Ethiopia Worship

Fasts are numerous and rigid, but one never fasts in the 50 days from Easter to Pentecost, on Sundays and Saturdays. We fast on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week and the whole of Lent until the Saturday of Passion; it is preceded by the fasting known as Heraclius (the τυροϕάψος ἑβδομάς of the Greeks) and followed by the great fast of Holy Week, which runs from Passion Saturday to Easter. We also observe: the fast of the Ninevites (3 days) from the 28th of the month of Ţer (February), Advent (40 days), the fast of the Apostles (15 days) which ends with the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, that for the Assumption (15 days) in the first half of August; fasting for the feast of Quesquām (40 days from the 26th of Maskaram; September-October), and the eves of Christmas and Epiphany. On these two vigils, as in Lent (including the fast of Heraclius and Holy Week) and in the fasts of the Ninevites and Quesquām, we fast until the end of the day; in other fasts up to ninth (about three in the afternoon). Some fasts, such as Advent and that of the Assumption, seem to be generally not observed. Some foods are vulgarly deemed unclean and not to be eaten, but none of it is in the Fet ḥ in Nagast. The great feasts, especially of the Lord and of the Madonna are very numerous. There are also numerous feasts of the angels (that of St. Michael occurs on the 12th of each month) and of the saints. Besides the saints of the first centuries, venerated by all Christian confessions, and those of the Copts, the Abyssinian saints of the ancient period are venerated, that is the “Nine saints” mentioned above; Libānos or Maṭā, Yārēd and king Kālēb. Among the saints of the century. XII and XIII Lālibalā, Na’aqueto La’ab, the legendary Gabra Manfas Qeddus and the somewhat more recent major saint of Abyssinia, Takla Hāymānot. Of the sec. XIV are Anorēwos (Honorius), Ēwosṭātewos (Eustazio), founder of the monastic order that bears his name. The two Philippians are venerated, one of Dabra Libānos, the other, Abbā Filippo, of Bizan, Samuel of Waldebbā and others. From the century of Zar’a Yā‛qob are Mabā ‘Ṣeyon and Takla Ṣeyon, and from the time of the struggle with the Jesuits and what followed their expulsion are Walatta Pēṭros, full of zeal for the Alexandrian faith, who died in 1672 and King John I (1667-1682) himself. Chronologically among the last saints, if not the last, is Buruk, who died in 1705.

The recitation of the canonical hours (vespers, etc.) in churches, already in use in the first half of the century. XIV, it was better regulated by King Zar’a Yā‛qob; most of the prayers are made up of psalms. The liturgical chant (which would have been introduced by Yārēd in the seventh century), accompanied by sistrums and the rhythmic beating of the feet, is performed by the Debterā or Cantori, who after some verses of psalms or canticles improvise poems, some very short, others less, called “qenē” (a species of στιχηρά also used in other oriental churches). In the great churches the divine officiation takes place regularly on Sundays and feasts and on Wednesdays and Fridays, preceded by psalms in still song; but in small village churches, etc. only Sundays and holidays, and the singing is replaced by some hymns;

Dignitaries of the church. – The head of the Abyssinian church is the metropolitan “Pāpās” or “Abun” ordained as such by the Coptic patriarch who resides in Cairo; he is chosen from among the numerous Coptic monks; a canon of the Council of Nicaea, apocryphal, but considered genuine, prohibits the metropolitan from being Abyssinian. A very recent national movement, which aimed to ensure that an Abyssinian could be elected “Pāpās”, met with the opposition of the Coptic patriarch: it was only possible to obtain the institution of 5 bishoprics, whose holders would be chosen from the Abyssinian clergy. In addition to the income he enjoys, the metropolitan receives the rights to ordinations or other. Sometimes (as under Zar’a Yā‛qob) two contemporary metropolitans are mentioned, one of whom was perhaps a kind of vicar; even recently there were up to 4 contemporary metropolitans. ecieghié) head of the monks of Dabra Libānos and of the clergy, but residing in Gondar since the century. XVII. The monks of Ēwosṭātewos do not have a superior general, but precedence is given to the prior or chief of Dabra Bizan. Two great dignitaries assigned to the king’s court are the Qēs Aṭē, great chaplain and confessor of the king, and Aqābē sā’āt, who however no longer appears. For Ethiopia culture and traditions, please check allunitconverters.com.

The monks who refer their origin, like the Copts, to St. Pachomius and St. Anthony, and are held in greater value by the secular clergy, have three professions; in the first they receive the “qenāt” or cingulum, in the second the “qōb” or cap (cap) of white color, and finally, in the third, the “askēma”, δχῆμα (corresponding to the μέγα σχῆμα), a kind of scapular; there is more than one ritual for the rules to be observed in the monastic profession.

Convents for nuns would have been founded as early as Za-Mikā’ēl Arāgāwi, one of the Nine Saints. The new monasteries founded in the XIII-XIV century made the ancient ones founded by the Nine Saints or their disciples lose importance and fame. Among the monasteries of this second period are famous Dabra Libānos in Scioa, Dabra Bizan in Eritrea and many others. Abyssinian monks have inhabited and still live, in considerable numbers, in Coptic convents in Egypt, such as the convent of Ḥārah Zuwēlah in Cairo, and the Abyssinian convents in Jerusalem (Dēr-Sulṭān) and D. Gannat. For two centuries (XV, XVI-XVIII) Abyssinian monks lived in Rome the convent of S. Stefano, therefore called dei Mori, which since 1919 has returned, in a certain way, to its previous destination, being the seat of a seminary for young Abyssinians, especially from Eritrea. Tsar ‘ qen ā t and q ō b. These communities are quite different from Catholic monasteries; works of charity are unknown to them.

Metropolitans, ečagēe monks have had and have political importance, and have been in conflict with the kings themselves; thus John I deposed Metropolitan Krestodule, and Iyāsu I deposed Metropolitan Sinodā. Since in Abyssinia the interference of kings in the government of the church has always been in force (at least until very recently), as, from Constantine onwards, that of the emperors in Rome and then in Byzantium and in the Orthodox Church. In turn, the metropolitans sometimes released their subjects from their loyalty oath. Also well known are the intrigues of Metropolitan Abbā Salāmā (1841-1867) with Ubiē, Gošu, rās ‛Alī and King Theodore.

Church. – The churches are numerous, although usually small; some quadrangular, but mostly round. Of the first and the oldest type of them is the church of Ieccà (Yekkā) and especially that of S. Maria di Sion in Aksum, already famous since the century. YOU. Among the rotundas, the one of the “Madḥanēlam” or Savior of the world in Adua and that of Enda Sellāsē or Sanctuary of the Trinity, also in Adua, are famous ; famous were the churches carved into the rock and due to Lālibalā. In the church there are three parts: 1. the qen ē m āḥ l ē t, where the singers are or debterā; 2. the qedaest, where communion is administered to the people; 3. the maqdas where is the altar with t ā bot, and where they communicate the celebrants and the king. The t ā bot (stone or hard wood tablet corresponding to the Holy Stone), which is placed on the altar, has the Cross or the Savior or the Madonna engraved on one side; in the small oratories that do not have t ā bot the mysteries are not celebrated.