Ukraine Jesus Wall

To western Ukraine we go, to “a metallically reinforced factory wall at the Velyky Berezny township” to be exact. The wall belongs to a lumber factory, according to this Russia Today report, and it features an image of Jesus, prompting locals to pay their respects. Though, the police have also been paying close attention to the wall because “debates on the divinity of the image are often and heated, and in the multi-ethnic region – apart from Ukrainians the township is also inhabited by Rusyns, Hungarians and Slovaks – tensions may easily flare.”

It doesn’t really sound like Texas, California or Florida, does it? But fear not, technology makes the foreign familiar for all of us anymore, and this area of the Ukraine, for all of its ethnic conflicts, is no different. According to the article, many of the onlookers capture the image using, you guessed it, their mobile phones.

We all speak different languages, adhere to myriad traditions and beliefs, but in this day and age we all, no matter where in the world we reside, are accustomed to, dare I say rely on, the ability to memorialize a moment and then disseminate it using phones and other such hand-held gadgetry. I’m not complaining, too much, since my phone doesn’t have a camera. Plus, these phones definitely provide lots of Madonna of the Toast fodder. But isn’t is amazing just how these technologies level barriers of space and time, accelerating the power of the image?

I Told You There Would be a Forest

I didn’t know it would be in the Ukraine, though. According to this Interfax report, near the village of Dobryany two poplar trees (one of them split by a bolt of lightning) feature the likenesses of Jesus and Mary respectively. The two trees stand about 100 meters away from one another and were first discovered by a first-grade schoolgirl. News of the trees spread quickly after the girl’s father documented them with his cell phone’s camera.

Apparently, the images become more visible during the golden hour, when the light slices through the stand of trees: “At sunset, the head of Christ is clearly seen at a certain angle, the faithful maintain. The other poplar shows clearly at its trunk clear of dry bark a figure with the bent head and hands folded in a prayer.”

Since the discovery, the village’s church choir has paid a visit, as have priests from the city of Lvov. It sounds like the priests from the city are a bit more skeptical than their rural brethren, as they photographed the trees but refused to comment.

There’s definitely something to be said for country living, although I don't know if you're truly in the country if there is cell phone reception.