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Doctrine
of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
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| 1. HOLY TRINITY |
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The formula for the Trinity is this, "Worship we the Father,
worship we the Son, worship we the Holy Spirit, three in one and
one in three". God is one in Godhead, Three in Persons, in the
name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity has no beginning
and will exist for ever without end. In the Trinity there is none
that precedes and none that follows; none that is elder and none
that is younger, none that is ruler and none that is subject;
the Three are One, in all things equal (Jn. 10: 30; 1 Jn. 5: 7.).
In nature, in authority, in Lordship, in Godhead, in Divinity,
in creating, in saving, in giving, in taking away, in breadth,
in fulness, in length, They are One. The eternal and immutable
God has been revealed in three co-eternal Persons. The Father
is the first Person, i.e. the first hypostasis of the one God,
the Son is the second Person begotten of the only Father, the
Spirit is the third hypostasis who proceeds from the only Father
whom He has as the cause of his own eternal existence. The Spirit
is called Spirit because he breathes and is moved of the Father
and rests in the Son. He is wholly pure, shining, undefiled, holy,
purifying and illuminating and sanctifying the other intellectual
and spiritual beings. The dogma of the three separate Persons
is inseparable from the dogma of the one God. "There are three
that bear witness in the Heaven, the Father, the Logos, and the
Holy Spirit, and these three agree in one." ( 1 John 5:7). "The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all, Amen", (2 Cor. 13:13).
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| 2. CREATION |
| Creation is God's handiwork.
He is the ruler of the Universe and creator of the Angels. The creation
was originally good but was corrupted later. Spirit, life, body
and all good proceed from God. He is the creator of the whole world,
and so He is the Father, Governor and Lord of all creation (Gen.
1:1; Neh. 9:7; Deut. 32. 6,18; I Chron. 29:12). God is "The Lord,
who is a good father"; in His goodness He forgives, as Father He
protects and feeds, as Lord He judges. He fills the heaven and earth
though not seen by the eye of the flesh, is jealous and takes vengeance,
is patient, merciful and gentle, omnipotent, omniscient, glorious,
most high, mighty, wise, righteous, good, true, faithful. He has
no respect for persons but gives recompense to all according to
what they have done. The Lord God created Adam and Eve witl freedom
to do evil if they pleased and to reject evil and good. Diablos,
or Satan, envious of them, planned to separate them from the Lord,
and tempted them. They ate the forbidden fruit and were cursed by
God and lost the good life they had, and affliction and suffering
started as a consequence of their disobedience. Redemption was effected
by the second Person dying on the cross. As a conclusion the Church
teaches that all that exists was produced out of nothing by God,
the world is the work of the Divine Wisdom, God was moved by His
goodness to create the world for His glorification. God keeps all
created things in existence, and through HisProvidence protects
and guides all that He has created. Every creature of God is good
and there is nothing to be rejected. |
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3. THE FALL
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| Originally God's creation was good. "The
Lord brought forth all good cretion, spirit, life, body and all
that is good. But this was "perverted by impure words". Our first
parents, before the Fall, were endowed with thefavoul, benefits
and graces of God. They had bodily immortality, freedom from suffering,
the knowledge of natural Supernatural truth infused by God. God
imposed death as punishment for the transgression of His probationary
commandment. Suffering and sorrow are consequences of sin. Adam
was perfect in knowledge, which was lost after the sin. Another
consequence was subjection to the dominion of Diablos or Satan,
and Adam's sin was transmitted to his posterity. |
| 4. INCARNATION |
| In a paper submitted to the
'Consultation between the Theologians of Eastern Orthodox and Oriental
Orthodox Churches' held at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, in
August 1964, the Very Rev. Like Siltanat Habte Mariam Workineh,
Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral, fully explained the teaching of
the Church on Incarnation. Incarnation is a divine mystery. The
two natures of Godhead and Manhood are perfectly united and Christ
is thus one Person and one Nature from two Natures. Christ is one
Incarnate nature of God the Word. After the union it is impossible
to speak of Christ as being in two natures. By the union of the
nature in the Incarnation the two natures became one nature, the
natures being united without separation, without confusion, and
without change. Neither of the two natures was assimilated by the
other, the properties of the Divine Word were attributed to the
flesh and those of the flesh to the Divine Word. The Logos revealed
Himself in our flesh and became man like us. He did all things that
man does with the exception of sin (John 8:46). And at the same
time was truly God. He is God-Man. He is co-equal and consubstantial
with the Father in his Godhead. He is perfectly united with us the
union being from two modes of life into one. The union of the Word
with the flesh took place in the womb of the Virgin Mary. St. John
says: "The Word was made flesh...". In the same way we can say that
also the flesh was made divine. The attributes of the flesh can
be given to the Divine Word and vice versa. However, the properties
of each nature are preserved without change after the union. Therefore,
we believe that Christ is one Person and one Nature, and thus is
both divine and human. We speak of one because of the union. We
hold "mia physis", composite nature, one united nature. Again the
Lord Jesus Christ is perfect man and perfect God. The word "perfect"
closes the door to all quibble and prevarication. We accept both
unity and duality in Christ who in acting performed as one. Christ,
in whom humanitv and divinity were united in one Person and one
Nature, was crucified on the cross. The Divine Word without being
united with the flesh cannot be crucified, because as God He is
beyond suffering. But through the union with the flesh He was crucified
and subjected to death. If, on the other hand, only the human body
was crucified, He could not save the world. The purpose of the Incarnation
was the salvation of man. God sent His only Son into theworld to
bring unto Him the lost sheep and He did this by reason of His unspeakable
love towards mankind. |
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5. THE
ISSUE BETWEEN MONOPHYSITISM AND DYOPHYSITISM
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The Ethiopian Orthodox Church considers itself to belong to the
One, Holy, Universal and Apostolic Church founded bv Jesus Christ.
It is holy because its founder, Jesus Christ, is holy; it is catholic
because the whole world is its province and because it is universal
in time and place; it is apostolic because it was established
on earth by the apostles of Christ. The Ethiopian Church belongs
to the group of Orthodox Churches wrongly termed "Monophysite"
but which prefer the epithet "Non-Chalcedonian". The other members
of this family are the Coptic, Armenian, Syrian and Indian Churches.
Together with the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Orthodox
Church they comprised the One Church for four centuries until
the division arose on account of the Council of Chalcedon in 451
which insisted that Christ had the two natures of humanity and
divinity. Dyophysites teach that, after the union, Christ retained
the natures of divinity and humanity in His one Person in such
a way that He ate food, slept, laughed, suffered, walked as man
in the human nature, but healed the sick and resuscitated Lazarus
as God in the divine nature. Thus He is one Person in two natures
of humanity and divinity. The wrongly called Monophysites reject
the allegation that they teach one Nature and one Person in Christ.
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Teachings
of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church may thus be summarized as
- The
Ethiopian Church rejects Eutyches, who is believed to have
taught that in Christ the human Nature was absorbed by the
divine Nature. Nestorius also is excluded.
- Dioscorus,
whom the Council of Chalcedon deposed, is accepted. But it
should be remembered that the Council of 451 did not believe
that Dioscorus was a heretic. Dioscorus did not deny the continuance
of Godhead and manhood in the One Christ after their union
and he agreed with the Council that the teaching which Eutyches
was understood to hold was heretical.
- The
teaching of the Ethiopian Church is the faith of the Fathers
expounded by the great theologians of the Alexandrine tradition,
especially by St. Cyril and his illustrious theological follower.
- The
Church abides by the formula "The one Incarnate Nature
of God the Word", on which St. Cyril of Alexandria increasingly
insisted, a formula which was accepted as correct by the Council
of Ephesus in 431 A.D. and which, after the Council of Chalcedon,
the Chalcedonian side in the East itself admitted.
Accordingly
the Ethiopian Church maintains that Christ is perfect God and
perfect man, at once Unsubstantial with the Father and with
us; the divinity and the humanity continuing in Him without
mixture or separation, confusion or change. He is one and the
same person both in his eternal pre-existence and also in the
economy, in which he performs the redeeming work of God on behalf
of man, from the indivisible state of union of Godhead and manhood.
It
is unfair for the Church to be nicknamed "monophysite" by the
faithful who accept the Chalcedonian formula of "two Natures in
the one Person of Jesus Christ", because the expression used by
the non-Chalcedonian side was always muiphysis, and never monophysis
(mia standing for a composite unity unlike mone standing for an
elemental unity). Therefore these churches are best referred to
as the nonChalcedonian Orthodox Churches.
"Tewahido"
is the Ethiopian term (meaning "made one") which is the best expression
conveying the faith of the Church, since it emphasizes the inseparable
unity of the Godhead and manhood in the Person of Christ. The
Church's official title is "The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Bete
Christian"..
After the Union, Christ was no longer in two natures. The two
natures became united into one nature without separation, without
confusion and without change. Thus He was at the same tithe perfect
God and perfect man. This is the union of the natures in the Incarnation.
After the union Christ is not two persons or two natures. but
one Person, one incarnate Nature of God the Son, with one will,
bu t being at once divine and human. If you separate the natures
after the union and say that Christ is in two natures, you will
be confronted with serious problems. You will have to admit, for
instance, that Christ was crucified merely as a man and that therefore
he did not redeem the world, for God alone is able to accomplish
the world's redemption. In brief, it is held that Christ, in acting,
acted as a united being, not separately as man or separately as
God.
Proof that we believe in the continuance of divinity and humanity
in the One Christ may be illustrated:
a)
In the Communion we receive the very body and ! blood of Jesus
Christ. These belong to man, hu/ manity, and we know that Jesus
Christ is God,divinity.
b)
The present Liturgy can be used as a criterion of the Church.
There it is openly expressed that there is divinity and humanity
in Christ.
c)
The Chalcedonian formula was rejected because it was thought
to destroy the one person of Christ and there was no clear disffncffon
between "nature" and "person", person meant nature.
d)
We believe the Nicaean Creed in which the divinity and humanity
of Christ are set forth, and in the Creed of the liturgy we
declare our belief in the co-equality of Jesus Christ with God
the Father, and belief in his having grown like men, yet without
sin or evil, and in his having taken flesh from Mary.
e
) The confession of Faith by the Emperor Claudius declares that
Jesus Christ was perfect man and perfect God. Monophysitism
is rejected. It is a question of error in vocabulary, the concepts
of Nature and Person not being clear and there being obscurity
in philosophical terms such as physis, hypostasis, ausia, prosopon,
atreptos, mia, mono etc. As to the two natures of Christ the
Dyophysites and non-Chalcedonians are one, it is a matter of
interpretation after the union of the two natures. Happily the
Dyophysites are currently realizing the position.
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| 6.
FUNDAMENTAL DOGMAS IN THE NICAEAN CREED |
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The following is the Creed said in the Mass, called "Amakniyo
of the Apostles", the one which the Apostles gave in Jerusalem:-
"We believe in one God, Maker of all creation,Father of our Lord
and our God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, because his nature is
unsearchable.
As we have before declared (i.e. in Didascalia), he is without
beginning and without end, but he is ever living, and he has light
which is never extinguished, and he can never be approached.
He is not two or three, and no addition can be made to him, but
he is only one, living for ever, because he is not hidden that
he cannot be known, but we know him perfectly through the law
and the prophets, that he is almighty and has authority over all
the creation.
One God, Father of our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who
was begotten before the creation of the world, the onlybegotten
Son coequal with him, creator of all the hosts, the principalities
and the dominions.
Who in the last days was pleased to become man, and took flesh
from our Lady Mary, the holy Virgin, without Me seed of man, and
grew like men yet without sin or evil; neither was guile found
in his mouth.
Then he suffered, died in the flesh, rose from the dead on the
third day, ascended unto heaven to the Father who sent him, sat
down at the right hand of Power, sent to us the Paraclete, the
Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, and saved all the world,
and who is co-eternal with the Father and the Son.
We say further that all the creatures of God are good and there
is nothing to be repented of, and the spirit, the life of the
body, is pure and holy in all.
And we say that marriage is pure and childbirth is undefiled
because God created Adam and Eve to multiply.We under stand further
that there is in our body a soul which is immortal and does not
perish with the body.
We repudiate all the works of heretics and all schisms and transgression
of the law, because they are for us impure.
We also believe in the resurrection of the dead, the righteous
and sinners; and in the day of judgment, when every one will be
recompensed according to his deeds.
We also believe that Christ is not in the least degree inferior
because of his incarnation, but he is God the Word who truly became
man, and reconciled mankind to God being the High-Priest of the
Father.
Henceforth let us not be circumcised like the Jews. We know that
he who had to fulfil the law and the prophets has already come.
To him, for whose coming all people looked forward, Jesus Christ,
who is descended from Judah, from the root of Jesse, whose government
is upon his shoulder: to him be the glory, thanksgiving, greatness,
blessing, praise, song, both now and ever and world without end,
Amen."
Our Church has received and teaches the faith which was formulated
at Nicaea. In the Creed or in the name of Nicaea she makes known
her faith after this fashion: We believe in one God, in the Lord
the Father, who holds the whole world, omnipotent, who created
everything visible and invisible in heaven and in earth (Gen.
1, 20; Neh. 9. Rom. 1.20). We believe in our Lord Jesus Christ,
the one Son of the Father, who was with Him before the Creation
of the world. Light begotten of Light, True God begotten of True
God, not created. He is equal with the Father. There is nothing
in heaven and earth which exists without Him. Mt. 3,17, In 1.
1,4.
For us and for the salvation of men He came down from heaven;
by the operation of the Holy Spirit He put on flesh of the holy
Virgin Mary and became man. In the time of Pontius Pilate He was
crucified for us, suffered and died and was buried, and on the
third day He was separated from the dead and rose, and with glory
He ascended to heaven and sat on the right hand of His Father,
and He shall come again in honour and glory that He may judge
the living and the dead, and there is no finish, no end of His
Kingdom. Mat. 1: 20,21; I Pet. 3. 18; Phil. 2. 6,8; Rom. 5. 8;
Cor. 15. 3,4; 1 Pet. 3. 19,20.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord who saves, Hc who
proceeds from the Father; together with the Father and the Son
we worship Him, we honor Him, we glorify Him. Jn. v. 3, 4; Jn.
xv. 26.
And we believe in one Holy church, which is over all, the assembly
and congregation of the Apostles, Eph. ii. 19, 20,22.
And we believe in one Baptism, that it was given for the forgiveness
of sin. Eph. 4. 3,6; Ps. 32. 1,2; Eph. 1. 6.
And believing in the resurrection of the dead, we hope for everlasting
life to come. Jn. 5. 285,29; 1 Cor. 15. 22,24; Jn. 10. 27, 28
( The Teaching of the Abyssinian Church ) .
The dogmas we believe are contained in this symbol of the Faith.
No one has any right to add to or take from it. Other dogmas are
contained in the dogmatic definitions of the Third Council in
Ephesus which declared that Christ is one in hypostasis, perfect
God and perfect man, is the Son of God, without a mother on the
higher plane, and the Son of His Mother without a father on the
lower. His ever-Virgin Mother is properly and truly called the
Mother of God, as having properly and truly given birth in the
flesh to God the Logos.
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| 7.
THE SACRAMENTS |
There are
seven Sacraments:-
- Baptism
-
Confirmation
- Penance
- Holy
communion
-
Unction of the sick
- Holy
orders
- Matrimony
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| The first four are necessary
for every believer, the other three are not obligatory for everyone.
Matrimony and Holy Orders are verv necessary to the church, the
first for preseryation of mankind, and the second for the performance
of the Church Services. Certain prayers are set for each sacrament
to ask for the blessing of the Holy Ghost. A bishop may perform
any church sacrament, but there must be at least three bishops for
the consecration of a bishop (the rule is clear in the Didascalia)in
the sacrament of Holy Orders; a priest cannot confer Holy Orders,
but he can perform the other six sacraments, a deacon can only help
the bishop or the priest in celebrating the sacraments. Laymen cannot
celebrate but they participate in their celebration. The blessings
got through the sacraments do not depend on the life of the minister;
the sacraments do not lose their efficacy if the minister's life
is not good, the efficacy is "ex opere operato". It is God who works
in ministers (Phil. 2:13). John Chrysostom said that the grace does
not depend on the life of the clergy. Baptism, Confirmation and
Holy Orders cannot be repeated when they are validly conferred.
A sacrament is not a mere symbol or sign of the New Convenant, no;
it is not a mere outward ritual. A sacrament brings real invisible
grace to the receiver. Sacraments are the normal channel of the
grace which nourishes the believers' supernatural life of faith.
Every sacrament was instituted by Christ Himself and it has, besides
the invisible grace, an outward sign, visible or audible. |
| 8.
HOLY COMMUNION AS A SACRIFICE |
| We believe that this sacrament
is an unbloody Sacrifice offered for our salvation. Our Lord said:
"This is my blood which is given (Sacrificed) for you" (Luke 22:19,
20). St. Paul (lCor.10:18-21) gives the proof that the Holy Communion
is offered on the altar as a true sacrifice and in Heb. 13:10 he
refers to the Christian altar. This sacrifice of the New Testament
was foretold in the Old Testament: "From the rising of the sun even
unto the going down of the same and in every place incense shall
be offered unto my name and a pure offering (or "sacrifice"), for
my name shall be great among the heathen" (Mal. 1.11). The Council
of Nicaea called the Holy Communion an unbloody sacrifice. All the
Church Fathers called it a sacrifice. This sacrifice is the same
as that which was offered on the Cross, the Offeror is the same
Jesus Christ. The difference between this and that which was offered
on Calvary is this: a) On the cross our Lord offered a visible sacrifice,
in the Holy Communion it is invisible under the form of bread and
wine; b) On the cross it was a bloody sacrifice through shedding
of * blood, in the Holy Communion it is unbloody; c) The sacrifice
0 on Calvary was offered for all the race of man once only and 0
in one place, but the unbloody sacrifice is offered continuousi
ly, in every place on earth. Back |
| 9.
REAL PRESENCE |
| The Ethiopian Church holds the
doctrine of the real presence. The consecrated bread and wine are
the body and blood of Christ. Jesus Christ is truly, really and
substantially present in the consecrated elements. In the Eucharist
we eat the blessed flesh of our Lord and drink His precious blood
under the form of bread and wine. As the church Fathers said, "Our,
Lord is present in this sacrament, not in type or by way of granting
his grace as in the case of other sacraments, but He is truly and
actually present. The bread ischanged after pra- yer into the Lord's
very body which was born at Bethlehem from the Virgin Mary, baptised
at Jordan, suffered, buried and rose from the dead. Likewise, the
wine is changed into the very blood of the Lord which was shed on
the cross." We do not take the bread and wine as a mere memorial
service in remembrance of the Lord's suffering and death. How the
a change takes place we do not know and we do not need to know.
It is done by the power of God, that is that. It is faith, not science.
That old-time, ancient conviction, based on faith in an all-powerful
God is still deeply entrenched in our Church . and this basic belief
has been left untouched by the changes affecting many churches in
the rest of Christendom. Proof of the real presence can be gathered
from the Bible. The Lord said: "This is my body... this is my blood";
from the decisions of the early Councils of Nicaea and Ephesus;
the writings of the early fathers (Clement, Dionisius, Cyril of
Alexandria, Macarius and Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom, Gregory,
Basil and many others); the writings even of Martin Luther who said:
"Christ said, 'This is my flesh,' and we can do nothing better than
to respect His words". Before Communion the priest declares: "I
believe, I believe, I believe and I confess that this is the body
and blood of our Lord and our God and our Saviour Jesus ChristS.
When giving Communion to the recipients he says: "The body of our
Lord Jesus Christ", and "This is the precious blood of Christ".
As an expression of exterior reverence, when the Sacrament goes
around, the people kneel or bow deeply, small and large bells jubilantly
ring, incense fills the air. All this clearly indicates that the
real presence is the very heart of the worship which the church
is prepared to preserve as handed down by the Apostles. The Institution
form in the Anaphoras of John Chrysostom and of St. Mark, is: "This
is my body... This is my blood" So, from the earliest times to the
present day, the Ethiopic liturgy has witnessed to the belief in
the doctrine of the real presence. |
| 10.
THE CONFESSOR OR SOUL FATHER |
| The practice of confession is
strictly personal. The believer chooses a confessor-priest who knows
him personally, even intimately, and who is acquainted with and
sympathetic to his problems. He is called yenafs abbat: the soul-father.
As a matter of fact he is the spiritual father of a family. He makes
frequent visits to the home and performs services as required. Yearly
a man gives to the confessor a gift according to his means. One'wrshing
to confess goes to the house of a Confessor or to the church where
they walk aside near the graves and the service is done. When a
man is about to die or is departing on an expedition he calls his
Confessor and elders and declares his final wishes, for the 'nuzazei'
or death-bed declaration of a testament is much stronger when made
in his presence although the present Civil Code does not require
confessors as witnesses for the validity of a will, and the court
may invalidate a testamentary provision made by the testator in
favour of the Confessor. Usually a written testament is deposited
with the Confessor, who on the fortieth day of Remembrance after
death reads it to all concerned. The Confessor may be a member of
the family Council. In general the place of the soul-father is of
importance in the Ethiopian family. |
| 11.
APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION |
| The authority of the bishops
is derived in the first place from the Apostles and goes back behind
them to Christ. They are the agents and servants of Christ and are
equal to the Apostles to whom He said, "He who receiveth you receiveth
me." (Mt. 10, 40 Lk. 10, 16; Jn. 13, 20). The line of succession
in the episcopacy from the Apostles to the present time is unbroken.
Our bishops to the day of writing are conserrated by those who have
uninterrupted authority from the Apostles and this goes back to
St. Mark and his successors. It was the Apostles who consecrated
bishops and the bishops whom the Apostles consecrated were given
the right of consecrating. In this connection the consecration performed
by prelates outside the apostolic succession is invalid and the
orders conferred by them are likewise null and void. The line of
succession can only be broken if the consecration is not performed
according to ordinances and is done by those whose authority is
of no force. Back |
| 12.
VENERATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY |
| The Church honors the Blessed
Virgin Mary most of all the saints. She is venerated especially
for her supreme grace and the call she received from God. It is
believed that by the grace of God she committed no actual sin. St.
Elisabeth cried and said: "Blessed art thou above all women, and
blessed is the fruit of thy womb. . ." (Luke 1, 39, 45). St. Gabriel
said to her: "Be joyful, O thou that art full of grace, the Lord
is with thee; blessed art thou above all women" (Luke 1, 28). So
we, receiving and believing these words of the Gospel, honor and
praise her as the mother of our Lord, our Lady, a lady blessed,
holy, exalted, honored and praised. The Virgin Mother of God has
a very special place in the Ethiopian cult, and devotion to our
Mother holds the highest place. Ethiopia is known as the country
of Mary, her protectress. Among the saints in heaven she is venerated
in a special way. She is loved by her Son so dearly that He will
grant her every prayer. Because of the mission she received from
God, her life is most closely linked with the mysteries of Jesus
Christ, and there is no one who has followed in the footsteps of
the Incarnate Word more closely and with more merit than she; and
no one has more grace and power over the heart of the Son of God,
and through Him with the Heavenly Father. Holier than the Cherubim
and Seraphim she enjoys unquestionably greater glory than all the
other saints for she is full of grace, she is the Mother of God,
who happily gave birth to the Redeemer for us. She is a glorified
human soul, more perfect and more lovable than any other. She is
worthy of the highest place and the most exalted honor that a creature
can attain to in heaven, for through God's choosing of her for the
destiny of being His Mother, through abundance of grace which He
bestowed upon her, and through her fidelity in corresponding with
this grace, she has reached a degree of glory which place her higher
than God's angels or His other Saints. The Blessed Virgin Mary is
constantly referred to in the Liturgy. Special prayer to her in
the form of Ave Maria or Hail Mary is recited during the Liturgy
immediately before the Lections (TheLiturgy of the Ethiopian Church,byRev.
Marcos Daoud, p. 43). The form in the Ethiopia Liturgy by Mercer,
p. 335, is like this: Hail, O Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with
thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of
thy womb. Pray and intercede for us with thy beloved Son, That he
forgive our sins. Very moving is the prayer of the priest after
the reading of the Acts of Apostles. Here it is: ''Rejoice, O thou
of whom we ask healing, O holv, full of honor, ever-virgin, parent
of God, mother of Christ, offer up our prayer onhigh to thy beloved
Son that he may forgive us our sins. "Rejoice, O thou who didst
bear for us tl e very Light of Righteousness, even Christ our God.
O Virgin pure, plead for us unto our Lord that he may have mercy
upon our souls and forgive us our sins. "Rejoice, O Virgin Mary,
very Queen; rejoice, O pride of our kind; rejoice O thou that barest
for us Emm tnuel our God. y'We ask thee to remember us, O true Mediatrix,
before our Lord Jesus Christ that he may have merev upon our souls
and forgive us our sins." Our Lady is commemorated every month and
there are more than thirty feasts of Mary in one year. The name
of Mary is the most popular, both for men and women. Innumerable
churches are erected in her honour. The Nagara Maryam, or History
of Mary, is a collection of stories about her life arranged for
the twelve months of the year. There are two collections of homilies
to be read on the Festivals of the Virgin, arranged for the different
days of the week: the Praises of Mary ( Weddase Maryam ) and the
Organ of the Virgin or Organ of Praises (Arganona Dengel, Arganona
Weddase). One of the Anaphoras is called "Of our Lady Mary". Plenty
of pictures of the Virgin are to be seen in the churches and Sleeping
places. Another important book we have in connection with the Mother
of God is called the Wonders of Mary. Ethiopia is a daughter of
Mary, her star in peace and war and her last resort in everything.
Nothing can be taught to the Church in devotion and honor to the
Blessed Virgin. Finally the Church teaches that our Lady was taken
to Heaven soul and body where she prays for us until the last Judgement.
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| 13.
COMMANDMENTS TO BE KEPT |
| There are commandments which
are to be observed, through which the work of our salvation is completed.
The keeping of these commandments is equal to the keeping of all
the commandments. They are five: 1) The first commandment, "Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength", containing
all our duties towards God and every commandment having any reference
to God. ( Luke 10: 25-28) 2) The second commandment, "Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself', contains all our duties towards Christ,
who became Neighbor to us, and whom we ought to love as He also
first loved us. In this is every commandment referring to Christ.
3) The third commandment, "A new commandment give I unto you, that
ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye love one another",
contains all our duties towards our brethren and the brethren of
Christ and every commandment having reference to the Christian Brotherhood
(John 13. 34,35). 4) The fourth commandment, "Ye shall love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you",
contains all our duties towards the enemies and persecutors of the
faith and the teaching of Christ, and every commandment having reference
to this order of men (Luke 6:27-28). 5.) The fifth commandment,
"All things therefore which you would that men should do to you,
do even so to them", contains all our duties to all men whether
ill disposed towards us or friendly, and every commandment having
reference to them(Matt. 7:12 and Luke 6:13) |
| 14.
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE |
|
Marriage
Marriage is pure and undefiled, and not unclean, for God created
Adam and Eve that they might multiply people. Hence flesh is not
impure, for He did not repudiate the body(Ethiopic Didascalia,
Translations of Christian Literature, J.M.Harden, p. 147). Wehave
a sacrament which blesses the state of married people. Marriage
which is consecrated and honorable we honor and bless with 'the
crown' (i.e. with the marriage service ) and with the Eucharist.
There is a mass for wedding. Those who pervert nature like the
men of Sodom and Gomorrah, and those who practise bestiality shall
not escape punishment, for they transgress the law and defile
pure marriage. Women must be obedient to their husbands in love
and fear, even as the blessed Sarah was obedient to her husband
Abraham. And in like manner men must love their wives. It is said,
"Love the wife of thy youth, as the hearth loveth the fountains
of waters, for she is thine and is with thee at all times, and
is a member of thine". (Cf. Prov. 5:18f). Those that marry a third
time shall not be reckoned with the flock of the Lord Christ,
and those that marry a fourth time, their wantonness is still
more abundantly manifested, and they shall find shame and dishonor
(The Ethiopic Didascalia, op. cit.) Cases are not rare where after
the death of a spouse the other party enters a monastery or a
nunnery. Premarital sex relationships are frowned upon.
Divorce
The law of the Gospel and the Christian ordinances are Qone man
for one woman and one woman for one man. The taking of another
is forbidden, 1 Tim. 3. 2, 1. 6. "What God hath joined together
let no man separate", Mt. 9 ,6. "He who divorces his wife and
marries another woman commits adultery with Iher, and if a woman
divorces her husband and marries another man, she becomes an adulteress",
Mk. 10. 11, 12. "Everyone who divorces his wife, except for the
cause of sexual misconduct, makes her an adulteress, and he who
marries her who is divorced commits adultery", Mt. 5. 31. 32.
St. Paul also said: "But to the married I give commandmentQYet
not I but the LordQLet not a woman divorce her husband; and if
she divorce him, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to
her husband and let not a man leave his wife". (Cor. 7. 10, 11)
. Adultery is the only cause for divorce. If the bond is broken,
the offenders are automatically barred from receiving Holy Communion.
The case of impotence may be considered. Although the Civil Law
recognized the Levirate marriage ( Deut. 25. 5) it has never been
tolerated by the Church. The church recognizes but one wife, and
any other female retainer is regarded as a concubine. The Emperor
canonically is bound by the same marital laws as those of the
priests.
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