Category Archives: Post A Day 2014

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I Wish You “A Happy New Year!”

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Myself . 

By T.V. Antony Raj

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Happy New Year 2014

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The earlier Julian calendar, as well as the modern Gregorian calendar, have January 1 as the first day of the year.

At present, most countries use the Gregorian calendar as their de facto calendar and observe January 1 as the New Year’s Day which is probably the most celebrated public holiday in the world. As the new year starts at the stroke of midnight in each time zone, people invariably greet the New Year’s Day it with fireworks. Globally, New Years’ Day traditions include making new resolutions and meeting the members of one’s family and friends.

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The Roman god Janus is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past (Source: storify.com)
The Roman god Janus is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past (Source: storify.com)

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In pre-Christian Rome, the Julian calendar dedicates the first day of the year to Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions. The Romans venerated Janus as the god of gates, doors, doorways, passages and beginnings, and named the first month of the year in his honour. This implies that the New Year’s Day celebrations follow pagan traditions.

Since 45 BC, the Roman Empire used the Julian calendar and had January 1 as the first day of the year. The Gregorian calendar created in 1582 also called the Western calendar and the Christian calendar was a refined version of the Julian calendar and it too had January 1 as the first day of the year.

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Detail of Circumcision of Jesus Christ by Pellegrino da San Daniele (Photograph: Elio Ciol/Corbis)
Detail of Circumcision of Jesus Christ by Pellegrino da San Daniele (Photograph: Elio Ciol/Corbis)

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In the Gregorian calendar of Christendom, the New Year’s Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus. The Anglican Church and the Lutheran Church still observe the day as such.

The circumcision of Jesus is an event from the life of Jesus. Verse 2:21 in the Gospel of Luke states:

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The Jewish law holds that all males have to undergo circumcision eight days after birth during a Brit milah ceremony, at which they are also given their name. So, according to Jewish tradition, Jesus born on December 25 underwent circumcision on the eighth day of his life on January 1 and named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before Mary conceived him. Hence, liturgically January 1, the New Year’s Day, marked the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus in the Gregorian calendar of Christendom.

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the event on January 1 as the Feast of the Circumcision. Likewise, the Anglican and Lutheran churches celebrate the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus on January 1.

Roman Catholics for long celebrated the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus on January 1. Now, the Roman Catholic Church considers New Year’s Day as a Holy Day of Obligation and celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on this day.

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Blessed Joseph Vaz: Part 13 – Missionaries Arrive from Goa

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Myself . 

By T.V. Antony Raj

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Frescoe of Joseph Vaz (Source: communio.stblogs.org) (Custom)
Frescoe of Joseph Vaz (Source: communio.stblogs.org)

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The Dutch Governor came to know about the happenings in Colombo among the Catholics. He ordered a Dutch Dissawe to apprehend the priest. By the time the Dissawe got his orders, Joseph Vaz had left Colombo and was in Negombo, preaching there.

After a few months, Joseph Vaz returned to his church in Kandy. Then he received two letters from two Missionaries who had just arrived in Puttalam. Joseph Vaz was happy that his superiors in Goa had finally acknowledged his request for helpers.

In February 1696, after obtaining testimonial letters from the Archbishop of Goa and from Dom Pedro Pacheco, Bishop of Cochin under whose jurisdiction Ceylon was, two priests, Father Jose Menezes of Sancoale and Father Joseph Carvalho from the Oratory of Goa set out towards Ceylon. Both  were able men, full of zeal and tried in virtue. They were Konkani Brahmins. Joseph Carvalho was a nephew of Joseph Vaz, the son of one of his sisters and his first pupil at the Sancoale School.

On March 18, 1696, the two priests reached Quilon. They stayed for six months at the Jesuit Seminary in Ambazhakad (Sambalur) as guests of the Jesuits. They studied Tamil that would help them to enter the Northern part of Ceylon with ease. They also learned the art of disguise.

On August 18, 1696, they wrote a letter to their Superiors in Goa in which they said that they had sent a letter to Joseph Vaz through a Venetian merchant requesting him to send his servant John to help them in their journey.

On September 30, 1696, they left Ambazhakad Seminary. Travelling along the Coromondal Coast they arrived in Tuticorin on October 5, 1696.

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'Negapatnam van Choromandel', 18th century Dutch engraving of Nagapattinam after original engraving by Johannes Kip c. 1680
‘Negapatnam van Choromandel’, 18th century Dutch engraving of Nagapattinam after original engraving by Johannes Kip c. 1680Negapatnam van Choromandel’, 18th century Dutch engraving of Nagapattinam after original engraving by Johannes Kip c. 1680

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From Tuticorin, they set out on a canoe and after four days at sea reached Nagapattinam. Due to the severity of the travel from Goa to Nagapattinam, on land and on the rough sea, Joseph Carvalho fell ill.

Leaving Carvalho in Nagapattinam, Menezes decided to proceed alone. He boarded a ship bound for Jaffnapattinam in the guise of a merchant. A Dutch sergeant traveling in the same ship suspected Menezes to be a priest and not a merchant and enquired about his baggage. He also tried to glean about him by the manner of his speech. To avoid the risk of imprisonment by the Dutch authorities. Father Menezes threw his baggage into the sea along with the Breviary and some books he had brought for the mission in Ceylon.

Jose Menezes arrived in Jaffna on November 12, 1696. In the meantime, Joseph Carvalho having recovered, arrived in Jaffna a month later on December 15, 1696. After passing through Mannar and Mantota, Carvalho arrived at Puttalam on January 19, 1697.

Joseph Vaz went to Puttalam to meet the two priests who had arrived there. After giving thanks to God for their safe arrival, he approached a highly placed official in Kandy to get the permission of the king to enable one more priest to enter Kandy. The official informed him that permission was not necessary.

As Superior and Vicar General of the mission in Ceylon, Joseph Vaz had to decide who was more suitable for the missionary work in Kandy and who could be in charge of the Dutch territory. He appointed Jose Menezes as missionary of Puttalam, Negombo and its districts up to Sitawaka and Colombo, and he took his nephew Father Joseph Carvalho along with him to Kandy.

Since his intention was to visit all the Catholics on the Island of Ceylon Joseph Vaz did not want to have a fixed abode. So, he appointed Father Joseph Carvalho as the Parish Priest of Mahanuwara.

Joseph Vaz then sent John, back to Goa with a letter of recommendation to the priesthood. At that time, the Portuguese Church Councils reserved the priesthood only for the two higher castes in Goa. Since John was a member of the Indigenous Kumbi tribe, he was not accepted for the priesthood.

A third Missionary, Oratorian Father Pedro Ferrão arrives

Joseph Vaz went to the Jaffna region. This was his second visit after the persecution of and the ordeal he had undergone after the Christmas Day of 1689.

He entered Jaffna and laboured day and night administering the Blessed Sacraments. But everything did not go smoothly. A Catholic maidservant, to avenge the punishment meted out to her by her mistress in whose house the priest was about to celebrate the Mass that night, tipped off the Dutch captain of Jaffna.

However, the vigilant Catholics seeing the soldiers approaching, hid Joseph Vaz in a hut and had time to dismantle the altar and hide the statues. But the soldiers searched not only that house but also all the houses on the way, but it did not occur to them to search the hut, and so Joseph Vaz escaped, narrowly.

About this time, a third Oratorian, Father Pedro Ferrão of Margao, came to Jaffna from India and slipped into the Vanni region. Joseph Vaz met him. Father Pedro Ferrão brought with him letters from Dom Pedro Pacheco, Bishop of Cochin, to whose diocese Sri Lanka had been attached since 1558.

In a letter dated February 10, 1696, the Bishop appointed Joseph Vaz as his Vicar General with all the powers and full jurisdiction, spiritual as well as temporal, to administer the Church over the entire Island of Ceylon. Joseph Vaz accepted this appointment reluctantly saying “though I am not worthy of it“.

Joseph Vaz told Pedro Ferrão to remain in Mantota in charge of the mission of Jaffna, Mantota, Vanni and other places in the North of the Island.

Now there were four Catholic Missionaries in Ceylon!

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Next → Part 14 – Smallpox Epidemic in Kandy

← Previous: Part 12 – The Apostle Visits Dutch Colombo

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We Wish You All A Happy New Year 2015!

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Myself  

By T.V. Antony Raj

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Happy New Year 2015

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May Love, Joy, Happiness be bestowed on all our relatives and friends Around the World!

My wife and I Wish You All
A Happy New Year 2015!

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Art, Artists, Food for Thought, Handicraft, Post A Day 2014, Spain, This is Life, tvaraj, Videos, YouTube

A Nimble Fingered Artist

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Myself  

By T.V. Antony Raj

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Panoramic view of Málaga from Gibralfaro (Photo: Kiban)
Panoramic view of Málaga from Gibralfaro (Photo: Kiban)

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The City of Málaga is the capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. The cynosure of the city is the Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica de la Encarnación, the Cathedral of Málaga. It is  a Renaissance Catholic church.

Nimble fingered artist

Outside the Cathedral, one can find a nimble-fingered street artist.  He paints three pictures in three minutes. He sells his masterpieces for mere 10 Euros.

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Weird Isn’t It?

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Myself  .By T.V. Antony Raj

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The above video posted by Jordan on YouTube has evoked a variety of hilarious comments from the viewers. Here are some:

Eloisa Costal Bonadio: “What is it?!? English please!!“

Athis Coquillon: “Chinese Instant roman noodles.”

Malcom Rosenthal: “Whatever it is, keep that over there.

Darren Zachary Munoz: “What everyone wishes their marijuana could do.”

Jason P Conyers: “Whatever that is, pour gasoline in with it, lite it up and walk away from it.” (sic)

Chantelle Leanne Bruce: “This incredible desert plant often is referred to as rose of Jericho. In its dried state, it is already a great decoration of desert type terrariums …”

Lisa Cagle: “It’s a rubber band ball.”

Fatima Sano: “How is that a rubber band ball that is able to regrow and regurgitate itself and that is hard as tree bark… Please stop I don’t think so! that was nasty and I still got the hibby gibbies from watching that #Yuck” (sic)

Brandon Bullock: “Whatever it is, I’m sure someone will blame Obama.”

 Lisa Cagle guess is correct. It is a rubber band ball.

Jordan built this elastic band ball together with his father. They bought bags of elastic bands and added them onto the ball for a year. As the ball grew, they found it quite difficult to find elastic bands, that could still make it all the way round. After a year, they got bored and stopped growing the ball. They left it under a table for another year. After a while, the elastic on the outer layers frayed and started snapping. Every day they found snapped elastic bands on the floor. Then, they decided to get rid of it.

Jordan suggested cutting the rubber band ball in half. He started sawing the ball. After about 10-15 minutes, weird stuff started happening. Jordan decided to film it. He handed the saw to his father and got his camera and filmed the bizarre.

At the time I saw this video it had been viewed 6,329,151 times.

Rubber band balls are a lot of fun to make, and the record for the largest one ever made used 700,000 elastic bands and weighed 4,097 kilograms (9,032 lb).

Bible, Food for Thought, Money, Post A Day 2014, Poverty, This is Life, tvaraj

Money Is the Root of All Evil…

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Myself  .By T.V. Antony Raj

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For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. – 1 Timothy 6:10  (The New American Bible, Revised Edition – NABRE)

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Money Is the Root of All Evil

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When he has no money and even when he works in a hotel he comes home to eat.

When he has money and even when food is cooked at home he goes to a hotel to eat.

When he has no money he uses the bicycle to fill his shrunken belly.

When he has money he uses the bicycle to reduce his fat belly.

When he has no money he yearns for food.

When he has money he yearns for wealth.

When he has no money he acts as if he is rich.

When he has money he acts as if he is poor.

When he had peace he longed for money.

Now when he has money he longs for peace.

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Food for Thought, Post A Day 2014, Spain, This is Life, Travel, tvaraj, Videos, YouTube

Turntable for Buses in a Village in Spain

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By T.V. Antony Raj

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General view of Elantxobe town in Biscay, Basque Country. (Source: argazki.irekia.euskadi.net)
General view of Elantxobe town in Biscay, Basque Country. (Source: argazki.irekia.euskadi.net)

In many villages and small towns around the world, the streets are not wide enough to reverse a bus for the return journey. So, in most cases the respective municipal authorities would not allow any bus to ply into these places.

Elantxobe is a beautiful village located on a steep cliff face on the coast in the province of Biscay in the autonomous community of Euskal Herria (Basque Country), northern Spain.

Despite the narrow streets, its citizens wanted a bus to come to their village.

BizkaiBus is the name of the bus services serving the province of Biscay, Spain. The BizkaiBus and the Elantxobe municipal authorities borrowing the idea from the railway yards came up with the novel turntable manoeuvre. They installed it the village plaza.

After positioning the bus in the centre of the turntable, the driver uses a remote control device to start the turning process.

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Roger Bannister: Part 3 – Running the “Miracle Mile” with John Landy

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Myself  .By T.V. Antony Raj

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Blue plaque recording the first sub-4-minute mile run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University's Iffley Road Track. (Photograph by Jonathan Bowen)
Blue plaque recording the first sub-4-minute mile run by Roger Bannister on 6 May 1954 at Oxford University’s Iffley Road Track. (Photograph by Jonathan Bowen)

Forbes named the significant feat of breaking the four-minute barrier by Roger Banister as one of the greatest athletic achievements in the history of athletics.

On June 21, 1954, at an international meet in Turku, Finland, John Landy became the second man, after Roger Bannister, to achieve a sub-4-minute mile. He clocked a world record time of 3:57.9, ratified by the IAAF as 3:58.0 owing to the rounding rules then in effect. That record held for more than three years.

Though Roger Banister had already created history on May 6, 1954, some felt the flagrant pacing tainted this achievement. They felt that world records should be created through pure racing as John Landy did. They said that Banister, Brasher, and Chataway had acted within the letters of the amateur rules, but not within the spirit of those rules. The Australians argued that Landy’s 3:58 in Turku was the first legitimate sub-4. But Roger Banister did not pay any heed to his detractors.

The face of John Landy in second place in the Fifth Empire games (30 July 30 to August 7, 1954) in Vancouver, Canada (Source: thebounce.co.za)
The face of John Landy in second place in the Fifth Empire games (30 July 30 to August 7, 1954) in Vancouver, Canada (Source: thebounce.co.za)

Roger Banister was pitted against the Australian in the Fifth British Empire and Commonwealth Games held at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from July 30 – August 7, 1954.

It was at these games that the “Miracle Mile” took place between Roger Bannister and John Landy on August 7, 1954. This was the first time these two, the only sub-four-minute mile runners at that time appeared in the same race. John Landy was still holding the world record. It was also the first time two runners broke four minutes in the same race.

Landy led for most of the race, building a lead of 10 yards in the third lap. Roger showed the highly acclaimed Landy that he was still the boss by dashing on the final bend of the fourth lap and winning the event in 3:58.8 with Landy 0.8 seconds behind him. Both Bannister and Landy have pointed out that the crucial moment of the race was when Landy looked over his left shoulder to gauge Bannister’s position and Bannister burst past him on the right.

A sculpture of Roger Bannister and John Landy by Jack Harman placed outside of the Empire Stadium to commemorate the Miracle Mile. (Photo: Paul Joseph)
A sculpture of Roger Bannister and John Landy by Jack Harman placed outside of the Empire Stadium to commemorate the Miracle Mile. (Photo: Paul Joseph)

In 1967, inspired by a photograph by Vancouver Sun photographer Charlie Warner, Vancouver sculptor Jack Harman created a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of the two men. In this sculpture, Landy looks over his left shoulder to see his rival’s position and Bannister sprints past him on the right.

This sculpture stood for many years at the entrance to Empire Stadium. After the demolition of the stadium, the  sculpture was moved a short distance away to the Hastings and Renfrew entrance of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) fairgrounds. John Landy once quipped about this  sculpture:

“While Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back.”

On August 29, 1954 Roger Bannister won the 1500 metres, the so-called metric mile, at the European Championships in Bern in a time of 3:43.8, a championship record.

After the Bern meet, Roger retired from athletics to concentrate on his work as a junior doctor and pursued a career in neurology.

St. Mary’s Hospital (London), Imperial College School of Medicine have named a lecture theatre after Roger Bannister. It houses the stopwatch used to time the race on display, stopped at 3:59.

Later, Roger Banister became the first Chairman of the Sports Council, now known as Sport England. In 1975, Sir Roger Banister was knighted for this service. Under his aegis, there was a rapid increase in central and local government funding of sports centres and other sports facilities.

Sir Roger Bannister at the prize presentation of the 2009 Teddy Hall relay race. (© Pruneau / Wikimedia Commons)
Sir Roger Bannister at the prize presentation of the 2009 Teddy Hall relay race. (© Pruneau / Wikimedia Commons)

Now at the age of 85 Roger Banister suffers from Parkinson’s disease. It was one of the diseases he specialised as a neurologist.

By the end of 1957, 16 other runners also broke the four-minute mile barrier.

The International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations recognized the first world record in the mile for men (athletics) in 1913. Since 1976, the mile is the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes. Up to June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 32 world records in the event.

Time Athlete Nationality Date Venue
4:14.4 John Paul Jones  USA May 31, 1913 Allston, Mass.
4:12.6 Norman Taber  USA July 16, 1915 Allston, Mass.
4:10.4 Paavo Nurmi  Finland August 23, 1923 Stockholm
4:09.2 Jules Ladoumègue  France October 4, 1931 Paris
4:07.6 Jack Lovelock  NZ
 July 15, 1933 Princeton, N.J.
4:06.8 Glenn Cunningham  USA June 16, 1934 Princeton, N.J.
4:06.4 Sydney Wooderson  UK August 28, 1937 Motspur Park
4:06.2 Gunder Hägg  Sweden July 1, 1942 Gothenburg
4:06.2 Arne Andersson  Sweden July 10, 1942 Stockholm
4:04.6 Gunder Hägg  Sweden September 4, 1942 Stockholm
4:02.6 Arne Andersson  Sweden July 1, 1943 Gothenburg
4:01.6 Arne Andersson  Sweden July 18, 1944 Malmö
4:01.4 Gunder Hägg  Sweden July 17, 1945 Malmö
3:59.4 Roger Bannister  UK May 6, 1954 Oxford
3:58.0 John Landy  Australia June 21, 1954 Turku
3:57.2 Derek Ibbotson  UK July 19, 1957 London
3:54.5 Herb Elliott  Australia August 6, 1958 Dublin
3:54.4 Peter Snell  NZ January 27, 1962 Wanganui
3:54.1 Peter Snell  NZ November 17, 1964 Auckland
3:53.6 Michel Jazy  France June 9, 1965 Rennes
3:51.3 Jim Ryun  USA July 17, 1966 Berkeley, Cal.
3:51.1 Jim Ryun  USA June 23, 1967 Bakersfield, Cal.
3:51.0 Filbert Bayi  Tanzania May 17, 1975 Kingston
3:49.4 John Walker  NZ August 12, 1975 Gothenburg
3:49.0 Sebastian Coe  UK July 17, 1979 Oslo
3:48.8 Steve Ovett  UK July 1, 1980 Oslo
3:48.53 Sebastian Coe  UK August 19, 1981 Zürich
3:48.40 Steve Ovett  UK August 26, 1981 Koblenz
3:47.33 Sebastian Coe  UK August 28, 1981 Brussels
3:46.32 Steve Cram  UK July  27, 1985 Oslo
3:44.39 Noureddine Morceli  Algeria September 5, 1993 Rieti
3:43.13 Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco July 7, 1999 Rome

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Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men’s record holder with his time of 3:43.13. And, Svetlana Masterkova has the women’s record of 4:12.56.

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← Previous: Part 2 – Breaking the Four-minute Barrier

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