Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

“ And when he heard of the works of our Lord, and the miracles which He performed, and how He healed the sick, and cast out devils, and opened the eyes of the blind, and raised the dead, he sent a letter to Him, saying, “Peace be unto Thee, O God, Who hast appeared in Jerusalem, in the flesh of men. And peace be unto Thy Father Who hast sent Thee down without Thy being separated from Him. And peace be unto the Holy Spirit, Who hath whispered in my mind that Thou art His Messiah, and His equal. Peace be unto Thee, O Thou Who wast begotten in virginity, without the seed of man. ”

“ 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 shall deliver those who believe on Him, from Judah and Israel.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ And a man with a shining face said unto him, “Needs must; and thy son shall become a true and excellent teacher of God all the days of his life.” Now this Samuel was pure from his youth up, like Samuel the Prophet, and he was always thinking in his heart about the garb of the monastic life. One day he found the opportunity and went forth from his father to go to the desert of Scete, and as he was journeying along the road, the angel of the Lord, disguised as a monk, said unto him, “Whither goest thou?” And Abba Samuel said unto him, “I want to go to the monastery of Scete.” ”

“ And the emperor rose up with his soldiers, and with him were the archbishop, and bishops, and priests, and deacons, and when he came nigh unto him, an angel took the saint and lifted him up to carry him to the Country of the Living; and when the emperor saw him going up he said unto him, “Bless us, O saint of God, and speak one word unto us.” And the saint said unto them, ”Let your tongues fast from the words of calumny. If a priest doth not learn from books, overmuch pride and boasting will not come upon him; and if a monk doth not learn too much, arrogance will not come to him. ”

“ And if that soul be that of a great sinner, a voice shall go forth from God, the Sustainer of the Universe, in the face of Michael, the archangel, saying, ‘God, the Sustainer of the Universe, hath commanded, saying, “Let alone this soul, cast it to the martyr that he may make intercession for it, and let it be given unto him as a gift from the Lord God.”’ And they shall do unto that soul as God commanded, and it shall be given unto the martyr or unto the righteous man, and the martyr shall take it and carry it to his abode. ”

“ And the emperor said unto him, “What thou sayest is good, but thy transgression is not good, for thou hast drawn all the people of Syria to the worship of Christ.” And the saint was wroth, and he said unto the emperor, “Because I have drawn men away from the worship of idols, and have brought them into the worship of Christ, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who existed before the world, thou art wroth with me, and dost command me to worship thy gods and thine unclean idols! ”

“ One day when the two of them were walking together, they found the head of a dead man, and Abba Sinoda tapped it with his staff, saying, “Rise up, O dead man, that thou mayest tell me and make me to know what thou hast seen.” And God commanded the soul of the dead man, and the soul returned to the skull, and became a body, and the man rose up from the dead. And the dead man did homage to them and told them everything about Sheol, and about those who are punished therein, each in their degree, and he told them about himself and that he was a pagan. ”

“ Then the pagans dragged him out, and brought him to the place where the camels were, and they beat him on his head with their sandals, and they fastened him tightly on the back of a camel, but the camel would not move although they beat it severely; and Saint Abba Samuel wept bitter tears because of his pain. And the camel turned to him and said unto him with the voice of a man who talketh, “It is well that they beat thee. It was meet for thee to die because thou didst transgress the command of the Lord thy God Who told thee to hold thy peace and to speak not.” ”

“ And certain believing men came and took the body of the saint and laid it in a grave, and great signs and wonders were made manifest. Salutation to thee, O disciple of Jesus, who preached the Gospel and taught in Nicomedia, and who roused up the country of Leda (Leda) from the dead.
On this day are commemorated Abba ‘Os and the Virgins, and James, and Zachariah, and Simon, and Theodora, and Theophana. Glory be to God Who is glorified in His Saints. ”

“ Athanasius and Anastasius have embraced each other, righteousness hath appeared in the land of Egypt, and truth hath sprung up out of the East. Egypt and Syria have become one Faith, and the cities of Alexandria and Antioch one church, and there is one virgin to one holy man, our Lord Christ, the Only Son, the Word of God the Father.” And Saint Athanasius lived with Saint Anastasius in the same monastery for a period of thirty days, and they taught each other, and discussed together, and searched out the roots of the Faith ”

“ Can any man compel the clouds to gather up water when their Lord hath commanded them to drop down rain? And they will shut up the souls of sinners in houses of darkness, the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the souls of the righteous they will take into the houses of light, wherein there is pleasure and never-ending joy. And at the resurrection of the dead [souls] will be gathered from the four winds, and they shall be brought by water, and by the dew, and by the sun, and by the heat, and by the dust of the earth, and by the breath of the winds ”

“ Salutation to Abba John Kama. Salutation to Abba Darudi.
And on this day also died the Maccabees in the kingdom of the Midianites and Moabites. There was a king whose name was Sirusadin who was devoted to evil, and he boasted himself in the multitude of his horses, and the might of the soldiers who were under his authority. And he had many gods whom he worshipped and served, fifty of whom were in the form of men and twenty in the form of women; and he used to sacrifice to them morning and evening, and compel [other] men to sacrifice to them. ”

“ Paul the Apostle doth not say this concerning the man who repented, but concerning the man who is baptized with Christian baptism each time he falls into sin. And concerning such a man the apostle goes on to say, ‘Shall their head, the Son of God, be crucified a second time, and put to shame by them?’ The apostle makes known that the Cross could only be [found] once, but that repentance can be found at all times. And if a men hath fallen through denying Christ, or through sin, is he not to be accepted through repentance? --As thou sayest, was not the repentance of David accepted? ”

“ One day that disciple went out taking with him a pot to draw water, and Satan broke it; and when he told Abba Samuel he gave him a wine-skin to fill with water, and the disciple used the skin for fetching water for ten years, and the water did not spill over from it. And they departed thence and went to another place where they built a little prayer house, and they dwelt [there] . And one [night] the angel of the Lord showed them in a dream where they were to build a church, and King ‘Anestos came and built them a large church, and five hundred cells for monks. ”

“ When the men of Alexandria saw the Faith of Philip, they enthroned him archbishop on the throne of Mark, and he sat for many years, and taught the Faith of Christ. And another governor, an evil man (or heretic) , sent his soldiers to kill Philip secretly whilst he was praying in church; and they killed him and he became a martyr. And when the Archbishop of Rome heard the story of Saint Eugenia, he received her into his house and made her abbess of the religious house which he had built, and which contained three thousand women, and three hundred nuns who were virgins ”

“ And Saint Abba ‘Esi went to the city of Alexandria to buy goods, and he had in that city a friend whose name was Paul, who was grievously sick, and Abba ‘Esi remained with him until he recovered from his sickness. And in those days the Christian peoples suffered very great tribulation, and Abba ‘Esi and Paul his friend used to buy good food and provisions and take them to the saints who were in the city of Alexandria, and they used likewise to visit frequently those who were shut up in prison in great tribulation for the sake of the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and comfort them. ”

“ And there was a nunnery wherein very many virgins dwelt, and its gates were strong, and Satan raised up against them certain thieves to plunder their goods. And the captain of the thieves said, “I will disguise myself as Abba Daniel, and they will open the door to me forthwith”; and he did even as he had thought. And he said unto the virgins, “I am Abba Daniel,” and when the nuns heard him they welcomed him with joy, and uncovered their faces. ”

“ Therefore he forsook the world and became a monk in a monastery. Thence he went forth into the desert, a journey of ten days, and he came to a monastery about which there was nothing except roots and partridges; and water in abundance was there. And straightway he pondered and said, “If I go out into the fields after the partridges my labor and my prayers would be in vain, for I have, since I am alone by myself, no one to come to my help. And as for him who saith, ‘Thou shalt not eat flesh,’ is it not the flesh of thy neighbor [to which he refers] in derision? ”

“ And when the man who hath been wont to celebrate the commemoration of one of the martyrs, or one of the righteous, dieth, that martyr or that righteous man shall come before our Lord Christ, and he shall say unto Him, ‘O my Lord and God, give me this soul, for it was wont to celebrate my commemoration when upon earth’ ”

“ Now our God by the operation of His Wisdom commanded that a decree should go forth from Augustus Caesar, the emperor, that all the people should be numbered, and their names written down; and because of this Joseph went up from Nazareth, and the Virgin Mary was with him, to Jerusalem so that his name and her name might be written down. And he was of the tribe of Judah, and of the house of David, for the home of David was in Bethlehem, even as the Holy Gospel saith. ”

“ I believe on Thee, and I have turned from the worship of idols to the worship of Thee. Come to me that Thou mayest be King over me, and make my city Thy home (?) , and heal my sickness, and cleanse my impurity. What matter the Jews to Thee? They spit upon Thy Name, and they hurt Thee; they are a nation of men of perverted counsel. If in times of old they did not believe on Thee when Thou didst bring them out of Egypt, by working miracles, and didst feed them with manna for forty years (?) ”

“ And her mother reared her piously, and each day and each night she suckled her on Christian doctrine, and at length she brought her into the True Faith, and no one was able to change her belief. When she had grown up and had reached the age for marriage her father gave her in marriage to a man who was an infidel like himself, and she hated him exceedingly, and had no wish whatsoever to consort with him. And she pretended to be ill, and she was always putting forward the pretexts which women are wont to use when they want to avoid union with their husbands. ”

“ And with all our hearts let us make supplication to this glorious angel Gabriel, and his companion Michael, who are glorious and exalted in their offices to pray to God on our behalf that He may deliver us and protect us against the nets of Satan; for without the help of God and the intercession of His chosen ones we can in no wise be saved. ”

“ And they continued thus in great sorrow because they had no son, and they prayed to God with great frequency and made supplication to Him that He would give them a good son in whom they might rejoice and who would inherit their riches. And they remained without a son until they grew old and their time for begetting children had passed, and having failed to have children they fell into despair, and knowing that they were barren, and that their days had passed, and that they had become very old, they ceased to ask for a son. ”