❖ Everyone who accepts Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity is part of the Family of God Egziabher, and He or She is Ethiopian! It is a great honor to be called a child of God Egziabher and to be a part of His family. No matter where you go or who you are, you will always be part of God’s family. All believers are children of the Good Lord God Almighty Egziabher.
Only those who place faith in Jesus become part of God’s family. John 1:12-13 says;
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
If you are a Christian, then you are a child of God and you are part of God’s family. You will never lose your place in God’s family as once a person is saved; they are always saved. Nobody can lose their salvation as salvation is a gift from God. Salvation is not based on anything we do, but rather on placing faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Unbelievers are not part of the family of God because they have not placed faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. If they become a believer, then they too can become members of God’s family. Becoming a member of the family of God is a wonderful thing. There is nothing greater than being part of the family of God.
It is a great honor and privilege to know God as your Father. Being a member of the family of God includes knowing that you are eternally and forever loved by God Almighty. It means that you can never lose your place in His family. The concept of being part of “a family” can be foreign to many of us.
Broken homes, hatred between family members, or never knowing your parents can cause an individual to be skeptical of the idea of a “family.” In God’s family, there is no abandonment, hatred, or abuse. Only love, forgiveness, and grace abide within God’s family. He will never cast you out or turn you away (Isaiah 41:10).
Since we have God as our Father, we can freely talk to Him in prayer any time we want. God is the Holy Trinity, which is the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Three distinct Persons — One God. As children of God, we can pray to Him anytime, anywhere.
You do not have to use eloquent words, lengthy prayers, or rehearse your words in order for God to hear you. Jesus’ death on the cross enabled us to become children of God. If it was not for Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, we would not be children of God. This is something worth reflecting on as we owe our entire beings to God.
It is only by His mercy that we are privileged to spend eternity with Him. God loves us so much that He willingly sent His Son to die for us (John 3:16-17). There is no greater love than the love God has for His children.
Maybe your father, mother, or siblings did not treat you very well growing up. Even if our earthly families have hurt us or abandoned us, we know God never will. Psalm 27:10 tells us, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” God will never forsake you. He can be fully trusted.
We Are the Family of God
Every Christian in the world is part of the family of God. Whether the believer lives in Africa, America, Europe, Asia, or Australia, they are part of the family of God. God’s family is not restricted to any culture, ethnicity, age, or gender (Galatians 3:28). Every person within the family of God is equal (Romans 2:11).
Likewise, each person is strongly beloved by God, and He wants all people to know Him. Once we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become eternally part of God’s family. As part of God’s family, we inherit thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ.
😇 Commemoration of the Archangel Saint Michael- የሕዳር ሚካኤል
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church honors Saint Michael (Kidus Mikael); the Angel of mercy; on the 12th of each month of which two of them are great annual feasts of the saint – on Hidar 12 (November 21) and Senie 12 (June 19). His name Michael means “who is like God”.
Saint Michael is one of the seven Archangels, who is always standing besides God’s throne and is honored for defeating Devil at God’s command (Rev.12:7-9).
In addition to the Holy Bible, “Dersane Michael” contains the miracles of St. Michael. Archangel Saint Michael is powerful and the guardian of the souls and fighter against evil. He is often painted in the walls of every Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church followers with a flaming sword and spear, which pierces the devil.
❖ On Hidar / ሕዳር ፲፪/ 12 (November 21):
1. Crowned and became the Arch of the Archangel’s
Saint Michael is one of the seven Archangels, who is always standing besides God’s throne and is honored for leading the army of Holy Angels and defeated Satan and the rebellious angels into Hell. Revelation 12:7 On this day God crowned him with his glory and mercy and become the Arch of the the Archangel’s
2. The Commander of the Lord’s Army
Joshua, the son of Nun, saw him in great glory and was frightened by him and fell on his face to the earth and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” So he said, “No; but as Commander of the army of the Lord… I have given Jericho into your hand, … and its king.” (Joshua 5:13-15, 6:2)
3. The Exodus of Israel from Egypt through the help of the Arch Angle Michael
Exodus 14:19-22:
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed[a] the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward[b] it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Michael, is the commander of the angels, came down from heaven, and rolled back the stone from the mouth of the tomb, and announced the women “Christ is risen from the dead”.
St. Paul observes that the Hebrews “ all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor. 10:1-4; Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27).
There is a common ritual practiced by the devotees in order to commemorate, worship and give thanks. Ethiopian traditional bread – Difo Dabo, roasted barley – Kolo in the name of St. Michael are being prepared and shared in the church.
May the prayer of Archangel Saint Michael be up on us!
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on August 22, 2022
😇 The Feast of the Assumption of Saint Mary | Filseta — ፍልሰታ 😇
Filseta (Ge’ez: ፍልሰታ) or The Assumption of Virgin Mary is a feast day observed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church in commemoration of the Dormition and Assumption of Mary.
The Assumption of Virgin Mary is the most highly honored feast among all the feasts of the Saints. Observed on August 22 (August/Nehase 16 According to the Ethiopian calendar), the Feast of the Assumption commemorates the entrance of Saint Mary’s corporeal body and soul into heaven as she preceded the faithful believers, taking her seat at the right hand of her bridegroom and Son. The feast is based on the conviction that the Lord did not permit the body in which He Himself had dwelt to fall prey to corruption and dissolution: though Mary as a human being underwent death, she was taken up into heaven. To Ethiopians, the celebration of this event bears a powerful witness to the eschatological truth of their faith. As members of the Church, they await the final consummation. On the Last Day, the righteous will rise from the grave and be united once more to a body–not a body such as we possess now, but one that is transfigured and “spiritual” a body in which inward sanctity is made outwardly manifest. The Ethiopian faithful, assured of their resurrection first and foremost by the resurrection of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, are being further assured by the Assumption of their sister, the Virgin Mary, and therefore observe the Feast of the Assumption with high honor and supreme joy. (1 Cor. 15:40-42)
Ethiopian Orthodox Christians have a striking loyalty to their faith which is easily observed during such seasons as the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. This devotion is expressed, as we have seen, through the rich and varied hymns and prayers dedicated to the Virgin, in addition to the splendid titles and the poetic imagery which are associated with her. Thus, Ethiopians have retained a sense of the mystery and miracle of the incarnation of God, God’s relationship with humanity, the divine maternity of Mary, her favor with God and her identity with the people of God throughout the ages. Almost every facet of the Ethiopian Orthodox liturgy and worship is an elaboration of the grace of God extended to humanity in the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord anti Savior Jesus Christ through the holy Virgin Mary. In this respect, Ethiopian Christians see the election of the Virgin by God as the instrument for the work of salvation.
The Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is important for Ethiopian Orthodox believers for several reasons. For one thing, much of the life of the Orthodox is spent in recitation of the prayers and of the devotional literature honoring the Virgin Mary. Throughout their lives, they listen time and again to the stories of the Virgin’s life and hardships, joys and sorrows contained in the apocryphal gospels and The Book of the Miracles, as well as others. These stories form a part of the Orthodox Christian’s very consciousness; they strengthen his or her identity and experience in its similarity to the Virgin Mary From the beginning of their Christian life, the Orthodox believers are assured that Mary, in so far as she is a human being, is their sister; and because she has suffered in a fallen world like all human beings, she is their Mother, well acquainted with the pain and agony of this world and ready to comfort and save. Finally, because the Virgin is above all the Mother of God, she is their hope, for through her our salvation has become accessible in her Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, the celebration of the Feast of the Assumption is not merely an interlude between engagements; for the Ethiopian Christian, the annual Feast of the Virgin is the ever-repeated Culmination of a life-time of teaching and learning, listening and believing. In this Feast, the believer celebrates all that the Virgin Mary has come to mean to him or her. It is here, in the context of her Assumption, that the faithful affirm the attributes of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. She is to them the intercessor, the virgin mother, the sister, the Lady of Sorrows, the queen–seated beside her Son, our Lord and Saviour, in heavenly glory.
In addition, the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary emphasizes the nature of God, God’s concern for the world which He created, His desire to redeem and save it through the willing participation of a humble woman, the two-fold Virgin Mary, who was pure in body and in soul. In this respect, the Feast of the Virgin represents a celebration of God’s love and charity. God gave His only Son to the world that the world might live through Him; the Virgin Mary willingly chose to participate in that salvation, and to bear to the world God Himself! Thus, the Feast of the Assumption is a time when the faithful express their gratitude to Mary through the works of charity, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked; visiting the sick; comforting the sorrowful, welcoming the stranger. In this way, they hope to express something of the unconditional love of God as expressed in the life of the Virgin Mary, His Mother. Indeed, the very name of Mary, understood within the context of the life of the Ethiopian Orthodox Incarnation Church, has come to be associated with the kindness, the tenderness, the love, and the mercy of God Himself. The Feast of the Assumption is also a time when the faithful examine their lives in light of the purity, holiness, and obedience of the virgin. Remembering her faithfulness to God and sacrificial love for her precious Son, the faithful are reminded of their own relationship to Him, or lack thereof. In this spirit one fasts, one prays, one dedicates anew his or her life to God. The Virgin Mary is associated with all of this. In her, the Orthodox see the purity of her virginity and thus, the willingness and capacity for serving God. In the purity of her obedience to God expressed in her response to the angel’s message, “Behold, I am thy handmaiden, let it be done to me according to thy word”, they see her faithfulness and in the purity of her gratitude and love for God. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name! they see the meaning of humility and thanksgiving. Mary is the expression of what God intends for them; she is the one, though human, who expresses the perfect will of God; she is humanity par excellence. One could say that like the Apostles before them the faithful fast in order to see and perceive the attributes, the holiness, the purity, the wonder of the Virgin Mary. (Luke 1:38, 1:49)
The celebration of the Feast of the Virgin is clearly a celebration of God’s victory over death as expressed in the assumption of the Virgin Mary and of the eschatological assurance that what Mary enjoys, eternal life in heaven’s glory, is that to which we can look forward in the future. Because the Virgin Mary shares in our death and has assumed her place in God’s kingdom, we have the sure hope that we will one day share her victory over a world of sin, decay, and corruption. She is the first-fruit of God’s eternal kingdom. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has received her in the heavenly places; He has made a place for His blessed Mother. For this reason, we, too, await the day when we will be joined together with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Mary, who is in every way a human being, like ourselves a daughter of Adam, assures us of our hope. In a sense, one could say that for the Ethiopian Christian, Mary is the guarantee of the promise of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.