ዝክረ ቅዱሳን ማኅበረ ቅዱስ ዳዊት - ዘብሔረ ጎንደር (ዲ/ዮርዳኖስ አበበ)

✞At that moment, St. Anthony raised his head and looked up to the sky and a mystery was revealed to him and he exalted his God saying, “O Saint Paul! May God Who brought me to you be praised and honored.” And St. Paul responded (as he knew through the grace of God), “O Abba Anthony! Welcome.” Afterwards, both joyously and praising their God conversed.

✞The Church has Saints which she considers as the beginners of many types of holy lives or callings. For example we can mention
*St. Andrew the First Apostle
*St. Stephen the First Martyr
*St. Paul the First Anchorite/Hermit and
*St. Anthony the First Monk.

✞St. Paul was born in Northern Egypt in the City of Alexandria in the beginning of the 3rd century. His parents were wealthy. And they bore the Saint and his elder brother Abba Peter. The parents of both Christian brothers died while they were still young. However, after they mourned their parents, they were not able to agree while dividing the fortune [that was left].

✞And the reason was because the elder Peter took all the good stuff and gave the cheap ones to the younger Paul. And for that reason they went to court to settle matters, but on the way they saw a funeral of a wealthy man.

✞And while they stood, a holy angel in the manner of a man said to Paul, “This man was wealthy. He departed after sinning against his Creator, Who gave this wealth to him. Now severe judgment awaits him.”

✞In that instant, the thought of the young Paul changed. He turned to his brother, said, “My brother! Let all the goods be yours” and fled from the area. And after he stayed at a burial place for three days without food in prayer, the Angel of God took him to a desert where people could not reach.

✞There, a spring came forth for him. Then, he started fasting, praying and prostrating. He lived for eighty years always receiving half a piece of bread at night from heaven and being given from the Eucharist by angels on Saturdays and Sundays. (Some sources say he lived in the desert for ninety years.) And he met with St. Anthony after all these.

✞And in the two days that St. Anthony stayed with him, St. Paul spoke many prophecies. And when he departed on this day, lions dug his grave. And St. Anthony buried him with honor. And the palm fiber tunic that he wore for eighty years raised a dead man.

✞✞✞Honor is worthy to the righteous, blessed, first anchorite St. Paul who is called the Father of all the Hermits and was like the angels.

✞✞✞ Abba Longinus✞✞✞
=>The Saint was a father that travelled from Cilicia to Syria and from Syria to Egypt in spiritual strife. He had served as the Abbot of Debre (The Monastery of) Zugag (El-Zugag) in the mid of the 5th century.

✞He departed on this day after raising the dead, keeping the faith and performing numerous miracles. And from the wondrous things he performed we will mention that at one time Satan fled in fear after seeing his monastic hood (koulla/qalansuwa).

✞ “When you weren’t there, he saw your hood
And Satan fled as he was frightened”
(Arke of the Ethiopian Synaxarium)

✞✞✞ May God bless us with their blessings.

✞✞✞ Annual feasts celebrated on the 2nd of Yekatit
1. St. Abba Paul the Anchorite (The Father of all Hermits)
2. St. Abba Longinus Abbot of the Monastery of Zugag
3. St. Thomas the Apostle

✞✞✞ Monthly Feasts
1. St. John the Baptist
2. St. Thaddeus the Apostle
3. St. Severus of Antioch
4. St. Job the Righteous
5. St. Abel the Righteous
6. Abba Heryakos of Behensa

✞✞✞ “that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”✞✞✞
Heb. 11: 35-38

✞✞✞ Salutations to God ✞✞✞

(Translated by Mhr. Esuendale Shemeles with the permission of Dn. Yordanos Abebe)

Memhir Esuendale:
#Feasts of #Yekatit_2

✞✞✞On this day we commemorate the Great Abba Paul the Anchorite and Abba Longinus the Righteous✞✞✞

✞✞✞In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen!✞✞✞

✞✞✞The Great Saint Paul✞✞✞
=>According to the Church’s teaching, fathers that are named “the Great” are exceptional. They have done many virtues and we distinguish with the epithet them that are extraordinary from others of similar names.

✞The background for the ascetic life is the Old Testament. And it is believed that the children of Seth who lived on the Holy Mount (Debre Kidus) began it. However, the life was shown vividly by the Great Enoch - the Righteous and then by the Holy Priest Melchizedek.

✞Thereafter, St. Elijah the Prophet, and his disciple Elisha lived it. And in the New Testament St. John the Baptist who spent his whole life in the desert takes precedence.

✞Our Savior Christ, to Whose name’s invoking be prostration, sanctified and taught the ascetic life by living in the Judean Desert for 40 days. And His cell that He used during His ministry to spend the night at, found at Mt. Olive (Elion cave), by itself is a great example of such a life.

✞Historical texts show that after the Ascension of the Lord, when the Apostles became weary of the clatter of the world or when they wanted to serve their Creator with a pure and composed heart, they used to go outside the cities. And there, they lived in groups or alone. The main thing here is that they were diligent in fasting and prayer. And this passed down and reached to the 3rd century. At that time, a pure Christian named Abba Paul took this life to a higher level. He struggled for 80 years without being seen by anyone and was called “The Father of the Hermits”. He started asceticism that had order.

✞And 20 years after that transpired, a kind Christian named Abba Anthony sweetened the ascetic life in another way. The ascetic life was tuned when St. Michael gave the monk's habit [to St. Anthony]. Thus, Abba Anthony was named as “The Father of the Monks”.

✞And to expand the life he received disciples from different countries and tonsured them monks. And the Saints, the spiritual children of Abba Anthony, returned to their respective countries, showed the life practically and expanded monasticism.

✞One day, St. Anthony (The Father of all the Monks) thought, “Would there be anyone prior to me that had lived in the desert for many years?”

✞And without even finishing his thought, St. Michael came to him and said, “O Anthony! You have thought wondering that there be any man that precedes you in the desert. In fact, there is one man in the desert who had come to the desert twenty years before you did, who has delighted the Lord in holiness, whom the world in all its glory cannot parallel the dirt that he stepped on, by whose prayer and supplication it (the world) is protected and who is endowed with glory. Go and see him.” And then he disappeared.

✞St. Anthony marveling from what he had heard went on his way. After he walked a distance of days, he reached a cell (a cave) much further from the desert that he dwelt in. He saw the foot prints of a man and beasts at the door and knocked. Nonetheless the elder inside, slid upon the door a much heavier rock from the inside and reinforced it. That was because he had not seen any man for eighty years and thought that Satan was trying to deceive him. However, St. Anthony loudly spoke saying, “I have sought, let me find; I have knocked, let it be opened for me”.

✞And when the holy anchorite knew it was a man, he opened the door and let him into the cave. And they exchanged spiritual greetings. And when it was night time, St. Anthony asked the elder “What’s your name?” and the elder replied, “If you don’t know my name why did you come?”

የካቲት ፪ ቀን የሚከበሩ ዓመታዊ የቅዱሳን በዓላት
፩.ቅዱስ አባ ጳውሊ ገዳማዊ (የባሕታውያን ሁሉ አባት)
፪.ቅዱስ አባ ለንጊኖስ ሊቀ ምኔት (ደብረ ዝጋግ)
፫.ቅዱስ ቶማስ ሐዋርያ
††† ወርኀዊ በዓላት
፩.ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ መጥምቀ መለኮት
፪.ቅዱስ ታዴዎስ ሐዋርያ
፫.ቅዱስ ሳዊሮስ ዘአንጾኪያ (የሃይማኖት
ጠበቃ)
፬.ቅዱስ ኢዮብ ጻድቅ
፭.ቅዱስ አቤል ጻድቅ
፮.አባ ሕርያቆስ ዘሐገረ ብሕንሳ

††† "የሚበልጠውን ትንሣኤ እንዲያገኙ እስከ ሞት ድረስ ተደበደቡ። ሌሎችም መዘበቻ በመሆንና በመገረፍ ከዚህም በላይ በእስራትና በወኅኒ ተፈተኑ። በድንጋይ ተወግረው ሞቱ። ተፈተኑ፤ በመጋዝ ተሰነጠቁ፤ በሰይፍ ተገድለው ሞቱ። ሁሉን እያጡ፣ መከራን እየተቀበሉ፣ እየተጨነቁ የበግና የፍየል ሌጦ ለብሰው ዞሩ። ዓለም አልተገባቸውምና በምድረ በዳና በተራራ በዋሻና በምድር ጉድጓድ ተቅበዘበዙ።" †††
(ዕብ ፲፩፥፴፭-፴፰)

††† ወስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር †††

Dn Yordanos Abebe

†††✝ እንኳን ለታላቁ ገዳማዊ አባ ጳውሊ እና ለጻድቁ አባ ለንጊኖስ ዓመታዊ የዕረፍት በዓል በሰላም አደረሳችሁ፤ አደረሰን። †††✝

††† በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ አሜን! †††

††† ታላቁ ቅዱስ ጳውሊ †††

††† በቤተ ክርስቲያን አስተምሕሮ "ታላቁ /ዐቢይ/ THE GREAT" የሚል ስም የሚሰጣቸው አባቶች የተለዩ ናቸው። አንድም እጅግ ብዙ ትሩፋቶችን የሠሩ ናቸው። በሌላ በኩል ደግሞ በተመሳሳይ ስም ከሚጠሩ ሌሎች ቅዱሳን እንለይበታለን።

ገዳማዊ ሕይወት ጥንቱ ብሉይ ኪዳን ነው። በቀዳሚነትም በደብር ቅዱስ አካባቢ ይኖሩ የነበሩ ደቂቀ ሴት እንደ ጀመሩት ይታመናል። ሕይወቱ በጐላ በተረዳ መንገድ የታየው ግን በታላቁ ጻድቅ ሄኖክ ከዚያም በቅዱሱ ካህን መልከ ጼዴቅ አማካኝነት ነው።

ቀጥሎም እነ ቅዱስ ኤልያስ ነቢይ እነ ኤልሳዕ ደቀ መዝሙሩ ኑረውበታል። በሐዲስ ኪዳን ደግሞ ሙሉ ሕይወቱን በገዳም (በበርሃ) ያሳለፈው መጥምቀ መለኮት ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ቅድሚያውን ይይዛል።

ለስም አጠራሩ ስግደት ይሁንና መድኃኒታችን ክርስቶስ በገዳመ ቆረንቶስ ለአርባ ቀናት በትሕርምት ኑሮ ገዳማዊ ሕይወትን ቀድሷል፤ አስተምሯል። በዘመነ ስብከቱም ያድርባት የነበረችው የደብረ ዘይቷ በዓቱ (ኤሌዎን ዋሻ) በራሷ ለዚህ ሕይወት ትልቅ ማሳያ ናት።

ከጌታ ዕርገት በኋላም ክርስቲያኖቹ የዓለም ሁካታ ሲሰለቻቸው አንድም በንጹሕና በተሸከፈ ልቡና ለፈጣሪያቸው መገዛትን ሲሹ ከከተማ ወጣ እያሉ ይኖሩ እንደ ነበር የታሪክ መዛግብት ያሳያሉ። አኗኗራቸውም በቡድንም በነጠላም ሊሆን ይችላል። ዋናው ነገር ግን በጾምና በጸሎት መትጋታቸው ነው። ይህም ሲያያዝ እስከ ሦስተኛው መቶ ክፍለ ዘመን ደረሰ። በዚህ ዘመን ግን አባ ጳውሊ የሚባል ንጹሕ ክርስቲያን ይህንን ሕይወት ወደ ሌላ ደረጃ ከፍ አደረገው። ለሰማንያ ዓመታት ሰው ሳያይ ተጋድሎ "የባሕታውያን አባት" ተባለ። ደንብ ያለው ተባሕትዎም ጀመረ።

ይህ ከሆነ ከሃያ ዓመታት በኋላ ደግሞ አባ እንጦንስ የሚባሉ ደግ ክርስቲያን ይህንን ገዳማዊ ሕይወት በሌላ መንገድ አጣፈጡት። በቅዱስ ሚካኤል አመንኳሽነት ገዳማዊ ሕይወት በምንኩስና ተቃኘ። ስለዚህም አባ እንጦንስ የመነኮሳት አባት ተባሉ።

እርሳቸውም ሕይወቱን ለማስፋፋት ከተለያዩ አሕጉር ደቀ መዛሙርትን እየተቀበሉ አመንኩሰዋል። ቅዱሳን የአባ እንጦንስ ልጆችም ወደየ ሃገራቸው ተመልሰው ሕይወቱን በተግባር አሳይተው ገዳማዊነትን አስፋፍተዋል።

አንድ ቀን ቅዱስ እንጦንስ (የመነኮሳት ሁሉ አባት) እንዲህ ሲል አሰበ። "በውኑ በበርሃ ለበርካታ ዘመናት በመኖር ከእኔ የሚቀድም (የሚበልጥ) ሰው ይኖር ይሆን?"
ይህንን ሃሳቡን ገና ሳይጨርሰው ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ወደ እርሱ ዘንድ ደረሰ።

"እንጦንስ ሆይ! ከእኔ የሚቀድም የበርሃ ሰው ይኖር ይሆን ብለህ አስበሃል። በእርግጥም ከአንተ ሃያ ዓመታትን ቀድሞ ወደ በርሃ የገባ፣ በቅድስናው ፈጣሪውን ያስደሰተ፣ ዓለም ከነ ክብሯ የእግሩን መረገጫ ያህል እንኳ የማትመጥነው በጸሎቱና በምልጇው ዓለም የምትጠበቅለት ሞገስን የተሞላ አንድ ሰው በበርሃ ስላለ ሒድና ተመልከተው።" ብሎት ተሠወረው።

ቅዱስ እንጦንስም ከሰማው ነገር የተነሳ እየተደነቀ ተነሳ። እርሱ ካለበት በርሃ በራቀ መንገድም ለቀናት ተጉዞ አንድ በዓት (ዋሻ) በር ላይ ደረሰ። በበሩ አካባቢ የሰውና የአራዊት ኮቴ ተመልክቶ በሩን ጸፋ (ቆፈቆፈ)። በውስጥ ያለው አረጋዊ ሰው ግን ትልቅ ድንጋይ ገልብጦ በሩን አጠበቀው። ለሰማንያ ዓመታት ሰውን አይቶ አያውቅምና ሰይጣን ሊያታልለኝ መጥቷል ብሎ አስቧል። ቅዱስ እንጦንስ ግን "ኃሠሥኩ እርከብ ጐድጐድኩ ይትረኃው ሊተ - ሽቻለሁና ላግኝ፤ ደጅ መትቻለሁና ይከፈትልኝ።" ሲል አሰምቶ ተናገረ።

ቅዱሱ ገዳማዊም ሰው መሆኑን ሲያውቅ በሩን ከፈተለትና ወደ ዋሻው አስገባው። መንፈሳዊ ሰላምታንም ተለዋወጡ። ሲመሽም ቅዱስ እንጦንስ ሽማግሌውን ገዳማዊ "ስምህ ማን ነው?" ቢለው "ስሜን ካላወክ ለምን መጣህ?" ሲል መለሰለት።

ያን ጊዜ ቅዱስ እንጦንስ ቀና ብሎ ሰማይን ሲመለከት ምሥጢር ተገለጠለትና "ቅዱስ ጳውሊ ሆይ! ከአንተ ጋር ያገናኘኝ ፈጣሪ ይክበር፤ ይመስገን።" ሲል ፈጣሪውን ባረከ። ቅዱስ ጳውሊም መልሶ (በጸጋ አውቆት) "አባ እንጦንስ ሆይ! እንኳን ደህና መጣህ።" አለው። ሁለቱም ደስ ብሏቸው ፈጣሪያቸውን እያመሰገኑ ተጨዋወቱ።

ቤተ ክርስቲያን ለሁሉም ዓይነት የቅድስና ሕይወት የመጀመሪያ የምትላቸው አላት። ለምሳሌ፦
የመጀመሪያው ሐዋርያ ቅዱስ እንድርያስ፣
የመጀመሪያው ሰማዕት ቅዱስ እስጢፋኖስ፣
የመጀመሪያው ባሕታዊ (ገዳማዊ) ቅዱስ ጳውሊ እና የመጀመሪያው መነኮስ ቅዱስ እንጦንስን ማንሳት እንችላለን።

ቅዱስ ጳውሊ የተወለደው በሰሜናዊ ግብጽ በእስክንድርያ ከተማ ሲሆን ዘመኑም ሦስተኛው መቶ ክፍለ ዘመን መጀመሪያ ላይ ነው። ወላጆቹ ባለጸጐች ነበሩ። ቅዱሱንና ታላቅ ወንድሙን አባ ጴጥሮስን ወልደዋል። ሁለቱ ክርስቲያን ወንድማማቾች ገና ወጣት ሳሉ ወላጆቻቸው ሞቱባቸው። ሃዘናቸውን ፈጽመው ሃብት ሲካፈሉ ግን መስማማት አልቻሉም።

ምክንያቱ ደግሞ ትልቁ ጴጥሮስ ደህና ደህናውን እቃ ወስዶ መናኛ መናኛውን ለትንሹ ለጳውሎስ (ጳውሊ) መስጠቱ ነበር። ስለዚህ ነገር ተካሰው ወደ ፍርድ ቤት ሲሔዱ ግን መንገድ ላይ አንድ ባለጸጋ ሙቶ ደረሱ።

ቆመው ሳሉም ቅዱስ መልአክ ሰው መስሎ ጳውሊን "ይህ ሰው ባለጸጋ ነው። በገንዘቡ የሰጠውን ፈጣሪ ሲበድልበት ኑሮ እነሆ ተሸኘ። በሰማይም አስጨናቂ ፍርድ ይጠብቀዋል።" ሲል ነገረው።

በዚያች ቅጽበት የወጣቱ ጳውሊ ሐሳብ ተለወጠ። ወደ ወንድሙ ተመልሶ "ወንድሜ ሆይ! ሁሉ ንብረት ያንተ ይሁን።" ብሎት ከአካባቢው ጠፋ። በመቃብር ሥፍራ ለሦስት ቀናት ያለ ምግብ ጸልዮ የእግዚአብሔር መልአክ ሰው ወደ ማይደርስበት በርሃ ወሰደው።

በዚያም ምንጭ ፈለቀችለት። እየጾመ ይጸልይ ይሰግድ ገባ። ሁሌ ማታ ግማሽ ሕብስት ከሰማይ እየወረደለት ቅዳሜና እሑድ መላእክት እያቆረቡት ለሰማንያ ዓመታት ኖረ። (አንዳንድ ምንጮች ግን ለዘጠና ዓመታት ይላሉ።) ከቅዱስ እንጦንስ ጋር የተገናኙትም ከዚህ በኋላ ነው።

ከቅዱስ እንጦንስ ጋር በነበራቸው የሁለት ቀናት ቆይታም ቅዱስ ጳውሊ ብዙ ትንቢቶችን ተናግሯል። በዚህች ቀን ሲያርፍም መቃብሩን አናብስቱ ቆፍረዋል። ቅዱስ እንጦንስም በክብር ቀብሮታል። ለሰማንያ ዓመታት የለበሳት የዘንባባ ልብሱም ሙት አስነስታለች።

††† ጻድቅ፣ ቡሩክ፣ ቀዳሚው ገዳማዊ፣ መላእክትን የመሰለና የባሕታውያን ሁሉ አባት ለተባለ ለቅዱስ ጳውሊ ክብር ይገባል!

††† አባ ለንጊኖስ †††

††† ጻድቁ ከኪልቅያ እስከ ሶርያ ከሶርያ እስከ ግብጽ ድረስ በተጋድሎ የተጓዙ አባት ናቸው። በአምስተኛው መቶ ክፍለ ዘመን አጋማሽም የደብረ ዝጋግ (ግብጽ፤ እስክንድርያ) አበ ምኔት ሆነው አገልግለዋል።

ሙታንን አስነስተው ሃይማኖታቸውን ጠብቀው ብዙ ተአምራትን ሠርተው በዚህች ቀን ዐርፈዋል። ከድንቅ ነገራቸው ሰይጣን የእርሳቸውን የምንኩስና ቆብ ዐይቶ ደንግጦ መሸሹን እንጠቅሳለን።
"ኀበ ኢኀሎከ ሶበ ቆብዓከ ርዕየ
ሰይጣን ተኃፊሮ እፎኑመ ጐየ።" እንዲል።
(አርኬ)

††† አምላክ በበረከታቸው ይባርከን።

✞✞✞Abune Senoda (Shenouda)✞✞✞
=>Senoda means “Trustworthy”. The Saint was born in Gojjam from a noble family of Shewa.

✞Abune Senoda [during his ministry] has split a serpent that was worshipped at a place called Debre Tsemona adjacent to Debre Dimah (at Gojjam) into two by making the sign of the cross over it with his hand cross. Thereafter, he taught and baptized the people and built a church for them in the name of our Lady.

✞The Saint has a similar account to that of St. George the Arch-martyr (Prince of the Martyrs). Abune Senoda saved a girl like St. George that was about to be sacrificed in the wilderness to a serpent after he had killed the beast by the sign of the cross. The Emperor of the time, Hezbe Nagne (early 15th century), who had listened to the counsel of wicked men, accused the Saint with, “You say/prophesize that my throne will be given to another” and had Abba Senoda imprisoned while his hands and legs were chained. Later on, he had his hand severed. Nonetheless, the Mother of Light attached a luminous hand for the Saint.

✞The Icon that St. Luke drew, found at Gethsemane, used to appear to and converse with him. While the Emperor afflicted him much, after an angel appeared and told him the day of his departure and the Saint said farewell to his disciples, the monarch had him beheaded on Hedar 17 (November 26). And from his neck gushed water, blood and milk.

✞He was given a covenant that aids the barren.

✞Yekatit 1 (February 8) is the day of the translocation of his relics [from Hayk Island to Gojjam by Abba Makars].

#Feasts of #Yekatit_1

✞✞✞On this day we commemorate the Seal of the Martyrs, St. Peter, and the 150 Fathers – the Scholars✞✞✞

✞✞✞In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen!✞✞✞

✞✞✞Saint Peter the Martyr (the Seal of the Martyrs)✞✞✞
=>St. Stephen was the first of the Holy Martyrs and St. Peter, the Archbishop was their last [the seal of the Era].

✞This Saint is known by his epithet “The Seal of the Martyrs”. If asked how that came to be, it was as follows.

✞The Saint was from Egypt. And he lived in the 3rd century. His parents, the priest Theodore (Theodosius) and the blessed Sophia had no children. And on Hamle 5 (July 12) they beseeched God. And Sts. Peter and Paul appeared before Sophia and announced that she would bring forth a child (as it was the day of their feast). And when she gave birth, she named him “Peter” per the revelation.

✞When the Saint was seven years old; his parents gave him to the Church where he grew up in the hands of the Archbishop St. Theonas. Thence, he became learned, and was an orator and a kind person. While he served as a deacon and later a priest, after being ordained, St. Theonas passed away and St. Peter was appointed as the 17th Patriarch of Egypt.

✞And the period was a time of cruelty. And because Christians were killed where they were found and churches were burned, the Saint’s trial was much. He suffered with his flock for 14 years (some say 11) in diligence.

✞He also denounced and excommunicated Arius (who was his student). And he conversed with the Lord many times. And he performed many miracles as well. And in all those days, he never sat on his See. However, later on the cruel Emperor ordered that he be killed.

✞And because the people said “Kill us before him”, St. Peter went in hiding and gave his hands to soldiers willingly so that violence will not take place. And that night, he cried out saying that his blood be the last for the Era of Persecution. And from heaven came word that said, “Amen! Let it be!” And at that moment, he was beheaded. And the Era of Martyrs/Persecution passed.

✞✞✞Beyond reading about the Saints, one should pray by invoking their name (Exod. 32:13) and observe their commemorations by alms giving (Matt. 10:41).

✞✞✞May God bless the Month of Yekatit for us!

✞✞✞ Annual feasts celebrated on the 1st of Yekatit
1. The “150” Scholar Bishops who were gathered at Constantinople that denounced heretics and upheld the teachings of the Church (Ecumenical Council of Constantinople – 381 AD)
The following were present among the scholars;
*St. Gregory of Nyssa
*St. Gregory of Nazianzus
*St. Timothy the Poor (Timotheos I, the Destitute)
*St. Cyril of Jerusalem
2. St. Peter the Seal of the Martyrs (Consecration of his Church)
3. Emperor Theodosius the Great, the Righteous (Emperor of Rome)

✞✞✞ Monthly Feasts
1. Nativity of the Virgin Mary, our Lady
2. St. Bartholomew the Apostle
3. St. (Mar) Melki of Kuelzem (Full of Virtues)
4. St. Raguel, Archangel
5. Sts. Joachim and Anna

✞✞✞”Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.”✞✞✞
Acts 20:28-31

✞✞✞ Salutations to God ✞✞✞

(Translated by Mhr. Esuendale Shemeles with the permission of Dn. Yordanos Abebe)

††† እንኳን ለተፍጻሜተ ሰማዕት ቅዱስ ዼጥሮስ እና ለ150ው ቅዱሳን ሊቃውንት ዓመታዊ በዓል በሰላም አደረሳችሁ፤ አደረሰን። †††

††† በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ አሜን! †††

††† ቅዱስ ዼጥሮስ ሰማዕት †††

††† የቅዱሳን ሰማዕታት መነሻቸው ቅዱስ እስጢፋኖስ ሲሆን ፍጻሜአቸው ደግሞ ቅዱስ ዼጥሮስ ሊቀ ዻዻሳት ነው::

ይህ ቅዱስ የሚታወቀው "ተፍጻሜተ ሰማዕት (የሰማዕታት መጨረሻ)" በሚለው ስሙ ነው:: ይሕስ እንደ ምን ነው ቢሉ:-
የቅዱሱ ሃገረ ሙላዱ ግብጽ ናት:: ዘመኑም 3ኛው መቶ ክ/ዘመን ነው:: ወላጆቹ ካህን ቴዎድሮስና ቡርክት ሶፍያ ልጅ አጥተው ሐምሌ 5 ቀን ወደ ፈጣሪ ቢማጸኑ በራዕይ ዼጥሮስ ወዻውሎስ ተገልጠው ብሥራትን ለሶፍያ ነገሯት:: በወለደችው ጊዜም በራዕዩ መሠረት "ዼጥሮስ" አለችው::

ሰባት ዓመት በሆነው ጊዜም ለቤተ እግዚአብሔር ሰጥተው በሊቀ ዻዻሳቱ ቅዱስ ቴዎናስ እጅ አደገና በወጣትነቱ ሊቅ: ጥዑመ ቃልና በጐ ሰው ሆነ:: ዲቁናና ቅስናን ተሹሞ ሲያገለግል ቅዱስ ቴዎናስ በማረፉ ቅዱስ ዼጥሮስን የግብጽ 17ኛ ፓትርያርክ አድርገው ሾሙት::

ዘመኑ ደግሞ እጅግ ጭንቅ ነበር:: ክርስቲያኖች በተገኙበት ስለሚገደሉ: አብያተ ክርስቲያናትም ስለ ተቃጠሉ የቅዱሱ መከራ የበዛ ነበር:: ለ14 ዓመታት በፍጹም ትጋት ከመንጋው ጋር ተጨነቀ::

አርዮስን (ተማሪው ነበር) አውግዞ ለየው:: ከጌታ ጋርም ብዙ ጊዜ ተነጋገረ:: ብዙ ተአምራትንም ሠራ:: በዚህ ሁሉ ጊዜ አንድም ቀን በመንበረ ዽዽስናው ላይ አልተቀመጠም:: በሁዋላ ግን ጨካኙ ንጉሥ እንዲገደል አዘዘ::

ሕዝቡ "ከእሱ በፊት እኛን ግደሉን" በማለታቸው ሁከት እንዳይነሳ ቅዱስ ዼጥሮስ ተደብቆ ሔደና በፈቃዱ ለወታደሮች ተሰጠ:: በዚያች ሌሊትም የእርሱ ደም የግፍ ማብቂያ እንዲሆን እያለቀሰ ጮኸ:: ከሰማይም "አሜን! ይሁን!" የሚል ቃል መጣ:: ያን ጊዜ የእርሱ አንገት ተሰየፈ:: ዘመነ ሰማዕታትም አለፈ::

††† የቅዱሳንን ዝክር ከማንበብ ባለፈ በስማቸው መጸለይ (ዘፀ. 32:13): በምጽዋትም ማሰብ (ማቴ. 10:41) ይገባል::

††† ወርኀ የካቲትን ይባርክልን!

††† የካቲት 1 ቀን የሚከበሩ ዓመታዊ የቅዱሳን በዓላት
1."150"ቅዱሳን ሊቃውንት ዻዻሳት (በቁስጥንጥንያ ተሠብሥበው መናፍቃንን ያወገዙበት: ትምሕርተ ቤተ ክርስቲያንን ያፀኑበት /ጉባዔ ቁስጥንጥንያ/ በ381 ዓ/ም::
ከወቅቱ ቅዱሳን ሊቃውንት እነዚህ ይጠቀሳሉ:-
*ቅዱስ ጐርጐርዮስ ዘኑሲስ
*ቅዱስ ጐርጐርዮስ ዘእንዚናዙ
*ቅዱስ ጢሞቴዎስ ዘአልቦ ጥሪት
*ቅዱስ ቄርሎስ ዘኢየሩሳሌም)
2.ቅዱስ ዼጥሮስ ተፍጻሜተ ሰማዕት (ቅዳሴ ቤቱ)
3.ታላቁ ቴዎዶስዮስ ጻድቅ (ንጉሠ ቁስጥንጥንያ)

††† ወርሐዊ በዓላት
1.ልደታ ለቅድስት ድንግል ማርያም እግዝእትነ
2.ቅዱስ በርተሎሜዎስ ሐዋርያ
3.ቅዱስ ሚልኪ ቁልዝማዊ
4.ቅዱስ ራጉኤል ሊቀ መላዕክት
5.ቅዱሳን ኢያቄም ወሐና

††† "ስለዚህ በገዛ ደሙ የዋጃትን የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ ክርስቲያንን ትጠብቁአት ዘንድ መንፈስ ቅዱስ እናንተን ዻዻሳት አድርጎ ለሾመባት: ለመንጋው ሁሉና ለራሳችሁ ተጠንቀቁ:: ከሄድሁ በሁዋላ ለመንጋው የማይራሩ ጨካኞች ተኩላዎች እንዲገቡባችሁ እኔ አውቃለሁ:: ስለዚህ 3 ዓመት ሌሊትና ቀን በእንባ እያንዳንዳችሁን ከመገሰጽ እንዳላቁዋረጥሁ እያሰባችሁ ትጉ::" †††
(ሐዋ. 20:28)

††† ወስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር †††