Author: St. Luka, archbishop of Simferopollis and Crimea
From the letters of St. Archbishop Luka Voyno-Yasenetsky to the priests of the Diocese of Simferopol and Crimea (June 6, 1952)
Be firm in your zeal for God’s justice, for the canons and decrees of the Church.
It has come to my knowledge that recipients (godparents) in the baptism of babies often become people who do not know any prayers and do not even know how to cross themselves, women who have unbaptized children, and people who do not even know if they have been baptized.
The baptism of infants in the Orthodox Church is carried out according to the faith of their parents and guardians, whose duty it is to teach the children God’s Law, prayers and piety. This, of course, cannot be done by recipients who themselves do not know even the simplest prayers, do not know how to be baptized, and during the sacrament of baptism laugh at the prayers-incantations over Satan uttered by the priest.
Thus the role of recipients in baptism becomes completely formal. I strictly forbid the baptism of infants with such receivers. Receivers can only be true Christians who know God’s Law and prayers.
If it should prove impossible to find such receivers, infant baptism must be postponed until it becomes possible, or we may even have to go back to the apostolic and early Christian times, when people were baptized only when they were of conscious age and not they needed receivers.
I also remind you of my long-standing prohibition to baptize with sprinkling, but necessarily with triple immersion.
Priests who do not obey this requirement will be banned by me from priestly ministry for half a year.
It’s not easy being born, and when you come into the world sooner than you should, you need extra help, including painful jabs and pokes with various unfriendly medical devices. Fortunately, new research has found that one simple and inexhaustible thing can limit this pain and discomfort: the mother’s voice.
The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, was carried out by a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with Parini Hospital in Italy and the University of Valle d’Aosta. They report that their findings demonstrate how important it is for parents to have access to babies during newborn care, especially given that even just hearing a parent’s voice can significantly improve a premature baby’s experience during treatment.
Premature infants are all newborn infants who are born at a gestational age of less than 260 days or earlier than 37 weeks and weigh less than 2,500 kg. As a result, their organs have not developed properly and this can cause a number of complications. Thanks to modern medicine, these babies can survive through intubation, feeding tubes and regular monitoring. However, the system is imperfect because these tiny bodies cannot tolerate painkillers well. That is why specialists in neonatology departments resort to alternative methods of pain relief, such as wrapping, sugar solutions and giving a pacifier (without any nutritional value for the child).
Past research has already shown that the presence of the mother or father can have a calming effect on their babies (especially if they are spoken to in a soothing tone). This inspired Didier Grandjean, a professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FPSE) as well as the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA) of UNIGE and their team to further investigate the influence of the mother’s voice on the premature baby.
For this purpose, the specialists decided to follow the development of 20 premature babies at the Parini Hospital in Italy. They encourage their mothers to be present during the daily blood tests (blood is drawn by pricking the heel, not the arm). The scientists then compared the babies’ reactions to the injections in three different conditions – only in the presence of the mother, when the mother spoke to them and when the mother sang to them.
“For the purpose of the study, the mother starts talking or singing five minutes before the injection, during the injection and after the procedure – says Prof. Grandjean. – We also measured the intensity of the voice – ie. its ability to drown out the noise around us, as intensive care units are often quite noisy due to ventilators and other medical devices.”
Thanks to the Preterm Infant Pain Profile (PIPP), which assesses facial expressions and psychological signs of pain (heart rate, oxygenation), scientists have found that the mother’s presence has a strong influence. When she is not there, PIPP is around 4.5, but drops to 3 when she is talking to her child. Value drops 3.8 when singing to him. According to the researchers, this is because in “baby talk” the mother changes her voice more often specifically for her baby than when singing.
Oxytocin is also affected, rising from 0.8 picograms per milliliter to 1.4 when the mother is talking, a significant change for the hormone often called the “love drug.”
“We demonstrate the importance of parent-child reunification especially in the delicate context of intensive care,” says Manuela Filipa, one of the lead authors.
“Furthermore, in this situation, parents fulfill a protective role and may feel more involved in trying to make their child feel as good as possible, which strengthens the basic attachment bonds that are generally taken for granted in completely worn-out children.” , concluded Grandjean.
When a person is hungry, a number of negative emotions invade him. This also found support in a study by European scientists. Modern technologies are used to capture the connection between the feeling of hunger and the emotional state of people. This, in turn, can subconsciously influence human behavior as well.
Scientists from Great Britain and Austria are engaged in the research. The results show that, in reality, hunger does lead to irritability, dissatisfaction and anger. They are published in PLOS ONE.
121 people participated in the study, and only 64 of them completed the experiment. They ranged in age from 18 to 60 years old. Most of the participants are women. Certain questionnaires are filled out several times a day. It is monitored for the appearance of feelings of hunger, also pleasure, anger, irritability and excitement. Changes were reported in the values of almost all states, except for arousal, where no specific relationship with hunger was observed.
Scientists hope that knowing that certain emotions are triggered by the onset of hunger can help people avoid unpleasant situations in everyday life. When a person is aware that a negative emotion has arisen not because the people around us have irritated us with something through words, behavior or deeds, but because there is another reason, he can better establish control over it. In this case, the reason is the physical discomfort caused by the feeling of hunger. That is, we must look for the cause within ourselves, and therefore it is in our hands to remove it. Thus, quarrels and quarrels over trivial matters could be avoided. At least you can refrain from arguments when you are hungry and thus avoid them. Because once you’ve eaten, it’s possible that the world and the people in it will look a lot better to you.
Researchers have found that hunger does not automatically lead to negative emotions. They usually occur unconsciously, and the hungry do not necessarily feel angry or irritable. This is how the question arises because some people experience negative emotions, while others do not. Unfortunately, scientists do not give such an answer, but it can be assumed that the fact how much a person can control his emotional state is important. If you want to learn, you might do yoga or another health-recovery system.
Therefore, greater awareness of being ‘hangry’ could reduce the likelihood that hunger results in negative emotions and behaviours in individuals.” The fieldwork was carried out by Stefan Stieger, Professor of Psychology at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences.
Professor Stieger said: “This ‘hangry’ effect hasn’t been analysed in detail, so we chose a field-based approach where participants were invited to respond to prompts to complete brief surveys on an app. They were sent these prompts five times a day on semi-random occasions over a three-week period. “This allowed us to generate intensive longitudinal data in a manner not possible with traditional laboratory-based research.
Let’s face it: we don’t exactly live in carefree times. In a world where so much is beyond our control, taking care of ourselves in the little things can make a huge difference. For example, eating things that nourish both our body and soul.
In addition to giving yourself the freedom to listen to your hunger cues and eat what you want and when you want, a great way to invest in your mental health is to add a few foods to your plate that increase your body’s production of the happy hormone.
Dopamine is precisely this feel-good hormone that plays a key role in your brain health.
It acts as a neurotransmitter (a chemical released by neurons to send signals to other nerve cells). Certain foods can increase dopamine levels, and eating dopamine foods benefits your health in many ways.
Find out what to eat to improve your mood:
Dairy products
These include everyday foods like cheese, milk and yogurt. Cheese contains tyramine, which is converted into dopamine in the human body. Foods containing probiotics, such as yogurt, also increase dopamine levels.
Nuts
Nuts rich in vitamin B6 help because this vitamin helps the brain produce dopamine. Walnuts and hazelnuts are good sources of vitamin B6. Walnuts also contain DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid that is responsible for modulating the concentration of dopamine. Walnuts and almonds are good sources of folate, which also helps produce dopamine.
Dark chocolate
Studies show that chocolate can interact with a number of neurotransmitters, including dopamine. Dopamine is released after consuming dark chocolate and causes a pleasant sensory experience.
Coffee
High-quality coffee in moderation can also increase dopamine levels, as caffeine can signal our body to produce additional dopamine.
You can get the same benefits from other sources of caffeine, such as matcha, chocolate, green tea, and other forms of caffeinated tea.
Omega-3 fatty acids
In studies on rats, omega-3 fatty acids have been found to normalize dopamine levels and reduce the development of anxious behavior.
Another study found that oral fish oil treatment restored dopamine release after traumatic brain injury.
You can get them from nuts, beans, fish, poultry and many other sources. (Just make sure you’re extra careful about getting B6, which can be found in non-citrus fruits, starchy vegetables, fish, fortified grains)
“It is natural for any country to pay tribute to those who have given their lives for the motherland,” commented the Chief Secretary of the Government
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a donation to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which is often seen as a symbol of Japan’s former militarism, Reuters reported.
Kishida himself did not visit the shrine, but members of his government were there Monday on the 77th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. This is expected to anger China and South Korea, which were particularly hard hit by Japanese occupation during the war.
Japan’s relationship with China has already been particularly strained this year after Beijing conducted unprecedented military exercises off Taiwan following a visit there by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month. During the exercises, several missiles fell into the waters of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
In Yasukuni, among the others who fell in the service of Japan, 14 Japanese war criminals convicted by the special tribunal of the Allies after the war are also honored.
A representative of the peace-loving wing of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida must avoid angering his neighbors and international partners while also appeasing his party’s right wing, especially after the assassination of its strongman Shinzo Abe last month.
Kishida himself sent a donation without visiting the temple, the Kyodo news agency reported. He made donations during festivals last year and this spring. Early Monday, however, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation showed several ministers at the temple, including Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi. Koichi Hagiuda, head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s political research council and a key ally of slain former prime minister Shinzo Abe, was also there earlier.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said he did not know if the prime minister would visit the temple, but believed he would make an appropriate decision. “It is natural for any country to pay tribute to those who gave their lives for the motherland,” Matsuno said, adding that Japan would continue to strengthen relations with its neighbors, including China and South Korea.
Later today, Kishida, as well as Emperor Naruhito, will attend a separate secular ceremony to mark the anniversary of the World War II surrender.
Why pay attention to these features anyway? I share with you brief thoughts and guidelines on the subject.
Bitterness in a vegetable or drink often provokes a grimace and unconsciously brings us back to those unpleasant childhood memories of cough syrup. And quite naturally we avoid such products because they are not particularly tasty to us. On the other hand, remember those chefs who indulge us foodies with spicy arugula paired with bitter gorgonzola? Or for the rich taste of bitter cocoa in dark chocolate with raspberries? If they are harmoniously combined, it is the sensations of moderate bitterness and expressive pepperiness that make the food come alive. What is captured here is not the peppery arugula or the scorching cocoa, but their appropriate combination with other ingredients, so that there is both harmony and delight.
Vegetables and plants with bitters are a reference to the beneficial polyphenols with antioxidant action that are given to us without making any effort. It is the same with olive oil: the more expressive the Bitterness and Spicy, the healthier the olive oil. These two characteristics are a sign of a quality and good extra virgin, and if they are absent at all, then this is a sure signal of a defect, mixing of oils – not necessarily olive or even overripe olives and lack of any character of the oil.
I have two pieces of good news here, even for the more skeptical of you.
First, good producers know how to balance them so that they are elegant and pleasant with food. Such olive oil cannot be forced upon you and you exclaim “Tomato salad is very sour”. If the feeling of bitterness is rough and very aggressive, then this definitely does not speak of high quality, craftsmanship and purity of the product. Origin and manufacturer really matter, pay more attention to them.
Fortunately, in the last years even the generic category “Olive Oil” has started to make small but confident steps towards more specific preferences such as “I buy olive oil from Crete because it is very aromatic”, “I like early harvests because of their greenness” “, “I liked the picual variety of hundred-year-old trees, because it is multi-layered”, etc.
Second, there is something for everyone: nature has given us over 1,200 varieties of olives with different flavors and intensities of bitter and peppery, so our choice of spicy olive oil depends on us and what we are cooking. Just like with wine or coffee – we like them more lively or with more moderate acidity, and depending on the food and our preferences we choose fruitier, more floral, more mineral, sweeter, etc. guilt.
To the already known varieties from Italy, Spain and Greece, I will add a few from Turkey and Croatia in the small guide below. It comes to support your choice in a store, at an exhibition, a festival or at a manufacturer:
Medium olives – peranzana, charolea, nocellara del bellice, cazaliva, cornicabra, ohiblanca, mansania, coroneiki, chondrolea, amphisis, macri, patrini, trillie, bouja
Intense Olive Oils – Moraiolo, Frantoio, Intoso, Itrana, Coratina, Picual, Early Harvest Koroneiki, Early Harvest Tsunatti, Memecik, Istrian Bielica
As a rule, the early harvests are one idea more pronounced Spicy and Fruitiness than the standard ones, and the blends are balanced by the blending of oils.
Finally, I will provoke you: when you are on the road among olive trees, try a green olive.
Your face will contort into a grimace of bitter, astringent, acrid, and your tongue will begin to steam. These are the precious polyphenols, it is they that distinguish olive oil from any other – you have hardly had such a feeling from chewed sunflower or grape seeds. When you taste a good and harmonious olive oil, however, there is no trace of this grimace, those unpleasant sensations have been transformed into a noble and elegant bitterness and spiciness. In character. Choose these olive oils because you and your food deserve the best.
There is a unique paradox in the Orthodox iconography of the Mother of God – extremely difficult to articulate, though at the same time very clearly felt when we compare this face with Western-Renaissance images of the “Madonna”. The thing is, for all its deep and peaceful spirituality, the Immaculate Orthodox Icon can hardly be defined as “beautiful” or “lovely”, as “captivating” or “charming”. This is difficult, however, not because any deprivation is felt in the image, but because in the face of her incomparable and all-surpassing chastity, definitions of this kind sound somehow impious – too bold and, in any case, inadequate for the description of her character. The Virgin is chaste in a unique, unique way. She is – dare I say it – so chaste that she’s no longer… “beautiful”.
How could we explain this paradox – the holy non-beauty of the image of the Virgin in Orthodoxy, where “loveliness” turns out to be not exactly absent, but rather a transcended category?
To answer this question, let us first look at any icon of the Immaculate Conception and try to say how it most immediately differs from Renaissance images of Virgo Maria. Don’t we first of all have a feeling that the Orthodox icon painter – in contrast to the Western artist or sculptor – has somehow fundamentally and essentially devoted himself to giving this Most Holy and otherwise completely and “immaculately” female image, even the most sublimated, even the most -enlightened gender characteristics. Do we not have the feeling – however paradoxical this may sound – that he did not dare to give the Mother of God a glimpse of her naturally beautiful femininity? So look carefully at this unique flesh without carnality – flesh woven, as it were, only from the soul and mental silence, and compare it with the blossoming corporeality of some of the Western Virgins: somewhere – a little more rustic, healthy and pure, elsewhere – aristocratic-cool and solemn . Look at this peculiar femininity without femininity – washed as it were of its gender, though not sexless, and compare it with the fresh “veneracy” of too many Western Madonnas – somewhere spring-tender, elsewhere – maturely regal. Look, I say, at this strange beauty without charm—as if all chastity and humility—and compare it with the frank loveliness of almost all the Renaissance Madonnas—self-confident, self-conscious—somewhere a little narcissistic, elsewhere even coquettish. See, finally, this immaterial flame of the Spirit, which has literally burned away all sensuality, which shines from her face, making it in a peculiar way ageless, and compare it with the full-bloodedness of the Western Madonnas—somewhere young-faced maidens, elsewhere—mature Roman or German matrons. Carefully compare the two rows of images to see that although both of them undoubtedly show us virgins – still – the Orthodox Mother of God does not seem to be a Virgin in the same way that the Western one is. And as it were, indeed: the immediately striking difference here is precisely that the Western Virgo is definitely feminine, definitely lovely in its feminine purity. She is a Virgo, but a Virgo, if I may say so, in the essentially gendered sense of the word. She is the pure woman in her sex, and as such—though perfectly, aristocratically pure—remains in it, remains in her sex without transcending it, and therefore inspires in the beholder the feelings which the beautiful virgin woman naturally and primordially inspires. Not a word – these feelings, given the nature of the image, are extremely sublime. But they are, nevertheless, feelings inspired by the beautiful woman – by the woman of supreme beauty, ideal femininity, and therefore they are feelings of infatuation: of chivalrous and platonic adoration of the Virgin.
It is precisely this “beautiful femininity” of the Western Viigo Maria that is alien to the Orthodox Virgin’s face. It is foreign to him, although – we must note this once again, because it also contains the paradox – it is foreign to him not in the elementary negative sense of this word, but rather in a difficult to express (but clearly visible in the icon) exceeding the feminine “loveliness” sense.
For, on the other hand, it is not subject to any doubt that in the Orthodox Virgin’s face we do not perceive a trace of unnatural gender idiosyncrasy such as that which we can see, for example, in some ancient images of pagan goddess-virgins – figures with a masculine, hermaphrodite (and therefore unfeminine) appearance. In contrast, the Mother of God of the Orthodox icon is completely female – completely and flawlessly “female hypostasis”. However, it is she – this “feminine hypostasis” – that is, if I may say so, perfectly washed by the lovely femininity. Her image is contemplated, so to speak, comforted by the feelings – in super-sensual ecstasy, which is why it radiates not exactly inspiration for the imagination and emotions, but peace – a peace that leads out of them and introduces into the purely spiritual sphere of prayerfulness.
And so, in Orthodox iconography, the Mother of God is a Virgin in an exclusive sense of this word. I would even venture to say that in her icon she is neither simply a virgin woman, nor simply a noble mother-woman, but a woman, as it were, freed from the very limitation, passion, and naturalism of sex; freed, one might say, from the sexual guilt of the natural man—a woman virgin of sex. Completely female by nature and at the same time extremely non-gendered, hyper-gendered by grace. Completely oversexed, I say, because she is perfectly chaste – chaste to the point of overcoming the very half-ness of human nature, and completely female – because it is she, the woman Mary, who is here so perfectly spiritual and so exceedingly chaste.
Such a virgin woman (and yet a woman) is the Mother of God of the Orthodox icon, and this is determined by the exceptional personal holiness in which she is remembered in the ecclesiastical lore of the East. Let’s remember that Orthodoxy confesses the Virgin as the holy in a unique sense, i.e. not just as the holy, but as the pre-holy, the all-holy (in Greek: Παναγία): a woman, the only one who has reached the fullness of sanctification and in this respect yielding only to the Son of God born of her in the flesh, Who is holiness itself. The Mother of God of Orthodoxy is truly the “living temple of God” on earth, i.e. she is sanctified to the point of being a flesh-temple, a being-temple, in which therefore the light of the One to Whom the temple is already dawns, the light of the Godhead, not just the flesh that is this temple.
However, we also see something similar when we look at the way in which the motherhood of the Immaculate is depicted on Orthodox and Western Renaissance icons, motherhood, which, as we know, is inseparable from the virginity of the Mother of God.
Let’s compare the two rows of images once more.
Aren’t we forced to admit here, too, that although both the one and the other are “mothers” to us, the Orthodox Mother of God does not seem to be a mother in the same way that the Renaissance one is. So notice how symptomatically Renaissance art is attached to the representation of the Mother of God in its most immediate and most primal, even natural manifestations. In it, the Mother of God is very often shown to us here as a mother caressing the Infant, blissful and playing with Him, then as a mother intensely and deeply suffering for her Child, then even – as nursing Him from her breast, a nurse. It goes without saying that all this is very touching, charmingly intimate and sometimes manages to evoke an almost heart-wrenching tenderness, but… Are we not still left with the feeling that the earthly side of the mystery is too much revealed here, that it somehow even has enveloped and suffocated – him, the unattainable and unique, bright sacrament of carrying God Himself in the lap of a woman?
On the contrary: it is precisely this exciting sight of the soulful, womb-warm, reaching its luxuriant “entelechia” femininity of the mother that is especially muted in Orthodox icons. Looking at them, we will certainly feel how deeply and fundamentally impossible it is for the Orthodox icon painter to allow himself such a daring and presumptuous penetration into the mysterious intimacy of the Immaculate Mother with her divine Infant, with the Son of Man, Who is far from being simply “Marian” . All this is foreign to the Orthodox icon, although – and here we must repeat this again – there is not a trace of coldness or non-commitment in the face of the mother with the Child. Rather, we have before us an infinite delicacy, holy trembling and detachment of the mother in this visible, close to her and yet infinite mystery of the Infant in her lap.
Emphasizing once again this element that surpasses the flowering of motherhood in the Orthodox icon, I would say that in Western images we really see the image of a noble and devoted mother, but, with all our affection, we fail to achieve in it the face of the only one, of God mother, of the Virgin Mother, of the Immaculate Mother of God.
How are we to clarify this delicate, subtle, but very definite difference between the two sets of images? How do we articulate our deeply felt dissonance between that undeniably pure, captivating, and yet disturbing and ambiguous loveliness of the Western, Renaissance Madonnas, on the one hand, and that strangely hypersexual, unlovely, but undeniably all-surpassingly-holy chastity of the Orthodox faces of the Purified? How can we explain the fact that precisely in the immanent and definitely present feminine charm of the Western Madonnas we feel a, so to speak, lack of “virginity” and, on the contrary – that in the certain absence of charm, of femininity and, as it were, even of sexuality in the Orthodox faces of the Virgin, we feel the mysterious presence, the essence of the Most Holy?
I am sure that the Orthodox sense knows the answer to these questions very immediately and clearly, although the absence of a special theological reflection on the fundamental aesthetic categories applied to icon painting makes its formulation an infinitely delicate task. In fact, I think that the main thing is that in the ontology of the Orthodox icon “beauty” in the traditional sense of its application exists and must exist as an essentially overgrown, objectively irrelevant category. A category, I say, outgrown and irrelevant in principle, because it is constitutively incapable of manifesting the nature of the holy face.
“Beauty” – we must definitely say – as it is known to us in ancient and Renaissance-New European aesthetics, characterizes the image of the natural man – of man in his natural and (precisely because of that) gender-separated, gender-limited, ontologically half-guilty being. That is why “beauty” – as the ancients astutely noted this – is, as far as the characterization of man is concerned, in an essential way necessarily either male or female beauty, i.e. it is of necessity or wonderful “manliness” (in the terminology of the ancients – dignitas – “significance”, “impressiveness”, “importance”) or lovely “femininity” (venustas, i.e. “loveliness”, “gracefulness”, “loveliness”, “veneracy”). So it is in the natural feeling of the natural man, so it is in his aesthetic attitudes. And this is because in the realm of nature itself, man resides (and resides in his idea), in gender division, in half-ness—he is either “male” or “female,” and every idiosyncrasy, any gender indeterminacy or confusion in his particular face represents the imperfection of “masculinity” or “femininity” (which are – as perfections – the beautiful). As regards the female face in particular, to the “feminine hypostasis” of man, her beauty, that is, her perfect “femininity,” her venustas appears either as the charm of the clear and unblemished sex—as femininity in its pristine purity , or as “motherhood”, i.e. fulfillment of gender realized in its ideal expediency – as femininity in its fulfillment. So it is in the realm of naturalness, where the characteristic of “beauty” is relevant, applicable to the ontologically divided human being.
However, neither the beauty of the pure, unblemished gender (the beauty of virginity), nor the beauty of the gender that has reached its flowering (the beauty of motherhood), are capable of manifesting in the female face its holiness, and this is so for a very important reason. In the sanctity (both of the man and of the woman – it doesn’t matter) in the face of the depicted shines no longer just the nature, not just the idea of the woman or of the man, but rather in their nature, in their concrete hypostasis shines the light of the one who surpasses their being Holy Spirit. Therefore, in the holy face, the “flesh”, the “hypostasis” of the man or the woman do not shine by themselves, but with the light of the Spirit – they are oh-spirit-created faces, spirit-bearing faces. And, as is known, the Holy Spirit is neither “male” nor “female”, namely “holy”, i.e. supernaturally and Easternly “whole”, all-wise. That is why, therefore, as pierced by the Holy Spirit, as spirit-bearing, the human face – whether it is a man or a woman, it does not matter – no longer radiates its natural, created, sexual “beauty”, but what exceeds it, the supernatural for the human face chastity. He is holyly chaste, and that is different from “feminine” or “masculine”; different, therefore, from “beautiful” – dignified or venereal. In the sanctified human face – in so far as it has become spirit-bearing, oh-spirit-created, deified – one can no longer see its gender limitation, not its half-guilt (even in its perfection, in its “beauty”), but that which which transcends this limitation, which is transcendent of gender in general – of “femininity” or of “masculinity” – and which has no other name than holiness – irreducible to nothing else and inferable from nothing else holiness per se. This holiness ripens, of course, in him, in the man who has attained it – it ripens, therefore, in the man or in the woman, but still holiness ripens in them, and therefore ripens something more than their “masculinity ” or “femininity”, something more than the dignitas and venustas that characterize them, namely: the chastity that surpasses them, dwarfs them.
All of this ultimately shows us why in the Orthodox icon of the Mother of God (remembered specifically and above all as the All-Holy, Παναγία) we meet a face so special and so difficult to characterize: the face of a woman – completely a woman, who at the same time somehow it is not feminine, it is not sexually beautiful, and at the same time it is not so not because it is sexless or sexless, but because it is more than feminine, more than beautiful – it is washed out of sexuality, it is all-wise
Source: This text was first published in Portal Kultura (https://kultura.bg) on August 15, 2016 (in Bulgarian).
Copernicus Sentinel-1 is used to monitor many aspects of our environment, from detecting and tracking oil spills and mapping sea ice to monitoring movement in land surfaces and mapping changes in the way land is used. It also plays a crucial role in providing timely information to help respond to natural disasters and assist humanitarian relief efforts. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
On December 23, 2021, Copernicus Sentinel-1B experienced an anomaly related to the instrument electronics power supply provided by the satellite platform, leaving it unable to deliver radar data. Spacecraft operators and engineers have been working tirelessly since then to rectify the issue. Unfortunately, despite all concerted efforts, ESA (European Space Agency) and the European Commission announce that it is the end of the mission for Sentinel-1B. Copernicus Sentinel-1A remains fully operational and plans are in force to launch Sentinel-1C as soon as possible.
ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programs, Simonetta Cheli, stated, “Unfortunately, we have to announce the end of the mission for the Copernicus Sentinel-1B satellite. The conclusion drawn by the Anomaly Review Board is that it is impossible to recover the 28V regulated bus of the satellite’s C-band synthetic aperture radar antenna power supply unit, which is needed to provide power to the radar electronics.
“Sentinel-1A remains very healthy in orbit, continuing to deliver high-quality radar images for a multitude of applications. Our focus is on fast-tracking the launch of Sentinel-1C. Now, thanks to the successful inaugural flight of the Vega-C rocket on July 13, we, with Arianespace, are targeting the launch in the second quarter of 2023.”
European Commission’s Acting Director for Space (Directorate General for Defense Industry and Space), Paraskevi Papantoniou, stated, “The permanent unavailability of Sentinel-1B satellite represents an important loss for the European Union’s space program and the European Commission is engaged to mitigate its impact. We notably managed to move forward the launch of Sentinel-1C satellite.
“Meanwhile, Copernicus Contributing Mission data, including from European New Space companies, will continue to be used to support the most critical Copernicus Services products that are affected. The preparations for the de-orbiting of Sentinel-1B satellite are an example of our joint commitment, for the European Union and ESA, to clean and responsible space, using the EU’s Space Surveillance and Tracking capabilities.”
In April 2014, Sentinel-1A was the first satellite to be launched for Copernicus, the Earth observation component of the European Union’s space program. Although the European Union is at the helm of Copernicus, ESA develops, builds, and launches the dedicated Sentinel satellites. It also operates some of the missions.
Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
After the Sentinel-1B launch in April 2016, with the mission comprising two identical satellites orbiting 180° apart, the mission was able to image the planet with a maximum repeat frequency of six days, down to daily coverage at high latitudes.
Carrying advanced synthetic aperture radar technology to provide an all-weather, day-and-night supply of imagery of Earth’s surface, the ambitious Sentinel-1 mission raised the bar for spaceborne radar.
The mission benefits numerous Copernicus services and applications, such as those that relate to Arctic sea-ice monitoring, iceberg tracking, glacier-velocity monitoring, routine sea-ice mapping, surveillance of the marine environment including oil-spill monitoring and ship detection for maritime security, as well as illegal fisheries monitoring. It is also used for monitoring ground deformation resulting from subsidence, earthquakes, and volcanoes, mapping for forest, water, and soil management, and mapping to support humanitarian aid and crisis situations.
With such a significant role to play and users relying on timely data, ESA acted as soon as it was clear that Sentinel-1B’s power issue could take some weeks to resolve, which was the hope at the end of December.
ESA’s Sentinel-1 Mission Manager, Pierre Potin, said, “Together with the European Commission we are making sure to bridge some of the data gaps by adjusting the Sentinel-1A observation plan and through radar data from other satellite missions that contribute to the Copernicus program. For example, we are able to use data from Canada’s Radarsat-2 and Radarsat Constellation Mission, Germany’s TerraSAR-X, Italy’s COSMO-SkyMed, and Spain’s PAZ to support operational sea-ice monitoring for the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service.
“While we continue to try to minimize inconvenience to users and push to get Sentinel-1C into orbit as soon as we can, we are also preparing for the responsible disposal of Sentinel-1B.”
The Sentinel-1 Spacecraft Operations Manager, Alistair O’Connell, added, “We have Sentinel-1B under control, all other systems except the power affected unit, which prevents the radar from being switched on, continue to function nominally and we perform regular monitoring of the spacecraft health and routine orbit control maneuvers. We will keep Sentinel-1B under control until we can begin the disposal process, which we will start after Sentinel-1C is safely in orbit.
“Deorbiting Sentinel-1B will be carried out according to space debris mitigation requirements that were in place for ESA projects at the time of design of Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B, meaning that re-entry in the atmosphere will take place within 25 years. In practice, the re-entry duration is expected to be much shorter.”
Copernicus Sentinel-1C features a world premiere of a new separation mechanism that will help avoid space debris.
A summary of the description of the anomaly, of the investigations, and the recovery attempts, as well as the parallel Sentinel-1 mission level actions and way forward is available on the Sentinel Online website.
An urgent call for an immediate end to military activity around ZNPP, and inspection of the facility by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The Charter for Compassion, Parliament of the World’s Religions, and United Religions Initiative three of the largest international interfaith organizations in the world fully endorse the August 8th and August 11th statements of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. He warns that any attack on a nuclear plant is “a suicidal thing”, and calls for access for inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, as well as a demilitarized zone around the plant.
ZNPP, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, was occupied by Russia in March. The facility continues to be operated by Ukrainian technicians, working under the guns of 500 Russian soldiers. Recently, the Russians moved artillery and other heavy equipment into the plant, and are using it as a base to shell the surrounding areas. There have been several explosions on the site in the past few days; Russia and Ukraine both denying responsibility. Parts of the plant have been knocked out, according to Mario Grassi, Director General of the IAEA, and the situation is very grave.
“We the Charter for Compassion, Parliament of the World’s Religions and United Religions Initiative believe in the power of prayer, and contribute the following: “Our Prayer: O Source of all light and life, open the eyes of the military commanders in Zaporizhzhia that they may see beyond the immediate conflict and recognize the regional and global damage that a failed nuclear plant would bring. Turn their hearts and strategies. You outlive all warriors and war. You intend peace for all people. You endure. Help all people on Earth to discover what You created in the beginning, a world without nuclear weapons. In hope for the holiness of life, we pray. Amen.”
Julie Schelling Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons +1 347-719-1518 email us here
This conclusion was made by researchers at the IAP RAS. According to research co-author Nikolai Ilyin, the magnetic field helps the flora more effectively adjust its physiology to changing conditions and adapt to stressful conditions. For example, the field helps to defend itself, increasing the survival of vegetation in difficult periods for it. This phenomenon is promising for study in order to develop the agricultural industry and related production segments.
Prior to this, it was already reported that a number of organisms are affected by a magnetic field in the so-called. Schumann range, named after the German scientist V. O. Schumann. Waves of these lengths are recorded between the earth’s surface and the upper atmospheric layers.
According to the authors of the study, there is an effect of magnetic fields on a number of transitional stages, for example, when the included light radiation abruptly increases the rate of photosynthesis and the amplitude of electroreactions.
