ወርኀ ጽጌ

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen! The Month of Tsige Welcome! Chapter 1 According to the doctrine of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the 355/356 days of a year are divided into four seasons. They are: 1. The Season of Meskerem (Autumn) from Meskerem 26 to Tahsas 25 2. The Season of Hagay (Winter) from Tahsas 26 to Megabit 25 3. The Season of Sedey (Summer) from Megabit 26 to Sene 25 4. The Season of Keremt (Rainy Season) from Sene 26 to Meskerem 25. Each of these seasons has 90 days, except for the Season of Keremt, which has 95/96 days. Based on this, the period from the 26th day of Meskerem to the 25th day of Tahsas is called the “Season of Meskerem” (Autumn). The word Meskerem is derived from the Ge’ez verb “mesṭaw; mesṭalew ṭewleg” and means the Month of Wind (the season of wind). This season follows the Season of Keremt and is the time when the plants that were watered by the rains of Keremt begin to sprout and bear fruit, and when rivers and springs flow. It is the season of flowers, wind, and fruit. The wise Solomon describes this as follows: “Now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land; the fig tree has put forth its green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.” (Song of Songs 2:11-13) Within the Season of Meskerem, there are five minor divisions. They are: 1. The Season of Tsige 2. The Season of Teaching 3. The Season of Preaching 4. The Season of Light 5. The Season of Nola Among these, the period that lasts for 30 days, from the 26th of Meskerem to the 6th of Hidar, is known in the doctrine of our Church as the time when the exile of our Mother is commemorated and contains a very deep mystery. It is called the Season of Tsige (the Month of Tsige). The word Tsige is derived from the Ge’ez verb “ṭegye” and its meaning is “it bloomed; it fruited; it was adorned with beauty; it was dyed with blood; it showed the sign of fruit.” This is the time when we praise, associating our Mother, who is likened to a flower, and her Son, who is likened to fruit, with the season. In the Month of Tsige, primarily, we commemorate the exile of our Mother with her Son, Jesus Christ, with Saint Joseph, and with Saint Salome to the land of Egypt due to Herod, and it is celebrated through the sermons (Mahlete Tsige and Sekokawet Dingil) delivered by the Ethiopian Church fathers. When we recall the matter of the exile, it was also foretold by God through the prophet Isaiah that He would come to Egypt riding on a swift cloud, as it is written in Isaiah 19:1. When we look at the time of the exile, they were exiled to the land of Egypt on the 24th of Ginbot. So why did our Church change it to Meskerem to celebrate it? It is for two reasons. 1. The reason their departure for the exile is said to be on the 24th of Ginbot is that, since it falls on the Feast of Pentecost, it is not appropriate to remember the matter of the exile during a time of joy. 2. The Season of Tsige is a search. This is because the flowers are symbols for our Mother, the Virgin Mary, and her Son. The great prophet Isaiah describes this as follows: “A rod shall come forth out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” (Isaiah 11:1) As he told us, the Church fathers established a liturgical order to honor the symbol together with the mystery. Therefore, let our God help us, as Orthodox Christians, during the Season of Tsige, to cast out from our hearts any hatred and pride that are similar to Herod and that drive away the love of Christ, and to live always keeping the Child and His Mother in the depths of our hearts. When the King of our hearts, Jesus Christ, was exiled, she went with Him into exile. O Virgin, “Go, and remain in the land of Egypt until I tell you; return to your land of Galilee. How long will you dwell in a foreign land? Return to your land of Galilee.” We should sing, saying: “O peaceful and tranquil Sulamitis, return to your land of Egypt and to the chamber of our hearts, in order to give us peace.” The intercession of our Mother, the Virgin Mary, does not forsake us! Glory be to God.

በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ አሜን ! ወርኀ ጽጌ እንኳን አደረሳችሁ! ክፍል ፩ በኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን አስተምህሮ መሠረት በአንድ ዓመት ውስጥ ያሉት ፫፻፷፭/፮ ቀናት በ ፬ ወቅቶች ይከፈላሉ፡፡እነሱም፦ ፩. ዘመነ መጸው (መከር) መስከረም ፳፮-ታኅሣሥ ፳፭ ፪. ዘመነ ሐጋይ (በጋ) ከታኅሣሥ ፳፮-መጋቢት ፳፭ ፫. ዘመነ ጸደይ (በልግ) ከመጋቢት ፳፮-ሰኔ ፳፭ ፬. ዘመነ ክረምት ከሰኔ ፳፮-መስከረም ፳፭ ናቸው። እነዚህ ወቅቶች እያንዳንዳቸው ፺ ቀናት ሲኖራቸው ዘመነ ክረምት ብቻ ፺፭/፺፮ ቀናት አሉት። በዚህም መሠረት ከመስከረም ፳፮ ቀን እስከ ታኅሣሥ ፳፭ ቀን ድረስ ያለው ወቅት ‹‹ ዘመነ መጸው ››( መኸር ) ይባላል፡፡ መጸው ማለት ‹‹መጸወ ፤ መጽለወ ጠወለገ›› ካለው የግእዝ ግስ የተገኘ ሲሆን ወርኀ ነፋስ (የነፋስ ወቅት)ማለት ነው። ወቅቱም ከዘመነ ክረምት ቀጥሎ የሚገባና በክረምት ዝናብ የበቀሉ ዕፀዋት አዝርት የሚያብቡበትና ፍሬ የሚያፈሩበት እንዲሁም ወንዞችና ምንጮች የሚጠሩበት የአበባ፣የነፋስ፣ የፍሬ ወቅት ነው። ጠቢቡ ሰሎሞን ይህን ሲገልጽ ‹‹ እስመ ናሁ ክረምት ኀለፈ ወዝናም ገብአ ድኅሬሁ ጽጌ አስተርአየ በውስተ ምድርነ ጊዜ ገሚድ በጽሐ ቃለ ማዕነቅ ተሰምዐ በምድርነ በለስ አውፅአ ሠርጸ አውያን ጸገዩ ወወሀቡ መዓዛ፡ እነሆ ክረምት ዐለፈ፤ ዝናቡም ዐልፎ ሔደ፡፡ አበባ በምድር ላይ ታየ፤ የመከርም ጊዜ ደረሰ፡፡ የቊርዬውም ቃል በምድራችን ተሰማ፡፡ በለሱ ጐመራ፤ ወይኖችም አበቡ፤ መዓዛቸውንም ሰጡ፤›› (መኃ. ፪፥፲፩-፲፫) በማለት ያስረዳል፡፡ በዘመነ መጸው ውስጥ ፭ ንዑሳን ክፍሎች አሉ። እነሱም፡- ፩.ዘመነ ጽጌ ፬. ብርሃን እና ፪. አስተምህሮ ፭. ኖላዊ ናቸው ። ፫. ስብከት ከእነዚህም መካከል ከመስከረም ፳፮ እስከ ኅዳር ፮ ለ፵ቀናት ያህል የሚቆየው በቤተክርስቲያናችን አስተምህሮ የእመቤታችን ስደት የሚታወስበትና እጅግ ጥልቅ ምስጢር የያዘ ክፍል ዘመነ ጽጌ ( ወርኀ ጽጌ ) ይባላል። ጽጌ ማለት ‹ጸገየ› ከሚለው የግእዝ ግስ የተገኘ ሲሆን ትርጓሜውም ‹አበበ፤ አፈራ፤ በውበት ተንቆጠቆጠ፤ በደም ግባት አጌጠ፤ የፍሬ ምልክት አሣየ› ማለት ነው፡፡ በዚህ ወቅት በአበባ የተመሰለች እመቤታችንንና በፍሬ የተመሰለ ልጇን ከወቅቱ ጋር በማዛመድ የምናመሰግንበት ጊዜ ነው። በወርኃ ጽጌ በዋናነት እመቤታችን ከልጇ ከኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ከቅዱስ ዮሴፍና ከቅድስት ሰሎሜ ጋር በሄሮድስ ምክንያት ወደ ምድረ ግብጽ መሰደዳቸውን በማስታወስና በቤተ ክርስቲያናችን ኢትዮጵያውያን ሊቃውንት በደረሱት ድርሰት (ማኅሌተ ጽጌና ሰቆቃወ ድንግል) በማኅሌት ይከበራል። የስደትን ነገር ስናነሳ እንዲሁ እንደውሃ ፈሳሽ እንደ ወንዝ ደራሽ ሳይሆን አስቀድሞ በነቢዩ ኢሳይያስ እግዚአብሔር በፈጣን ደመና ተጭኖ ወደ ግብጽ ይመጣል ኢሳ ፲፱፡፩ በማለት የተነገረ ነው። የስደት ወቅት በምንመለከትበት ጊዜ ወደ ምድረ ግብጽ የተሰደዱት ግንቦት ፳፬ ነው። ታዲያ ስለምን ቤተክርስቲያናችን ወደ መስከረም ቀይራ ታከብራለች ? ቢሉ ስለ ፪ ምክንያት ነው። ፩ . የስደት መነሻቸው ግንቦት 24 የሚውለው በበዓለ ኀምሳ በመሆኑ በደስታ ወቅት የስደትን ነገር ማዘከር ስለማይገባ ነው። ፪ . ዘመነ ጽጌን ፍለጋ ነው።ምክንያቱም አበባዎች ለእመቤታችን ለድንግል ማርያምና ለልጇ ምሳሌዎች ናቸውና ።ይህንን ታላቁ ነቢይ ኢሳይያስ እንዲህ በማለት ይገልጸዋል። ከእሴይ ሥር በትር ትወጣለች ከእርሷም አበባ ይገኛል።ኢሳ ፲፩፡ ፩በማለት እንደነገረን ምሳሌን ከምሥጢር ጋር አዋሕዶ ለማክበር ሊቃውንተ ቤተክርስቲያን ሥርዓት ሰርተዋል። ስለዚህ ኦርቶዶክሳውያን በዘመነ ጽጌ በሄሮድስ የተመሰሉ ከልባችን የክርስቶስን ፍቅር የሚያሳድዱ ቅናትንና ትዕቢት አስወግደን ዘወትር ሕፃኑንና እናቱን በልባችን ጽላት አንግሠን እንድንኖር አምላካችን ይርዳን። የልባችን ንጉሥ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ሲሰደድ አብራ ትሰደዳለችና። ድንግል ሆይ " እስከ ማእዜኑ ትሄልዊ በምድረ ነኪር ሀገረኪ ገሊላ እትዊ፤ እስከ መቼ ድረስ በባዕድ ሀገር ትኖሪአለሽ? ወደ ሀገርሽ ገሊላ ተመለሽ።” የሰላም መገኛ ሰላማዊት ርግብ ሱላማጢስ ሆይ፥ ሰላምን ትሰጭን ዘንድ ወደ ዐሥራት ሀገርሽ ኢትዮጵያና ወደ ልቡናችን ጓዳ ተመለሽ በማለት መለመን ይገባል። የእመቤታችን የድንግል ማርያም አማላጅነት አይለየን! ወስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር