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.
😈 Turkey’s Simultaneous Genocide of the two oldest Christian nations of Armenia & Ethiopia
😈 The Muslim Azerbaijanis turned on Azan through the loudspeakers. Such messages are a primary threat to the Christian Armenian residents.
😈 Enemy of The CROSS ✞
Azerbaijan defiled the Holy Resurrection Church of Hadrut, dismantled THE CROSS & erased all Armenian inscriptions
💭 The Government of Azerbaijan Declares This Warning To All Armenians: “Leave Nagorno-Karabakh, or We Will Force You.”
Now that the world’s attention is diverted to Russia’s war with Ukraine, the Azeris and Turks are in the perfect opportunity to test the waters of the Russian brokered ceasefire. There are still Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh — that region that was governed by Armenians until 2020 when Azerbaijan, armed with Turkish Bayraktars, vanquished them — and the Azeris are beginning to pressure these Armenians to leave. There are Russian soldiers (part of a peacekeeping mission) present in Nagorno-Karabakh, but now with the war occurring in Donbas, the Azeris (and by extension, their Turkish patriarchs whom they ethnically identify with) are acting aggressively, testing the limits of the Russians. For example, in early March, Azeri forces were seen encircling Armenian villages and, with loudspeakers, demanding that the Armenian inhabitants leave Nagorno-Karabakh. This was seen in the village of Khramort where the Azeri military declared through a loudspeaker:
“Urgently leave the territory, otherwise we will force you. All responsibility for the casualties will fall on you․ Do not endanger your life and the lives of your loved ones. You are on the territory of Azerbaijan, and all actions are regulated by Azerbaijani law.”
What the Azeris want is not peace, but ethnic cleansing.
Depriving Armenians of natural gas has followed. On March 8th, a critical gas pipeline that was used to bring natural gas to the Armenians was cut off in Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving them without heat for two weeks. The pipeline was then “repaired” but was reportedly cut off again and then restored. The ethnic and religious hatred towards the Armenians was demonstrated in the recent desecration of the St. Harutyun church in Hadrut, which was condemned by Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia:
“These pre-planned actions carried out by the authorities of Azerbaijan, aimed at destroying and desecrating the identity of Armenian religious, historical and cultural monuments in the territories under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces, are another manifestation of Azerbaijan’s ethnic and religious intolerance and the continuation of the policy of depriving Artsakh of Armenians and the Armenian trace.”
Azerbaijani soldiers then entered the area occupied by Russian peacekeeping forces, forced the evacuation of an Armenian village and even used drone strikes to kill numerous Armenian soldiers. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Azeri soldiers left, but both Azeri and Armenian sources denied this, and even the US, France and Russia have all denounced Azerbaijan for its violation of the ceasefire.
Even with the ceasefire, there has still been violence taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Artsakh, in early February “two members of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were killed on the spot near the village of Khramort in the Askeran region, on the grounds of national, racial or religious hatred or religious fanaticism.” Following this event, “Unidentified gunmen opened fire on three” Armenian employees who were working in a mine in the administrative area of Khramort village, Askeran region.
On February 11th of 2022, shots were fired from Azerbaijani military positions located near the communities of Karmir Shuka and Taghavard in the region of Artsakh’s Martuni, according to Ombudsman of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan in a statement on social media. Stepanyan observed:
“Given the distance between the settlements and the Azerbaijani positions, and the fact that the residential part of the village is directly observed from the Azerbaijani positions, it is undeniable that the Azerbaijani side has directly targeted the houses of the residents as a result of which residential houses, mainly walls, roofs, have been damaged.
The window of a house of Karmir Shuka resident was smashed during the same operations which are aimed at threatening civilians, and the bullet penetrated into the living room of the house”
“I reaffirm the claim that the criminal acts of Azerbaijan are of regular and systematic nature, aimed at creating an atmosphere of fear in Artsakh.
Azerbaijan will continue its criminal attempts against the people of Artsakh as long as the international community has not condemned unanimously the open Azerbaijani illegal acts against humanity”, he added.
The Azeris have found a loophole in the ceasefire to try to justify their actions. Article 4 of the ceasefire declaration calls for the withdrawal of Armenian soldiers. Three thousand Armenians reportedly left Nagorno-Karabakh, but local ethnic Armenian soldiers did not, giving the Azeris an avenue for their aggression. While Baku sees these self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Defense soldiers as illegal, the local Armenian population sees them as necessary for security from violence by Azerbaijani soldiers. But now, with the local defense not allowed in the region, the only thing standing between the local Armenians and the Azeri soldiers are the Russian peacekeepers. There are nearly two thousand Russian soldiers in Nagorno-Karabakh (and also around two thousand Russian support staff), and Baku sees this foreign presence as temporary, as there is an expectation that these troops will be sent to fight in Ukraine. The importance of Russian peacekeepers for the security of the Armenians is obvious. For example,on the 15th of February, 2022, Azerbaijani servicemen opened fire in the direction of Armenian farmers near Khramort. While a tractor was damaged, the civilians were saved thanks to the intervention of the Russian peacekeepers, according to the Prosecutor’s Office of Artsakh.
With such recent events, it is obvious that whatever relative peace is ongoing in Nagorno-Karabakh, it will not last long. Violence will resume in the region, and it will most definitely escalate tensions between Russia and Turkey. Such conflict will carry with it a resuming of where the Ottomans left off in the genocide of the Armenian people.
Up to 1.5 million Armenians were wiped out by the Ottoman Empire beginning on April 24, 1915, a reality Turkey continues to deny, and Turkey would like to see in Tigray, Ethiopia by giving evil Abiy Ahmed Ali its drones. Ethiopian Christian never forget Turkey helped another Ahmed (Ahmed ‘Gragn’ Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi) 500 years ago to wage a similar satanic Jihad against Christian Ethiopia.
106 years on, Armenians and experts alike remember the brutal atrocities and forced exodus from what is now Turkey, which left up to 1.5 million Armenians dead.
April 24 marks the start, in 1915, of the Armenian Genocide. “Every Armenian is affected by the repeated massacres that occurred in the Ottoman Empire as family members perished,” said Joseph Kechichian, senior fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh.
“My own paternal grandmother was among the victims. Imagine how growing up without a grandmother — and in my orphaned father’s case, a mother — affects you,” he added.
“We never kissed her hand, not even once. She was always missed, and we spoke about her all the time. My late father had teary eyes each and every time he thought of his mother.”
Every Armenian family has similar stories, said Kechichian. “We pray for the souls of those lost, and we beseech the Almighty to grant them eternal rest,” he added.
“We also ask the Lord to forgive those who committed the atrocities and enlighten their successors so they too can find peace,” he said. “Denial is ugly and unbecoming, and it hurts survivors and their offspring, no matter the elapsed time.”
Donald Miller, professor of religion and sociology at the University of Southern California, said: “The ongoing denial of the genocide by the government of Turkey pours salt into the wound of the moral conscience of Armenians all over the world. On April 24, the genocide will be commemorated all over the world.”
On that day, the Ottoman government arrested and executed several hundred Armenian intellectuals.
Ordinary Armenians were then turned away from their homes and sent on death marches through the Mesopotamian desert without food or water.
The day will be commemorated around the world today as a growing number of countries recognize the atrocity.
106 years after the #ArmenianGenocide – on the 1st or 2nd Christian nation in the world – the same thing is happening in the exact similar cruel manner to #Tigray, #Ethiopia – #Tigraygenocide on the other 1st or 2nd core nation of Ethiopia. By coincidence? I don’t think so: on November 4th,2020 (OCT 24, 2013( Ethiopian Calendar), the unelected evil Prime Minister of Ethiopia (Oromia) Abiy Ahmed declared a genocidal war on Tigray,