Tewahedo

Welcome to my MySpace. I'm Thomas, a born and raised belgian guy who's currently living in the Netherlands where I'm trying to build up my life. I'm a commited Tewahedo Orthodox Christian, which is one of the most ancient christian traditions in the world. I currently attend services at the Coptic Orthodox- as well as the Tewahedo Orthodox Church. The Tewahedo Ethiopian Orthodox Church has very intimate ties with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, which is our motherchurch. For a long time the Ethiopian bishops where consacrated by the Coptic Patriarch in Alexandria. We remain in full communion with eachother to this very day. The Holy Scriptures are one of the two great foundations of our faith and here is what the Tewahedo Ethiopian Orthodox Church holds and teaches concerning it. The word of God is not contained in the Bible alone, it is to be found in the apostolic tradition as well. The Sacred Scriptures are the written word of God who is the author of the Old and New Testaments containing nothing but perfect truth in faith and morals. But God’s word is not contained only in them, there is an unwritten word of God also, which we call apostolic tradition. We receive them both with equal veneration. The canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible differs both in the Old and New Testament from that of any other Church. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has 46 books of the Old Testament and 35 books of the New Testament that will bring the total of canonized books of the Bible to 81.

 

The Episcopal continuity is the primary factor in the apostolic succession of the Church. It signifies the call and commission of the Apostles by our Lord, as well as the transmission of the apostolic faith. The Church is a Church of all ages and the apostolic succession is the link that binds them all to our Lord. Since the Church maintains the Apostolic faith and is ‘sent’ by the Lord to proclaim it (cf. Matt. 28:19-20) the Church itself is Apostolic. The Apostolic ministry of preaching and of administering the sacraments is exercised in the Church. The episcopate is a concrete symbol of the Apostolic succession, and it keeps the Church united on the principle of ministerial leadership. The Ethiopian hierarchy is traced back to the Church of Alexandria. St. Frumentius, a Christian from Syria, as the first missionary to Ethiopia and as closely attached to the Aksumite court during the middle if the fourth century, was consecrated by Patriarch Athanasius of Alexandria as the first bishop (ABUNA) of the Ethiopian Church. Thereafter, the hierarchical head of this Church was always sent from Egypt until recent times. In the years following the Muslim invasion and persecution, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Ethiopian Church had to pass through a period of crisis which seriously affected the hierarchy. Even before this time, the Jesuits had been working to bring the Ethiopian Church under the jurisdiction of Rome, although with no success. After these disturbances, the hierarchy was fully restored in 1881, when four Egyptian bishop were sent to Ethiopia; on the death of the last of them, the Church pleaded with the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria for the consecration of men of Ethiopian nationality as bishops for this Church. As a result, five Ethiopian bishops were consecrated in 1928. The recognition of the autonomy of the Church of Ethiopia was marked by the consecration of five other Ethiopian bishops in 1948 (one of whom, the late Abuna Basilios, was made Archbishop in 1951) and was sealed by the installation of Abuna Basilios as the first Patriarch of Ethiopia in 1959 by the Patriarch of Alexandria. Today the Ethiopian Church is an autocephalous Church in every respect, and it holds that its doctrine and hierarchy belong to the living tradition which has been transmitted to posterity since Apostolic times. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church shares with many other Churches the belief that the Royal Priesthood of Israel and the Aarnoic institutional priesthood have become one in Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest. The people of the New Covenant constituted in Him possess His Royal Priesthood, and are called after the Old Testament fashion, “an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” (I Pet. 2:9). All those who are properly baptized within the Church are members of this priestly community. After the pattern of Jesus’ baptism and anointing with the Spirit the Church has the washing of regeneration, baptism, and the granting of the Spirit, Chrismation, (cf. Tit. 3:5). Following the ancient custom of the Church, the two are administered together in the Ethiopian Church. As the sealing of the Spirit, Chrismation constitutes the lay ordination into the sacramental and active life of the Church. Thus, every baptized and anointed persons is a member of the Royal Priesthood. The hierarchical orders are special ranks within the Church, the People of God. The Apostolic, priestly and ministerial functions of the Royal Priesthood are a means whereby Christ works through His Body in the world. The Church being the Body of Christ acts as one body; and the ministry of the Church, thus, is a ministry acted as one whole. Yet it is recognized that there is a distinction among the members based on the diversity of ministries and gifts of the Spirit, interdependent and interrelated among themselves. They include prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, contribution, aid-giving, merciful acts, apostleship, pastoral work, healing and administration (Rom.12: 6-8; Eph. 4:7-14; I Cor.12:27ff). The gifts are given in variety, but by the same Spirit (I Cor.12: 4ff). Thus, the hierarchy is not regarded as a separate class, but as a constituent part of the People of God. All ministry in the Church is the ministry of Christ to the Church and through the Church to the world. Because of this, the hierarchy does not function separately but in close union with the laity in the Church’s teaching, worship and government. The laity are given vital roles to play in the life of the Church in many spheres. Within the wider ministry of the whole Church the hierarchy is set apart by further ordination. The sacraments as means of grace are conveyed to the faithful by the hierarchy’s ministry of grace. The Ethiopian Church regards Ordination as a sacrament, and insists that for the administration of sacraments there must be validly ordained persons. In Ordination the invisible divine grace is transmitted to the ordained with the visible sign of laying on of hands of the bishop. By Ordination, one is given the divine grace for the fulfillment of a particular function, and thus one is set apart for that particular priestly ministry. It is to be fulfilled in the Church and is meant as a service to the world. At Ordination, special grace is granted to the ordained by the Holy Spirit, which enable him to appropriate individually the grace granted corporately to the community. At Ordination the members of the hierarchy take a vow that they will hold fast to the faith and tradition of the Church and will teach the same to the members of the Church. The single grace of the sacrament of Ordination is distributed among the three grades of episcopate, presbyterate and diaconate. Although by Ordination the ordained is appointed to carry out concretely a function of the Royal Priesthood, it is not simply the apportioning of a place by the Church, but it is a setting apart by Holy Spirit chiefly for the sacramental ministry in the Church and for the wider service with the Church to the world.
The Church of Ethiopia is one of the few Churches of Christendom where the worship of the primitive church has been preserved. This is largely due to the geographical position of Ethiopia and to the historical developments that led to her virtual isolation from the rest of the Christian world from the seventh century, as a result of which Ethiopia retained the form of worship she had received in the 4th century. One can distinguish two types of church service in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, indoor and outdoor. The former is conducted in the Holy of Holies by priests and deacons. A minimum of five persons, two priests and three deacons, is required to celebrate Mass. In certain monasteries a minimum of seven persons is still required. The celebrants are required to abstain from food for at least twelve hours in advance. The sacramental bread and wine are prepared by one of the deacons in the compound of the churchyard, in a small building known as the Bethlehem. The times of the services depend upon fasting periods and holy days. The times of the outdoor services, conducted by priests and Debteras also vary. There is also a short service towards the end of the Mass which consists mainly of the reciting of Qene, or verse which is epic in type. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has retained the ancient service of the Early Church and still uses the Mass of the Catechumens. In the Early Church, adults receiving instruction in the Christian Faith would attend the Mass until the reading of the Gospel and the sermon. Then the deacon would dismiss the Catechumens and they would leave the church. The mass is still retained in the Ethiopian Church, though there are no longer Catechumens under preparation for baptism. The real liturgy begins after the point in the service marking the departure of those not yet baptized. The church of Ethiopia has fourteen Anaphoras, a unique phenomenon in any Christian Church. Each is used on special occasions to mark the observance of a particular holy day. Through the Anaphoras differ in length and content, they have common characteristics. They stress the Incarnations, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. In principle the Mass is conducted in Ge’ez, the ancient classical and liturgical language of Ethiopia. Today, however, the readings and certain portions of the liturgy are in the vernacular, Amharic. The congregation. Both men and women may join in the singing Choirs of the western type are unknown in the Ethiopian Church. There are two types of Horologium, for day and for night. The Horologium was composed by a distinguished 15t Century scholar, Abba Giyorgis of Gascha; during the ensuing century it was gradually enriched by additional hymns and prayers. In big churches it is usual monks. Priests and deacons to conduct the Se’atat in the northern part of the ambulatory, while the Debteras are conducting a different service. Cantillation is an integral part of worship in the church of Ethiopia. Hymns are sung in different modes and Rhythms. The Deggua or hymnary is attributed to Saint Yared, a scholar who lived in Aksum in the 6th century. During the course of the centuries. Hymns have been added by various composers. The cantors or choristers are the Debteras. On joyful occasions they chant and sing to the accompaniment of musical instruments. Hand-clapping an rhythmical movement of dignified and solemn kind. The rhythmic bet is marked by the movement of the prayer-sticks carried by the Debteras. During periods of mourning the chanting is in a melancholic mode and is not accompanied by hand-clapping or rhythmic movements. During Lent, the use of the drum is forbidden except on Palm Sunday. From the beginning of Lent until Palm Sunday, a special hymn is sung called Tsome Deggua. Throughout Holy Week, special prayers are said, accompanied by prostration, culminating on Good Friday. During this week extensive reading from the Bible, works of the Church Fathers and Lives of the Saints take place. The Fetha Negest, or Law of the Kings, reminds us that prayer is man’s way of communicating with Almighty God. In prayer, man thanks God, praises Him and recognizes His domain, confessing hid sin and seeking on his part the way of pleasing Him. The following precepts are laid down for one who prays. Firstly, he should stand up, as enjoined on the words of the Lord; “When you rise up for prayer; you shall stand up.” Secondly, he should gird himself with girdle; as the Lord has said “Let your loins be girt.” Thirdly, he should turn towards the east, for that is the direction from which Christ will appear in His second coming. Fourthly he should make the sign of the cross from the forehead downward and from left to right. Fifthly he should recite the prayer in fear and trembling. Sixthly he should kneel down and prostrate himself, since the gospel tells us that on the night of his passion, our lord prayed prostrating himself and kneeling. Prostration plays an important part in worship in the Ethiopian church. The faithful are enjoined to begin prayer by prostrating themselves once or thrice and to do the same at the end of prayer. At certain times kneeling or genuflection is substituted for complete prostration, i.e. on Sundays, the days of Pentecost, the feast days of our lord and our lady, and also after receiving the Eucharist. On good Friday, the faithful spend the whole day at church, usually in the courtyard, performing the act of prostration many hundreds of times, to the limits of their physical strength. The faithful should pray seven times each day. First upon arising from bed in the morning and before beginning work. Secondly at the third hour; thirdly, at the sixth hour; fourthly, at the ninth hour; fifthly, the evening prayer; sixthly, the prayer before sleep and lastly, the midnight prayer. The morning and evening prayers should be said in church, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. Anyone who omits prayer, unless he is ill, should be cut off from the congregation of the faithful. Anyone who is sick should attend church if he possibly can, for he may be healed. The other prayers should be said at home. When the hour for prayer arrives and one of the faithful finds himself in a place where he cannot pray, he should pray mentally. Fasting is strictly observed by all faithful members of the church. There are approximately 250 fast days in the year, although not all of these are compulsory for everyone. The average person may fast about 180 days in the year. There are seven official fasting periods for Ethiopian Christians. 1. All Wednesday and Fridays, except for the 50 days after Easter. 2. The Lenten fast of 55 days. 3. The Nineveh fast of 3 days. 4. The vigils, or gahad of Christmas and epiphany. 5. The fast of the apostles; this varies in length, depending upon the date of Easter, and maybe a minimum of 14 days and maximum of 44. This fast commemorates St. peter and St. Paul. 6. The fast of the prophets of 43 days. 7. The fast of the assumption, 15 days in august. Of these fasts, the fast of the apostles and the fast of the prophets are compulsory for clergy only, although they are also observed by many of the faithful. All the other fasts are considered obligatory for all devout Christians, except children under seven. During fasting periods, Christians abstain from meat and all animal products: meat, milk, butter and eggs. No food or drink is taken before noon, at the earliest: even then only a simple repast should be taken. Pregnant women, the seriously sick and travelers are exempted from fasting. In Holy Week no food is taken before 1 p.m. or later. The really devout fast completely from Good Friday till Easter Sunday, while others eat only the evening meal on these days. The Lenten fast is traditionally broken by a joyful feast that takes place after midnight mass. Nine major and nine minor holy days are observed in the church of Ethiopia. All are connected with events in the life of Christ. 1. The Incarnation 1. Sebkat (first Sunday in advent) 2. The Birth of Christ 2. Berhan (second Sunday in advent) 3. Epiphany 3. Nolawi (third Sunday in advent) 4. Hosanna (palm Sunday) 4. Christmas Eve 5.Crucifixion 5. Gizret (Circumcision) 6. Easter 6. Birth of Simon 7. Debra Tabor ( feast of mount tabor, 7. Debra Zeit (Feast of the Mount of Olives) the transfiguration) 8. The Ascension 8. Kana Zegalila (The Miracle of Kana) 9. Pentecost 9. Maskal (The Invention of the True Cross)Other feast days include one for each of the twelve Apostles. The martyrs, St. George, St. Stephen and St. John the Baptist are also commemorated. Other important holy days are those in commemoration of St. Michael and St. Mary and of the grate religious reformer, the Emperor Zar’a Ya’iqob. No less than thirty-three holy days are devoted to St. Mary. An indication of the special veneration attached to the Blessed Virgin in Ethiopia. A feature of feast days in the Ethiopian Church is that many of them are commemorated monthly and not only annually. As in the rest of the Christian world Sunday is observed as a day of rest. In former times Saturday, the Biblical Sabbath, was also observed. On holy days believers are expected to refrain form heavy labor and manual tasks, such as farming, forging metal and weaving. Various transactions are permitted, however. On these days ot os customary to carry out charitable and philanthropic acts, to visit the sick or those in prison and to arrange reconciliation between those who have quarreled.