Youth and spirituality

Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ !

God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Psalm 47:5

on this day commemorated the Ascension of our Lord and God and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, in the Body which He took from us, into the heavens, wherein is His Good Father and the Holy Spirit; and this took place after He had finished the operation of His wisdom upon earth, by His Passion, and His Death, and His Resurrection. And when forty days were ended after His Resurrection, He ascended into the heavens, seated upon the wings of the Cherubim, and the Seraphim, and the wings of the winds. And the prophecy of David was fulfilled, saying, “He mounted upon the Cherubim, and did fly on the wings of the wind” (Psalm xviii, 10). And by this Ascension those who believed on Him understood ascension into the heavens, and into the celestial habitation; for wherever the head is, it is meet that the members should be also. And as the old Adam dwelt first in the inheritance of the earth, and then in the Seol, so also the second Adam dwelt in the inheritance of the kingdom of the heavens, and sat down at the great right hand in the heights of the heavens. And our Lord Christ did not make His Ascension to follow His Resurrection immediately, in order that the heretics might not think and say that the Ascension was an inferior matter; but out Lord, in the operation of His wisdom, waited forty days after His Resurrection, and strengthened the faintheartedness of His disciples, and made their souls to understand His Resurrection. And the prophecy of Daniel the prophet concerning the Resurrection of our Lord was fulfilled, saying, “I saw as it were the Son of Man coming upon the cloud of heaven until He drew near the Ancient of Days. And He gave Him authority, and sovereignty, and honor so that every nation, and people, and tongue should worship Him. And His authority is an everlasting authority, and His sovereignty unending “ (Daniel viii, 13, 15), to Whom with His Good Father and the Life- giving Holy Spirit be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salutation to Thy Ascension to Thy Father, Thou didst return like a warrior bringing his spoil with him. Salutation with praise, and singing, and music, to Thy Ascension. Salutation to the Protector of Adam, Who, as David saith, “Went up with the sound of the trumpet” (Psalm 47:5).

Commemoration of the Relocation of the Relics of St. Teklehaimanot.

But the LORD delivers him out of them all.He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. Psalm 34:19-20

This day marks the commemoration of the relocation of the relics of St. Teklehaimanot from where he rested Asebo Cave to Debre Libanos.

May his prayer be with us. Amen.
Commemoration of the Honorable Angel Michael.

On this day also the church commemorate the head of the heavenly hosts the honorable Archangel Michael, the intercessor for the human race.

May his intercession be for us all. Amen.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

On this day the church celebrates the birth of the pure Virgin St. Mary, the Mother of God (Theotokos), through whom Salvation came to mankind. She was born in the city of Nazareth, where her parents lived. Her father was grieved in his heart for he could not offer an offering to God for he did not have any children. In the fullness of time according to the Divine Will, the angel of the Lord was sent to announce Joachim, her father, while he was on the mountain praying, and said to him: "The Lord will give you offspring through whom salvation comes to the world." Immediately he went down the mountain believing what the angel told him, and he told his wife Anna of what he saw and heard. She rejoiced, gave thanks to the Lord, and vowed that the child who was to be born to her would become a servant in the house of the Lord all the days of her/his life. She conceived, and gave birth to this Saint and called her Mary who had become the Queen of all women of the world, and through her we have received the grace.

May her intercession be with us, and glory be to God forever. Amen.

Debre Zeit: the 5th Sunday of the Great Lent
By Kassa Nigus

Debre Zeit (ደብረ ዘይት): the Ge’ez phrase for Mount of Olives is one of the nine minor feast days of the Lord observed halfway in the fifth week of the great lent. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church celebrates the feast with special consideration based upon the second coming of Christ, which was announced by our Lord on the Mount of Olives. Biblical verses and the hymn of St.Yared pertinent to our Lord’s second coming are read and sung on this day.
The signs of the end times spoken by our Lord will culminate in final judgment and resurrection of the living and dead, believers and unbelievers, righteous and sinners. It is in the knowledge of this truth of the second coming of Christ that all people must repent, believe and baptize in preparation for the arrival of God’ Kingdom.

The church advises us to be spiritually prepared for judgment at any moment and to put our trust in God that He will make everything right in the end. The final phase of the process of redemption began with the first coming of Jesus and will culminate in the events surrounding His Second Coming. There will be a final judgment of all people, living and dead. There will be a final defeat and destruction of all evil — Satan, sin, suffering and death. The kingdom of God will come to its fulfillment at last.

Signs of the end
Jesus, Himself, said no one would be able to predict exactly the end of the time but He informs that many events will occur before the Second Coming and which will be signs that the end is near. There will be wars, famines, earthquakes, false prophets, persecutions and an increase in wickedness, rebellion against God, worship of demons, idolatry, murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, and thefts. (Matthew 24:3-14; Rev. 9: 20). The Gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all nations for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. (Matthew 24:14-28).

Resurrection and Final Judgment
Everyone who has ever lived will be brought back to life in some form to face the final judgment along with those still living. When the end time comes, all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth and can be in front of two different Judgment Seats (righteous in the right hand of Jesus and sinners in the left) — those who have done good will be granted eternal life; and those who have done evil, will be condemned to eternal punishment. (Matthew 5:29-30, 25:31-46, Mark 9:43-48 ; John 5:25-29)

While we are still living, or until Jesus comes again, we have every opportunity to repent. We can change our ways from evil to good. But in the end we will all be judged. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. You do not know when that time will come. The event, when it happens, will be swift and unexpected. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. (Mark 13:32-33; Matthew 24:43-44)

Be alert! Be Prepared!

Commemoration of the Resurrection of the Lord Christ from the dead

On this day also the salvation was completed by the holy Resurrection, for Our Lord when he had finished His work upon earth, during a period of thirty three years, suffered of His own free will on the eve of the twenty-seventh day of this month, and He rose from the dead on this very day. As it was on this very day the incarnation of Christ was announced to the people of the world who were awaiting Him. On friday, the living and the dead rejoiced in their Salvation, and on sunday the living became certain of it, and they knew of their resurrection by the Resurrection of the body of Christ, Who was the first-fruits of the dead as the apostle Paul Said: "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." (1 Corinthians 15:20)

We ask Him according to His great mercy and His compassion that He may grant us the forgiveness of our sins. Amen.

Commemoration of the Life giving Annunciation

On this day the church commemorates the Annunciation of our Lady, the Theotokos, the Virgin St. Mary. When the appointed time by God since eternity for the salvation of the human race had come, God sent Gabriel the Archangel to the Virgin St. Mary, who is from the tribe of Judah the house of king David, to announce her with the Divine conception and the Glorious Birth as the Holy Scriptures testifies: " Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Then the angel gave her the proof of the validity of his massage: "Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. "For with God nothing will be impossible." Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-36) When she had accepted this Divine Annunciation, the Only Begotten Son, the Word of God, who is One of the Three eternal Persons, came and dwelt in her womb, a dwelling, the human race can not comprehend. And straightway He united with perfect humanity a complete unity inseparable and unchangeable after the unity. This day then is the first-born of all feasts, for in it was the beginning of the salvation of the world which was fulfilled by the Holy Resurrection of our Lord, saving Adam and his offspring from the hands of Satan.

We ask Our God and Savior graciously to forgive our transgressions and excuse our sins. Amen.

Commemoration of the Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

On this day is the commemoration of the Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Incarnate, to Him is the Glory, for the salvation of the world. The Holy Bible mentioned that: "From the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land." (Matthew 27:45) The sun had hidden its light when it saw its creator incarnated, hanging with His own free will on the wood of the Cross, inclined His head, and yielded up His spirit. The Holy Church teaches us that: " His Divinity parted not from His Humanity for a single moment, nor a twinkle of an eye, and He descended to the hades from the cross to save those in bo***ge therein." St. Peter also said: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison." (1 Peter 3:18-19) In the heavens He was in His might, and on earth He was a savior. Praise the Lord, the omnipotent God, Who is in every place, He saved us by giving Himself up, and opened to us the door of His kingdom.

To Him is the Glory, Power and Dominion forever. Amen.

The fourth Sunday of the Great fast (Abiy Tsom) is called “Metsagu”, which is a Ge’ez word meaning Infirmity or Paralytic. “Metsagu” named after the song of Saint Yared, for the day from the hymnbook known as “Tsome Digua” (Hymn of Fast). On this date, we remember all the lepers, deaf, blind and sick people healed by Eyesus Kristos. Especially, the man who had been infirm for 38 years, healed at the pool of Bathesda. John 5:1-15

Commemoration of the Appearance of the Glorious Cross

The church celebrates the appearance of the glorious Cross of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ twice: The First on the sixteenth day of the month of Tute, 326 A.D. by the hands of the righteous Empress St. Helen, the mother of Constantine the great, the righteous Emperor. This Saint when her son Constantine accepted the Faith in the Lord Christ, she vowed to go to Jerusalem. Her righteous son prepared everything needed to fulfill this holy visit. When she arrived to Jerusalem with multitude of soldiers, she asked about the place of the Cross but no one would tell her. She took one of the jewish elders and pressured him by hunger and thirst until he was forced to direct them to the place where they might find the Cross at the hill of Golgotha. She ordered them to clear out the site of Golgotha where they found three crosses and that was in the year 326 A.D. However, they did not know the cross upon which Our Lord Christ was crucified, they brought a dead man and they laid upon him one of the crosses and then the other but he did not rise up but when they laid the third cross upon him he rose up immediately, then they realized that this was the Cross of Our Lord Christ. The Empress and all the believers kneeled down before the Holy Cross, and she sent a piece of it with the nails to her son Constantine. Immediately after, she built the churches that were mentioned on the Sixteenth day of the blessed month of Tute.

The Second celebration that the church commemorates the Cross is on the Tenth day of the month of Baramhat by the hands of Emperor Heraclius, in 627 A.D. When the Persians were defeated by Heraclius they retreated from Egypt to their country. On their way back they passed through Jerusalem, a persian prince entered the church of the Cross which was built by Empress Helen. He saw a great light shinning from a piece of wood located on a place decorated with gold. He thrust his hand to it and there went forth from it fire which burned his fingers. The Christians told him that this is the base of the Holy Cross and they told him how it was discovered and no one was able to touch it except a Christian. He deceived the two deacons who were standing to guard it and gave them much money so they would carry this piece and go with it with him to his country. They took it and put it in a box and went with him to his country along with those who were captured from the city of Jerusalem. When Emperor Heraclius heard that, he went with his army to Persia, fought with them and slew many of them. He traveled about this country searching for this piece of the Holy Cross but he could not find it, for the Persian prince had dug a hole in his garden and ordered the two deacons to put the box in it and buried it and then he killed them. One of the captives of that Persian prince which was the daughter of one of the priests, was looking out of the window by chance and saw what happened. She went to Heraclius the Emperor and told him what she saw. He went with the bishops, priests and the soldiers to the place. They dug there and found the box, they took the piece of the Holy Cross out, in 628 A.D., wrapped it in magnificent apparel and Heraclius took it to the city of Constantinople and kept it there.

May the blessings of the Holy Cross be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.

Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
Psalm 2:11

The Covenant of St. Mary (Kidane Mihret)

Saints enjoy greater grace before God for forsaking the world and receiving hardship for the love of God. They have received spiritual powers to perform miracles while in this world such as making the dead rise, healing different ailments and driving out demons.

Likewise, one who implores by invoking their names, commemorates them and believes in their role of intercession shall be rewarded as has been confirmed by God.Our Lord says in the Gospel of Mathew 10:41-42 “that if any one receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple; verily I say unto you, he shall in nowise lose his reward.”

Saints intercede not only in the realms of the flesh as the scriptures testify for they are alive in soul. (Ex.32:2-15; Enoch 12:33-40, Luke 20:37-40. The word of God is living, and it works on the living. His covenant never changes and He Himself has said that saints are also living.

His covenant never changes and He Himself has said that saints are also living.
The church believes in the covenant and honor bestowed on holy Apostles, martyrs and the righteous. Covenant has been given to them that those who forsook all and followed him by carrying his cross and received hardship for the name and glory of Christ shall sit upon the twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel when the son of man sits on his glorious throne. (Matt. 19:28)

If the Lord said this about the apostles, then how much more effective would be the prayers of the Mother of God for the salvation of her children? We have seen St. Mary receiving the motherhood of the Incarnate Son of God. This motherhood is not merely an honorable title but a responsibility of unceasing work. Being a superior member of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, she responds to the need of the other members seeking the salvation of everyone.

The story of the wedding of Cana of Galilee shows how great the intercession of Virgin Mary is. When St. Mary saw that the wine at the wedding had run out, she informed her Son, “they have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Of course the Lord was aware of that and surely he does not need to be reminded with the need of his children. But He who is full of love is pleased to see the mutual feeling of love in His mother and His children.
Her request was only made once, which shows clearly her confidence in Her Son’s reply, for she did not repeat her request but with every assurance she said to the people, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” (Jn 2:5) Through her conversation with the people of the wedding, we can visualize her role in intercession. For she presents our needs to her Son and then directs our hearts to diligently carry out His comandments and to do whatever He tells us.

Accordingly, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church commemorates the covenant of St. Mary by the name Kidane Mehret.
Kidane Mihret (ኪዳነ ምሕረት) is a Ge’ez phrase which literally means ‘covenant of mercy’. The phrase is used to refer to God’s promise to St. Mary that he would forgive the sins of those who seek her intercession – a fact that underscores the enormous grace of Our Lady before the Almighty. Kidane Mihret also refers to Yekatit 16 (February 23), the day on which St. Mary received the promise.It is also observed on the 16th day of each month though not as colorfully as on February 23. The day marks one of the 33 feasts of St.Mary.

According to the Ethiopic Synaxarium (pp.365), God has promised St. Mary that he will bless those who celebrate her commemoration, call upon her name, or give alms to the poor even if it were only a cup of cold water. He also promised to bless those who build churches in her name, give cloth to the poor; those who visit the sick, feed the hungry, comfort the grieving, or write the history of her strife.

May her prayer and intercession be with us!!
By Kassa Nigus

Source:

• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church Faith, Order of Worship and Ecumenical Relations (1996: 60-62).
• The book of the saints of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (Synaxarium).