The meaningof the Cross in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

The most important sacrament of our Church, and one of the most frequently used, is the sign of the cross. Whenever we use it, we are reminded of the sufferings and death of our Blessed Saviour. It is the symbol of our deliverance and the emblem of the mercy of God giving redemption to sinful man. It is made from above downward and from left to right with fingers in the form of a cross. No ceremony in liturgy is performed without the sign of the cross. A priest confers blessings by the cross. In administration of all the sacraments, this sign is employed many times. The sign of the cross is made over water at its blessing. In the Holy Liturgy or Mass, the celebrant makes the sign of the cross very frequently over the people, the Sacred Host, and the Precious Blood. The Church teaches that the cross is a summary of the faith and salvation. It reminds us that we are the brethren of Jesus Christ and it is our strong weapon in our fight against evil. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church teaches the faithful to venerate the cross. It is one of the insignia of the ordained clergy. A priest or a bishop always holds it in his left hand and offers it to the faithful who kiss it with deep recollective piety.

The faithful use the cross as a pious decoration and understand its devotional value. They proclaim their love for it in various ways. Primarily, a cross is attached to a cord or fine chain, and is worn around the neck by all Christians from childhood until death. The faithful also adorn their clothes and ornaments with marks of the cross. They bear cross-shaped tattoos on their foreheads, their chests, around their necks and their arms.

After death, a cross made out from wood, metal or stone is placed over graves to show that the cross is not only a symbol of death and suffering, but also a sign of resurrection and life.

Those who use the cross with out piety and only for its decorative value have lost its true meaning. Crosses used in this manner are as worthless as the crosses used to crucify the two convicted robbers on either side of Jesus. They had no healing powers.

The true, genuine and holy veneration, the grandeur, magnificence and solemnity with which Ethiopian Christians treat the cross will never be realized by any one unless he/she witnesses the ancient and ageless holiday of MESQUEL.

¹Adapted in part from: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church edited by Aymro Wondmagegnehu & Joachim Motovu, 1970, Addis Ababa.

May the love of the Cross be with all of us!!!!

The Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified continued to heal the sick who touched it long after the day of the Crucifixion. As a result, many became believers. Angered by this, the Jews threw the Cross into the town garbage dump. For over three hundred years, the Cross remained buried under piles of garbage.

In the 4^th century AD, Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in search of the True Cross. She beseeched the Lord with fast and prayers for a revelation of the spot of the buried Cross. Following an advice from an elderly man named Sirakos, the Empress ordered the inhabitants of Jerusalem to pile pieces of wood for a bonfire. She then lit the bonfire and added plenty of incense to the fire. The smoke that rose from the bonfire bent over and touched the spot where Christ's Cross was buried. This took place on Meskerem 16 (September 26). Before she proceeded to unearth the Cross, Empress Helena ordered messengers to pass the news to her son, the Emperor using torches. Thus, Mesquel is celebrated on this day by the ancient and Apostolic Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to commemorate the finding of the True Cross.

    Although this is its sixth year in Winnipeg, Mesquel has been celebrated in Ethiopia for more than 1600 years. Mesquel is one of the high points of the Church year along Christmas and Easter. It is a day of solemn religious services and joyous secular celebrations. In Ethiopia, around this time of the year, the heavy rains, which started in June, have subsided, and the air is filled with something of the spirit of spring. Communication is reopened. The landscape is coloured by a carpet of yellow flowers (Mesquel daisies). For the past few days, each family brings to the town square or central clearing some wooden poles. The poles are built upright into a pyramid shaped damera and are adorned with yellow Mesquel daisies. Late afternoon on Meskerem 16, (September 26), the faithful are gathered around the damera wearing their holiday attires. The priests also dressed in their ceremonial colourful garbs and holding processional crosses, begin the ceremony of intoning appropriate chants. At the end of the blessing, the priests circle the damera followed by the faithful three times - in honour of the Trinity. Shortly after this, the bonfire is lit. As the fire blazes, every one sings special Mesquel songs. Young people dance and sing around the flames, and toss lighted torches² into the bonfire. It is customary for people to dip their fingers into the dark ashes from the bonfire and draw the sign of the cross on their foreheads and limbs, to demonstrate their love for the Cross. The ceremony continues throughout the evening.

These torches symbolize the torches Empress Helena used to dispatch the news of her finding of the True Cross to her son, the Emperor Constantine

²In some parts of Ethiopia, the bonfire is lit the following morning and the ceremony continues well until midday.

Did you know that a fragment of the True Cross exists in Ethiopia?

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church also celebrates another important festival on Meskerem 10 (September 20). This celebration is called TekeTsel Tsighé and is celebrated to commemorate the arrival of a fragment of the True Cross to Ethiopia. After the Holy Cross was unearthed by Queen Helena, it was divided into four fragments, each of them going to the Patriarichates of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch. The fragment that originally went to Alexandra was eventually taken to Ethiopia during the reign of Emperor Dawit, the son of Emperor Zera-Yakob in the 14^th century A. D. The relic is present in the church of Egziabher Ab (God the Father) in the monastery of Gishen, about 400 kms north of Addis Ababa.