Feast of the Nativity of Our Holy Mother Virgin Maryam /ልደታ ለማርያም/

According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church canon, the birth of Our Holy Mother Virgin Maryam is celebrated on Ginbot 1 (May 9).

The parents of Our Holy Mother Virgin Mariam, Joachim and Hannah had no child even at the later stage of their lives, because Hannah was barren. The people of Israel rebuked them saying that God did not give them a child because of their sin. When Hannah the mother of Our Holy Mother prayed to have a child, she promised to God saying, "If You gives me a fruit, I will devote the child to Your Holy Temple".

One day Joachim the father of Our Holy Mother said unto Hannah his wife; "I had a dream, I saw the heavens opened, and a white bird went forth therefrom and hovered over my head". And likewise, Hanna said unto him, "I also had a dream this day, and I saw a dove sitting upon my head, and it entered into my belly."And seven days after they had told each other these things, on the seventh day of the month Nahasse Hannah conceived despite her old age. And six months after it had become known that the blessed Hannah had conceived, the family of Joachim her husband and those of her relatives heard of this. They came unto her to check what they were hearing. Now there was a certain woman among them who was blind, and she touched the belly of Hannah, saying, "Is it true, what I have heard?" Straightway her eyes were opened, and she saw the light. Then they all said, "O a child who is not yet born can heal the blind when he is born how many people he shall heal”. This matter became hard unto all the elders of Israel. From that day the elders of Israel did not see Hannah and Joachim in a good way and decided to kill them before the birth of the child. But the Angel of God, appeared unto Joachim in his dream and told him to take his wife Hannah and flee to the Mount of Lebanon.

Song of Solomon 4:8

“Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.”

Our Holy mother was born while her mother Hannah was on the journey in exile on the Mount of Lebanon. When Our Holy Mother was born, her father Joachim and her mother Hannah, were overjoyed. The place where she was born was on a mountainside hiding from the elders of Israel. All their families and relatives came to the Mount of Lebanon to see Hannah and the miracle baby. They all feast together and eat under a tree on the Mount of Lebanon and thank God for the blessed child. To commemorate this occasion in the Month of Ginbot all Ethiopian Orthodox Church believers celebrate the birth of Our Holy Mother by getting together and have a feast under a tree.

Pray for us, O Holy Virgin Maryam Mother of God.

Debre Zeit - ደብረ ዘይት - Mount of Olives

In The Name of The Father, The Son And The Holy Spirit, one God Amen

The fifth Sunday of the Great Fast (Abiy Tsom) is called “Debre Zeite”, which is a Ge’ez name meaning Mount of Olives taken from the hymnbook of Saint Yared known as “Tsome Digua” (Hymn of Fast). On this date we remember the second coming of Our Lord Eyesus Kristos and the final judgment.

Matthew 24:3-9

“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake”.

All the signs of the end times spoken by Our Lord Eyesus Kristos will be fulfilled before the final judgment and the resurrection of the dead, believers and unbelievers, righteous and sinners will follow. In the knowledge of this truth of the second coming of Our Lord that all people must repent, believe and be baptized in preparation for the arrival of God’s Kingdom.

The bible advises us to be spiritually prepared for salvation and judgment today, not tomorrow, and to put our trust in God's grace and forgiveness.

2 Corinthians 6

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have Isuccoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

The fifth week of the Great lent also reminds us that all of us will face judgment. Eyesus Kristos will examine each of us and as a result some will gain eternal life with Him in Heaven and some will gain eternal punishment in Hell.

John 5:25-30

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church also teaches that Our Lord and Savior Eyesus Kristos will come back on a Sunday, on the day of Debre Zeit, in the year of St. John, at midnight but we don't know which year.

Thy Word we have read, let God allow us to treasure it in our hearts and grant us to see the light of his resurrection in peace, Amen! የአነበብነውን ቃል በልቦናችን ያሳድርልን አሜን!

Mikurab - ምኩራብ

Mikurab/ ምኩራብ-3rd Sunday of The Holy Great Fast

'Mikurab/ ምኩራብ' The third Sunday of the Great Fast (Abiy Tsom) is called “Mikurab”, which is a Ge’ez word meaning synagogue. The name Mikurab is named after the song of Saint Yared for the Sunday. On this date, Our Lord and Savior Eyesus Kristos shows his authority and demonstrated the importance of keeping the temple/church holy and honoring God’s house as a place of prayer but nothing else.

John 2:13-17

“13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

This teaching was crucial for those people who had gotten so used to seeing (and doing) merchandising in the temple that they perhaps didn’t even know it was a big sin. This teaching is also very crucial for our generation that we should always remember Our Lord and Savior Eyesus Kristos gave us salvation and eternal life for free. There's a place for everything and we shouldn't be selling and buying in the church as Our Lord and Savior Eyesus Kristos ordered us. We Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christine shouldn't come to church to profit world matters but to receive eternal life and salvation for free.

We Christians are the temple of God. We always needs to keep our body (God's temple) clean by believing and following the Apostolic doctrine and orders.

“16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

We must stand in-front of Our Lord and Savior Eyesus Kristos and plead him always to keep his temple (our body) on the right path which he established and passed it to the Apostles.

May Medhanealem Grant us to See the Light of His Resurrection in Peace!