Participants: Pr. Bill Santos
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201302
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00:01 It is Written Canada television program.
00:03 My name is Bill Santos. 00:04 Thank you so much for joining us. 00:07 The program you're going to watch today is the second of two programs we 00:13 taped earlier this year while in Portugal. 00:18 I had the awesome privilege of taking a skeleton crew with me to 00:23 Portugal earlier in the year. 00:25 And we taped two programs there. 00:28 Portugal is a special place for me. 00:30 Like, you'll hear it in the program, but both of my parents are Portuguese 00:34 immigrants. 00:36 I'm of Portuguese heritage. 00:37 My dad immigrated to Canada in 1958; my mother came in 1959. 00:42 My brother and I were both born here in Canada. 00:44 I was born in downtown Toronto at Women's College Hospital. 00:48 And as much as I'm a proud Canadian, you know, you never really sort of lose 00:55 your heritage. 00:57 And my heritage happens to be Portuguese. 00:59 And so we went to Portugal. 01:01 And the program you're going to watch today was taped in a small fishing 01:07 village called Nazaré, or Nazareth, Portugal. 01:11 And there's a whole story behind how that name came about. 01:14 But it is the birthplace of my mother and my father. 01:18 And I am so excited to share this program with you. 01:23 I hope you'll enjoy it. 01:24 I'll be back in a couple of minutes. 01:33 >>Bill: Possibly the most famous fishing village in all of Portugal is Nazare! 01:38 While it does not have the grandiose monuments found in other Portuguese towns, 01:43 it has an atmosphere of times gone by and traditions that thrive to 01:48 this day - making it a special place to visit. 02:12 This is a special place for me to visit because it is the birthplace of my 02:15 parents. 02:16 On today's program I want to take you on a tour of Nazare. 02:19 This is a town of roughly 15,000 people and an area of about 84 square kms. 02:26 Nazare is named after Nazareth in Palestine. 02:30 The town of Nazaré is not very old, if you take into account the age of 02:35 Portugal itself. 02:36 In the 17th century, the sea covered this entire beach area. 02:42 However, there were a lot of natural changes in that same century and the sea 02:49 eventually went back and creating this bay that exists today. 02:56 The town of Nazare consists of three sections: Praia (along the 03:00 beach), the Sítio (the old village at the top of the cliff) and Pederneira 03:05 (another old village, on a hilltop). 03:08 The Praia and the Sítio areas are linked by the Nazare Funicular. 03:13 It was designed by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard - he was one of Eiffel's 03:19 pupils, and responsible for most of Lisbon's cable cars. 03:23 The cable line is 380m long and has a leaning angle of 42%. 03:29 Until 1963, a steam machine pulled the first cars, but then a lethal 03:34 accident forced it to close for a 5 year period. 03:39 When it reopened, in 1968, the first cars were replaced by new and safer 03:45 electric cars. 03:47 These electric cars worked tirelessly until 2001, being replaced by more 03:54 modern, more comfortable and safer ones, in July 2002. 04:02 The most famous legend in Nazare has it that on an early morning in 04:05 September, 1182, Dom Fuas Roupinho was hunting on horseback when he saw a 04:10 deer and decided to chase it. 04:13 All of a sudden a heavy fog rose up from the sea. 04:17 The deer ran towards the top of this cliff and Dom Fuas in the midst of the 04:23 fog was cut off from his companions. 04:25 Well when he realized he was on the edge of the cliff he recognized the 04:30 place. 04:31 You see, it was next to a small grotto where a statue of Virgin Mary was 04:36 worshipped. 04:36 So he cried out loudly Our Lady, Help Me. 04:39 All of a sudden the horse stopped there at the edge thus saving his mount from 04:46 a drop of more than 100 meters. 04:51 Dom Fuas dismounted and went down to the grotto to pray and give thanks for 04:57 the miracle. 04:59 Then he asked his companions to fetch masons in order to build this 05:04 small chapel over the grotto and he did that so the image could more 05:12 easily worshipped by all and as a memorial to the miracle that just saved 05:16 him. 05:18 But before walling up the grotto the masons destroyed the existing 05:22 altar where amongst the stones they found this ivory chest. 05:27 Inside the chest were some relics and in there was an old parchment containing 05:33 the story of the little wooden statue, just over one palm high, of the 05:38 Virgin Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus seated on her left leg. 05:47 According to the parchment the statue was worshipped since the beginning of 05:51 Christianity in Nazareth, back in Palestine. 05:54 It was rescued in the 4th century by a monk who took the statue to Spain, and 06:01 it remained in Spain until around the year 711 AD. 06:05 So here you have the statue "Our Lady of Nazare", received its name 06:10 from this village in Palestine where it was first worshipped, was 06:14 brought by monk to Spain and then a friar brings it from Spain to the Atlantic 06:20 coast. 06:22 He brings it here to this place, it's what the Portuguese call Monte de 06:26 S. 06:27 Bartolomeu (saint Bartolomeu's mount). 06:31 The monk arrives here, he decides to spend a few days here, he then decides 06:35 he is going to live as a hermit. 06:37 So he takes the image and he decides to go and settled in the little 06:42 grotto on the edge of a cliff above the sea. 06:50 Well a year after moving here to the cliff the fryer died and he was 06:53 buried here - but the grotto remained with the statue inside of it. 06:59 Well, until 1182, when Dom Fuas, after the miracle, moved the statue out of 07:07 the grotto and had this chapel built as a memorial to the event that saved 07:12 his life. 07:14 Thus this chapel was named Capela da Memória (Chapel of the Memory). 07:17 The tiles on the chapel depict the event, and outside of the chapel is a 07:25 pillar with an inscription commemorating the visit of Vasco da Gama's prior to 07:32 and after his voyage to India. 07:36 Now in 1377, because of the growing number of pilgrims, king Fernando 07:43 had the church over here built the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré it was 07:50 built in 1377. 07:56 The church, was rebuilt in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. 08:00 Semicircular steps lead to a Baroque portal under two square bell towers. 08:06 There are cloisters to the front and left of the building. 08:10 Inside there is highly guilded decoration on the Alter area. 08:15 There are many blue and white tiles they were made in 1708 by the Dutch 08:21 ceramist Willem van der Kloet. 08:23 They depict biblical scenes, and among them Joseph being sold as a 08:28 slave by his brothers. 08:30 The image is now on display here in the main chapel just above the 08:35 altar. 08:36 So think about it, the statue has remained in the same place since 711 AD, 08:41 in a village named after it, Sítio da Nazare, the Place of the Nazaré. 08:51 Well we're here in the Largo dos Cedros at the monument to the women of 08:55 Nazaré. 08:57 Now there's an interesting tradition here that doesn't date as far back 09:02 as the statue legend but, is nonetheless quite unique, it's that of the 09:06 seven skirts of Nazaré. 09:08 Fisher women here still wear seven colourful layers of skirts and a 09:13 predominantly black headscarf. 09:16 Their arrival on the fashion scene in Nazaré is attributed to the 09:20 fishwives of old who would await the safe return of their men on the beach in 09:25 cold, wet, and windy conditions, layers were added to help them to keep 09:30 warm. 09:31 The number finally settled on was seven. 09:34 The length of the skirts are kept above the knees because the women used to 09:39 help bring the boats in from the water. 09:42 The skirts are therefore cut above the water level. 09:48 The first known references to fishing activities in Nazaré go back to 1643. 09:54 In 1870, there were already 58 fishing cabins here, where fishermen kept 10:00 their tools and instruments. 10:02 Until the beginning of the 19th century, however, the fishermen, fearing 10:07 pirates, lived only in the cliffs - it was only in the middle of that century 10:12 was Nazaré to start being known as a tourist beach. 10:16 The fishermen of the 19th century wore short pants in Scottish flannel - on 10:22 Sundays they would put on their long pants, they wore Scottish flannel 10:26 shirts without pockets to swim better in the event of shipwreck, goblin cap 10:31 that works as a pocket, and a belt with 6 turns. 10:37 Phoenician ships used to ply the coast of Portugal. 10:40 The fishermen of Nazaré are traditionally of Phoenician descent. 10:44 This can be seen today in the unusual and ancient design of their boats, 10:49 which have soaring pointed bows and are painted with mystical symbols. 10:57 Nazare is the most dangerous beach but also the most abundant in fish. 11:04 In the past, when there was no port, these boats were pulled ashore by long 11:10 ropes by men and women with oxen or more recent past by tractors. 11:18 They would place their nets several kilometres from the beach and the 11:22 nets in with tractors or oxen pulled them in an endless going and 11:28 returning. 11:29 When the net arrived, the town would gather to see the catch, sometimes 11:34 weighing in excess of 2 tons. 11:37 Well the fish then, would be taken over to the fish market where they 11:41 would be sold at an auction, but a descending auction. 11:44 The sardine would be cooked and canned the same day. 11:47 Now the fish that was to remain here for local consumption would be cut 11:55 and be dried in the sun. 12:03 Today Nazare is probably better known for its waves and attracting big wave 12:08 surfers like Garrett McNamara then anything else. 12:12 On October 17, 2011 McNamara caught what may prove to be the biggest 12:18 wave ever surfed, here at Praia do Norte, The wave, was believed to have a 12:25 height of around 30m. 12:28 You see the coast off Nazaré is home to a special phenomenon known 12:33 as the "Nazaré Canyon". 12:37 This deep undersea trough is deeper, longer, and wider than America's Grand 12:45 Canyon. 12:46 At one end, far out to sea, the mouth of the canyon is wide. 12:50 At the other end near to the coast, the canyon is narrow. 12:54 So water passing through this natural funnel, are amplified and pressurized, 13:00 creating waves of skyscraper proportions. 13:05 This rare formation is a gap in the continental plate some 170km in length 13:13 and 5km deep 13:19 These streets are part of my history, my heritage - it helps define who I am. 13:23 You see, my mom and my dad ran up and down these streets as young children 13:29 and later young adults until there departure to Canada in 1958. 13:33 We are what our ancestors have left us to be. 13:40 But, if that's all we are, then we're in sad shape. 13:43 The painful truth is, although we have roots and they are valuable for our 13:47 self-understanding, our roots usually are not very pretty. 13:52 Many of our ancestors are worth little as models for us to imitate. 13:57 That's even true of our religious 'ancestors. 14:01 Look at some of our ancestors in faith . 14:04 Abraham seemed forever clumsy. 14:07 Once, while in Egypt, he tried to pass off his wife, Sarah, as his sister 14:12 so a Pharaoh with a wandering eye would not become jealous and kill 14:17 him to get her. 14:19 King David. 14:21 We usually remember David for his battle against Goliath, his beautiful 14:23 psalms, his mighty kingdom. 14:26 But David was also a philanderer - he chased other men's wives. 14:31 And when he caught them, as he did Bathsheba, he wasn't above knocking off 14:35 the husband so he could marry the woman. 14:39 Not exactly the ideal ancestor to imitate. 14:42 Then there's Jacob. 14:44 With Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph, he is a Patriarch and at the very base of 14:50 our family roots. 14:51 What we often forget is Jacob's nickname was "tricky Jacob." 14:56 He was sly and cunning. 14:58 He cheated his brother out of their father's inheritance. 15:02 There's one more element to our heritage, at least our religious heritage. 15:08 Our ancestors in faith left us not only a name, not only a history, but 15:14 also a blessing - God's blessing. 15:17 "I will bless you," says the Lord to Abraham and his descendants, "and make 15:22 your name great, so that you will be a blessing." 15:31 What makes the heritage of the faithful, to which we belong, different from any 15:35 other family tree and story the genealogists can dig up, is not that we're 15:41 better than anyone else. 15:42 What makes us different is we're blessed by God. 15:44 God claims us. 15:46 We are part of his clan. 15:48 He made that investment in us; he established his kinship in Exodus when he 15:54 said, "You will be my people, and I will be your God." 15:58 And he demonstrated his involvement in our clan when he sent his Son to 16:04 die on our behalf. 16:06 It's not out of respect for our heritage God accepts us; it's out of 16:10 involvement in our past that He loves us and stays involved in our present. 16:16 It is why, in the Lord's Prayer, Christ permits us to say, "Our Father," when 16:22 addressing God. 16:24 This is a family affair. 16:25 That serves to remind us that we're part of a long line of the faithful, 16:30 people who have been blessed by God. 16:34 When we confess that we remind ourselves we need this blessing of God. 16:41 We have no land, no property we can truly call our own. 16:47 Abraham never did settle down in one place. 16:50 Our life as God's children is a journey, always searching for a Promised 16:58 Land where life is simple and good, but always enduring, in the meantime, 17:05 the world we pass by - the confused world, the troubled world, the 17:10 doubting world. 17:13 And the irony is, it's not only in that future land God promises to be with 17:20 us, but in this present journey also. 17:27 You see, in this life, we will never arrive at a Promised Land . 17:30 This is the way God meant it to be. 17:32 The creed of faith, which links us with our ancestors, never loses 17:36 sight of the fact that the faithful are always wanderers, always 17:40 pilgrims. 17:41 Indeed, the greatest irony here is, having roots, we are yet rootless. 17:46 Having this heritage only reminds us we have no home. 17:51 Examining our roots is not a nostalgia trip from which we can return to a 17:56 comfortable secure present. 17:58 It's a recognition that our present has no security in anything 18:03 temporal. 18:05 Wandering means lacking home, lacking many possessions, lacking even 18:09 a country. 18:11 As God's children, we inherit nothing except His name, His blessing, and 18:16 His promise to be with us and help us make sense out of a senseless world. 18:21 Having roots in God's family means our roots cannot be in the world we 18:27 see around us today. 18:29 The starkness of that reality is demonstrated movingly in the play -- 18:33 Fiddler on the Roof. 18:35 As you may well know, this is a story of a village of Russian Jews. 18:39 They're faithful Jews; "For them life was good; their village of Anatevka 18:44 thrives and, in their prosperity, they see God's blessing. 18:49 Then comes the government persecution. 18:51 Now they must move on; they must lose their prosperity. 18:55 But they manage to see that the blessing of God, greater than their 18:59 prosperity, is the promise he made to them - the promise to be with them, 19:04 to comfort them, to give direction in their wandering. 19:08 At movie's end, these Jewish peasants pack their carts, singing mournfully 19:15 of Anatevka, the abandoned home. 19:18 But they conclude by sighing, "We'll find a new Anatevka; God will lead 19:24 us. 19:24 After all, he led our fathers!" 19:28 When we announce and confess that, we know our roots and our identity. 19:33 And we know we are a broken, but blessed, people, not rooted in a 19:39 time or a place. 19:41 We are rooted in a promise, in a faith, in a journey. 19:50 Let us pray. 19:51 Father in heaven, thank you for claiming us as your own. 19:54 Father, if there is anyone within the sound of my voice yet that has not 19:59 chosen to be part of this heritage of the redeemed, I pray that they may 20:06 choose Jesus right now. 20:08 Please bless each and every viewer, in Jesus' name, amen. 20:25 Well, I hope you enjoyed that. 20:28 Isn't it a beautiful fishing village? 20:31 You know, the Bible says that our citizenship is in heaven. 20:36 That means that it doesn't matter what passport you carry, what nationality 20:45 you claim. 20:47 Our destiny is heaven. 20:51 And that's God's desire for each and every one of us. 20:54 Some suggest that unless we understand our legacy, we can never fully 20:58 understand our destiny and where it is that God wants to take us. 21:02 The greatest desire of God's heart is that you and I spend an eternity 21:08 with Him. 21:11 Do you know how you can make that a reality? 21:13 You choose Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. 21:17 You give Him control of your heart. 21:20 In every heart, there is a throne. 21:25 In every heart, there is a battle over who we will allow to sit on the throne 21:31 of our heart. 21:33 Unless you allow Jesus to sit on the throne of your heart, unless you do that, 21:40 you will not ever have the opportunity to worship Him when He sits on the throne 21:46 of the universe. 21:48 Choose Jesus today. 21:50 Choose everlasting life. 21:54 I want to let you know that we are continuing with our Bible prophecies 21:58 seminar in Belleville tonight. 22:01 We will be back at the Belleville Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 7 p.m. 22:06 with another topic in our series of Bible prophecy seminars. 22:12 You know, if you've been wrestling with questions like, "What happens to us 22:15 when we die? 22:17 " And, "Who is the antichrist? 22:18 " And, "Does the United States play any role in Bible prophecy? 22:23 " Then you're going to want to join us. 22:25 Now, if you're watching and you're not anywhere near Belleville, then you 22:30 can go on our website, itiswrittencanada.ca, click on the "watch live" 22:38 tab, and you will be able to accompany the Bible prophecies seminar from 22:43 anywhere in Canada, anywhere in the world, over the internet. 22:48 You can watch it on your desktop, on your laptop, on your iPhone, on your 22:52 iPad, on your Android, on any mobile device, on any computer device, 7 p.m. 22:59 eastern time tonight as we transmit live from Belleville. 23:05 I hope you'll join us. 23:27 >>Bev: Hi, everyone! 23:28 If you love pears and persimmons, I have the easiest and yummiest raw 23:32 dessert recipe to share today: Pear Napoleon with Pistachio Crumble and 23:37 Persimmon Puree. 23:39 Sound scrumptious? 23:41 It is! 23:42 Pears are a good source of vitamin C and K, and the skin is a great source of 23:46 fibre and flavonoids. 23:48 Persimmons are abundant in winter and, if you wait until they are ooey, gooey 23:52 ripe, they are especially delicious! 23:55 Pistachios are a lovely, buttery nut. 23:57 They are high in healthy fats and, thus, in calories. 24:01 A quarter cup of raw, unsalted pistachios has about 170 calories, 6 24:06 grams of protein, and around 14 grams of fat. 24:09 Plus, fibre, vitamins, and minerals. 24:12 This recipe is from the Bella Vita Lifestyle Education Home in 24:16 California, where I had the wonderful privilege to attend a 10-day 24:19 therapeutic detox/cleansingprogram. 24:23 It was an over-the-top-fantastic experience physically, 24:27 mentally, and spiritually! 24:30 This raw Pear Napoleon is just one of the delicious raw recipes we enjoyed, 24:34 and I'm adapting it just a little bit. 24:37 All you'll need for one portion of this lovely, raw dessert is: one pear, 24:41 one ripe persimmon, 1/4 cup of chopped pistachios 1 Tablespoon of 24:46 sweetener, I'm maple syrup and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom or pumpkin 24:51 spice. 24:52 Now, look how easy this is! 24:55 And how gorgeous! 24:57 I've sliced up a pear and I'm going to put one there and then I'm going to take 25:02 the pistachios that I already crumbled and I've already added the 25:08 sweetener to them. 25:10 So we are going to put them there. 25:12 And then we are going to put some of this delicious persimmon on top. 25:17 And then we are going to take another slice of pear and we are going to do 25:22 that whole thing all over again. 25:24 Put the crumble -- I can't even tell you how delicious it is -- put 25:30 some more of the crumble. 25:31 And then some more of the persimmon -- and for the persimmon, all I did was I 25:36 chopped it up and one of them was really really mushy so I mashed that one 25:40 and then mixed the two together. 25:43 And then, take another slice of pear, see how it's building beautifully 25:48 and how it's all raw. 25:50 So we put some more of the crumble and then we put some more of the 25:55 persimmon. 25:58 And isn't that georgous, isn't that beautiful. 26:03 And then I made a cashew/ persimmon cream -- and you can just kind-of put that 26:07 on top and drizzle it down the side. 26:11 Isn't that beautiful. 26:13 If you'd like information about attending a therapeutic 26:17 detox/cleansing program at Bella Vita, their website is modernmanna.org. 26:22 I highly, highly recommend them. 26:25 Tell them Bev sent you! 26:27 I'll see you next time! 26:35 One of the great ways of learning more about what the Bible has to say is by 26:39 using our Discover Bible Study Guides. 26:42 They are sent to your home by mail, postage paid, no obligation whatsoever on 26:47 your part. 26:48 Thousands of folks are using those Bible study guides to deepen their 26:52 understanding of God's word. 26:53 Why not ask for your lesson today? 26:56 Here's the information you need to get your copy. 28:00 I want to thank you for joining us here on this edition of the It Is 28:04 Written program. 28:05 And I hope you'll be back with us again next time. 28:07 In the meantime, remember to visit our website, itiswrittencanada.ca. 28:12 There, you can see all of our programs. 28:14 You can send a prayer request. 28:16 You can even make a donation to our ministry if you feel so impressed 28:19 to do so. 28:20 Well, from Nazaré in Portugal, that's it for today. 28:24 Hope to see you again real soon. 28:26 But remember, at is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but 28:31 by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. |
Revised 2015-02-06