Nebab #70 The Season of Flowers - The Flight of the Virgin Mary
NEBAB #70
The Orthodox Tewahedo Magazine
The Season of Flowers - The Flight of the Virgin Mary
Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Archdiocese of the Caribbean and Latin America
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God Amen.
See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt.Isaiah 19:1
Zemene Tsige (The Season of Flowers) is observed in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church between the period Meskerem 26 (October 6) to Hedar 6 (November 15). It is one of 2 periods during which people commonly fast what is called a tsome feqad (fast of one's will/an optional fast)The word tsige means "flower", referring to the praise of God that takes place during this period. In the 14th century, Abba Tsige Birhan composed a work explaining the imagery of flowers and fruit. Just as fragrance and beauty are found in flowers and fruit, he describes the Virgin Mary and her Son, Jesus Christ through these images. He writes: "O Mary, fragrance of pomegranate, flower of the day, your face pale with fasting and sorrow how I long to share in your hardships, your tears, and your suffering, that I too may share in your endless joy."
In particular, the season commemorates the Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, the time when Our Lady St Mary and Child, Jesus Christ lived in exile and after three and a half years, returned to their homeland in Nazareth (Isaiah 19:1; Habakkuk 3:6-7).
This can be found in Matthew 2:13-23. "And when they departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him."
During this time, both the faithful and the scholars of the church go to the church in the evening and remain throughout the night, contemplating Our Lady's flight into Egypt. Following a total of 40 days, the faithful and monks enter into solemn devotion, prayer and fasting, partaking in the struggles that the family faced during this time.
Some of the special prayers include: Mahlete Tsige (The Hymn of the Flower) and Seqoqawe Dingil (The Lamentation of the Virgin) along with the hymn of St Yared (Digua).
In an attempt to honour the hospitality that was extended to the family when they came to Ethiopia, Zikir (literally, memory or commemoration) is also traditionally observed where communities gather in a central area to commemorate Our Lady Maryam, inviting the infirm, poor travellers with food and drink in Our Lady's name. Some prepare food and drink for those who become tired after standing throughout the night for the Mahlet. They remember Our Lady, give alms and share what they have.
During this season, all of the faithful should remember the hunger, thirst, poverty, sadness and trouble Saint Mary, the Mother of God faced on her journey to Egypt.
May the prayers and intercessions of Saint Mary be with us all, Amen!
The Book of Proverbs focuses on pious behavior which in turn, relates to the faith. Among the books of the wisdom group, are the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, which are attributed to the King Solomon and are all rich in the use of metaphors.
In the Book of Proverbs we can see simple assurances and firm warnings and moral questions answered in clearness and firmness. While the Book of Ecclesiastes, it is directed at the holy mind. The Song of Songs is written to the holy heart.
In the Book of Proverbs, the aim is at the holy will. It is a guide for a believer in his present life, to practice piety, and to be successful in all aspects of life. We should know that it is a practical book that touches our faith, inspired by the Holy Spirit and using the language of human experiences.
We can say that God used the following means of speech to teach us: (1) The divine commandments (2) The written word of God (3) Visions and dreams in which he spoke to the patriarchs and prophets (4) The language of hymns (5) Divine Parables (6) Allegories (7) Historical events (8) Proverbs (9) Through His Incarnate Word, the Logos and Wisdom.
St. Paul says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1,2).
Proverbs express men’s experiences of practicing the divine commandments, or rejecting them. The teachings of this book are not expressed in “Thus says the Lord,” as in the Law of Moses, where the same things are taught as a direct command of God. Rather they are given as coming out of the experience of a man who tried out and tested just about everything that men can engage in. Thus, we can say that the Book of Proverbs is a divine speech addressed to God’s beloved by the language of man’s experience!
Glory be to God Forever, Amen!
Our father among the saints, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, has exactly taken the time to answer this question in the most beautiful way.
He says this in On the Incarnation, in the very first chapter. That every decision, even the choosing of the cross as the means of His sacrifice, all of it is done with us in mind. Everything is for us and for our salvation, as the Holy Creed clearly states.
St. Athanasius explains simply that in order to defeat the enemy, which is death, the Lord needed to meet with death face to face. Like any great fight, the opposing sides must meet in battle and face off to determine who will be victorious. And in order to meet with death, simply, one must die. And in order to die, the Lord must take on mortal flesh. And so, He did just that. He became fully human, accepted the humiliation of embracing mortality for our sakes in order that He might die in the flesh and come face to face with our great enemy: death. In so doing, and according to St. Athanasius, the Lord's means of death had to fulfill specific criteria, so that His death and His resurrection would not be diminished by foolish criticism. The death that He would allow Himself to suffer had to demonstrate that He is indeed the incarnate Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, and He was both almighty and life Himself. Therefore, some of options of human death could not be tolerated.
+114_058.jpg)
A miracle [performed] by Our Lady Mary, Twofold Virgin, may her prayer be with her servant Simon, forever and ever, amen.
A handsome youth named Zacharias lived in the city of Rome. He was from the royal family.
One day he entered the church to pray and he looked at the icon of Our Lady Mary, Twofold Virgin. His heart burned with love for her and he thought of what gift he could please her with.
So, he took fifty roses and braided them into a crown on top of the icon.
He did this every day until the season of flowers had passed and the roses were all gone.
He grieved over this and was at a loss for what to do and what gift to give [now].
Then, he offered her his prostration in place of the roses, but, witnessing her great splendor, he was seized with fear at this [lack, having no roses].
He said to her, “My dear Lady Mary, you know that the season of roses has passed. There’s nothing left for me to bring to you. So, instead, I will say to you every morning, in place of the roses, [the Hail Mary,] ‘May the peace of the angel be with you. Rejoice, full of grace.’ ”
He kept on saying this[, the Hail Mary,] until he had grown up.
Later, he traveled to another country. While he was on his journey through a great wilderness, he was afraid of wild animals and robbers.
Like this, [as he feared,] robbers and thieves found him. They were habitual vicious killers and murderers, surrounding and destroying everyone they came across in the wilderness.
They [secretly] followed this good man called Zacharias, stalking him.
Suddenly, he began to recite [the Hail Mary,] the Peace of Our Lady Mary.
The ringleader of the robbers crept closer in order to see what this man was doing.
But then, when Zacharias turned back around, he saw the robbers stalking him on the road through the wilderness.
He stood facing East, made the sign of cross, stretched out his hands, and bowed wholeheartedly to the ground, calling out the name of Our Lady Mary with [the Hail Mary,] the peace prayer.
The ringleader was watching, heard what he was saying, and looked up at the very moment when Zacharias bowed.
The ringleader witnessed a woman, a queen of great glory, descending from heaven.
They[, the angels,] brought a throne for her and she sat upon it in front of that good man Zacharias.
He did not cease praying [the Hail Mary,] the Peace of Our Lady Mary, he recited it day and night.
Every time he said “Peace be to you!” a rose emerged from his mouth.
Our Lady Mary plucked each of them, setting them upon her lap, until she had all fifty roses.
Having seen this, the ringleader was amazed. He kept count of the roses she had collected from Zacharias’ mouth.
When Zacharias had completed his prayer, Our Lady blessed his face [with the sign of the cross] and placed her hands on his head.
She said, “May my beloved Son’s blessings be with you forever, amen.”
After she said this, the angels in heaven bowed, saying, “Amen!”
Likewise, the righteous, the martyrs, the blessed children, the women saints, all those who were with her, responded, saying, “Amen!”
Then, she ascended into the heavens with them, to the joyful cries of countless angels.
After the ringleader saw this miracle and wonder, he returned to the wilderness and his fellow robbers, who were violent and murderous thieves.
When Zacharias reentered the wilderness, the robbers surrounded and grabbed him.
When the ringleader saw this happening, he rebuked the robbers, saying “Don’t grab and hurt him!”
The ringleader pulled Zacharias away and asked him to tell him about his way of living, [that is,] how he lived in this world, and his good actions.
Zacharias answered, “I am a sinful man, miserable and poor. I am needy and have done nothing good. I don’t know how to be anything other than that. But, every evening and every morning, I never cease from reciting [the Hail Mary,] the Peace of the Angel to Our Lady Mary, the Twofold Virgin. Because of this, she has rescued me from difficulty and distress.”
The ringleader said to Zacharias, “I saw you, when you were in the wilderness, and that you were afraid of the violent robbers. So, I trailed you. Then, I heard the words you said and [saw] you bowing a few times, not [even] a lot. Yet, I saw with my own eyes that the gift of grace was given to you by the Queen of Heaven and Earth because of this little act, this trivial labor. So now I declare to you that, from this day on, I will turn toward repentance, I will do good deeds, I will be called a good man, and I will serve Our Lady Mary, the Twofold Virgin, all of my life.”
Likewise, his fellow thieves vowed to be servants of the Mother of Light.
As for Father Zacharias, they sent him on his way with honor and he returned to his family safely.
But, as for those thieves, they hurried to the pure priest, the Nebura Ed, named Aaron. They had the priest examine them and then repented of their sins. After this, they put on the holy monastic garments and took up the struggle with impure spirits so that the spirits would not tear down the buildings of righteousness that the former thieves had built.
Our Lady Mary, the Twofold Virgin, helped them with every action and protected them from Satan’s temptations. When they departed from this world, she let them inherit God’s kingdom and righteousness.
May her prayers and her blessings be with her servant Simon forever and ever, amen.
.png)
First we must recognize that the Saints are alive. I mean, if a close relative departs from this world, does this person cease to exist or continues to live in the afterlife? If I answer the person ceases to exist and therefore is dead, then why am I even a Christian? Christianity's ultimate good news to the world is that Christ conquered death through His death and was raised from the dead, and thereby giving eternal life to humanity in Him. If a relative is dead when his or her soul leaves the body, then my Christianity is false, meaningless, God forbid. In Matthew 22, Christ clearly says that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, referring to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who left this world centuries before the incarnation. Also we see Moses and Elijah appear in a transfiguration on Mount Tabor. When we leave this body, we are not less alive, but more. And more importantly, in John 8, Christ said the following, as He was reasoning with the Jews:
'' 56 Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad. 57 Then the Jews said to Him, ''You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said to them, ''Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.'' (John 8:56-58)
The beginning of the answer to all these Saints-related questions is given here. The Jews thought from an earthly perspective. How can a man who is not even 50 years old have met Abraham? They missed the point. God is the great I AM; He is the one who is always in the present tense, if you will. He is timeless, always above this chronological time, above time and space. And this is precisely the condition the Saints are in; they are above time and space.
Miracle of Mary: Jeremy Brown with Ekaterina Pukhovaia. 2022. "ID 157: The Wrongly Accused Official." From EMML (HMML) 9002, ff. 169v–171r. Täˀammərä Maryam (Miracle of Mary) Stories, edited by Wendy Laura Belcher, Jeremy Brown, Mehari Worku, and Dawit Muluneh. Princeton: Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary project. https://pemm.princeton.edu/stories/157.
https://www.eotcpathway.com/home/fasting-days/tsige-tsome
John's Repentance - EOTC Teachings
Why did Jesus Christ have to die on the cross?
Are saints alive? Can they be in two places at once? Can they hear us?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Comments
Post a Comment