በዓለ መስቀል

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. The Feast of the Cross Chapter 1 In the doctrine of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Faith, there are two foundations for the celebration of feasts: they are the Feasts of the Cross and of the Epiphany. Among these, the Feast of the Cross is one of the minor feasts of the Lord’s forty days. The reason for its celebration is as follows: Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, after being born from the flesh of our mother, from her flesh, and from her spirit, after having lived in this world for thirty-three years teaching the Gospel to humanity, was crucified on the Cross of Calvary and died in order to fulfill the prophecy and to save humanity. After rising on the third day, the sick began to come, carrying the Cross on which Christ was crucified, and by touching it, they sought healing from bodily ailments. Seeing this, the Jews, out of malice, buried the Cross in a place of waste disposal, and the local population was made to dump all their garbage upon it. In the Jewish community, in order to destroy the place where it had been buried, they made it into a garbage dump for many years, and it remained as a hill. For this reason, it remained covered for about three hundred years. However, later, in 326 AD, the great Emperor Constantine’s mother, Queen Helena, went to Jerusalem. After much effort to identify and retrieve the Cross, finally, using a wise method, she had an old man named Kirikos tell her his story. Based on his account, she poured oil, added wood, and when she set it on fire (burned it), a pillar of fire, like a column of cloud, rose up, and God, in His wisdom, indicated the place on the hill where the Cross had been buried. His Holiness Abune Yared, explaining this, says in his hymn: “The pillar was broken, and the fire was kindled on Golgotha, where the Jews had buried it, and the Wood of the Cross was found.” When the time came, on the 19th of Meskerem, the search began, and on the 17th of Megabit, three crosses were found. Two of them, on the right and on the left, belonged to the thieves, while the third belonged to Christ. The Lord’s Cross was distinguished and recognized by its power to raise the dead. Later, in 326 AD, Emperor Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the 19th of Meskerem, and the consecration of the church took place. In our country, Ethiopia, we celebrate the Feast of the Cross by pouring oil, lighting a fire, celebrating the Divine Liturgy, and holding a gathering, for this reason. The term “Demera” comes from the Ge’ez word “demere,” meaning to increase, to make one, to unite, and to bring together. At that time, it described the unity of the wood piles that were in the fire, but its ultimate meaning is that Christ, by being crucified on the Cross, proclaimed peace, love, and unity. On the 17th of Megabit, our Church remembers this as a feast, and the reason for celebrating it on the 19th of Meskerem is that the 17th of Megabit always falls during the Great Fast, and in order to celebrate a feast of joy with joy, and also in remembrance of the consecration of the church. Therefore, when we Orthodox Christians celebrate this Feast of the Cross, as the Holy Paul said, “He abolished the enmity, even the hostility of the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, thus making peace” (Ephesians 2:15), our Lord Jesus Christ, by being crucified on the Cross, set us, the children of Adam, free from the bondage of Satan, and by destroying the wall of enmity that existed between man and God, brought us peace, love, and unity through His Cross. We ought to celebrate the feast in peace, in love, in unity, and in mutual care, taking Him as our example. May our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who, by breaking the enmity on the Cross, brought us unity and peace, grant peace and love to our country, to our Church, and to its people. May the glory and grace of His Cross be our salvation. Amen. The social media channels of the Community of Saints are mixed Telegram: - http://t.me/mkpublicrelation Community of Saints Public Relations: - https://www.facebook.com/mahiberekidusan.mkusa/ Website: - http://www.eotcmk.org YouTube: - http://www.youtube.com/user/EOTCMK :- https://www.youtube.com/@-zemawetibebzmk7905

በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ አሜን። በዓለ መስቀል ክፍል ፩ በኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ሃይማኖት አስተምህሮ መሠረት የዐደባባይ በዓላት ሁለት ናቸው፡፡ እነርሱም የመስቀልና የጥምቀት በዓላት ናቸው፡፡ ከእነዚህም ውስጥ ከጌታ ዘጠኙ ንኡሳን በዓላት ከሚባሉት አንዱ የመስቀል በዓል ነው። በዓሉ የሚከበርበትም ምክንያት፡- መድኃኒታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ከእመቤታችን ከሥጋዋ ሥጋ ከነፍሷ ነፍስ ነሥቶ ከተወለደ በኋላ በዚህ ዓለም ፴፫ ዓመት ወንጌልን ለሰው ልጆች እያስተማረ ከቆየ በኋላ ትንቢቱ ይፈጸም ዘንድ የሰውን ልጅ ለማዳን በቀራንዮ በመስቀል ተሰቅሎ ላይ ሞቶ በ፫ኛው ቀን ከተነሣ በኋላ ሕሙማን ክርስቶስ የተሰቀለበትን መስቀሉን እየዳሰሱ በመስቀሉ እየታሹ ከሥጋ ደዌ ይፈውሱ ጀመረ። ይህንን ያዩ አይሁድም በምቀኝነት መስቀሉን ከቆሻሻ ማጠራቀሚያ ቦታ በመቅበር የአካባቢው ሕዝብ ቆሻሻ በሙሉ እንዲጣልበት ተደረገ። በአይሁድ ማኅበረሰብ ዘንድም የተቀበረበትን ለማጥፋት ለብዙ ዓመታት የቆሻሻ ማጠራቀሚያ በማድረጋቸው ምክንያት ተራራ ሆኖ ነበረ። በዚህም ምክንያት ለ፫፻ ዓመታት ያህል ተዳፍኖ ቆይቷል። በኋላ ላይ ግን በ፫፻፳፮ ዓ.ም የታላቁ ንጉሥ የቆስጠንጢኖስ እናት ንግሥት ዕሌኒ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ሄዳ መስቀሉ ያለበትን ለማወቅና ለማውጣት ብዙ ከደከመች በኋላ በመጨረሻም ስሙ ኪርያኮስ የተባለ ታሪክ ዐዋቂ አረጋዊ ታሪኩን ይነግራት ዘንድ ጥበብ የተሞላበት መንገድ ተጠቅማ በነገራት መሠረት ደመራ አስደምራ ዕጣን በመጨመር በእሳት ብትለኩሰው(ስታነደው ) ጢሱ እንደ ቀስተ ደመና መስቀሉ ከተቀበረበት ተራራ ላይ ተተክሎ ያለበትን ቦታ እግዚአብሔር በጥበቡ አመልክቷታል። ሊቁ ቅዱስ ያሬድም ይህን ሲያስረዳ በድጓው “ ዘእጣን አንጸረ ሰገደ ጢስ በጎልጎታ ዘቀበሩ አይሁድ ዮም ተረክበ ዕፀ መስቀል” በማለት ይገልጻል። ሳትውል ሳታድር መስከረም ፲፯ ቁፋሮ አስጀምራ መጋቢት ፲ ቀን ሦስት መስቀሎች ተገኙ ።ሁለቱ በቀኝና በግራ የተሰቀሉት የጥጦስና የዳክረስ ሲሆኑ አንዱ ደግሞ የክርስቶስ ነው ። የጌታም መስቀል ሙት በማስነሣቱ ተለይቶ ታውቋል፡፡ በኋላም ንጉሥ ቆስጠንጢኖስ ፫፻፳፯ዓ.ም መስከረም ፲፯ ቤተ ክርስቲያን በመሥራት ቅዳሴ ቤቱ የተከበረበት ነው። በሀገራችን በኢትዮጵያም የመስቀልን በዓል ደመራ በመደመርና ችቦ በማብራት፥ ቅዳሴ በመቀደስና ማኅሌት በመቆም የምናከብረው ለዚህ ነው። ደመራ ማለት ደመረ ከሚለው የግእዝ ግስ የወጣ ሲሆን መጨመር ፣አንድ ማድረግ፣ መጣመርንና ኅብረትን ያስረዳል።ይህም በወቅቱ ከእሳቱ ያሉትን የእንጨት ክምችንና አንድነት የሚገልጽ ሲሆን ፍጻሜው ግን ክርስቶስ በመስቀል ተሰቅሎ ሰላም ፍቅር አንድነትን መስበኩን ይገልጻል። መጋቢት ፲ ቤተ ክርስቲያናችን በዓል እንደሆነ ብትዘክርም በድምቀት መስከረም ፲፯ የምታከብርበት ምክንያት መጋቢት ፲ ሁልጊዜ ታላቁ የዓቢይ ጾም ስለሚውልና የደስታን በዓል በደስታ ለማክበር ሲባልና ቅዳሴ ቤቱ የተከበረበትን በማሰብ ነው። ስለዚህ ኦርቶዶክሳውያን ይህን የመስቀል በዓል ስናከብር ቅዱስ ጳውሎስ “ጥልን በመስቀሉ ገደለ” (ኤፌ ፪፡፲፮ )በማለት እንደነገረን ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ በመስቀል ተሰቅሎ እኛን የአዳም ልጆች ተይዘን ከነበርንበት የሰይጣን ባርነት ነጻ በማውጣት በሰውና በእግዚአብሔር መካከል የነበረውንም የጥል ግድግዳ አፍርሶ በመስቀሉ ሰላምን፣ፍቅርንና አንድነትን አውጆልናል። እርሱን አርአያ አድርገን በሰላም ፣በፍቅር፣ በአንድነትና በመተሳሰብ በዓሉን ልናከብር ይገባል። ጥልን በመስቀሉ ገድሎ አንድነትና ሰላምን ያወጀልን መድኃኔ ዓለም ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ለሀገራችን ፣ ለቤተ ክርስቲያናችንና ለሕዝቦቿ ሰላምና ፍቅር ያድለን። የመስቀሉ ክብርና ጸጋ ረድኤት አይለየን። አሜን። የማኅበረ ቅዱሳን የማኅበራዊ ሚዲያ አውታሮች ይቀላቀሉ ቴሌግራም፡- http://t.me/mkpublicrelation የማኅበረ ቅዱሳን ሕዝብ ግንኙነት:-https://www.facebook.com/mahiberekidusan.mkusa/ ድረገጽ፡- http://www.eotcmk.org ዩ ቲዩብ፡- http://www.youtube.com/user/EOTCMK :- https://www.youtube.com/@-zemawetibebzmk7905