NEBAB #23: The Fast of the Prophets
NEBAB #23
The Orthodox Tewahedo Magazine
THE FAST OF THE PROPHETS
The Spiritual Education Unit
Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Archdiocese of the Caribbean and Latin America
The Fast of the Prophets
In this issue:
1. About the Fast of the Prophets: Tsome Nebiyat
2. What is a prophet?
3. Faith and works
4. “Ask Abba/Kes”
5. A Miracle of the Holy Virgin Maryam
6. Children’s corner
7.ይበል ግዕዝ
8. Orthodox Q&A
About the Fast of the Prophets: Tsome Nebiyat
Tsome nebiyat, also sometimes called tsome gena or yelidet tsom (the Christmas fast) is a 44 day fast from Hedar 15 to Tahisas 28 (November 24 to January 6) that leads up to the feast of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas) on Tahisas 29 (January 7). It is one of the 7 canonical fasts necessary for Christians to keep, and follows the example of the prophets who fasted in anticipation of the coming of their Saviour. Now we of the New Testament, who have already witnessed His glorious Incarnation, fast to properly appreciate and celebrate the gift given to us in the birth of Emmanuel our God.
The fast starts in the second week of zemene astemhro (the season of mercy), which began on Hedar 6 (November 15). The last 3 weeks of the fast are special observances and minor feasts of our Lord. They are:
Sibket (Preaching)- the feast commemorating the preaching of the many prophets that brought the message and hope of the coming of the Messiah to humanity.
Birhan (Light)- the feast which commemorates the fact that the Light of the World came to us to bring light to the world that was sitting in darkness.
Nolawi ([Good] Shepherd)- the commemoration of our Lord coming to lead His people as our True Shepherd. As sheep are aimless and unorganised without a shepherd, we were also going astray until our Shepherd came to lead us out of the condemnation of death and into Paradise.
We will study each of the minor feasts more closely as they approach. But why do we fast if Christ has already come? In the church, our commemorations are not simply as one remembers a historical event, but we are mystically taken back in time to the very moments we celebrate, which is why when the fast ends we sing “the Saviour of all the world is born today”, and not “was born on Christmas day”.
What is a prophet? (And what is prophecy?)
In our time, there are many who call themselves prophets, (and apostles, and bishops, and priests), so how can you tell the fakes from the real thing, and what exactly is a prophet in the first place?
The word prophet in Hebrew is nabi (in Ge'ez nebiy), and it means one to whom revelation or inspiration is given. We often think of prophecy as “telling the future” but it is more completely defined as revelation of hidden things- whether that means things that happened in the past but were unexplained or misunderstood, things happening currently that have deeper meaning, or things in the future which have not yet happened.
The word for prophet also means a spokesperson or mouthpiece, as a prophet is someone to whom God gives a message- like:
Moses- to whom God's messages were “Let My people go”, “I Am that I Am”, “Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is One”, etc.
Isaiah- to whom God revealed the mystery of the Incarnation of God the Son in the birth from a virgin mother.
Jonah- whose life was a prophecy, as he was a type of Christ on his journey to Nineveh (Matt 12:39-40), and through whom God sent a message of repentance to the Gentile city of Nineveh, even before the Incarnation and the adoption of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God.
So how do you spot a false prophet?
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 gives us 2 main problems with false prophets: they speak in the name of the Lord things the Lord has not given them to say, and the prophecies they make in the name of the Lord do not come to pass. We should be careful of only looking at if the “prophecy” comes true, as a clever person can make intelligent or unlikely predictions without being called by God, and deceive many! Take heed that no one deceives you, beloved readers! (Matt 24:4)
Faith and Works:
Spiritual Goal-Setting
Fire cannot burn in one place forever, it needs to grow to survive. Our spiritual lives should never be stagnant, because as we increase our spirituality, Satan increases his temptation.
For those who struggle with chasing spiritual growth, here's how you can make your goals a little easier to achieve:
The just-one rule: 1 minute of prayer is far better than no prayer. 1 Bible verse is better than no Bible for the day. 1 prostration is better than none. If you can't do much, do little- but never do nothing. You will find how easy it is for 1 minute to become 5, 1 verse to become a chapter, and 1 prostration to become 12.
If not for me, for others: If you don't feel motivated to practice a good spiritual routine for your own sake, do it for someone else. Read the Bible to your children, parents, or send a verse to a friend. Pray not for yourself but for your friends, for the hungry, etc. If you can't make yourself holy, try to set a holy example for others at least. Eventually you will want to be for yourself the light you can be for others.
Ask Abba/Kes
"When does the fast of the prophets actually begin?"
In the past there has been some confusion and controversy about the start date of the fast, whether it should be the 14th, 15th, or 16th of Hedar, but our Holy Synod has put that to rest and declared that the fast begins on the 15th. It is one of the 7 canonical fasts that as a Christian you have to fast.
BIBLE QUIZ!
Of the books of the 4 major prophets and 12 minor prophets, fasting is mentioned in how many?
A Miracle of the Holy Virgin Maryam
A miracle [performed] by Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, the Mother of God. May her prayer and her blessing be with her servant [King] Lebna Dengel forever and ever, amen. There was a conflict in the region of Saed amongst the Arabs. [Fearing plunderers,] one Arab woman took her gold and silver adornments and entrusted them to a Christian woman who was called ‘Anestoseya. The Christian woman had a virgin daughter named Mary. When the conflict and plundering came to an end, the Muslim woman went to the Christian woman looking for the adornments that she had entrusted to her, so that she would return them to her.
[But] Satan enticed the Christian woman, and thus she said to the Arab woman, “Everything that I have, and everything of yours, was destroyed during the plundering. Now I am poor and unable to get food for the day.” The Muslim woman responded, “Swear to me, in the church of Our Lady Mary, that my adornments that I have entrusted to you have been lost [in the plunder]. [If you do,] God will return them to me.” Then the Christian woman and her daughter went with the Muslim woman to the church of Our Lady Mary, the Holy Virgin, which was in the city of Dalga, in order to make the oath. When they approached the icon of Our Lady Mary, the Holy Virgin, her daughter fell down and lost her senses. She foamed at the mouth and was thrown into convulsions. Saliva poured from her mouth like a flow of water. She was talking to herself as if she was deranged. She rebuked her mother, saying, “My dear mother, why have you sworn falsely and fallen into this great sin? The adornments of this Muslim woman are in your house, buried in the cattle corral.” Her mother stood there listening with great shame. At once, the Muslim woman bowed in front of the icon of Our Lady Mary, the Holy Virgin, and she rejoiced joyfully, saying, “Truly, Mary is the Mother of the Creator of the entire world. And, Christ was not created as the Muslims say.” When the Arabs heard this, they banned together against the Muslim woman. They said to her, “Is it true what we have heard concerning you?” And she said, “The Christian faith is better than your faith. You are liars.” They responded to her saying, “But we believe that Mary is the daughter of Joachim. In her virginity she bore Jesus, whom God created. But Jesus is not a creator, as you have said.”
[The Arab woman said,] “You are liars. I believe that Mary gave birth to the Creator without the seed of man. He is not created; rather, he is the Creator, equal with the Father in divinity and with the Holy Spirit, One God. I will die in the name of Christianity.” When they heard this thing from her, they beat her with rods until her blood poured out like water. They bound her with iron chains, and they threw her into the latrine. They brought her neck up to the mouth of the latrine. They lowered her head upside down so that she would be tormented by the reek. She remained like that for eight days. Our Lady Mary, the Holy Virgin, came to her and said, “Complete your race, so that you deserve the crown of rejoicing in the presence of my son.” She anointed her lips with sweet-smelling oil to shield the reek of the latrine. After the aforementioned eight days, the Muslims were outraged against her. They took her out from the latrine and asked her, “Have you returned from your madness?” She responded, saying, “I am not mad, but you are mad. Also, your prophet is a madman and a liar like you all.” After they heard this, they beat her with rods as they had before. They cut her neck with the sword. She received the martyr's crown and inherited the kingdom of heaven by the intercession of Our Lady Mary, the Holy Virgin. May the blessing of her prayer be with her servant Lebna Dengel. Amen.
O Holy Virgin Maryam, pray for us!
LIJOCH! The Children's Corner
Memory verse: John 5:23
“that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
Oh dear- I've spilled my prophets all over the floor… they were so neatly organised, but now I don't remember the major prophets from the minor prophets! Could you help me organise them?
ይበል:ግዕዝ (yibel Ge’ez)
Let's reclaim our forefathers’ language
Today we'll learn some vocabulary and review some of our earliest lessons.
ጾመ ነቢያት ṣome nebiyat
fast of the prophets
ዓበይት ነቢያት abeyit nebiyat
major prophets (literally great prophets)
ደቂቀ ነቢያት deqiqe nebiyat
minor prophets (literally children of the prophets)
ሊቀ ነቢያት liqe nebiyat
arch-prophet (literally chief of the prophets)
ነቢይ nebiy - prophet (singular)
ጾም ṣom - fast (ṣ is not pronounced like regular s)
ዓቢይ abiy - great
ደቂቅ deqiq - infant/child
ORTHODOX Q&A
Why do you say ‘Mother of God’ and not ‘Mother of Christ’?
Both titles can accurately apply to our Lady Mary, but we say Mother of God to affirm the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the past, heretics have denied that the One to whom the Virgin Mary gave birth is in fact God Incarnate, and tried to say that she was the Mother of Christ but not the Mother of God, dividing Christ and separating His humanity from His divinity. For this reason St Cyril taught that anyone who does not call Mary the Mother of God is anathema.
Send us your questions at: seu.eotccarla@gmail.com
References
Short message on behalf the Spiritual Education Unit:
His Grace Abune Thaddaeus, Head Administrator Archimandrite Abba Gebreyesus, and all clergy and faithful- thank you for the opportunity to share this labour of love with you. Thanks also to the team of the Spiritual Education Unit for their hard work.
-Liqe Teghuan Tekle Mariam Greene
CONTACT US:
Archdiocese headquarters: Medhane Alem (Saviour of the World), Old Golden Grove Rd. Arouca, Trinidad and Tobago.
Tel. 868-642-4230.
e-mail: eotc.arch.carla@gmail.com
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