By Liliana Usvat
Questions: it is possible to repopulate mountains that have lost the soil that sustain plants life trees as result of massive forest destruction?
Trees on the Rocks
Let's take for example Monserat Mountain approximately 50 km to the north-west of Barcelona, Spain.
Montserrat is a mountain that astonishes you the moment you see it, for it is so different from all others. Seen from the distance, looming up alone out of the landscape, it is bound to attract your attention. Depending on where you see it from, its silhouette is reminiscent of the toothed blade of a saw. And here you have the clue to its name, for the Catalan word Montserrat means "sawn mountain".
The Montserrat mountain is sedimentary, and its rocks are made up of a conglomeration of pebbles held in limestone.
Montserrat abounds with the vegetation that is typical of the Mediterranean woods. Evergreen oak much of the mountain, along with dense undergrowth and up to 1.250 varieties of plants. Nevertheless, there are many other types of trees which make splashes of colour all over the mountain: the white pine, the maple, the lime, the hazelnut tree, the holly, the box, the oak and the yew.
Monserrat Monastery
The monastery is 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Barcelona, and can be reached by road, train or cable car. The abbey's train station, operated by FGC, is the terminus of a rack railway connecting with Monistrol, and two funicular railways, one connecting with Santa Cova (a shrine and chapel lower down the mountain) and the other connecting with the upper slopes of the mountain. At 1,236 metres (4,055 ft) above the valley floor, Montserrat is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to the most populated part of Catalonia.
The sanctuary of the Virgin Mary of Montserrat, has its historical origins in the hermitage of Santa Maria, which Count Guifré el Pelós gave to the Monastery of Ripoll in the year 888.
In 1025, Oliba, Abbot of Ripoll and Bishop of Vic, founded a new monastery at the hermitage of Santa Maria de Montserrat. The little monastery soon began to receive pilgrims and visitors who contributed to the spread of stories of miracles and wonders performed by the Virgin.
In 1409 the monastery of Montserrat became an independent abbey. From 1493 to 1835, a period in which the monastery underwent great reforms, growing and increasing in splendour, Montserrat was part of the Valladolid Congregation.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Monastery of Montserrat became a cultural centre of the first order. The Montserrat Music School produced important composers.
The French War (1808-1811) and disentailment in 1835 brought destruction and abandonment, but in 1844 began the restoration of monastic life and in 1881 there were the Festivities for the Coronation of the Image of Our Lady, at which She was proclaimed Patron Saint of Catalonia by Pope Leo XIII. The Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) led once again to the abandonment of the monastery. However, the Government of Catalonia managed to save Montserrat from being sacked and destroyed.
Today, Montserrat has been modernised to continue attending to the needs to pilgrims one thousand years after it was originally founded.
The Basilica houses a museum with works of art by many prominent painters and sculptors including works by El Greco, Dalí, Picasso and more. The Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, a publishing house, one of the oldest presses in the world still running, with its first book published in 1499.
One of the men who accompanied Columbus in the New World was a former monk from Montserrat and he started her veneration in the Americas.
Paranormal
The monastery started as the Hermitage of Santa Maria, the Mother of Christ, in 1025. Very soon there were stories of miracles worked by St. Mary the Virgin of Montserrat, and pilgrimages started to the site.
For people of other religions, it is said that the mountain is a source of great energy, one of the best in Europe, and people flock to it for the experience.
Barcelona is the Creative Component of the Planetary Heart Chakra. Montserrat's creative heart force consists of two parts - the mountain and the monastery. It is part of a triangular configuration:
When one goes to the basilica, one sees a beautifully designed atrium floor, which was designed by Father Benet Martinez. There is a medallion in the center and there is an inscription around it with a message that only those baptized and born in the water like fish can understand the meaning of the fish of the Eucharist. People of many faiths and children like to balance themselves on one foot on this atrium floor, as it is a custom from way back.
Legend of the image of the Virgin of Montserrat.
The term “Black Madonna” refers to the Catholic tradition of venerating non-white images of the mother of Christ, Mary. Unlike many old statues which are black because of the kind of wood or the effects of the original paint, the dark color of Our Lady of Montserrat is attributed to the innumerable candles and lamps used while praying to her.
The Virgin is called “La Moreneta” or “the little dark one.” She is supposed to be a worker of miracles. Today, people pay tribute to her, touch her crystal sphere, and make a wish.
This legend is documented in a text from 1239.
Legend has it that in 880, a Saturday evening in Montserrat Mountain, some shepherds saw a bright light coming down from heaven and it illuminated an area of the mountain. At the same time they could hear a sweet melody. The following Saturday, the children returned with their parents. And the vision was repeated. The next four Saturdays, the Olesa priest accompanied them and they could see how the phenomenon was repeated again.
In that time, the Bishop of Vic was visiting Manresa and he was alerted about it. So, he wanted to see the place where the phenomenon occurred. There was a cave, where they found the image of Saint Mary. The Bishop suggested moving it to Manresa, but right out of the cave, the image became so heavy that it could not be moved. Bishop interpreted this as that the will of the Virgin was to stay in that place and he ordered to build a chapel under the invocation of St. Mary.
Another legend says that St. Luke sculpted the image of the Virgin of Montserrat with instruments of St. Joseph workshop and as a model used the Virgin Mary. Later, St. Peter moved the image to Barcelona where it was worshipped until 717, when the Muslims conquered the city.
So, Christians hid it in a cave of the Montserrat Mountain. Once reconquered these territories, it was miraculously found.
Legend about the origin of the Montserrat Mountain.
Legend has it that in a faraway time, the mountain, as it can be seen now, was not on the surface but beneath it. Those were the foundations of a mountain on which a city had been built, as large and rich as sinful.
God wanted to punish the city for its sins and he made swung the mountain on itself, leaving the city forever buried and to the air the huge “roots” that they anchored the mountain in the depths of the earth. Then the angels were carving these “roots” to give the current look, hence its name: Mont-serrat / Mountain-serrated.
The Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring into literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers. Conspiracy theories abound on the nature of the grail and the final location. This list looks at ten of the possible resting places of this mysterious object. One of them is Santa Maria de Montserrat
This legend ties in with the German Grail legend of Munsalvaesche, which is another name for Corbenic, the castle where the Fisher King lived, and where Sir Galahad was born.
“Munsalvaesche” is German for the Latin phrase “mons salvationis,” “the mount of salvation.” “Montserrat,” however, is Catalan for “jagged mountain.”
The monastery and abbey are nestled in the mountain, and the Grail is said to be hidden somewhere under the church grounds, or elsewhere on the mountain. If so, it may well never be found, as the terrain is extraordinarily rugged and the mountain is gigantic. The peak, at 4,055 feet, is called Sant Jeroni, “Saint Jerome,” who features prominently in several Grail legends. He may have traveled to the area in the late 300s AD and hidden the Grail there.
Blog 130-365
Questions: it is possible to repopulate mountains that have lost the soil that sustain plants life trees as result of massive forest destruction?
Trees on the Rocks
- Almost everywhere in the world there is ground water.
- Between the cracks there’s always higher humidity; so even if it is only a little, the roots do find some water.
- Consequently, the root system develops a symbiosis with fungi (mycorrhiza) and bacteria. This symbiosis results in a humus system that is able to stay humid.
- Plants are also able, together with the humidity, bacteria and fungi, to extract the required minerals (nutrient fertilizer) from rocks in the root zone.
- The whole of roots, bacteria, fungi, humus and humidity, create a system in which the tree starts growing. In subsequent years, these trees will form and maintain their own optimal environment.
- Take a tree as small as possible (little evaporation).
- First let the roots develop.
- Do not disturb the capillary soil structure (and water). Capillary action is the ability of soil and rocks to transport water from the top to the groundwater below when it rains, and from the groundwater up to the top when there is a dry period.
- When we want to plant on rocks, we look for cracks.
- If you drill a well in rocks, you will find ground water - many times only 5 to 10 meters below the surface.
- This ground water goes up, via the cracks, due to the capillary principles of nature.
- This is why many mountains ( the Rocky Mountains, the Alps) are covered with trees. There’s already enough water.
- Let’s look at how it works in moderate climates: the top of the crack is dry, but in these climates, trees produce their seeds in autumn, exactly when rain starts.
- These seeds fall on the rocks which get humid (rain and/or snow) from October to March.
- The seeds above a crack push their first small root – the radicle - inside the crack and quickly search for water. Within 1 day, one can already see new roots.
- The radicle is capable of developing a pressure of over 50 bar (725 psi).
- The roots develop in winter, and the leaves don’t; the plant is absorbing water to build up strength in the seed, for the leaf to develop in April when it gets warmer.
- In April, the temperature rises and the seeds germinate.
- Because the roots are already at the capillary water, the leaf develops; and once it gets dry in summer, the plant has water to evaporate and keep itself cool.
Let's take for example Monserat Mountain approximately 50 km to the north-west of Barcelona, Spain.
Montserrat is a mountain that astonishes you the moment you see it, for it is so different from all others. Seen from the distance, looming up alone out of the landscape, it is bound to attract your attention. Depending on where you see it from, its silhouette is reminiscent of the toothed blade of a saw. And here you have the clue to its name, for the Catalan word Montserrat means "sawn mountain".
The Montserrat mountain is sedimentary, and its rocks are made up of a conglomeration of pebbles held in limestone.
Montserrat abounds with the vegetation that is typical of the Mediterranean woods. Evergreen oak much of the mountain, along with dense undergrowth and up to 1.250 varieties of plants. Nevertheless, there are many other types of trees which make splashes of colour all over the mountain: the white pine, the maple, the lime, the hazelnut tree, the holly, the box, the oak and the yew.
Monserrat Monastery
The monastery is 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Barcelona, and can be reached by road, train or cable car. The abbey's train station, operated by FGC, is the terminus of a rack railway connecting with Monistrol, and two funicular railways, one connecting with Santa Cova (a shrine and chapel lower down the mountain) and the other connecting with the upper slopes of the mountain. At 1,236 metres (4,055 ft) above the valley floor, Montserrat is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to the most populated part of Catalonia.
The sanctuary of the Virgin Mary of Montserrat, has its historical origins in the hermitage of Santa Maria, which Count Guifré el Pelós gave to the Monastery of Ripoll in the year 888.
In 1025, Oliba, Abbot of Ripoll and Bishop of Vic, founded a new monastery at the hermitage of Santa Maria de Montserrat. The little monastery soon began to receive pilgrims and visitors who contributed to the spread of stories of miracles and wonders performed by the Virgin.
In 1409 the monastery of Montserrat became an independent abbey. From 1493 to 1835, a period in which the monastery underwent great reforms, growing and increasing in splendour, Montserrat was part of the Valladolid Congregation.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Monastery of Montserrat became a cultural centre of the first order. The Montserrat Music School produced important composers.
The French War (1808-1811) and disentailment in 1835 brought destruction and abandonment, but in 1844 began the restoration of monastic life and in 1881 there were the Festivities for the Coronation of the Image of Our Lady, at which She was proclaimed Patron Saint of Catalonia by Pope Leo XIII. The Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) led once again to the abandonment of the monastery. However, the Government of Catalonia managed to save Montserrat from being sacked and destroyed.
Today, Montserrat has been modernised to continue attending to the needs to pilgrims one thousand years after it was originally founded.
The Basilica houses a museum with works of art by many prominent painters and sculptors including works by El Greco, Dalí, Picasso and more. The Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, a publishing house, one of the oldest presses in the world still running, with its first book published in 1499.
One of the men who accompanied Columbus in the New World was a former monk from Montserrat and he started her veneration in the Americas.
Paranormal
The monastery started as the Hermitage of Santa Maria, the Mother of Christ, in 1025. Very soon there were stories of miracles worked by St. Mary the Virgin of Montserrat, and pilgrimages started to the site.
For people of other religions, it is said that the mountain is a source of great energy, one of the best in Europe, and people flock to it for the experience.
Barcelona is the Creative Component of the Planetary Heart Chakra. Montserrat's creative heart force consists of two parts - the mountain and the monastery. It is part of a triangular configuration:
When one goes to the basilica, one sees a beautifully designed atrium floor, which was designed by Father Benet Martinez. There is a medallion in the center and there is an inscription around it with a message that only those baptized and born in the water like fish can understand the meaning of the fish of the Eucharist. People of many faiths and children like to balance themselves on one foot on this atrium floor, as it is a custom from way back.
Legend of the image of the Virgin of Montserrat.
The term “Black Madonna” refers to the Catholic tradition of venerating non-white images of the mother of Christ, Mary. Unlike many old statues which are black because of the kind of wood or the effects of the original paint, the dark color of Our Lady of Montserrat is attributed to the innumerable candles and lamps used while praying to her.
The Virgin is called “La Moreneta” or “the little dark one.” She is supposed to be a worker of miracles. Today, people pay tribute to her, touch her crystal sphere, and make a wish.
Legend has it that Saint Peter hid an image of the Virgin carved by Saint Luke in one of Montserrat’s caves. In another cave, Parsifal found the Holy Grail.
This legend is documented in a text from 1239.
Legend has it that in 880, a Saturday evening in Montserrat Mountain, some shepherds saw a bright light coming down from heaven and it illuminated an area of the mountain. At the same time they could hear a sweet melody. The following Saturday, the children returned with their parents. And the vision was repeated. The next four Saturdays, the Olesa priest accompanied them and they could see how the phenomenon was repeated again.
In that time, the Bishop of Vic was visiting Manresa and he was alerted about it. So, he wanted to see the place where the phenomenon occurred. There was a cave, where they found the image of Saint Mary. The Bishop suggested moving it to Manresa, but right out of the cave, the image became so heavy that it could not be moved. Bishop interpreted this as that the will of the Virgin was to stay in that place and he ordered to build a chapel under the invocation of St. Mary.
Another legend says that St. Luke sculpted the image of the Virgin of Montserrat with instruments of St. Joseph workshop and as a model used the Virgin Mary. Later, St. Peter moved the image to Barcelona where it was worshipped until 717, when the Muslims conquered the city.
So, Christians hid it in a cave of the Montserrat Mountain. Once reconquered these territories, it was miraculously found.
Legend about the origin of the Montserrat Mountain.
Legend has it that in a faraway time, the mountain, as it can be seen now, was not on the surface but beneath it. Those were the foundations of a mountain on which a city had been built, as large and rich as sinful.
God wanted to punish the city for its sins and he made swung the mountain on itself, leaving the city forever buried and to the air the huge “roots” that they anchored the mountain in the depths of the earth. Then the angels were carving these “roots” to give the current look, hence its name: Mont-serrat / Mountain-serrated.
The Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring into literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers. Conspiracy theories abound on the nature of the grail and the final location. This list looks at ten of the possible resting places of this mysterious object. One of them is Santa Maria de Montserrat
Catalonia, Spain.
This legend ties in with the German Grail legend of Munsalvaesche, which is another name for Corbenic, the castle where the Fisher King lived, and where Sir Galahad was born.
“Munsalvaesche” is German for the Latin phrase “mons salvationis,” “the mount of salvation.” “Montserrat,” however, is Catalan for “jagged mountain.”
The monastery and abbey are nestled in the mountain, and the Grail is said to be hidden somewhere under the church grounds, or elsewhere on the mountain. If so, it may well never be found, as the terrain is extraordinarily rugged and the mountain is gigantic. The peak, at 4,055 feet, is called Sant Jeroni, “Saint Jerome,” who features prominently in several Grail legends. He may have traveled to the area in the late 300s AD and hidden the Grail there.
Blog 130-365
