The Catalog of Good Deeds

The world has so much to offer! Subtle fragrances and various shades of beautiful flowers, a murmuring stream, and singing birds… Isn’t it great to sit and listen to the whispering leaves combined with a melodious bell chimes, or walk barefoot on flat pebblestones and bark, or touch a bouncy green lawn? To fondle a cute little goat, cuddle a fluffy rabbit, catch the fountain drops, sit on a bench, look around and feel great… all that isn’t merely a dream. You can experience all those things if you come to the Boarding Home for Children with Special Needs in Minsk. The sensory garden and contact zoo was opened there on September 13 this year.

This project was made possible thanks to School Piggy Bank programme of the Mother of God of the Sign Cathedral in New York run by Prince Vladimir Youth Association together with the Synodal Youth Ministry Department of the ROCOR.

A sensory garden is a territory that provides favourable conditions for interaction with nature and exploration of the world using one’s senses: eyesight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. It is designed using plants, substances, and patterns that help to perceive the beauty of the environment to the fullest extent. The diversity of colours, smells, tastes, and substances gives an excellent opportunity to improve sensory skills and to have fun.

The sensory garden in the Boarding Home is divided into several areas, each of which has its own purpose, crucial for the development of the children’s nervous system.

When we enter the garden, we get to the area of “good mood” that engages with hearing and eyesight. It consists of two areas, the Rainbow of Sounds and the Sunny Cocktail.

The Rainbow of Sounds area of the sensory garden focuses on hearing. It is achieved by a number of structures made of various stuff and called The Music of the Wind. These structures consist of several hanging pipes and a swinging pendulum, and give out pleasant melodious chimes.

The Hearing area makes use of cereal plants, whose seeds whisper in the wind and create a unique melody blended with the rustle of the leaves.

The Rainbow of Sounds area smoothly transitions into the Sunny Cocktail area with lots of colourful and pleasantly-looking flowers. Flowers with big yellow leaves that resemble chamomiles are in full bloom here right now.

As we move from the area of “good mood”, we enter the area of “tranquillity”, which is titled Quiet Harmony. It consists of cool-hued flowers and aromatic plants. Lilac-coloured asters, veronicas, irises, astilbes and other blue, pale blue, and purple flowers will take turns in blossoming from spring till autumn and make children happy. The area of aromatic plants contains various species of mint (apple mint, chocolate mint, spearmint), marjoram, catnip, savoury, and common sage.

There is a touch-and-feel area on a clear glade in the garden. It consists of a sensory path where one can tread barefoot. Every element of this path is filled with natural materials of varying shapes, sizes, and structures: pebbles, bark, sand, pine cones, corn, and sawdust. Along the sensory path, there are various flowers, e.g., woundwort and lady’s mantle, the leaves of which have different surfaces: smooth, rugged, and soft.

This touch-and-feel area also contains a sensory table filled with sand. It improves manual dexterity, which in turn bolsters speech development. This is because the areas in the brain that are responsible for manual dexterity are located close to the speech area. That is why playing with sand is so helpful for children, especially children with special needs. The table is supported by four thick legs. Its height and width make it possible to play not only in the upright position but also while sitting on a wheelchair.

There is a lawn on a flat plot of land near the sensory area. It is designated for games and walks. Tables for creative work can be moved out to this lawn when the weather is fine. Children can spread out blankets, relax in the middle of the garden, and play with animals on this lawn.

A big fountain that binds all areas together is the focus of the entire sensory garden. The noise of water harmoniously complements the area of sounds and joins the sound of wind, the rustle of leaves, and the Music of the Wind in creating a very special natural symphony.

The sound and ripple of water have a calming effect on one’s nervous system, which is why the fountain matches the tranquillity area perfectly. The outer and inner walls of the fountain are decorated with multicolour mosaic of various shapes, made in many workshops of St Elisabeth Convent. Aside from the fact that one can enjoy looking at the fountain from all sides of the garden, its walls are interesting to touch and look at, which has a beneficial effect on the children’s sensory development.

There is a contact zoo in the sensory garden, which is the most exciting and special area of the garden. Children can not only look at the animals but also fondle them, hold them on their hands, and take care of them.

There are hens and chicken of two decorative breeds, namely, Silkie chicken and Millefiori chicken. These breeds are very cute and noted for their fluffy feathers and calm character.

There is a house for two Pygmy goats near the coop. They never grow as big as other goat breeds. They are known for their friendly character, and everyone can cuddle, feed, and play with them.

There are five cute, fluffy, and harmless decorative rabbits of two breeds (Lionhead and Lop-eared) in the contact zoo. When children communicate with animals, when they touch the wool and the soft noses, it does not only improve their tactle abilities but also boosts their non-verbal communication skills. Children and animals find good rapport with each other instinctively. When a little child holds the little animal, he or she feels the life that is different from his or her own.

Of course, there is a human’s best friend in the zoo, too. It’s a kind, friendly, tender, and attention-seeking dog.

All animal houses were built specially for this garden and have a strong and insulated structure. The animals are going to feel comfortable all year round.

The Sensory Garden and Contact Zoo for Children with Special Needs project was built from the ground up in just a couple of months, from late spring till early autumn, thanks to our American friends and to the effort of many people from the Convent and beyond, who are ready to help the children who live in the boarding home.

Aside from what has already been done, we plan to bring a xylophone to the sound area so that the children could play it and learn to make sounds in harmony with nature.

We also plan to provide children on wheelchairs with eco-therapeutic tables where they will be able to look at, touch, and even plant some flowers and herbs on their own.

We also plan to erect some stakes and poles made of various stuff (timber with and without bark, metal, plastic, tied with rope, etc.)

The sensory garden and contact zoo is a territory of relaxation, development, exploration, treatment, education, and fun. Children will be able to learn about beauty, diligence, kindness, and love of all creatures. We hope that the children who live in the boarding home will have many a great discovery in the sensory garden and contact zoo!

Prepared by Alexandra Ursalova

September 21, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

At the dawn of Christianity, when the pagan religions were still dominating the world, the few Christians that were living in the Roman Empire were called sometimes with the pejorative "body lovers". The reason was not a predisposition to indulge in sin, which they were far from, but the simple fact of taking good care for the bodies of the loved ones that have passed away. The cult for the deceased was well developed even from the first centuries and the cemeteries had a great prominence, see the catacombs. The care for the dead was was not expressed however just in the funerary rituals but something even more profound was surfacing. For the pagan world, that was already regarding with suspicion and misconception this small "Jewish sect" the most outrageous thing was that the Christian bodies were committed to earth, instead of using the more common means of disposing of the bodies at the times: cremation, the burning of the bodies.

You may ask why I am "digging" this old story after 2000 years? This theme is of out most importance nowadays because cremation gets more and more acceptance even among Christian denominations. For the sake of a quick profit funerary companies openly advertise cremation as a quick and affordable procedure. Highway billboards reading "Total cremation: $995!" are part of the daily commute. We cannot stop but wonder what a partial cremation would be!

If I have to agree with one thing people say, funerals today are not a cheap endeavor; however money should not be the reason why people should choose cremation over traditional burial. Especially since the Church recommends only proper care and modest funerals, nothing extravagant or out of the ordinary. Keeping the midway as always, the Orthodox Church recommends the burial not just as a caprice but as a true expression of our belief in Christ and Resurrection, with deep theological roots.

Going back to the beginning we recall that Man was shaped in God's image through a special act of creation. "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."(Gen 2:7). All the other creatures were brought into existence with a simple "let there be", but God took the time to fashion man with His own hands into what St. Apostle Paul calls "the temple of the Holy Spirit" (1Co 6:19. Man was created at once as a unique being, body and soul, a dual unity: material and spiritual. St. Gregory of Nazianz comments: "God mixed earth with spirit and created a being which is visible and invisible being, ephemeral and everlasting, earthly and heavenly in the same time".

To further emphasize the importance of the body Christ Himself, the Son of God, chose to show Himself to us as a Man, not as a spirit; being born in the world from a woman, like every one of us. Christ also rose from the dead not as a spirit, but again with the same body that was crucified and put into a tomb. His resurrected body was real, although spiritualized, showing all the marks of the wounds to St. Thomas and the Apostles to put to rest any doubt.

From Christ's example we should realize that our bodies are important even after our souls have departed from them. Committing the bodies into the ground is to let God decide what is going to happen to them. Some will be corrupted and will decay returning into the earth from which they came, others, chosen by God, the saints, will go into incorruption. The miracle working relics of the saints are the proof of the link between our bodies and our souls. In the grace of God the bodies of the saints remain in a mystical bond with their souls being able to continue to perform miracles even after they have departed from this life.

If we believe in the second coming of Christ, the bodies are of great importance. The bodies laid in the ground face the East waiting to respond promptly to the calling of Christ, the Sun of righteousness, at His second glorious coming. They wait to be reunited with their souls so, as complete men again, body and soul, they will enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

Today's society however, has a different agenda. Corrupted by atheism and pagan beliefs, a significant part of the population has stopped believing in a personal God. A recent national survey published in Dallas Morning News (June 24th 2008) reveals that 30 percent of the interviewed population, including many Christians, believe in an impersonal God, an energy, a force, anything but a person. Many people today also don't believe in afterlife, so for them death is the end of the line, a point of no return. Bodies are therefore just a useless reminiscence of what once man was, nothing more. Cremation therefore comes just as a practical way of disposing of dead and useless organic matter.

For us, Orthodox Christians however, death is not the end but is a new beginning. In all funeral Orthodox services we never use the term dead, but rather passed unto the Lord. The saints are commemorated not on their birth date, but on the date of their death, the moment when their earthly endeavors were accepted into the kingdom of heaven. If we die with Christ, we believe we will be resurrected with Him, so death does not frighten us.

Our bodies are decomposing by the natural process of decaying, but this is only to destroy the corrupted nature of our bodies, so they can rise again into incorruptibility. "So also the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." (1Co 15:42-44).

Cremation is nothing else but a willful desecration of God's creation, a falling from grace, a rejection of a personal God that Himself took the same human body we are so quick to destroy. This is why the Church refuses a proper burial and memorial services to the people that have chosen to be cremated. It is not a punishment, but a sad recognition of a person cutting his or her ties with the Body of Christ.

Committing the bodies to the ground according to our tradition is in itself a declaration of faith. It is a belief in an incarnate God, it is belief in the Resurrection and in the Kingdom to come. Amin.

By Fr. Vasile Catalin Tudora

Source: http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Tudora-The-Body-Lovers.php

“So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:15-17).

On October 5, the Orthodox Church commemorates Prophet Jonah.

Many people know, or at least have heard, the story of Prophet Jonah, who was thrown into the sea and then eaten by the whale. There are people, especially those who are dealing with biology, who call into question this biblical story and consider it a fairy tale: people state that a whale cannot eat even a small fish, for it feeds only on plankton and it is just impossible for a whale to eat a whole human being. Putting this story in doubt, people begin to foster their doubt even more in their discussions and begin to question the words of Christ Himself and His Divine Origin, for Christ once said: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mathew 12:40). So, how can we handle this? Should we reject our mind and common sense and believe that everything was just like that? Of course, nothing is impossible for God and He could perform such miracle. What is more, there were cases when the sailors killed a whale during hunting and found the remains of a human inside of it. But will this assure our brothers and sisters who are full of doubt and who have not believed in Christ yet? Should a Christian, especially the one who respects scientific approach to knowledge, reconcile with his mind, which also needs to be churched? Or is there any other way of reading and interpreting holy texts?

All the troubles with the understanding of biblical texts that emerged and continue to emerge today, are caused by our disability to listen and understand biblical images. We just do not feel the language of the Bible. We do not catch some senses because we do not know what the purpose of the author was. The Hebrews were a terrestrial people and there were not so many words in their language for various naval creatures. In the original text that was written in the ancient Jewish language, the words גדול דג – “dag gadol” are used, which means “big fish”. In the language of the Bible, this “big fish” could mean not only a large animal living in the sea but rather a “dragon”, a “sea serpent”. In the submission of many peoples, this dragon symbolizes the primal and chaotic waters. For the Bible the words “whale”, “big fish” and “dragon” are interchangeable. This is why in the language of the Holy Scripture there is no difference how exactly you would say: “Jonah was swollen by waters”, by a “big fish” or by “death”. Sea beasts are just a personification of the water chaos, the world in which there is no life and which is hostile to life. This is why we can often find in the Holy Scripture such words like “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck” and “Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink” (Psalm 69:1, 14). Jonah was willingly thrown into that world of hostility and death. He sacrificed himself so that other people on the board of the ship could save their lives. However, by the will of the One Who created those waters and harmonized them, and by the will of the One Whose Spirit “was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2), Jonah did not die in that water, in that kingdom of death, but was saved. This is why Jonah was one of the foretypes of Christ, although the story about Christ’s sacrifice would be told in a completely different language – not in the language of biblical allegory, but of a historical narration.

Let us remember about this wonderful biblical image and this sad story about prophet Jonah. We all were once eaten by the “big fish”, or the waters that took prophet Jonah by his own will, at the very moment of our Baptism, in order to die with Christ for any sin, sinking our old self in the primal water, and to resurrect for eternal life and preach repentance for other people, who still do not know Christ, just like Prophet Jonah did.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology, a student of

the Minsk Theological Academy .

The Catalog Of Good Deeds

My good friends, the Zlodorevs, are parishioners of St. John the Forerunner Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Lately, I’ve learned that their nine-year-old son, a cheerful, lively, and sociable boy, struggled with leukemia courageously for more than three years. He was diagnosed with that disease when he was 2. Thanks to his patience, love of his parents, help of his family, and of course, a God’s miracle, he managed to triumph over the illness.

Miraculous Help of the Iveron Icon from Hawaii

“When we were in hospital, we met a Russian nurse who advised us to contact Father Victor Potapov, the rector of the St. John the Forerunner Cathedral, and invite him to the hospital ward to baptize the boy. We had planned to perform the Sacrament of Baptism in Moscow where we have friends and family. We called Fr. Victor, and he came to the hospital. He warned us that the Sacrament wasn’t going to be as magnificent as usual. We couldn’t baptize Sasha with full immersion, so the priest simply sprinkled the holy water on the baby.

We started going to church. Of course, first we chose times when there were few people there. We asked Sasha which icon he wanted to kiss, and then carried him to that icon. Father Victor would come to our house and give Sasha communion. Sasha wasn’t allowed to drink tap water, so Father Victor consecrated boiled water for him. Sasha liked the holy water and refused to drink non-consecrated water.

We noticed many times that his blood count improved after each communion.

We would like to share a story of the miraculous help of the Hawaiian Iveron icon of the Mother of God, too. Sasha kissed it, and we all prayed in front of this icon asking for help and healing. Nectarios, the icon’s keeper, gave us a bottle of the myrrh pouring from the icon. We didn’t ask for it: he must have concluded that the boy needed the gracious help. Following the keeper’s advice, we gave Sasha one drop of the myrrh daily, and of course, we anointed him with the myrrh. It was Hawaiian Iveron icon that saved him, undoubtedly. It is his icon, so to say. When Sasha was ill with leukemia, the icon visited our church 3-4 times every year. We thought that it was normal. Later, we learned that the Iveron icon normally visited our church once a year. Isn’t it a miracle? When Sasha recovered, the icon started coming to our church once a year again, and Nectarios stopped giving us the bottles of myrrh.

When Sasha was four, we went on a pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville. The boy handled the 7-hour trip stoically.

When doctors drew out a plan of treatment for Sasha back in 2011 and said that it would be over in 2014, I was dreaming of closing my eyes and falling asleep, and then waking up in three and a half years when everything was fine already. But it wasn’t a good idea, in fact. We wouldn’t have gone through all those steps and would not remember them. Father Victor Potapov says that there are no accidents in the life of an Orthodox Christian. The path that we’ve taken wasn’t easy, of course. Naturally, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but it has made us stronger. We’ve done it. We go to church and we pray. Sasha’s illness hasn’t just made us stronger: it has also made us closer to the church and to some amazing people. It has taught us to be happy.

There are self-made posters on the walls of the cancer unit, which read “Those who don’t believe in superheroes, haven’t seen our kids” and “Cancer can’t break our faith, hope, and love.”

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: https://pravoslavie.fm/articles/istoriya-leykemii-i-pomoshhi-gavayskoy-iverskoy-ikonyi/