Feeling guilty about drinking? Ask a saint.

Michael. Welfare/Dialogue mentioned that every year's festivals will bring about an increase in alcohol consumption and concerns about the harmful effects of drinking.

Alcoholism is not a ridiculous thing, but is it a sin to drink moderately and responsibly in a sacred season or at any other time? As a historical theologian, I studied the role of devout Christians in the development and production of alcohol.

I found an amazing history.

A feast for monks.

Walter Dandy Seydler.

Wine was invented 6000 years before the birth of Christ, but in Europe, it is mainly monks who preserve the wine-making industry.

Religious organizations such as the Benedictine Society and the Jesuit Society have all become winemakers.

They stopped only because their land was confiscated by anti-Catholics such as the French Revolution and the Constitutional Assembly of the Second Reich in the 18 and 19 centuries to celebrate the Eucharist, which required bread and wine. Catholic missionaries brought their knowledge of grape cultivation to the new world.

1779, San Junipero Serra and his Francis Cain brothers introduced wine grapes to Alta California for the first time, which laid the foundation of California wine industry.

A similar situation happened in Argentina, Chile and Australia, where monks were all in the cellar.

Joseph Haier1816-1891.

Godly people not only preserve and spread wine theology, but also study wine.

They also pushed.

One of the pioneers of "méthode champenoise" or "traditional method" for brewing sparkling wine is a Benedictine monk whose name is now decorated with one of the best champagne in the world: Dom Pérignon.

According to a later legend, when he tasted the first batch of grapes at 17 15, Perigueux farmers shouted to his monks, who also discovered new uses of grapes.

Jesuits are considered to have improved the brewing technology of Graba and pisco in South America, both of which are grape brandy.

Although beer may have been invented by ancient Babylonians, as we know today, medieval monasteries made it perfect for us to brew beer.

The oldest paintings of modern wineries come from St Gallen Abbey.

These plans can be traced back to 820 AD. There are three wineries in the plan, one for the guests of the temple, one for the pilgrims and the poor, one for the monks themselves, and three monks drink beer (1885) Edward Gruttner.

A saint who lived in 1 1 century, Arnold of Sovazon, is even considered to have invented the filtration process.

Today, although many excellent microbreweries emerge one after another, it can be said that the best beer in the world is still brewed in monasteries, especially in trapp, where the religious contribution of distilled liquor is equally impressive.

Whisky was invented by Irish monks in the Middle Ages. They may have shared their knowledge with the Scots during their missionary work. A monk's wine cellar tasted a barrel of wine. Lilith Toussaint (/kloc-3rd century manuscript), France.

Because of its unique flavor and medicinal value, chartres wine is widely regarded as the best liqueur in the world.

Under the perfection of the Carthaginian order nearly 300 years ago, only two monks knew this recipe at a time.

Herbal liqueur Bénédictine D.O.M is said to have been invented by an Italian Benedictine named Dom Bernardo Vincelli in 15 10, with the aim of strengthening and restoring tired monks.

/kloc-At the beginning of the 6th century, Dominican pharmacists invented the cherry brandy Marascali. The originality of alcohol is not exclusive to men.

Carmeite sister company once produced an extract called Carmeite water, which was used as a herbal tonic.

The nuns no longer produced this medicine, but another condiment of the monastery survived and later became one of the most popular holiday liqueurs in Mexico-ROPP.

It is made of vanilla, milk and eggs. Rompope was invented by a cleaning nun in Puebla, a Spanish colonial city in the southeast of Mexico City.

According to one theory, nuns painted protein on the sacred objects in the church.

They didn't want to waste the remaining egg yolk, so they made a recipe for this holiday snack. Why do religious circles have such an impressive record of wine creativity? I think there are two fundamental reasons. First, the conditions were right.

Monastery communities and similar religious organizations have all the necessary qualities to produce high-quality alcoholic beverages.

They have vast land for growing grapes or barley, long-term institutional memory, through which they can inherit and perfect special knowledge, have facilities for teamwork, and promise to perform well even in the most trivial housework, so as to honor God.

Historically, alcohol can promote health.

Fritz Wagner (1896- 1939) (Dorothy).

Secondly, in our time, it is easy to forget that alcohol has been a tool to promote health for most of human history.

Water sources often carry dangerous pathogens, so a small amount of alcohol will be mixed with water to kill bacteria.

For example, Roman soldiers drank wine every day, not to get drunk, but to purify the water they found in the battle.

Two bishops, Saint Hanouf of Metz and Saint Arnold of Soisson, are believed to have saved hundreds of people from the plague because they warned their sheep to drink beer instead of water.

Whiskey, herbal wine and even bitter wine were invented for medical reasons. If beer can save the soul from the plague, it's no wonder that the church has a special blessing, which began with "Monks Taste Wine" written by Antonio Casanova y Estorach in Brooklyn Museum (1886).

(Public domain), above: details of Joseph Wagner-Hamberg's "Monk".