the tendency to compensate for the absence of reliable historical tradition through ad hoc legends and apocrypha. This is how the establishment of the Constantinople Cathedral of the brother of the ap. Peter – app. Andrei Parvozvani, also called “Parvozvanna”. However, this is not true, because there are various legends about almost all the apostles. The Eparchy of Constantinople derives its authority not simply from its founder from the number of apostles, but from its early Christian history, with which it can already compete with the claims of primacy of the Roman Curia. These statements may logically lead to such an opinion, but the 28th rule of the IV Ecumenical Council, with its interpretation by the canonists, introduces us to another angle of the problem. The explanations given by Ep. Nicodemus (Milash) gives us a clear idea that in the 6th century the Roman Church accepted the decisions of the 4th Ecumenical Council and until then there was no need to assert any apostolic authority. Moreover, the popes until the 9th century did not claim any absolute, universal, infallible, divine authority of their see. The Church, led by the Holy Spirit, foresaw that it was possible for Rome to deviate from the purity of the faith, and therefore established that the Constantinople Cathedral should be the first after it, equal in honor and second in administrative magnitude. Following the development of the criticism of the sources for the apostle Andrew, one cannot fail to notice that it makes a circle and, after a period of extreme skepticism, again approaches the traditional conclusions. These conclusions are that the activity of St. Ap. Andrei developed precisely on the Balkan Peninsula. Church tradition about St. Andrew was recorded by the early Christian writer Eusebius of Caesarea. He informs us that “to Thomas, as the legend narrates, Parthia fell by lot, to Andrew – Scythia…”. Similar information was also recorded by authors or sources such as Tertullian, Epiphanius, Synaxar of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Menology of Basil II. From the analysis of the text, recorded by Eusebius and going back to Origen, we can date this tradition to the end of the II – beginning. of the 3rd century. The witnesses of the sermon of the ap. Andrew in Thrace and Scythia are a whole host. Eusebius also repeats Rufinus (“as it has been handed down to us”) and Eucherius of Lyons († 449) (“as history tells”). To them we will add Isidore of Ispalia, who also affirms that the apostle Andrew received a share to preach in Scythia and Achaia. The notice of St. Hippolytus of Rome, who was a student of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, is also authoritative. In his short treatise on the twelve apostles, he writes: “Apostle Andrew afterwards, having preached to the Scythians and Thracians, suffered death on the cross in Patras of Achaea, where he was crucified on an olive tree and buried there.” Dorotheus spoke even more fully about this preaching of Andrew: “Andrew, brother of the apostle Peter, went around all Byzantium, all Thrace and Scythia and preached the Gospel.” Even with a possible interpolation of the authorship of St. Hippolytus or Dorotheus, we have no reason to doubt the veracity of the information presented. Indirect confirmation of St. Andrew’s apostolic preaching is also found in St. John Chrysostom, who delivers a special eulogy for the apostles, where he says the following: “Andrew enlightens the wise men of Hellas.” Here “Hellada” is not some toponymic fiction, but a real people, similar to all the others mentioned by the Saint of Constantinople, delineating the geographical regions of the apostolic preaching. It is unreasonable to believe that app. Andrew preached in Scythia, but not in Thrace. Finally, again, the entire church tradition tells us that the activity of Ap. Andrei is developing in the Eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. In Dobrudja, on the border between present-day Bulgaria and Romania, there are the following toponyms – “St. Andrew’s stream” and the “cave of St. Andrey”, where today the monastery “St. Andrei” “about whom legends related to st. Andrey and his three students Ina, Pina and Rima”. Some folk songs in Dobruja and on the left side of the Prut River remind of a missionary mission of St. Andrew in these lands. The power of the tradition about the preaching of the Apostle Andrew is so prevalent in the peoples who inhabited the so-called Scythia that even the Bulgarians of Altsek in Italy in the 7th century wore Andrew’s cross in a Hyksos shape. And it spread throughout Medieval Christian Europe, so that in the 14th century in Scotland, the nobles who considered themselves Scythian heirs could ask the Pope for ecclesiastical independence from England, citing Andrew’s sermon among the Scythians as an argument. Information has also been found about another apostle who preached in the Balkans – St. Ap. Philip. He is one “among the 7 deacons who baptized Simeon and the eunuch, was the bishop of Scythian Thrace”.
General written sources for the spread of Christianity
There is basic source data for the associates of the app. Paul and Andrew, who continue their work. Their number is exceeded only by the apostles from Asia Minor and the Middle East[28]. More than 20 apostles preached Christianity on the Balkan peninsula, and those who suffered for the faith numbered hundreds, even thousands. At the head of the Christian communities in Serdica, Philippopolis, Sirmium and in Tomi (Constanza) as early as the middle of the first century, there were bishops from the narrowest circle of Christ’s disciples, whom the Church marks as the “seventy apostles”. It is no coincidence that one of the ancient biographies claims that St. Cornelius was from Thrace, Italy. We have reason to see the presence of the Balkan inhabitants first in the act of transmission of the new faith from the Jews who preserved the true worship of God to the Gentiles, among whom were the Balkan inhabitants. Their contact with the God-protected people of Israel has been documented since the period of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and this has also been proven archeologically. Many Macedonians at that time inhabited Samaria, and Hellenes the coastal cities such as Gaza, Ascalon, Caesarea, Ptolemais, etc. The road from the Adriatic to the Danube, from where eastern traders moved to Italy and Pannonia, had a certain share in the early penetration of Christianity. So that the lands of the Balkan Peninsula are not only a place for spreading, but also a way for Christianity to penetrate into Europe. The reception, lively preaching and development of the Christian life of the principles bequeathed by the apostles themselves in these churches did not stop in the following years. Tertullian says that the succession in the churches founded by the apostle Paul was preserved until his time.
Let’s also look at the general reports about the spread of Christianity in the Balkans in the period I – V centuries. The chronology ranges from the II – III centuries, and the majority of the existing information is from the period IV – V centuries. The early reports are with panegyric in nature, they do not seek to fix the spread of Christianity in the Balkan region, but highlight its triumphal march throughout the Ecumenium. The earliest message of this kind is the testimony of the famous Christian ideologue Quinta Florenta Septimius Tertullian. He testifies that in the 2nd century. Christianity had already penetrated among the Getae, Dacian, Sarmatian and Scythian tribes. This is what the text says: “Et Galliarum diversae nations et Britanorum inaccesa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita, et Sarmaturum et Dacorum et Germanorum et Scytharum et abditarum multarum gentium et provinciarum et insularum nobis ignotarum et quae enumerare minus possemus”. There are opinions that Tertullian is an apologist and for this reason, he uses a lot of exaggerations and hyperboles. As an argument in support of this distrust, they consider a passage from a commentary on Origen’s book as an interpretation of the Gospel of St. Ap. Matthew. He believes that the Gospel has not yet been preached in the lands around the Danube. By the way, Origen’s work is also apologetic, as shown by the fact that the Alexandrian author wishes to answer the pagan Porphyry, who denies the truth of the words of the Savior (Matt. 24:14). The pagan philosopher believed that evangelism was complete and the world should no longer exist. Elsewhere, Origen writes that Christianity attracted a large number of followers among “every nation and race of men,” which means that it also spread among the barbarian world. Another writer who confirms that Christianity existed around the Danube River is Arnobius, who claims that there were Christians among the Alemanni, the Persians and the Scythians[32]. The next moment in the process of Christianization was the Gothic invasions of the 3rd century. There is indirect confirmation from the pages of the “Carmen’s Apologetics” by the poet Commodianus. He informs that the Goths took many captives, among them Christians, who also preached among the barbarians living around the Danube. The same is confirmed by the church historian Sozomen, who mentions that the Goths living around the Danube took many captives from Thrace and Asia, among them many Christians. These Christians healed many sick people and many Goths accepted their faith. The statement of Socrates [34] that some part of the Sarmatians, after the defeat they suffered by the troops of the imp. Constantine in 322 became Christians, it is also confirmed by Jerome, who describes the triumph of Christ over the demons in his letter to Laetus: “From India, from Persia and from Ethiopia we every hour welcomed crowds of monks, the Armenians laid aside their quivers, the Huns learn the psalter, and warm the Scythian cold with the warmth of their faith – the golden and blond Geth army is surrounded by church tents. Perhaps that is why they fight against us with a bravery equal to ours, because they profess the same faith”. Ergo, Christianity was already spread in the lands south of the Danube, so that it could successfully seek its followers in the areas north of the river. The father of Church history, Eusebius, rarely mentions Balkan Christianity, but we know that he was a selective writer. As Prof. Helzer also says, knowing about the work of Africanus, Eusebius did not use his information because it was already known to the public, but looked for other sources. He mentions bishops of Anchialo and Debelt. Aelius Julius Publius is known to have signed the epistle of Serapion of Antioch to Cyric and Ponticus, in which he also gave the following testimony about Sotas, the bishop of Anchia: “Aelius Publius Julius, bishop of the colony of Debeltus in Thrace, I call God to witness that the blessed Sotas, bishop of Anchia, wanted to cast out the wicked spirit of Priscilla, but the hypocrites did not allow him”. Another Christian historian confirms that Christianity penetrated deeply into the Balkan Roman provinces: “the Hellenes, the Macedonians and the Illyrians… professed their faith freely because Constantine ruled there.” At the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, many bishops from the Thracian and Illyrian lands took part, and this is mentioned by all church historians, such as Eusebius, Socrates and Sozomen. Testimonies were also recorded by St. Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 300-373). We know that as a participant in the Council of Serdika in 343, he came to the Balkans. He indicates the peoples who accepted the “word of Christ” – the Scythians, the Ethiopians, the Persians, the Armenians, the Goths.
St. John Chrysostom delivered a sermon in a Gothic church, using as a metaphor, different animals – leopards, lions and lambs, to which peoples accepting Christianity are likened. The secularist point of view of some authors leads to an overexposure of the importance of the empire for the spread of the faith, namely, the sermon of St. John reveals to us that it was actually the work of the apostles and their assistants. The church is first of all a divine organism, and secondarily it also has its administrative institutions.
Photo: A page from Ulfila’s Silver Bible from the 5th century, “priest” is translated with the word god / Public Domain
Many smokers start their day with just a cigarette and a cup of coffee. And this combination, as it turns out, is not accidental. Researchers have found that chemicals in coffee beans reduce nicotine cravings.
In a new study, experts from the University of Florida found two substances in coffee that affect nicotine receptors in the brain. For those who smoke, these receptors can be especially sensitive in the morning.
Scientists have studied cells that mimic one of the human nicotinic receptors. To these cells they applied a solution of dark roasted coffee. It turned out that the organic chemical compound that is part of coffee helps to restore the dysfunction of nicotine receptors, which is why a person develops a craving for nicotine.
The data from this study lead experts to believe that one of the compounds in coffee – n-MP – helps reduce the need for nicotine in the morning.
The icon does not depict, it manifests. It is the manifestation of Christ’s kingdom, the manifestation of the transformed, deified creature; of that transformed humanity itself, which Christ reveals to us in His Person. Therefore, the first church icons were icons of the Savior, who came down from heaven and became incarnate for our salvation; and of His mother. Later, they began to depict the apostles and martyrs, who also manifested through themselves the image of the Son of God. The quality of the icon is determined by how close it is to the First Image, how much it harmonizes with the spiritual reality it testifies to.
The importance of the icon was perfectly understood by Leonid Uspensky: “The icon is an image of the person in whom the elements of passion and the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit reside at the same time. Therefore, his flesh is depicted qualitatively differently compared to mortal human flesh. The image of the saint transformed by grace, sealed on the icon, is the very likeness of God, the image of God’s revelation, revelation and knowledge of the hidden.”
Our remarkable theologian Vl. N. Loski, although he was not an icon painter (but he knew the priest icon painter Grigory Krug and Leonid Uspensky), very faithfully called the icon “the beginning of face-to-face contemplation”. In the age to come, the faithful will see God face to face, the icon is only the beginning of this contemplation. Prince Yevgeny Trubetskoi says that we are not looking at the icon – the icon is looking at us. We must treat her as a supreme personage: it would be presumptuous to speak to her first, it is necessary to stand and wait patiently until she speaks to us.
The icon is born from the living experience of Heaven, from the Liturgy, therefore icon painting has always been seen as a church service. High moral requirements were imposed on icon painters, just as they were on clerics. The icon is the testimony of the Church about God’s incarnation: about the fact that God came into the world, became incarnate, united with man to such an extent that each of us can rise to God and address Him as a Father.
The icon painter, therefore, is a witness. And his icons will be convincing to those who face them to the extent that he himself has joined the world he wants to tell about. Can a person who does not belong to the Church testify about God? In order to bear witness to the Gospel Truth, I myself must be included in it, live in it; only then will this sermon through image and color – the holy fathers put the icon on par with the sermon – bear fruit in other hearts as well.
The Church preaches both by word and by image; that is why the icon is called a teacher. Prince Trubetskoi, mentioned above, beautifully defines the Russian icon as “Contemplation in dyes”. The icon is prayer incarnate. It is created in prayer and because of prayer, the driving force of which is the love for God, the aspiration for Him as perfect Beauty. Therefore, outside the Church, an icon in the true sense cannot exist. As one of the forms of preaching the Gospel, as the Church’s witness to the incarnation of God, it is an integral part of the divine service – as well as church singing, architecture, rites.
But nowadays, the icon does not take its rightful place in worship and the attitude towards it is not what it should be. It became a mere illustration of the celebrated event: for us it is not important what its shape is, therefore we honor every image, even a photographic one, as an icon. We have long ceased to see it as a theology in dyes, and we do not even suspect that it can distort the doctrine as well as the word: instead of testifying to the truth, it can seduce many.
The icon originates from the Eucharistic experience of the Church, it is an invariable and inseparable part of it, as well as from the level of church life in general. When this level was high – and ecclesiastical art was at its height; when ecclesiastical life weakened or times of decline occurred, then a crisis also occurred in ecclesiastical art. The icon often turned into a picture with a religious plot, and its veneration ceased to be Orthodox in its own sense. As a confirmation of what has been said, we can recall that in our churches many icons are depicted in contradiction to church canons and are prohibited by the Councils, in particular, the so-called “New Testament Trinity” and “Fatherland” icons. The Old Testament ban on depicting God was not abolished in the New Testament. We acquired the ability to represent God only after “the Word became flesh,” after He became visible and tangible. By His divine nature Christ is indescribable, but since in Him the divine and human natures are joined inseparably and inseparably in one Person, we picture the God-man Christ, Who came into the world for our salvation, and Who dwells in it until the end of the age. The Church speaks of the eternal birth of the Son from the Father, and on the icon “New Testament Trinity” we see the Son, incarnated in time, sitting next to the Father, who is “unspeakable, unsearchable, invisible, unattainable” (words from the prayer “Anaphora” in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom). And the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove only over the Jordan River; at Pentecost He appears in the form of tongues of fire; and on Tabor – in the form of a cloud. Therefore, the dove is not the personal image of the Holy Spirit and we can depict it only on the “Baptism of the Lord” icon. The Centurion and the Great Councils of Moscow banned such images, but nevertheless we can meet them in almost every temple and in every church shop. Even in the Danilovsky Monastery, the icon “Fatherland” is painted on the iconostasis of the “Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils” temple, and in this monastery almost all priests have a higher theological education! We can only marvel at how the personal and the human prevail over the conciliar opinion of the Church, which is the sole guardian and exponent of the Truth.
Icon painting is a congregational creativity, that is, creativity of the Church. The real creators of icons are the holy fathers. The iconographic canon (as well as the liturgy) took shape over centuries and acquired a finished form approximately in the twelfth century, in this form it has reached us.
The Church has always paid special attention to its art, strictly ensuring that it expresses its teachings. All deviations from it were removed by overthrow. Thus, at the Council of the Hundred, the issue of icon painting took a very important place. In particular, it is about the icon of the Holy Trinity.
There are four icons of the Holy Trinity. They are indicated in the order of blessing of these icons in our trebnik. These are: the appearance of God to Abraham in the images of three angels; the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles; Epiphany and Transfiguration. All other images of the Holy Trinity must be rejected as distorting church teaching. Uspensky’s mentioned book “Theology of the Icon” contains a chapter called “On the Road to Unity”, in which the icon of Pentecost is considered as an icon of the Church. Why can’t the Blessed Virgin Mary be depicted on this icon? And why does the icon of Pentecost cease to be an icon of the Church if the Mother of God is depicted on it; why does she become only an image of the Virgin surrounded by the apostles?
On the icon in question, we see the apostles in Zion’s Hill, who formed the first church community, the beginning of the Christian Church. It is pertinent to note here that an icon is not simply a representation of a specific historical event. On the icon dedicated to Pentecost, the apostle Paul is almost always depicted, although he was not present there; also the apostle Luke, who was not among the twelve. The head of the Church is Christ, therefore the center of the icon remains empty: as such, He cannot be replaced by anyone else.
Today, there is no established and expressed opinion of the Church regarding church art, even more so – control of the church authorities over it. And almost everything is accepted behind the temple fence. I have been asking myself a question for a long time, to which I still have not been able to find an answer: why even the pious and honorable representatives of the clergy, as well as not a few of the monks, do not pay due respect to the icon?
I completely understand people who wholeheartedly admit that they cannot understand the meaning and content of the canonical icon, but I cannot agree at all with those who reject it simply because they do not understand it. Many clerics believe that church icons are difficult for ordinary people to perceive, and therefore it is better to replace them with picturesque ones. But I am convinced that for the majority of people, for example, the stichirs, the irmos, and the very language of the service are no less incomprehensible, although it hardly occurs to anyone to simplify the service in accordance with spiritual ignorance. The mission of the Church is to raise people to the height of God-knowledge, not to lower the bar according to their level. Therefore, those who reject the original Orthodox icon call into question the orthodoxy of their own perception of worship and, in particular, of the Eucharist from which the icon originates.
How to become an icon painter?
When they come to me and show a desire to master the art of iconography, I tell them that nowadays it takes at least fifteen years, regardless of the level of artistic training. What’s more: if they have previous training in the field of secular art, even these are not enough.
And some – they stay for two or three months and leave; then you see that they even take orders; they start getting a lot of money and don’t show up again. But there are people who have been studying for years, and for them the material side of the matter is not the main thing, which is essential in our work. If the minister puts income first, what kind of minister is he? Likewise, an artist for whom money is the most important priority is no longer an artist. Indeed, few of the contemporary icon painters possess a serious spiritual training.
The young artist who decided to become an icon painter must live an active church life, participate in the sacraments of the Church, study theology as well as the Church Slavonic language. Of course, he must look at the ancient icons. Now there is such an opportunity. And the ancient icon painters had almost nothing at hand, everything was in their memory.
Creativity outside of the living tradition cannot exist, and in our country the living tradition of church art has been interrupted. Most of the old icons have been discovered recently. And that is why we now have to retrace the same path that the Russian icon painters took after the adoption of Christianity by Russia. Then Byzantine icons served as models for them, now for us – the entire ancient Russian heritage.
And what books should we read? I can’t give recommendations that apply to everyone. At the beginning of the 1980s, when I lived in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, I was brought Father Nikolay Afanasiev’s book “The Church of the Holy Spirit”. I leafed through it and put it away, thinking it wasn’t for me, but now I can’t imagine my job without it. Obviously, we have to mature for everything.
What is the point of thinking, for example, about hesychasm in icon painting only on the basis of the books I have read, if I myself live a different life?… The requirements for those entering icon painting schools should be the same as for those entering spiritual schools. And the status of the icon painter should be equal to the status of the priest. So, maybe something remarkable will appear in the future. And we are used to benefiting from everything immediately, without making any effort.
On the technique of Iconography
To create icons in the proper sense of the word, it is necessary to strictly follow the technology that they used in the past. A traditional background of the icon has always been the gold (or silver) coating. Since gold has always been an expensive metal, due to its lack they used simple but natural materials. In poor temples, especially in the north of Russia, all the backgrounds of the icons are painted with light colors. The word background is not Russian, icon painters call it “light”. Paints must be mineral, except for the simplest ones, for example, lead bleaches. The primer of the board is prepared from sturgeon clay – now this is quite unprofitable, but in the past icons were also expensive. I also prepare bezier myself, the paints are ground by my assistants. Starting with the board and ending with the linseed oil coating, I try to do everything myself, according to the recipes of the old masters. I try to paint on the primed board as they did in ancient times. There was no graphia (needle painting) then, Russian masters began to do it later. To paint an icon without making a detailed graphic drawing is more difficult, but to achieve a successful result it is better, because the icon painter stiffens and he does almost everything mechanically, without being able to make any changes or corrections. And when the drawing is made approximately, in the process of work it can be changed to acquire expressiveness of the image – after all, in the icon the most important thing is the image. The icon is intended for prayer, for prayer presence; it helps us to be reunited with God as a testimony of God’s incarnation. The views of the icon of the art critic and the praying man do not always coincide: the icon is not intended for aesthetic contemplation – it is a manifestation of narrow-mindedness to accept it only as a type of folk creativity, as a work of art.
Can we talk about the concept of “school” in icon painting? This concept is purely artistic, not ecclesiastical. In Ancient Russia there were no such contacts between people as exist now. They lived too isolated, even by the speech it was possible to determine where a person was from. For example, the Yaroslavians had one language, the Kostroma and Novgorodians another. Sometimes people did not leave their place of birth all their lives. They had specific ideas about beauty, specific local traditions. Therefore, they built the temples according to the ideas of beauty in their inhabited place. This is the difference between them. And the term “school” is conditional, it is intended for convenience in classification. No one set out to stand out from the others.
When Aristotle Fiorovanti was commissioned to build the main cathedral of the Kremlin, he was sent to Vladimir to examine the Assumption Council. He saw it and built a temple similar to it, but also completely different. It is the same with the icon painters – the guarantor says how he wants the temple to be painted, which of the famous examples it should resemble; the master looks and whatever remains in his memory he recreates. The result is both similar and unique.
For Beauty
God is perfect Beauty. Beauty does not yet reign in this world, although it entered it with the coming of the Son of God, with His incarnation. She followed Christ on the path of her crucifixion. Beauty is crucified in the world, therefore it is Crucified Beauty.
Eternal life will be realized on this earth, but it will be transformed and renewed by the Spirit of God; without sin – in contemplation of Beauty; in the presence of God; in communion with Him. To achieve this outside the Church is impossible: there are no two truths.
There is a collection of ascetic rules called “Kindness”. What do we mean by kindness? I have asked old monks and they have answered me differently: love of virtue; to the good; charity.
“Goodness” is a Slavic word and means Beauty as one of the names of God. The spiritual feat, the purification of oneself, the preparation to be a temple of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit – this is an art of arts, a science of sciences. Divine Beauty is above all the beauty of perfect spiritual Love; the writings of the holy fathers testify to this. In modern language, God took a risk in creating man. In some eternal perspective, the fate of the world and, of course, of each of us individually, were known to Him, but nevertheless the meaning of His actions is that He reveals to us perfect love. Creating man, believing in him, He knew that the atoning sacrifice of Christ would be necessary.
“Beauty will save the world” – said Dostoevsky, because man alone cannot save it. Beauty is an abstract concept: one’s criteria are the same; to another – others. But I think that Dostoevsky had in mind the concept of beauty as one of God’s names or as a manifestation of God-likeness. We also call God the Artist, since one of the ascetic exercises is the contemplation of the visible creation. If this world, even stricken and damaged by human sin, is so beautiful, so organic, how wonderful is its Creator! In the broad sense of the word, every Christian is called to be an artist. The gift of creativity distinguishes man from all other living beings, placing him even above the angels.
Now, many educated people, who did not find Truth and Beauty in the streets of life, come to the Church and look for this Beauty in it. They very subtly sense every falsehood, every ugliness and distortion, especially artists and musicians. And if they see poorly painted frescoes in the temple, hear fake concert singing instead of the simple statutory singing – no one could convince them that Christians are witnesses of Heavenly Beauty. Many may be put off by the unworthy behavior of the priest during the service, by his inappropriate manners, by his neglected appearance, even by his unclean shoes. In our country, it is accepted for everything to be guided by the elders: will they accept it or not. I am convinced that beauty will not turn away any old woman, and because of our carelessness we can turn away the frail and wavering from the temple forever.
Nowadays, when we talk about church revival, first of all it is necessary to take care that the Church reveals that Beauty that she possesses in fullness – this is her mission in the world. L. A. Ouspensky in his book “Theology of the Icon” correctly notes that “if during the period of iconoclasm, the Church fought for the icon, today it fights for itself.”
The abundance of all kinds of information in the modern world absorbs us so much that it causes an indifferent, frivolous attitude towards the word – both oral and printed. That is why the icon’s voice remains the most powerful, the most convincing today. Few today trust the word, and silent preaching can bear more fruit. The way of life of the priest, of every Christian; church singing and temple architecture should bear the seal of Heavenly Beauty.
Speaking of the silent sermon, I cannot but mention Archimandrite Seraphim (Tyapochkin) from the village of Rakitnoe. I met Father Seraphim even before I entered the monastery. After that, already being a monk, I visited him for seven years. I didn’t ask him about anything, I just watched him. He was a remarkable man! Not once did I hear him judge or look down on anyone, even though he met all kinds of people and went through a lot in his life. All kinds of people came to him, and he received them all with equal love.
The Apostle Paul says that to the pure everything is pure, and if a person finds only faults in others, this exposes him to his own impurity.
Father Seraphim spent fourteen years in a camp, in the harshest conditions. He was sentenced to ten, but when the term of the sentence expired, he was called by the head of the camp and asked: “What do you intend to do?” – “I,” he said, “am a priest and I intend to serve.” – “If you are going to serve, then stay longer.” And added more. Only after Stalin’s death, in fifty-five, he was released. Many were broken by these camps, only the spiritually strong people, whose faith was true, endured. They didn’t get angry, and in that scary environment you could very easily get angry.
Recalling Father Seraphim, I say that the best form of preaching these days is the life of a person who embodied the ideal of the Gospel.
For Christ
Many do not perceive as a miracle the incarnation of God in the image of a man, but it is a miracle.
To the Jews it seemed blasphemous to say that God was born of a Virgin: God, before Whom even the angels tremble, Whom even they cannot see, suddenly appeared in the form of a man; that’s not enough, he is also born of a Virgo. And for the pagans, it was unthinkable that God would suffer: for them it was madness – supposedly God is all-powerful, but he suffers!
Christ is the Lamb slain from of old for the sins of the world. He suffers in every person. In Abel slain by Cain; in Isaac prepared for the sacrifice; in Moses thrown and picked up by Pharaoh’s daughter; in Joseph sold into slavery in Egypt; in the prophets, the persecuted and the slain; in the witnesses and martyrs.
Rarely do people openly rebel against God – more often they express their protest by persecuting the prophets, apostles and saints who, bearing the righteousness of God, terribly anger those who do not accept the Lord, His Light, Truth and Beauty. They pour out their wrath on the saints, rejecting their word and slandering them as not being of God.
By persecuting and killing prophets, apostles, and saints, people fight against God. That is why the Body of Christ is always broken, always before us… The Redemption once made by the Son of God continues.
Source: From Archimandrite Zinon’s book “Discourses of the Icon Painter”. The author is the most famous Russian icon painter today, who had a huge impact on the development of Russian icon painting as early as the 80s of the 20th century. In addition to being a painter, he also deals with icon theology. Awarded the State Prize of Russia for his contribution to Orthodox fine art.
Photo: The “Old Testament Holy Trinity” icon is a work of Father Zinon
