mad celebration

I read some tweeting about my team celebration. Despite loosing the biggest prize and the league title my team and the city which the shares the same name celebrate like mad. People do scoff them for celebrating the two mickey mouse trophies. But the guy tweeted that the city is telling the rest of the world to f*ck off. 

I thought his tweets remind of what grateful means. We are grateful of what we have and not what we do not have, nor what other people expect us to have. My team might have but two mickey mouse trophies but that does not mean they should not celebrate. If we listened to what other say than we would never be able to see our own blessings. Let other worries about their own lives. We have got ours to celebrate for. 

#YNWA 

   

The risk of being a fan

A fan, according to the American Heritage College Dictionary, is "an ardent devotee, an enthusiast." Fanatic is defined as "a person marked by an extreme unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause." The distinction, then, apparently rests on whether the enthusiasm is ardent or unreasoning.

Too bad that the team that I supported lost in the Champion League final. A week ago they did not win the Premier League because the team that has one point advantage also won on the last day of the competition making the one point advantage remained. Two weeks ago the fans are dreaming of quadruple titles and now we should accept the reality of winning double (both domestic competitions).

Of course I was disappointed. I thought my team had a chance to win the Champion league final, But of course the reality is the lost. They tried hard but one goal is enough for the opponent to seal their 14th titles. 

I did not bother to read news, nor watching the highlight. What's the point? I know that I still support this team. But I do need time to be away. Time is the great healer they say.  It is not the end of the world. Two titles is still better than none and of course next year we would compete in Champion league anyway. There is no reason to despair. It is only football anyway. Yes, I am a fan, not a fanatic. 

Walk on

Reference
https://stanfordmag.org/contents/fan-or-fanatic

Depeche Mode

This morning I read BBC news about the passing of Depeche Mode's keyboardist Andy Fletcher. I decided to dedicate this blog to his band

The first Depeche Mode's song that I listened was a song titled "Just Can't Get Enough". The song was released in 1981 but I recall that I listened to that song in 1982 as part of a compilation cassette issued by Aquarius titled New Wave 2. It was the first song in the cassette. I thought this upbeat song really brought the spirit of New Wave of that era.  

The next bunch of Depeche Mode songs that I listened to were from a cassette titled: The Singles 81-85. Obviously the year was around 1986. 

I did also watch their music videos. Back then we rented a bootleg VHS tape with titles like British Top Pop or something like that. I remember watching a music videos of songs like "Mater & Servant" and "People are people". I thought Dave Gahan voice is rather odd but somehow suit their music very well. 

Back to the mentioned cassette, I mostly loved the songs titled "Blasphemous Rumor" and secondly "See You". The first song is really capture the essence of the band as electronic music band. The second one reminds me of The Beatles. 

When I was studying in the US I watch MTV almost daily. Of course they do play Depeche Mode songs too. When I hear their song "Enjoy The Silence" I thought I have listened to their best ever song. I recalled buying their album "Violator" that contains that song. As a student that depends on scholarship I did not have a lot of money back then. I managed to found a discounted cassette through a mail order.

When I was studying English in California in preparation for taking TOEFL test I remember asking my teacher the meaning of "Depeche". She told me that it is a French word meaning "haste". Later when I learned French years later I found this French verb "se dépêcher". Later I found that Depeche Mode is named after the magazine and that name roughly translates as Fashion News.

Good bye Andy Fletcher, thank you for the music

References
https://www.eightyeightynine.com/music/depeche-mode.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violator_(album)

DNA don't lie

 On 24 August 79AD Pompeii erupted. More than 1800 years later archaeologists dig bones of a couple of human skeleton from the site. From the position [of their bodies] it seems they were not running away, The answer to why they weren't fleeing could lie in their health conditions.

Recently scientist analyzed the DNA taken from a "really small amount of bone powder" and find that the man's skeleton contained DNA from tuberculosis-causing bacteria, suggesting he might have had the disease prior to his death. And a fragment of bone at the base of his skull contained enough intact DNA to work out his entire genetic code. 

This showed that he shared "genetic markers" - or recognisable reference points in his genetic code - with other individuals who lived in Italy during the Roman Imperial age. But he also had a group of genes common,

The technology to extract DNA information from ancient skeleton is remarkable. Our silent bones just could not lie. It would not be too much stretch of imagination if someday our DNA data are routinely stored in a huge database. Below we could see that cost has dropped significantly. 

Of course there would be questions of legality etc but really how could we prevent our DNA data from being collected without our consent. Even our saliva contains our DNA. Whenever we dine out we would leave our saliva sample inadvertently.

References
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61557424
https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Sequencing-Human-Genome-cost
https://salimetrics.com/collecting-and-handling-saliva-for-dna-analysis/#:~:text=The%20DNA%20in%20saliva%20originates,then%20extracted%20by%20various%20methods.

Tablighi Jamaat

Alex Alexiev, vice president for research at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., is convinced that Tablighi Jamaat would actively involved in future terrorist activities in the US and abroad. Here is my notes on this Tablighi Jamaat movement. . 

Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalawi (1885-1944) launched Tablighi Jamaat ("Proselytizing Group") in 1927 in Mewat, India, not far from Delhi. Ilyas's followers were intolerant of other Muslims and especially Shi'ites, let alone adherents of other faiths. Indeed, part of Ilyas's impetus for founding Tablighi Jamaat was to counter the inroads being made by Hindu missionaries. They rejected modernity as antithetical to Islam, excluded women, and preached that Islam must subsume all other religions

The Tablighi Jamaat canon is bare-boned. Apart from the Qu'ran, the only literature Tablighis are required to read are the Tablighi Nisab, seven essays penned by a companion of Ilyas in the 1920s. In practice, all Tablighis preach a creed that is hardly distinguishable from the radical Wahhabi ideology. By the late 1960s, Tablighi Jamaat had not only established itself in Western Europe and North America but even claimed adherents in countries like Japan, which has no significant Muslim population. According to Pew Research Centre, Tablighi Jamaat operates roughly in 150 countries around the world. While most Tablighis still live in Muslim-majority countries, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, the group also has a significant presence in parts of Western Europe, particularly the U.K., France and Spain. Its European membership has been estimated at about 150,000 or more.

The movement's rapid penetration into non-Muslim regions began in the 1970s by large-scale Saudi financing of Tablighi Jamaat. As early as 1978, the World Muslim League subsidized the building of the Tablighi mosque in Dewsbury, England, which has since become the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat in all of Europe.

The austere and egalitarian lifestyle of Tablighi missionaries and their principled stands against social ills leads many outside observers to assume that the group has a positive influence on society. However, the West's misreading of Tablighi Jamaat actions and motives has serious implications for the war on terrorism. According to Pew Research Centre, the group’s missionary activities and loose organisational structure can be exploited by radical elements. 

References:
https://www.meforum.org/686/tablighi-jamaat-jihads-stealthy-legions 

https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/the-history-of-the-tablighi-jamaat-and-its-place-in-the-islamic-world-120040300331_1.html

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2010/09/15/muslim-networks-and-movements-in-western-europe-tablighi-jamaat/

The future of Wahhabism

Following the take-over of the region from the Ottoman Empire, with the help of Western powers, the Saudis needed to come up with a quick and easy method to consolidate power. They turned to Wahhabism to help secure control of their kingdom while silencing dissent. It worked.  

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman commented that his country is returning to "moderate Islam, open to the world and all religions". He added that "We won't waste 30 years of our lives dealing with any extremist ideas. We will eradicate extremism". His statement was greeted with boisterous applause by the audience. He made the comments after announcing the investment of $500bn (£381bn) in a new city and business zone. Investors particularly have long been weary of the implications of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia and its future there.

With an exploding population and massive increase in oil wealth, came many challenges that many Saudi kings have had to deal with. The dominance of Wahhabism in Saudi public life made conducting business in the country very difficult. If Crown Prince Mohammed's plan is successful, Saudi Arabia will be able to return, as he put it, "to moderate Islam." This will allow it to get along with its other Muslim neighbors. The export of Wahhabism has also been very costly for Saudi Arabia and has caused sectarian divisions among Muslims internationally. 

On January 27, 2022 King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued a royal decree designating February 22 as a national holiday called the “Founding Day.” This day commemorates “the beginning of the reign of Imam Mohammed ibn Saud and his foundation of the first Saudi state,” The event has substantial political significance as it signifies a radical break with the Wahhabi political influence that had legitimized the Saudi political projects since 1744. electing 1727 instead of 1744 as the country’s founding year does not only signify a break with the Wahhabi political myth.

The Wahhabi political myth refers to the narrative that the first Saudi state was born out of a covenant made between Muhammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab and Mohammed ibn Saud in 1744. This political myth legitimizes the Saudi state by presenting it as an indispensable tool to apply, spread, and protect Wahhabi Islam. Although theoretically it puts the Saudi project in a subservient position in relation to the Wahhabi mission, it gives the state a divine mandate, while it also frees it from the historical responsibilities resulting from the agreements that the Saudi leadership made with different local elites during the state-formation period in the early 20th century.

By selecting the beginning of the reign of Mohammed ibn Saud as the state’s foundational moment, it creates a new myth that leaves no room for Muhammed ibn Abdul-Wahhab and his movement. What is different now is the deliberate departure from this foundational narrative. The official erasure of Wahabism is an ongoing process and it is not restricted to national holidays and official narratives. The new history textbooks do not mention Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab. 

Prospective changes that further dampen the crown’s ties to fundamentalist Islam could prompt pushback, either by other members of the royal family or by religious leaders, or by a combination of both. Other royals are resentful that they have been marginalized, and the once well-funded clerical establishment has been steadily undermined by Mohammed bin Salman’s tactics. Additionally, some may sense this is the last chance to stop Mohammed bin Salman from becoming king. Measures by the royal court to block such opposition can also be expected.

References:
https://www.dailysabah.com/columns/taha-meli-arvas/2017/10/26/what-death-of-wahhabism-means-for-mid-east-economy
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41747476

https://agsiw.org/the-saudi-founding-day-and-the-death-of-wahhabism/

https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/saudi-arabia-adjusts-its-history-diminishing-role-wahhabism

the Wahhābī

In 1740 Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb began promulgating his teachings which became known as Wahhābī. The Wahhābī stress literal interpretation of the Qurʾān and Sunnah and the establishment of an Islamic society based only on these two bodies of literature. The political fortunes of the Wahhābī movement were closely allied to those of the Saudi dynasty since Muhammad ibn Saud in 18th century.  The activities of Ibn Saud in the 20th century eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 and assured Wahhābī religious and political dominance on the Arabian Peninsula. The preeminence of the Wahhābī religious establishment has ensured that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains markedly more conservative than other states in the region. A large religious police force (known as the Muṭawwaʿūn) enforces strict codes of public behaviour—including, for example, mandatory observance of Islamic rituals and gender segregation.

Strict Wahhabis believe that all those who don't practice their form of Islam are heathens and enemies. Critics say that Wahhabism's rigidity has led it to misinterpret and distort Islam, pointing to extremists such as Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Wahhabism's explosive growth began in the 1970s when Saudi charities started funding Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and mosques from Islamabad to Culver City, California. Some analyst claimed that over the last 30 years is that some 85 to 90 billion dollars have been spent fostering and spreading Wahhabism in the world. He continued that even though not all young men who go to Wahhabi schools and madrasses in Pakistan become disciples of Osama bin Laden or terrorists. But that is the soil in which Islamist terrorism is growing.

References
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wahhabi

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/wahhabism.html

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2005/05/03/the-global-spread-of-wahhabi-islam-how-great-a-threat/

Historical background of Sufism

 I am interested to understand the historical of Sufism so here is my summary

The close contact between the Muslim and the Christian communities during the formative years of Islam had its influence on the development of the Sufism – the mystic traditions of Islam. Sufism established itself within the traditions of the Islam.  The Sufis believe that communion with God is possible through Muhammad, who was the recipient of the knowledge of the heart (Ilm-e-Sina) besides the outer knowledge (Ilm-e-safina). Ali, one of the Muhammad's companions and son-in-law, is considered to be the first Sufi to whom the Ilm-e-Sina was revealed by Muhammad to be taught to those capable of understanding it. The concept of God, the possibility of esoteric knowledge and the ways to access God through purification of self by means of prayer, fasting and repentance that form the foundations of Sufism find their source in the Quran and the teachings of the prophet known as Hadith.

Sufism in the beginning was primarily an individual endeavor. The Sufis would usually live in isolation practicing self-mortification and were distinguished by a cloak of wool (Suf), a tradition of Muhammad, which is believed to be the origin of the word Sufi.

But even though Sufis wore suf, wool, from the very beginning of Islam, the word “Sufism”, according to Arab grammar, is not a derivative of the word suf, and not whoever wears suf is a Sufi. Or as Sheikh Saadi, a great Persian poet and sage said: The goal of the people of the inner path is not their outer garments. Serve the King yet remain a Sufi. 

Other scholars believe that the word “Sufi” derives from the word “sufateh”, the name of a thin plant. Sufis were usually thin because of extreme mortification and fasting. Thus they were likened to sufateh as symbol for their emaciation. But, as in the preceding theory, this assumption is not linguistically or grammatically correct.

Another group of scholars claim that the word “Sufism” is a derivative from the Greek word “Soph”, meaning wisdom or knowledge. But this assumption does not seem right either. Aside from the different spellings, Sufis, and especially the Sufis of the first few centuries, denied that philosophy could be a fitting tool for understanding reality, since through its reliance on verbal descriptions and limited reasoning philosophy would actually obscure rather than reveal the truth or reality.

There is also yet another idea regarding the word Sufism. It seems that before the time of the Prophet Mohammed there was a group of very pious people who worked as the servants of the Kaaba. These people were called “Sufe”. Their practices included mortification and the avoidance of any physical pleasures. Some assume that the word “Sufism” is a derivative from the word “Sufe”, but this assumption does not bear close examination, as the rules of Arabic grammar as well as the different styles of the practice make its fallacy evident. Etymologically, “Sufi” is not a derivative of the word Sufe; historically Sufis were a group of Moslem intellectuals forming a School of an inner path based on the instructions of the Prophet Mohammed and the teachings of the Koran. Necessarily, this school had to be established after the advent of Islam and not before.

A group of such devouts lived a life of poverty and incessant prayer and fasting on a stone bench in front of Muhammad's mosque. These people of the bench (Ashab-e-suffa), 45 to over 300 in number, were given to much weeping and repentance and are believed to be the origin of the Sufism. However, the name Sufi was given to such ascetics only around the second century of death of Muhammad. The Sufis in the early period were primarily ascetics and Sufism had not yet evolved into a fully developed system of theosophical doctrines, which became the core feature of the later Sufism.

The companions of Muhammad like Bilal, Salman Farsi, Ammar bin Yasir were the early mystics. Later with the spread of Islam Sufism flourished in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Persia and Central Asia and gave birth to the renown Sufis like Rabia Basri, Hasan Basri, Junayd Baghdadi, Dhun Nun Misri, etc., around the 9th and 10th century.

As the early Sufi masters started teaching those in search of divine, a distinct tradition in the form of closely-knit communities centered around these masters flourished. The transformation of such communities into those, which shared a spiritual lineage, took place around the 11th century and led to the formation of Sufi orders (silsilas), chains through which they would eventually link their disciples to Muhammad.

The Sufi orders practiced presently run in hundreds but most of these represent the off shoots of the earlier ones. The 13th century considered the golden age of Sufism was marked by the development of comprehensive mystical and theosophical doctrines of Sufism by the Sufi scholars like ibn ul Arabi of Spain, ibn ul Farid of Egypt and the popular Persian Sufi poet Jalal ud Din Rumi After the golden era the Arab-Muslim world produced only few notable Sufi scholars though the influence of Sufi orders continued to grow.

Sources: 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3705685/
https://ias.org/sufism/origin-of-word-tasawouf/

Sufism

Listening to an audiobook by  Robert B. Spencer made me wondering about Sufism. Below is my google search summary  

Sufism, known as tasawwuf in the Arabic-speaking world, is a form of Islamic mysticism that emphasizes introspection and spiritual closeness with God. Sufi practice focuses on the renunciation of worldly things, purification of the soul and the mystical contemplation of God’s nature. 

For a time, beginning in the 12th century, Sufism was a mainstay of the social order for Islamic civilization, and since that time it has spread throughout the Muslim world. Sufism has shaped literature and art for centuries, and is associated with many of the most resonant pieces of Islam’s “golden age,” lasting from roughly the eighth through 13th centuries, including the poetry of Rumi. 

Sufi thought and practice extends beyond the Sunni-Shia sectarian divide, across socio-economic boundaries, geographies, and languages. Followers try to get closer to God by seeking spiritual learning known as Tariqa. 

The basic components of Tariqa are that of the murshid, the spiritual guide, and the murid, a follower who pledges allegiance, bayah, to the murshid. These spiritual guides derive their authority and legitimacy from a chain of successive tutelage and instruction, silsilah, which through continuous generations may reach back to a prominent saint or mystic and eventually to the Prophet Muhammad himself. The role of the murshid is to act as a facilitator to the murid, instructing them on how to experience the divine.

A central component of Sufi worship is the rite of dhikr, which involves constant, meditative remembrance of God, done both communally and individually, geared towards cultivating greater connection with the divine. The concept of dhikr is rooted in the Quran as an instruction to all Muslims to devote time towards specific acts of remembrance and repetition of the names of Allah, praying supplementary prayers, and can be extended to other activities that contribute towards achieving an experiential connection with the divine.

Other practices or rituals that Sufis engage in, which vary from order to order, include prayers and fasting, the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, the visitation of, and performance of rituals at shrines and graves, meditation, and abstinence.

Some Sufi orders use devotional music and ritual movements, akin to dance, to further enhance the experiential nearness to God they are seeking. This practice is most commonly associated today with the Mevlevi Sufi order’s Dervishes of Turkey, often referred to as the ‘Whirling Dervishes.’

Identification with Sufism is highest in sub-Saharan Africa. In 11 of 15 countries surveyed in the region, a quarter or more Muslims say they belong to a Sufi order, including Senegal, where 92% say they belong to a brotherhood. In the other regions surveyed, affiliation with Sufi orders is less common.

Sufi leaders, communities, and sites have frequently been targeted by acts of violence perpetrated by extremist groups in different parts of the world. Pakistan has seen considerable violence aimed at Sufi targets, with dozens of shrines bombed and prominent Sufis attacked. In Egypt’s restive Sinai region, a deadly assault on a Sufi mosque in the town of Bir al-Abed in November 2017 saw over 300 people killed and at least a 120 injured. 

The Islamic State targets Sufis because it believes that only a fundamentalist form of Sunni Islam is valid. Some consider Sufis to be apostate, because saints were not part of the original practice of Islam at the time of the Prophet Muhammad.

References
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/world/middleeast/sufi-muslim-explainer.html
https://institute.global/policy/what-sufism
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-1-religious-affiliation/

Goodbye Vangelis

 Vangelis died on May 17th 2022 at the age of 79 years old. This blog is the tribute of his memory.

As mentioned many times here I firstly knew his music after hearing Aquarius "The Best Of". I am sure it was released due to Vangelis newest soundtrack album at that time (1981) of a movie titled "Chariot of Fire". I didn't watch the movie but the soundtrack (song no. 2 on the cassette) is a great song. I remember watching a documentary years later that mentioned about Vangelis's break through in soundtrack music. I recall it was mentioned that Vangelis was the first in this genre of soundtrack. 

The first song in this cassette was more interesting. Turned out that for years it was used by Indonesian government television TVRI as the opening soundtrack of the news program called "Dunia Dalam Berita" (World News) which was aired at prime time. Back then TVRI was the sole TV channel in this country and I recall waiting for Dunia Dalam Berita each night. I have no idea if TVRI got permission from Vangelis to use his song for years. 

When that cassette was released "Jon and Vangelis" had issued two albums. From that collaboration, of the two songs in the cassettes I thought "I hear you know" was much nicer song (song no.3 of the cassette). But of course to me the best song of "Jon and Vangelis" is "Deborah", from their third album "Private Collection" which was issued in 1983.

I thought it has great chord progression. Took me years to find the chords. I did not google it but rely solely on my ears. When I got those I posted on my Facebook. Some kind achievement to me.

Good bye Vangelis

Thank you for the music 

References

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61514850

electric heat pumps

One of  EU strategies to stop using Russian gas is to speed up the transition from fossil fuel burning boilers to electric heat pumps. I have never heard about is electric heat pump. Below is what I learned about it. 

A electric heat pump is an electrically driven device that extracts heat from a low temperature place (a source), and delivers it to a higher temperature place (a sink). Heat naturally flows from places with higher temperature to locations with lower temperatures (e.g., in the winter, heat from inside the building is lost to the outside). A heat pump uses additional electrical energy to counter the natural flow of heat, and pump the energy available in a colder place to a warmer one.

So how does a heat pump heat or cool your home? As energy is extracted from a source, the temperature of the source is reduced. If the home is used as the source, thermal energy will be removed, cooling this space. This is how a heat pump operates in cooling mode, and is the same principle used by air conditioners and refrigerators. Similarly, as energy is added to a sink, its temperature increases. If the home is used as a sink, thermal energy will be added, heating the space. A heat pump is fully reversible, meaning that it can both heat and cool your home, providing year-round comfort.

Sources: Two sources of thermal energy are most commonly used for heating homes with heat pumps. Air-Source: The heat pump draws heat from the outside air during the heating season and rejects heat outside during the summer cooling season. It may be surprising to know that even when outdoor temperatures are cold, a good deal of energy is still available that can be extracted and delivered to the building. For example, the heat content of air at -18°C equates to 85% of the heat contained at 21°C. This allows the heat pump to provide a good deal of heating, even during colder weather. Ground-Source: A ground-source heat pump uses the earth, ground water, or both as the source of heat in the winter, and as a reservoir to reject heat removed from the home in the summer. Their primary advantage is that they are not subject to extreme temperature fluctuations, using the ground as a constant temperature source, resulting in the most energy efficient type of heat pump system.

Sinks: Two sinks for thermal energy are most commonly used for heating homes with heat pumps. Indoor air is heated by the heat pump. This can be done through: a centrally ducted system or a ductless indoor unit, such as a wall mounted unit. Water inside the building is heated. This water can then be used to serve terminal systems like radiators, a radiant floor, or fan coil units via a hydronic system.

Advantages of Heat Pumps are: lower running costs, less maintenance, reduces Carbon Emissions, long life-span. 
Disadvantages of Heat Pumps are: high upfront cost, difficult to install, requires significant work

References

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61497315

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/energy-star-canada/about/energy-star-announcements/publications/heating-and-cooling-heat-pump/6817

https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2014/08/heat-pumps-7-advantages-and-disadvantages

transactive memory

Reading "The Bomber Mafia" I caught this interesting term called "transactive memory". I thought I wanted to do some googling about it to understand more about it.

The psychologist Daniel Wegner has this beautiful concept called transactive memory, which is the observation that we don’t just store information in our minds or in specific places. We also store memories and understanding in the minds of the people we love. You don’t need to remember your child’s emotional relationship to her teacher because you know your wife will; you don’t have to remember how to work the remote because you know your daughter will. That’s transactive memory. Little bits of ourselves reside in other people’s minds. Wegner has a heartbreaking riff about what one member of a couple will often say when the other one dies—that some part of him or her died along with the partner. That, Wegner says, is literally true. When your partner dies, everything that you have stored in that person’s brain is gone.

Such specialization reduces the memory load for each individual, yet each individual has access to a larger pool of information collectively. For transactive memory to function effectively, individuals must also have a shared conceptualization of “who knows what” in the group.

Unlike the literal and straightforward ways that computer networks update directories, and locate, store, and retrieve information, transactive memory systems among human agents are often flawed. Transactive memory systems can vary in accuracy (the degree to which group members’ perceptions about other members’ expertise are accurate), sharedness (the degree to which members have a shared representation of who knows what in the group), and validation (the degree to which members accept responsibility for different knowledge areas and participate in the system). 

Transactive memory systems can lead to improved group performance on tasks for which groups must process a large amount of information in a short period of time and on tasks that require expertise from many different knowledge domains. However, there may be situations in which too much specialization may impede group performance, for example, when assigned experts are unavailable, unable, or unwilling to contribute their knowledge. Even when specialization leads to better outcomes, some redundancy may be useful. It helps members to communicate more effectively, it can encourage group members to be more accountable to one another, and it can provide a cushion for transitions in relationships when, for example, the designated expert leaves the group. 

References
http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/interpersonal-relationships/transactive-memory/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/transactive-memory-how-trust-your-team-mike-rea/

Handling insults

I am wondering how could some people seem do not affected by any insults. I am sure they knew that there are the target of insults and mockery. I am talking about opposition throwing insults to the President. It appears to me that this lowly political strategy does not work at all.  However still I wonder what are the tricks to handle insult. 

In a verbal society, such as the human one, physical aggression is less often used to settle issues of status: These are mostly deferred to verbal interactions. An insult can thus be interpreted as an attempt to reduce the social status of the recipient and raise the relative status of the insulter.

The purpose of a put-down is to reduce someone else in the imaginary status hierarchy. So it is hardly surprising that insults will often refer to a person's social status in terms of ancestry, lack of prestige, or membership in a despised out-group. Otherwise, the content of insults across the ages is monotonously predictable: Many insults feature a sexual component. In addition to status and sexuality, insults inflict shame by mentioning unappealing traits—fatness, shortness, baldness, spottiness, and contagious diseases.

Another way of taking a person down is by questioning their intelligence or general mental competence; for insult purposes, recipients are invariably "stupid" or "crazy."

So, what’s the best way of dealing with insults ?

Acceptance may seem weak but can be the strongest response of all. When someone insults us, we ought to consider three things: whether the insult is true, who it came from, and why. If the insult is true or largely true, the person it came from is reasonable, and his or her motive is worthy, then the insult is not an insult but a statement of fact, and, moreover, one that could be very helpful to us. Hence, we seldom take offence at our parents, teachers, or friends, who, by telling us the truth, are trying to help rather than hinder or harm us. if you think that the person who insulted you is unworthy of your consideration, you have no reason to take offence, just as you have no reason to take offence at a naughty child or a barking dog.

Humor, if successful, can be an especially effective response. Make a mockery of the insult and, by extension, of the insulter. Humor, unfortunately, has some of the same downsides as returning the insult: Your reply has to be funny, and it has to be well-timed and well-delivered

Ignoring the insult is much easier, and, in fact, more powerful. Ignoring the insult works well with strangers but may not be a sensible or viable strategy when it comes to people with whom we have an ongoing personal or professional relationship. 

We need never take offence at an insult. Offence exists not in the insult but in our reaction to it, and our reactions are completely within our control. It is unreasonable to expect a boor (=ill-mannered person) to be anything but a boor; if we take offence at his bad behaviour, we have only ourselves to blame.

Avoid returning insults. It can be tempting to match insult for insult. Ultimately, though, it is best refusing to engage whomever insulted you. "The best way to upset this person is not to insult them in return, but to let them know their words have no impact on me."

References
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/201611/the-psychology-insults
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201302/how-deal-insults-and-put-downs

https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Confident-when-Someone-Insults-You

You never know when it’s going to be your last

Just heard the news via my WA group about one my high school friends who is sick. His wife writes that my old mate could only lay down on his sickbed. I still can recognize him albeit he looks pale, weak and thin. Oh how fragile are we. 

Just last month a colleague of mine passed away. He was almost twenty years my junior. The last time I saw him was the day I left Malaysia. I had no idea that he had a lethal disease. I did not think he knew either. The future is not ours to see.

Recently I read a news that really capture the spirit that you can't take anything for granted in life. Jemas Milner -one my Liverpool heroes-  said “You never know when it’s going to be your last. You go into the dressing room after the game and all of the lads are straight on their phones. I’m saying: ‘You’ve won the FA Cup - get off your phone!". The Reds defeated Chelsea on penalties at Wembley Stadium last Saturday to secure the trophy. Liverpool left-back Kostas Tsimikas scored the decisive spot kick. Come the end of the game, Milner said that he was going to enjoy the victory because it could be the last trophy that he ever wins. “Yeah, you get 40 or 50 messages but you get on the bus and you can deal with that. You are lucky to be a footballer, lucky to play in any final and to win ten medals, if you’ve said that to me at the start of my career then I’d have been pretty happy!

We can see where Milner is coming from. The reality is, the Englishman is 36 years of age. In other words, Milner is at the backend of his career. He is going to enjoy winning a trophy more than others simply because he may never get another chance to lift some silverware.

Indeed, life is short and uncertain. We should enjoy each moment and cherish whatever we have as there would be time that those would no longer possible for us.  

You never know when it’s going to be your last

https://anfieldwatch.co.uk/you-never-know-james-milner-reflects-on-fa-cup-final-victory/

St. Basil the Great - talking points

St. Basil the Great, Latin Basilius, (born AD 329, Caesarea Mazaca, Cappadocia—died January 1, 379, Caesarea; Western feast day January 2; Eastern feast day January 1), early Church Father who defended the orthodox faith against the Arian heresy. As bishop of Caesarea, he wrote several works on monasticism, theology, and canon law. He was declared a saint soon after his death.

1) Came from family of Bishops
One of Basil’s uncles was a bishop, as later were two of his brothers (Gregory and Peter of Sebaste). 

2) One of Cappadocian Fathers
Basil, together with his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his friend Gregory of Nazianzus, are collectively referred to as the Cappadocian Fathers.

3) Did not consider life as Ascetic 

On returning home he began a secular career, but the influence of his pious sister Macrina, later a nun and abbess, confirmed his earlier inclination to the ascetic life. With a group of friends, he established a monastic settlement on the family estate at Annesi in Pontus. Basil’s health was poor, perhaps because of the rigours of his ascetic life.

4) Famous quote:
The bread you store belongs to the hungry. The clothes you accumulate belong to the naked. The shoes that you have in your closet are for the barefoot. The money you bury deep into the ground to keep it safe, belongs to the poor. You were unfair to as many people as you could have helped and you did not. 

5) Most of the liturgies bearing the name of Basil are not entirely his work in their present form
The extent of Basil’s actual contribution to the magnificent series of eucharistic prayers known as the Liturgy of St. Basil is uncertain. But at least the central prayer of consecration (setting apart the bread and wine) reflects his spirit and was probably in use at Caesarea in his own lifetime. Patristics scholars conclude that the Liturgy of Saint Basil "bears, unmistakably, the personal hand, pen, mind and heart of St. Basil the Great". 

6) Basil is most characteristically revealed in his letters, of which more than 300 are preserved. Many deal with daily activities; others are, in effect, short treatises on theology or ethics. 

References
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Basil-the-Great
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_of_Caesarea

The Saint Whose Father was a Bishop

St. Gregory of Nazianzus's father also named Gregory, was converted to the Christian faith from the monotheistic sect known as the Hypsistarii under the influence of his Christian wife. He was soon afterward consecrated bishop of his native city, Nazianzus (the exact location of which is not known), by bishops on their way to the Council of Nicaea in 325.

After six years in Athens studying rhetoric, poetry, geometry, and astronomy Saint Gregory returned to his parents at Nazianzus. At thirty-three years of age. against his will, Saint Gregory was ordained to the holy priesthood by his father. 

After the death of the Arian Emperor Valens, Gregory was asked to go to Constantinople to preach there. For thirty years, the city had been controlled by Arians or pagans, and the orthodox did not even have a church there. Gregory went. He converted his own house there into a church and held services in it. There he preached the Five Theological Orations for which he is best known, a series of five sermons on the Trinity and in defense of the deity of Christ. People flocked to hear him preach, and the city was largely won over to the Athanasian (Trinitarian, catholic, orthodox) position by his powers of persuasion. The following year, he was consecrated bishop of Constantinople. He presided at the Council of Constantinple in 381, which confirmed the Athanasian position of the earlier Council of Nicea in 325. Having accomplished what he believed to be his mission at Constantinople, and heartily sick of ecclesiastical politics, Gregory resigned and retired to his home town of Nazianzus, where he died in 389. His last days were spent in solitude and austerity. He wrote religious poetry, some of it autobiographical, of great depth and beauty. He was acclaimed simply as “the Theologian.” 

Gregory's most significant theological contributions arose from his defense of the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity. In contrast to the Arian and Apollonarian heresies common in his day,[45] he emphasized that Jesus did not cease to be God when he became a man, nor did he lose any of his divine attributes when he took on human nature. Conversely, Gregory also asserted that Christ was fully human, including a full human soul.

References
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-of-Nazianzus

https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2022/01/25/100298-saint-gregory-the-theologian-archbishop-of-constantinople

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-gregory-nazianzen

http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/155.html

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Gregory_of_Nazianzus

The Saint who used to work as tax official

John of Damascus succeeded his father as one of the Muslim caliph’s tax officials. Later he became became a monk at Mar Saba, near Jerusalem, and there passed the rest of his life studying, writing, and preaching, acquiring the name “the Golden Orator” (Greek: Chrysorrhoas, "streaming with gold," (i.e., the golden speaker))

Practically all the information concerning the life of John of Damascus available to us today has been through the records of John, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Though these notes have served as the single source of biographical information, dating back to the tenth century, these writings have been noted by scholars as having an exuberant lack of detail from a historical point of view and a bloated writing style.

In the early 8th century, iconoclasm, a movement opposed to the veneration of icons (iconoclasts), gained acceptance in the Byzantine court. Patriarch of Constantinople issued his first edict against the veneration of images and their exhibition in public places. John of Damascus undertook a spirited defence of holy images. He not only attacked the Byzantine emperor, but adopted a simplified style that allowed the controversy to be followed by the common people.

Among his approximately 150 written works the most significant is Pēgē gnōseōs (“The Source of Knowledge”), a synthesis of Christian philosophy and doctrine that was influential in directing the course of medieval Latin thought and that became the principal textbook of Greek Orthodox theology. 

He is one of the first known Christian critics of Islam. John also claims to have read the Quran, or at least parts of it. He uses the plural "we", whether in reference to himself, or to a group of Christians that he belonged to who spoke to the Muslims, or in reference to Christians in general. 

In 1890, he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII.

References
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-of-Damascus

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=66

https://orthodoxwiki.org/John_of_Damascus

The Saint with the “Golden-Mouth”

Saint John was surnamed Chrysostom (“Golden-mouth”) because of his eloquence. He made exhaustive commentaries on the divine Scriptures and was the author of more works than any other Church Father, leaving us complete commentaries on the Book of Genesis, the Gospels of Saints Matthew and John, the Acts, and all the Epistles of Saint Paul. His extant works are 1,447 sermons and 240 epistles. 

John received his literary training under Anthragathius the philosopher, and Libanius the sophist, who was the greatest Greek scholar and rhetorician of his day. Libanius was a pagan, and when asked before his death whom he wished to have for his successor, he said, “John, had not the Christians stolen him from us.”

Obviolusly Libanus's wish was not fulfilled as John chose instead to dedicate himself to God as an ascetic hermit-monk. When his health gave way, he returned to Antioch and became an ordained deacon and later a priest. Over the next 12 years he established himself as a great preacher, and his homilies were well regarded. He was called to Constantinople to be its archbishop, much against his will.

During his time as bishop he adamantly refused to host lavish entertainments. This meant he was popular with the common people, but unpopular with the wealthy and the clergy. St. John was fearless when denouncing offences in high places. An alliance was soon formed against him by his enemies.  They held a synod to charge John and eventually in his deposition and banishment.

The pope in Rome (Innocent I at this time) protested at this banishment, but to no avail. John wrote letters which still held great influence in Constantinople. As a result of this, he was further exiled to Pityus (on the eastern edge of the Black Sea). However, he never reached this destination, as he died during the journey. His final words were "Glory be to God for all things!"

Saint John was recognized as a Father of the Church at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1568. When Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204, they stole John’s relics and carried them back to Rome. In 2004 Pope Saint John Paul II authorized the return of some of John’s remains to the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch in Saint George Church in present-day Istanbul, John’s own episcopal city. Saint John is a patron saint of preachers and speakers. 

References
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-Chrysostom

https://www.saintsophiadc.org/john-chrysostom-archbishop-constantinople-golden-mouth/

https://orthodoxwiki.org/John_Chrysostom

https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/september-13st-john-chrysostom/

The sun of the Syrians

The life of St. Ephraem, therefore, offers not a few obscure problems; only the general outline of his career is known to us. It is certain, however, that while he lived he was very influential among the Syrian Christians of Edessa, and that his memory was revered by all, Orthodox, Monophysites, and Nestorians. They call him the "sun of the Syrians," the "column of the Church", the "harp of the Holy Spirit".

St. Ephraem composed numerous theological-biblical commentaries and polemical works that, in witnessing to the common Christian tradition, have exerted widespread influence on the Greek and Latin churches. He is recognized as the most authoritative representative of 4th-century Syriac Christianity. Over four hundred hymns composed by Ephrem still exist.

His favourite literary form was verse, in which he composed treatises, sermons, and hymns; the result, in early Syriac, is often tedious because of expansive metaphor and allegory. Much of his hymnology was directed against the principal heresies of his day, particularly the teachings of Marcion and Bardesanes, 2nd-century Gnostics.

According to historians of the 5th century, Christians gave enthusiastic prominence to these hymns in their liturgical assemblies. Ephraem further emphasized devotion to the Virgin Mary, particularly her sinlessness and exemplary fidelity. Additional doctrinal themes integrated in his prose and poetry include the Trinitarian teaching on the eternity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

On 5 October 1920, Pope Benedict XV proclaimed Ephrem a Doctor of the Church ("Doctor of the Syrians")

References
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05498a.htm
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Ephraem-Syrus
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Ephrem_the_Syrian

The Saint who fought against heresy

St. Athanasius, also known as Athanasius the Great and Athanasius the Confessor, was a bishop and doctor of the church. He is called the "Father of Orthodoxy," the "Pillar of the Church" and "Champion of Christ's Divinity." Athanasius became one of the most dedicated opponents of the heresy of Arianism. Much of his life was a testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Arianism was proposed early in the 4th century by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius and was popular throughout much of the Eastern and Western Roman empires, even after it was denounced as a heresy by the Council of Nicaea (325). Arianism position that Jesus was not truly divine. 

Arius’s teaching reduced the Son to a demigod, reintroduced polytheism (since worship of the Son was not abandoned), and undermined the Christian concept of redemption, since only he who was truly God could be deemed to have reconciled humanity to the Godhead.

In 325 the Council of Nicaea was convened to settle the controversy. The council condemned Arius as a heretic and issued a creed to safeguard “orthodox” Christian belief. The creed states that the Son is homoousion tō Patri (“of one substance with the Father”), thus declaring him to be all that the Father is: he is completely divine.

Over the course of his life, Athanasius was banished five times and spent 17 years of his life in exile for the defense of the doctrine of Christ's divinity. During one period of his life, he enjoyed 10 years of relative peace—reading, writing, and promoting the Christian life along the lines of the monastic ideal to which he was greatly devoted. His dogmatic and historical writings are almost all polemic, directed against every aspect of Arianism.

Among his ascetical writings, his "Life of St. Anthony" achieved astonishing popularity and contributed greatly to the establishment of monastic life throughout the Western Christian world. As he grew up, Athanasius befriended many monks and hermits of the desert, including St. Antony

St. Athanasius is often shown as a bishop arguing with a pagan, a bishop holding an open book or a bishop standing over a defeated heretic. He is a patron saint of theologians, and faithful Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians and hailed to this day as a great Defender of the Faith.

Note on Arianism: Arianism maintained favour among some groups, most notably some of the Germanic tribes, to the end of the 7th century. The Polish and Transylvanian Socinians of the 16th and 17th centuries propounded Christological arguments that were similar to those of Arius and his followers. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Unitarians in England and America were unwilling either to reduce Christ to a mere human being or to attribute to him a divine nature identical with that of the Father. The Christology of Jehovah’s Witnesses is also a form of Arianism, for it upholds the unity and supremacy of God the Father.

References
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arianism
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=336
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-athanasius
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-athanasius

The Doctor of Church who was not a Catholic

Little is known of the life of the medieval Armenian monk St. Gregory of Narek, other than that he was a dedicated monk who lived his entire adult life in a monastery situated in todays’ eastern Turkey.  Saint Gregory was never formally canonized. He was not a Catholic, though he did pertain to an apostolic church with legitimate sacraments and a hierarchical structure which, however, is not in formal communion with Rome.

During a Mass in 2015 commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks, concelebrated a Mass at the Vatican with Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni Pope Francis declared this saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church a Doctor of the Church, the second from the churches of the East, for his timeless and theologically sound writings. 

Armenian people is that their nation was the first to adopt Christianity as its official religion. Approximately twelve years before the Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313, an Armenian King converted to Christianity. Following the universal custom of mankind, the King’s religion then became his people’s. 

Gregory of Narek wrote mystical poetry, hymns, and biblical commentaries. He is one of Armenia’s greatest literary figures and poets. His principal work, the “Book of Lamentations,” consists of ninety-five prayers. He described it as “encyclopedia of prayer for all nations”. His other major works was "Commentary on the Song of Songs", which has been celebrated for its clarity and theology.

Note:

As opposed to the Armenian Catholic Church that began in the 17th century, the earlier Armenian Apostolic Church did not accept the Council of Chalcedon’s 451 teaching that Christ was fully divine and fully human. In 1996, St. John Paul II and Apostolic Catholicos Karekin I signed a declaration confirming the common faith of their two Churches.

References
https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/saint-gregory-of-narek/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-Narekatzi
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-gregory-of-narek

The Saint who was not from Ávila

Despite his name, St. John Avila (Spanish San Juan de Ávila) was not from Ávila and doesn’t seem even to have visited the place. His last name is a family name: his father was Alfonso de Ávila. And both of John’s parents, like many Spanish Catholics, were of Jewish descent.

After being ordained a priest in 1525 at Alcalá, he gave the fortune inherited from his parents to charity. Although he had prepared for missionary work to North America, he was persuaded instead to dedicate himself to a mission closer to home – the southern lands of Spain, which had recently been liberated from hundreds of years of Muslim domination.

He was an immensely popular preacher and is known as the Apostle of Andalusia. He did, however, spend a year of that time in jail due to some trouble with the Spanish Inquisition.  The Inquisition investigated his fervent denunciation of wealth and of vice and his encouragement of rigorism; even a spurious connection between his Jewish heritage and charges of heresy was considered. John was found innocent of all charges, and not only was he allowed to continue preaching, but he found in that time of sorrow and hardship the basis for the deep spirituality which can be found in his works and which so inspired his followers. He also began writing his most famous work, Audi, filia (Listen, daughter), a treatise on Christian perfection addressed to the nun Doña Sancha Carillo, during his imprisonment. 

He was called a “Master,” and was a spiritual guide for such saints as Teresa of Ávila, Ignatius of Loyola, Peter of Alcantara and John of Ribera. The saints John of God and Francis Borgia owed their conversion to him and turned to him constantly for spiritual direction. John co-organized the University of Granada; outstanding among the other colleges he founded was that of Baeza. He helped foster in Spain the Society of Jesus, to which he was devoted. He died before he could carry out his plan to become a Jesuit.

John was invited by his bishop to attend the Council of Trent as his theological adviser. John’s poor health prevented him from going, but he wrote memoranda which were influential in some of the council’s decisions regarding reform of the clergy.

Saint Pope Paul VI, who called him a model for modern priests suffering from an identity crisis, canonized Saint John of Ávila in 1970, and he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 appropriately at the opening of the synod on “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith,”— the first diocesan priest to hold such a distinction. Pope Pius XII had declared him the patron of Spanish secular priests.

References
https://slmedia.org/blog/telling-them-apart-so-many-johns-part-1-two-from-avila
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-of-Avila

https://angelusnews.com/faith/450-years-after-his-death-john-of-avila-is-a-saint-for-today/

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=3944

The saint who wrote poems while imprisoned

In 1577 church authorities, resentful of John, had him kidnapped, and he was imprisoned for nine months in a windowless six-by-ten-foot cell, with a ceiling so low he couldn't stand up. The stone cell was unheated in winter, unventilated in summer. Malnourished and flogged weekly, John was constantly ill.

Yet it was during this dark time that, by the light of a three-inch hole high in the wall, in this dying of imprisonment, John wrote his two greatest poems, The paradox!  In the darkness of the dungeon, John’s spirit came into the Light "Cantico Espiritual" (Spiritual Canticle, 1578) and "Noche Oscura del Alma" (Dark Night of the Soul). These two extraordinary pieces illumined both his own darkness and the mystery of his path.

After nine months, John managed to pry his cell door from its hinges and escape.

"Turn not to the easiest, but to the most difficult … not to the more, but to the less; not towards what is high and precious, but to what is low and despised; not towards desiring anything, but to desiring nothing."

St. John of the Cross, Spanish San Juan de la Cruz, original name Juan de Yepes y Álvarez, (born 1542). John became a Carmelite monk at Medina del Campo, Spain, in 1563 and was ordained priest in 1567. St. Teresa of Ávila, the celebrated mystic, enlisted his help (1568) in her restoration of Carmelite life to its original observance of austerity.  A year later, at Duruelo, he opened the first Discalced Carmelite monastery. Reform, however, caused friction within the order and led to his imprisonment. 

In “Noche oscura,” perhaps his best-known work, he describes the process by which the soul sheds its attachment to everything and eventually passes through a personal experience of Christ’s Crucifixion to his glory.

"Cantico Espiritual" aims to combine the old "Song of Songs" with the Francesco Petrarca influences, resulting in mystical poetry. John uses profane love as a basis, embodied by the figures of two lovers, used as resources to depict the mystical feeling of the union with God. Because the content is so complex and inscrutable, the author published several explanatory texts in which he also modified some of his postulates. 

He died in 1591 after suffering skin severe infection in his right foot. When the friars began to recite the prayers for him John begged, "No, read some verses from the Song of Songs," and then exclaimed, "Oh, what precious pearls!" At midnight, without agony, without struggle, he died, repeating the words of the psalmist: "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." The favors he had asked for in his last years he had now received: not to die as a superior, to die in a place where he was unknown, and to die after having suffered much.

He was canonized and declared doctor of the church by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.

References
https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/innertravelers/john-of-cross.html
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=65
https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-of-the-Cross
http://www.spainisculture.com/en/obras_culturales/cantico_espiritual.html
https://www.icspublications.org/pages/saint-john-of-the-cross-conflicts-of-jurisdiction
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-of-the-cross

the patron saint of Headache sufferers

When Teresa of Avila (born Teresa Ali Fatim Corella Sanchez de Capeda y Ahumada) was 16, her father decided she was out of control and sent her to a convent. At first she hated it but eventually she began to enjoy it -- partly because of her growing love for God, and partly because the convent was a lot less strict than her father.  

She chose religious life because she though that it was the only safe place for someone as prone to sin as she was. Teresa was too charming. Everyone liked her and she liked to be liked. She found it too easy to slip into a worldly life and ignore God. She got more involved in flattery, vanity and gossip than spiritual guidance. These weren't great sins perhaps but they kept her from God.

Then Teresa fell ill with malaria. When she had a seizure, people were so sure she was dead that after she woke up four days later she learned they had dug a grave for her. Afterwards she was paralyzed for three years and was never completely well. Her sickness became an excuse to stop her prayer completely.

When she was 41, a priest convinced her to go back to her prayer, but she still found it difficult. As she started to pray again, God gave her spiritual delights: the prayer of quiet where God's presence overwhelmed her senses, raptures where God overcame her with glorious foolishness, prayer of union where she felt the sun of God melt her soul away. Teresa were convinced that her delights came from God because the experiences gave her peace, inspiration, and encouragement.

Two years later Teresa began to consider the restoration of Carmelite life to its original observance of austerity, which had relaxed in the 14th and 15th centuries. Her reform required utter withdrawal so that the nuns could meditate on divine law and, through a prayerful life of penance, exercise what she termed “our vocation of reparation” for the sins of humankind. Eight years later (1562), with Pope Pius IV’s authorization, she opened the first convent (St. Joseph’s) of the Carmelite Reform. A storm of hostility came from municipal and religious personages, especially because the convent existed without endowment, but she staunchly insisted on poverty and subsistence only through public alms.

The Carmelite prior general from Rome, went to Ávila in 1567 and approved the reform, directing Teresa to found more convents and to establish monasteries. In the same year, while at Medina del Campo, Spain, she met a young Carmelite priest, Juan de Yepes (later St. John of the Cross, the poet and mystic), who she realized could initiate the Carmelite Reform for men. A year later Juan opened the first monastery of the Primitive Rule at Duruelo, Spain.

Teresa’s ascetic doctrine has been accepted as the classical exposition of the contemplative life, and her spiritual writings are among the most widely read. Her Life of the Mother Teresa of Jesus (1611) is autobiographical; the Book of the Foundations (1610) describes the establishment of her convents. Her recognized written masterpieces on the progress of the Christian soul toward God through prayer and contemplation are The Way of Perfection (1583), The Interior Castle (1588), Spiritual Relations, Exclamations of the Soul to God (1588), and Conceptions on the Love of God. Of her poems, 31 are extant; of her letters, 458 are extant.

Teresa died on October 4 at the age of 67. In 1970 she was declared a Doctor of the Church for her writing and teaching on prayer, the first woman to be so honored. St. Teresa is the patron saint of Headache sufferers. Her symbol is a heart, an arrow, and a book. She was beatified in 1614 by Pope Paul V. Canonized in1622 by Pope Gregory XV.

References

https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Teresa-of-Avila

the saint whose head was mummified

Caterina di Giacomo di Benincasa was born on the feast of the Annunciation, March 25th, 1347, in the Fontebranda district of Siena, Italy, the twenty-fourth of twenty-five children. Her father was a dyer and her mother was the daughter of a local poet. 

St. Catherine of Siena became deeply religious as a child and had visions that started when she was only 6 years old. Catherine joined the Third Order of the Dominicans (member of a monastic third order who takes simple vows and may remain outside a convent or monastery) as a teen. 

She lived in a century when chaos ruled the Church and society. From 1375 onwards, she began dictating letters to scribes. These letters were intended to reach men and women of her circle, increasingly widening her audience to include figures in authority as she begged for peace between the republics and principalities of Italy and for the return of the Papacy from Avignon to Rome. She carried on a long correspondence with Pope Gregory XI, asking him to reform the clergy and the administration of the Papal States. Gregory did indeed return his administration to Rome in January 1377; to what extent this was due to Catherine's influence is a topic of much modern debate.

In 1378, the Great Schism began, splitting the allegiance of Christendom between two, then three, popes and putting even saints on opposing sides. Catherine spent the last two years of her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the cause of Pope Urban VI and the unity of the Church. She offered herself as a victim for the Church in its agony. St. Catherine died in Rome, in 1380, at the age of thirty-three.

Her hometown, Siena, wanted to have her body. When they realized they would not be able to smuggle the whole body past the guards in Rome, they took only her head, hidden in a paper bag. Catherine's mummified head and her right thumb are now both located at the Basilica San Domenico in Siena, Italy. Her three fingers and left foot are said to be in Venice, while a rib can be found in Florence. However, the rest of her body is said to be still in Rome.

St. Catherine of Siena was canonized by Pope Pius II in 1461, and named Patron Saint of Italy on May 5, 1940 by Pope Pius XII. She was given the title of Doctor of the Church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI. She is simultaneously the Patron Saint of Siena, the Patron Saint of Italy, and the Patron Saint of Europe, as proclaimed by St. John Paul II in October 1999. 

St. Catherine of Siena is one of only four female “Doctors” of the Roman Catholic Church (St. Teresa of Avila, St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Hildegard of Bingen are the other three). She is known as the Doctor of Unity for bringing about the union of the Papacy and returning it to Rome after nearly a century in France. St. Catherine dictated, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, four treatises called “The Dialogues.” She also wrote nearly four hundred letters and a series of prayers.

References

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Catherine-of-Siena

https://www.grunge.com/638311/the-truth-about-st-catherines-preserved-head/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Siena

https://saintcatherineacademy.org/about/st-catherine-of-siena/