MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE ! MELKAM GENA! TODAY JANUARY 7th WE CELEBRATE ETHIOPIAN CHRISTMAS WHEN THE THREE WISE MEN WERE GUIDED BY THAT SPECIAL STAR THAT GUIDED THEM TO WHERE CHRIST OUR REDEEMER WAS BORN. MELKAM GENA(MERRY CHRISTMAS)! ENQUAN OBRODENASAH( LET US HAVE A HAPPY FEAST)!
TAHISAS 29
(January 07)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
And on this day is celebrated the greatest of all festivals, the honorable, and great, and holy
festival of the Birth of our Lord Christ, of the holy Virgin Mary. Now our fathers, the
doctors of the Church, are at one in their opinion that the festival of the Holy Nativity
should be celebrated on two days, for the Nativity took place in the last part of the night of
the twenty-eighth day, and in the first part of the night of the twenty-ninth day. When
Paguemen (i.e. the intercalary month) hath six [days], in that year the festival of the
Nativity shall be on the eight and twentieth day; but if Paguemen hath five [days] the
festival of the Nativity shall be on the nine and twentieth day. And the [doctors] have
ordained and commanded that the festival of the Nativity shall be celebrated two days, for
it is the chief of the holy festivals. And the Holy Gospel saith, “And our Lord Jesus was
born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod. And behold there came wise men from
the country of the East, and they came into Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who is born
King of the Jews? For we have seen His star, and have come to worship Him’” (Matthew
ii, 1,2). Now these wise men were of the family of Balaam, and they were diviners, and
astrologers, and they watched the stars, and held converse with them. And it was written
in their books and in the books of Balaam, that Christ, the King of the Jews, was to be
born, for he saith, “A star shall rise from Jacob and a king from Israel” (Numbers xxiv,
17). And God in the operation of His wisdom made these diviners to understand, and he
made those who were astrologers to believe in Him. And He showed them this star, and
when they saw it they rejoiced, for its appearance was different in very many respects from
that of the other stars. Now its appearance was this: That star had the form of a virgin
embracing a child in her bosom, and it traveled from left to right, and it traveled by day,
and disappeared by night. When the wise men traveled, the star traveled; and when they
stood still it stood still. And it was visible to them in one place, and was hidden from them
in another. When they came into Jerusalem it became hidden, and when it was hidden
from them they were exceedingly sorry, and did not know what to do. And then they came
into Jerusalem and asked for Him that had been born. And the number of those diviners
was three thousand, and their kings were three, and each of them had one thousand and
seventy horses. And when Herod heard about the diviners who had come to Jerusalem on
account of the King Who had been born, he was dismayed and was afraid for his kingdom,
for he heard from the Jews about him, that the Messiah would be born in the flesh. And he
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gathered together all the chief priests, and the scribes of the people, and he said unto them,
“Where is the Messiah to be born?” And they said unto him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for
even thus is it written in the prophet: ‘And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Ephrata, thou
shalt not be for ever the least important and smallest of the principalities of Judah, for in
thee shall be born and go forth a king and a governor who shall supervise My people
Israel’” (Matthew ii, 6). Then Herod summoned unto him the diviners by themselves in
secret, and he enquired carefully of them the day when the star appeared unto them. And
he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “When ye have departed enquire carefully about the
Child and where He is born, and when ye have found Him come back to me, and tell me so
that I may come and worship Him.” Now these words came from him with deceit, for
when the wise men had found Him, he determined to kill Him. And when the wise men
heard these words from the king, they departed, and that star which they had seen in the
East guided them until it brought them to the cave, and it stood over the cave where the
Child was; and when they saw Him they rejoiced with great joy. And by the Will of God
Joseph and Mary and the Child our Lord Jesus, went out that day to the cave, and at length
the diviners found them, for our Lord Christ was reared only at Nazareth. And it was two
years after He was born when the diviners came to Him, and when they entered the cave
they found the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him, and
they embraced Him, and they opened their treasures and brought and gave Him the gold
which was His tribute, for He was a king, and incense because He was God, and myrrh,
which was a symbol of His life-giving death. And [the angel] appeared unto them again
and told them in a dream not to go back to Herod, but to depart by another road and
journey to their own country. And they departed and became preachers and announcers of
the appearance of God in the flesh. Concerning this day Isaiah the prophet prophesied,
saying, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and she shall call his name
Emmanuel which is, being interpreted, God with us” (Isaiah vii, 14). And concerning this
virgin the prophet Ezekiel prophesied, saying, “I saw the door of the East. And God said
unto me: This shall be a means of exit. None shall enter through it, and none besides the
Lord God of Israel shall go out there from” (Ezekiel x, 19). And concerning this virgin
Daniel the prophet saith, “I saw as it were the Son of man, and a cloud came until it
reached the Ancient of Days. And it drew nigh unto Him and ascribed to Him dominion,
and sovereignty, and honor, and it made all the people and all he nations worship Him, and
His dominion was an everlasting dominion, and there was no end to His kingdom” (Daniel
vii). And Isaiah the prophet also saith, “God appeared unto me from Zion, having covered
Himself with a covering of flesh like unto myself, and He said unto me, Behold the flesh
which I will take from the seed of David, the son of Jesse.” And Isaiah the prophet also
saith, “Behold, I will assuredly make a new heaven and a new earth, and I will dwell in
them with those I love, and they shall rejoice for ever.” And also, “God will make a rod
from the root of Jesse to bud, and He will put wisdom, and knowledge, and power therein,
and he shall do justice to the poor, and he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth,
and he shall slay the perverse with the spirit of his lips.” And Isaiah the prophet also saith,
“I will set my son to be a sign for the nations, and he shall rule over them, and they shall
believe on Him and put their trust in Him, and He shall be for rest and glory, and the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of God.” And Isaiah also saith, “For unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given. His dominion shall be upon His swathing, and His name shall be
called, Great, Counselor, Almighty God, Governor, King of Peace, Everlasting Father who
shall come.” And Jeremiah the prophet saith, “Thus saith the Lord: In those days great
light shall rise up for David, and he shall set judgment and integrity in the earth. And God
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THE ETHIOPIAN SYNAXARIUM
shall deliver those who believe on Him, from Judah and Israel.” And Elisa the prophet
saith, “God shall come down from heaven, and shall walk about in the market-places of the
children of Israel, and He shall teach the people righteousness, and all nations shall be in
submission unto Him, except the nation of the alien sons of Abraham.” And Nehemiah
prophesied, saying, “God shall come in my own appearance, and His raiment shall be as is
my raiment.” And Joel the prophet prophesied, saying, “I see the virgin daughter of the
tribe of Judah and of the seed of David become a seat for God, and she shall burn like fire.
And I asked the Cherubim concerning her, and I said unto him, ‘Who is this [virgin]?’
And he said unto me, ‘This is the virgin, the seat of God, chosen from among the sons of
Adam, and by her He shall redeem the abominable nations, and she shall be a helper and a
support of him that shall believe on her.’” And David saith in the Psalms, “The Great God
said unto me: Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask Me, I will give Thee
the nations for an inheritance, and Thy rule shall be to the ends of the earth. Thou shalt
rule them with a rod of iron, and like the vessel of the potter Thou shalt smash them. And
now, O kings, get ye understanding, and be admonished all ye who judge the earth. Serve
ye God with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling; strengthen wisdom so that God may
not be wroth, and that ye may not perish from the way of righteousness. Blessed be all
those who put their trust in Him” (Psalm 2). And the prophet also saith in the 110th Psalm,
“I begot Thee in the womb before the Morning Star. God hath sworn, and He will not
repent. Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedek” (Psalm 110:3&4).
As he revealed unto Abraham a ram in the thicket, and as water poured out of the rock in
the desert, and as the dry rod of Aaron sprouted and blossomed, and as the ass of Balaam
spoke, and as water poured out from the jawbone of an ass into the hands of Samson the
giant, and water and honey from the bones of a lion, and as the fire burned in the bush
before Moses, and the bush was not consumed, even so did our Lady, the holy Virgin
Mary, bring froth our Lord Jesus Christ. And the fire of His Godhead did not consume the
Virgin Mary. Salutation to Thy Birth, O Lamp of the darkness. Thank you Lord on this day for coming and redeem your people who have their trust in you. Through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ our redeemer. Hallelujah! Hallelujah !Hallelujah! Amen
By Dr. Omega mwondha Medi son of the soil Africa Uganda Busoga
