NEBAB #55: The Great Fast - Debre Zeyt

  NEBAB #55

The Orthodox Tewahedo Magazine

THE GREAT FAST (LENT)

WEEK 5: DEBRE ZEYT - THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

The Spiritual Education Unit

Ethiopian Orthodox Church

Archdiocese of the Caribbean and Latin America

In this issue:

    1. The Days of Noah

    2. Every Stone Thrown Down 

    3. Faith and works

    4. “Ask Abba/Kes”

    5. Miracle of the Virgin Mary

    6. Children’s corner

    7.ይበል ግዕዝ 

    8. Orthodox Q&A

 

The Days of Noah

In the days of Noah, the whole earth was filled with wickedness, and depravity filled the thoughts of the people. Noah spend 120 years building the ark to save people, and preached to the children of Cain, who were destroying their bodies and souls by fornication and pleasure-seeking. When the flood started, and the door of the ark was closed, their destruction was fulfilled, and they inherited the reward they had been working for.

But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth,

Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you?

When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers.

You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit.

You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother's son.

These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.

- Psalm 50:16-21

God kept silent for 120 years, while Noah spoke on His behalf. Eventually, God ended His silence, and His voice was heard in the waters of the flood. The children of Cain procrastinated, saying "We will repent eventually", for 120 years, while continuing to fill their world with corruption, forgetting God, and indulging the desires of the flesh to their own destruction. Readers, do not think of yourselves that you are better than they were- not when you put off your penance, skip your prayers, use breaking the fast as an excuse to indulge in snacks, uselessly gossip and grumble about others, or spend hours on social media or other entertainment- feeding your senses when you should be feeding your spirit! If we join the children of Cain in their foolishness, we will join them in their judgement.

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence,

A fire shall devour before Him,

And it shall be very tempestous round about Him

- Psalm 50:3

We can never forget the days of Noah, brothers and sisters, because our Lord has told us:

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

- Matthew 24:37-42

Every Stone Thrown Down

"I have heard many people rejoicing and saying, 'We have fought and prevailed, half the fast is done!' Do not rejoice on this account. Instead consider if half of your sins are gone, and if so, rejoice- since is a proper cause for thanksgiving." - St John Chrysostom

As the middle of the day brings the greatest heat from the sun, along with the middle of the fast comes the greatest fire of temptation from the enemy. The devil would have us abandon our post out of laziness, give up the fight out of despair, or put obstacles to help us fall, then convince us not to get back up. St John Chrysostom warns us against the common temptation to celebrate ourselves at this time.

Since we have climbed up the Mount of Olives with the Lord, and heard the signs of His coming, and of the end of the world, now let us go down the mountain, and in strength head toward Golgotha to be crucified with Him.

When we climbed the Mount of Olives, our Lord showed us all the buildings of temple, and told us that every single stone would be thrown down. But-

“you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
  — 1 Peter 2:5

For the Jews, the destruction of the temple represented the end of the world. Our Lord told them that they themselves would destroy the temple and that He would raise it in 3 days. Our Lord rebuilds us too, when our worlds are destroyed, and raises us in His image. This is the foundation of our hope- the mystery of the resurrection of the dead.

“unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, 'Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.' "”
  — Acts 24:21

Faith and Works: The Day of the Lord

"For a Christian, the second coming is tomorrow", because neither do we know the hour of the Lord's return, nor do we know the time of our death. Take a few minutes to consider the following question:

If the Lord returns tomorrow, what would I want to do today?

Make a list of the things you would do to prepare for the Lord's Second Coming if it were tomorrow. How much of your list are you putting off? Is there any item on the list you want to do but have never done? 

Ask Abba/Kes

What does "because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will grow cold" mean?

Our love for ourselves will diminish, when we give our freedoms to drugs, alcohol, and sexual immorality. When we do this to ourselves, we then slide into self hatred and guilt, not loving ourselves or having mercy on ourselves. What is it to have mercy on yourself? If adultery leads me to shame and anxiety, why do I not abandon adultery? If I stay in my sins I give myself to the torture and judgement of sin- this is the opposite of mercy. Continuing in sin is self hatred, and to abandon it is the best way to love ourselves.

BIBLE QUIZ!

In which book of the Bible is it written that Jesus will return in the same way the apostles saw Him go?

A Miracle of the Holy Virgin Mary

A miracle performed by Our Lady Mary, the Mother of God. May her intercession be with us forever and ever. Amen.

There was a woman who loved Our Lady Mary, Holy Virgin, the Mother of God.

The woman gave birth to a daughter. But a hyena took the baby. While the woman was eating at a table, people told her that her beloved daughter had been taken by a hyena.

She screamed and said, “Is it true that a hyena took my daughter?”

She couldn’t believe what they told her. So she went to church where there stood a statue of Our Lady Mary, Holy Virgin, the Mother of God.

The woman thought, “I will take away her son from her bosom.”

And she took the child from the statue, [brought it] home, and put it in a box. She poured Maaye Ward perfume [on it] and covered it with silk linen.

That same night, the woman’s home suddenly became filled with light like lightning.

Our Lady Mary, Holy Virgin, the Mother of God, brought [back] the daughter [who had been] taken by a hyena, saying, “Here, take your daughter and give me back my son, [whom] you took away from my bosom.”

The woman replied to Our Lady Mary, Holy Virgin, the Mother of God, [saying,] “Take your son, dear Queen of the Heavens and the Earth. [From now on,] I will perform your memorial every day in incense and candles.”

May her prayers and blessings be with her servant Tattamqa Madhen forever and ever. Amen.

O Holy Virgin Mary, pray for us!

LIJOCH! The Children's Corner

Draw a picture of the end of the world, using Jesus' words in Matthew 24:15-41

ይበል:ግዕዝ (yibel Ge’ez)

Let's reclaim our forefathers’ language

ደብረ ዘይት 

debre zeyt

ደብር debr means a mountain, but can also mean a monastery, or the region or place of a monastery. Debr has a lot of figurative meaning in Ge'ez, and in its broadest sense, can simply refer to the place of something. Because the prominence of mountains makes them the geographic focal point of an area, the ancient world often referred to a mountain to talk about the larger region that mountain dominates, and places are often named after mountains, like the Sinai peninsula is named after Mount Sinai. This is why some churches, even though not on mountains, get the title "Mountain of _" to speak of their prominence and importance. Mountains are thought of as sources, both literally- as water, for example, flows down a mountain and waters the area below (Psalm 60:4), and figuratively (Psalm 121:1).

Debr becomes ደብረ debre in the genitive form (i.e. when "mountain" becomes "mountain of _"), and አድባር adbar in the plural (mountains).

ORTHODOX Q&A

"I'm trying to look after my sleep for a better mental health and to fend off exhaustion, and there is an Orthodoxy course late at night, like 23:00. Do I then sacrifice my sleep despite the compounding effects or is it "ok" to move the class or something more in my schedule? Does my schedule matter? Or only the fiery pursuit of the things of the church?"

When you're given 1 talent, you're asked for 1 talent profit, when you're given 5 talents, you're asked for 5 talents profit. Sacrificing your sleep for the study of the faith is praiseworthy, but not everyone is able to do it. That kind of thing is a personal sacrifice you choose to make, it is not something usually asked of you by the church. You should always feel comfortable giving to God within the limits of your ability, because your ability is given to you by God. He knows.

Send us your questions at: seu.eotccarla@gmail.com

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

References

Miracle of Mary: https://pemm.princeton.edu/en-us/stories/438

_________________________________________________________________________________

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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