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

✞✞✞May the God of the Saints aid, bless and sanctify us. And may He grant us from the blessings of His beloved.

✞✞✞ Annual feasts celebrated on the 25th of Tahisas
1. The Holy Five Maccabees
2. St. John Kama (Khame) and his blessed wife
3. St. Daniel the Monastic
4. St. Nicholas the Officer

✞✞✞ Monthly Feasts
1. St. Mercurius Martyr
2. St. Thecla Apostolic
3. St. Abakragoun Martyr
4. St. Domadius El-Souriani (The Syrian)
5.  Abune Abib (Abba Bula)
6. St. Abba Abu Fana the Righteous
7. The Great Abba Bessarion

✞✞✞“Those you keep My word and abide as I command, they shall find benediction and sit in righteousness beside Me. Those who keep My word and abide under it will eat from the fat of the land. They will reside in the garden of gentle kings, whose hearts are pure.”✞✞✞
1 Macc. 12:43-44

✞✞✞ Salutations to God ✞✞✞

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

Their history is extensive and has been written in the Book of Maccabees but we will see only a part from it.
     
✞During that time a kind man named Maccabee bore 5 sons (the Maccabees). And they were handsome, praised in their conduct and respected in their might.

✞Particularly, the 3 had wrestled with beasts, lions and bears, and were victorious. And they were triumphant over their enemies in battle as well. However, as they knew that all of these were given to them by God, they used to worship their Creator with pure hearts.
 
✞And during that period, Moabites and Medes used to subjugate the area. Especially, the king of Moab Sirusadin (Tseerutsaydan) from his wickedness used to worship 70 idols carved in the forms of men and women. And beyond that, he used to vex, punish and kill the people saying, “Worship [idols]”.
  
✞And the Holy Maccabees, when they heard this, went to him. Though they had might with which they could do away with the king, they did not do that. Rather, they approached and rebuked him.

✞And he threw them to lions because they said, “We will not worship idols.” The lions then prostrated before the Saints and killed the king’s soldiers. Hence, he threw the three into prison. And at that time, their two brothers came and joined them.

✞Thereafter, he had all 5 taken out and had them beheaded with a sword. And after they were killed, they were thrown into water and fire. Nevertheless, because the king was not successful, he ordered that their bodies be thrown and not buried. And after 14 days, the bodies of the Saints were found shining like lightning and were buried in honor.

✞Is not the rest of their story written in the Book of Maccabees!

✞✞✞ Abba John Kama (Khame)✞✞✞
=>Saint John Kama was one of the fathers that rose in the Era of the Righteous (particularly in the 5th century). Because the Saint had a wondrous life, he is mentioned widely in the Chronicles of the Fathers. The Synaxarium states, “Kama means Kam/Ham.”
 
✞And the name “Kam/Ham” is given to people mostly of a darker complexion. And because he was a father from Southern Egypt, which was in ancient times a part of the Ethiopian Empire, it is believed that his lineage might be from Ethiopia.

✞The Saint is widely famed for his celibate life. His good family, after raising him well said to him, “Let us wed you.” And as the Saint was their only child, knowing that if he says no that they would be grieved, sacrificing his joy for the sake of his parents, he was wedded by holy matrimony.

✞And because he desired to live as a celibate, the wise God sanctified his wife as well. During their wedding’s night, St. John Kama asked his beautiful bride that they live celibate and she wept.

✞And the reason was because she also married to gladden her parents and her wish was to live a virgin. Both honoring God for what He had done for them lived in the strife of the celibate life. The Saints sleeping in one bed, on one mat, wearing one blanket, kept their virginity.

✞The God of Demetrius sent them His angel, who used to spend the night between them and cover them with his wings. And to reveal their honor God brought forth a great tree in their house that was not plated by anyone. And at that time, St. John Kama said to his virgin wife, “We had enough of the city life, let us go to the desert.” And because she responded with, “Your will is my will”, after taking her to a convent, he went to the Monastery of Scetes.

✞The Holy Woman because the grace of God abided plentifully in her, used to heal the sick. She then became the abbess of the convent, led and departed in honor.  And St. John Kama being directed by a holy angel first went to Abba Darudi and became a monk.✞In the end, he built a cell next to the Monastery of St. John the Short. There, he bore disciples in the hundreds and served as the abbot. The Saint, who had a unique love for our Lady and St. Athanasius, after living a holy life of several years departed on this day and was buried.

Memhir Esuendale:
#Feasts of #Tahisas_25

✞✞✞On this day we commemorate the Departure the Holy Five Maccabees and Saint John Kama (Khame)✞✞✞

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

✞✞✞The Five Maccabees ✞✞✞
=>After God created heaven and earth, the 22 creations, He made Adam their ruler. And after He had gave him a living soul, honored him with the Holy Spirit and made him a prophet and priest, He appointed him over all creation except the Tree of Knowledge.

✞However, our father Adam transgressed and left paradise. Thus, he encountered suffering and affliction. Then, he repented by weeping for 100 years. And the Lord gave him hope for salvation by accepting his repentance saying, “I will be born from your descendants and save you”.

✞And for this reason, for 5,500 years, prophecies were told, years were counted backwards, and typologies were made. Beginning from the kind creature Adam to Noah, the children of Seth worshipped [God] in purity upon Debre Kidus (The Holy Mountain).

✞A bit later, because they intermingled, they were eradicated together with the children of Cain by the Flood of Destruction.  And the new generations that started from the Righteous man Noah did not take much time to forget God as well. However, from the seeds of Shem a sincere and righteous man Abraham was found.

✞And from him came Isaac and then Jacob. And Jacob was named “Israel” and by his children was established a nation which was called “The People of God”. Then, not to live in Canaan, the land, which was anticipated, famine exiled them to the land of Egypt.

✞There, they subsisted for 215 years in a life of bondage. And God remembered Israel for the sake of His beloved Abraham. And He raised the meek and righteous man Moses and delivered them from the bondage of Egypt.

✞And this was done by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm that destroyed with 9 plagues, a 10th - the death of the firstborn and an 11th - drowning of Egyptians.  And in their path, He passed vengeance upon their enemies. And starting from that era, Israelites began to be led by Judges and Priests.

✞First, Moses as a Judge and Aaron as a priest led them. Then, Joshua replaced Moses and Eleazar replaced Aaron.

✞After that, for around 300 years they were ruled by Judges one after the other. And being given to their adversaries when they transgressed and having good Judges when they repented they reached to the Prophet Samuel. 

✞Thereafter, because the people wanted a king like the custom of the gentiles, the wicked Saul ruled them for 40 years. Then, David the man after God’s own heart became their king and Israel were elevated. After staying as one nation from the reigns of St. David to Rehoboam, Israel were divided into two.

✞While the ten tribes lived in Samaria, because they were filled with wickedness, were taken captives by Shalmaneser and taken to Assyria. He then made them slaves. And though the rest two tribes lived in Jerusalem honorably and eminently, because they transgressed Nebuchadnezzar took them to Babylon and made them slaves as well.
 
✞Nevertheless, God according to the words of the prophets took them with power and returned them to their inheritance after 70 years.  There, they lived having Zerubbabel as their kind king and a rebuilt Temple. However, their wickedness had no end in sight and after Zerubbabel, they were not able to have a compassionate king.

✞And since God does not discontinue His mercy and providence; He preserved them by raising kind priest like Eliezer until the day He would become man. And for this reason that period was called “The Era of the Priests”.
  
✞And in this Era of Priests, there were Israelites whose compassions were known but had much trouble as well. They are most of the time called by the name Maccabees.✞And as Israelites were called Israel after Jacob, Hebrews after Eber, Jews after Judah, Pharisees after Pharez, Sadducees after Zadok, these were called Maccabean after Maccabee.

✝✞✝ እንኩዋን ለ5ቱ "ቅዱሳን መቃብያን" እና "ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ከማ" ዓመታዊ የዕረፍት በዓል በሰላም አደረሳችሁ ✝✞✝

+*" 5ቱ መቃብያን "*+

=>እግዚአብሔር ሰማይንና ምድርን: 22ቱን ሥነ ፍጥረትን ፈጥሮ አዳምን ገዢ አደረገው:: አክሎም በነፍስ ሕያው አድርጐ: በመንፈስ ቅዱስ አክብሮ: ነቢይና ካህን አድርጐ: ካንዲት ዕፀ በለስ በቀር በፍጥረት ሁሉ ላይ አሰለጠነው::

+አባታችን አዳም ግን ስሕተት አግኝቶት ከገነት ወጣ:: መከራና ፍዳም አገኘው:: በሁዋላም ለ100 ዓመት አልቅሶ ንስሃ ገባ:: ጌታም ንስሃውን ተቀብሎ "ከልጅ ልጅህ ተወልጄ አድንሃለሁ" የሚል ተስፋ ድህነትን ሰጠው::

+ስለዚህም ምክንያት ለ5,500 ዓመታት ትንቢት ሲነገር: ሱባኤ ወደ ታች ሲቆጠር: ምሳሌም ሲመሰል ኖረ:: ከደግ ፍጥረት አዳም እስከ ኖኅ ድረስ: የሴት ልጆች እግዚአብሔርን በንጽሕና ሁነው በደብር ቅዱስ አመለኩ::

+ትንሽ ቆይተው ግን ስለተቀላቀሉ ከቃየን ልጆች ጋር በማየ ድምሳሴ ጠፉ:: በጻድቅ ሰው ኖኅ የተጀመረው ትውልድም እግዚአብሔርን ለመዘንጋት ጊዜ አልፈጀበትም:: ነገር ግን ከሴም ዘር ቅንና ጻድቅ ሰው አብርሃም ተገኘ::

+ከእርሱም ይስሐቅ: ከዚያም ያዕቆብ ደጋጉ ተገኙ:: ያዕቆብም "እሥራኤል" ተብሎ በልጆቹ "ሕዝበ እግዚአብሔር" የተባለ ነገድ ተመሠረተ:: በተስፋይቱ ምድር በከነዓን እንዳይኖሩም ረሃብ ምድረ ግብጽ አወረዳቸው::

+በዚያም ለ215 ዓመታት በጭንቅ የባርነትን ሕይወትን አሳለፉ:: እግዚአብሔርም ስለ ወዳጁ አብርሃም ሲል እሥራኤልን አሰባቸው:: የዋሕና ጻድቅ ሰው ሙሴን አስነስቶ እሥራኤልን ከግብጽ ባርነት አዳናቸው::

+ይኸውም በጸናች እጅ: በበረታችም ክንድ: በ9 መቅሰፍት: በ10ኛ ሞተ በኩር: በ11ኛ ስጥመት ግብጻውያንን አጥፍቶ ነው:: በየመንገዱም ጠላቶቻቸውን እየተበቀለላቸው ነው:: ከዚህ ዘመን ጀምሮም እሥራኤል በመሳፍንትና በካህናት የሚተዳደሩ ሆኑ::

+አስቀድሞ ሙሴ በምስፍና: አሮን በክህነት መሯቸው:: ቀጥሎም በቅዱስ ሙሴ ኢያሱ: በአሮን አልዓዛር ተተኩ::

+ከዚህ በሁዋላ ለ300 ዓመታት ያህል መሣፍንት እየተቀያየሩ አስተዳደሩዋቸው:: ሲበድሉ ጠላት እየገዛቸው: ሲጸጸቱ በጐ መሥፍን እየመጣላቸው ከነቢዩ ሳሙኤል ደረሱ::

+በዚህ ጊዜም ሕዝቡ እንደ አሕዛብ ሥርዓት ንጉሥ በመፈለጋቸው ክፉው ሳዖል ለ40 ዓመት ገዛቸው:: ቀጥሎ ግን እንደ አምላክ ልብ የሆነ ቅዱስ ሰው ዳዊት ነግሦላቸው እሥራኤል ከፍ ከፍ አሉ:: ከቅዱስ ዳዊት እስከ ሮብዓም ቆይተው ግን እሥራኤል ከ2 ተከፈሉ::

+10ሩ ነገድ በሰማርያ ሲኖሩ ግፍን ስላበዙ ስልምናሶር ማርኮ አሦር አወረዳቸው:: ባሮችም አደረጋቸው:: 2ቱ ነገድ ደግሞ ከብረው: ገነው በኢየሩሳሌም ቢኖሩም እነርሱም አመጸኞች ነበሩና ናቡከደነጾር ወስዶ የባቢሎን ባሪያ አደረጋቸው::

+እግዚአብሔር ግን እንደ ነቢያቱ ቃል 70ው ዘመን ሲፈጸም በኃይል ወደ ርስታቸው መለሳቸው:: በዚያም ዘሩባቤል የሚባል ደግ ንጉሥ ነግሦላቸው: ቤተ መቅደስ ታንጾላቸው ኖሩ:: ክፋታቸው ግን ማብቂያ አልነበረውምና ከዘሩባቤል በሁዋላ ቅን ንጉሥን ማግኘት አልቻሉም::

+እግዚአብሔር ግን ምሕረቱንና መግቦቱን አይተውምና አልዓዛርን የመሰሉ ደጋግ ካህናትን እያስነሳ ሰው እስከሚሆንባት ቀን ድረስ አቆይቷቸዋል:: በዚህም ምክንያት ይህ ዘመን "ዘመነ ካህናት" ተብሏል::

+በዚህ በዘመነ ካህናት ውስጥ ደግሞ በጐነታቸው የታወቀላቸው: ግን ደግሞ መከራው የበዛባቸው እሥራኤላውያን ነበሩ:: ብዙ ጊዜ የሚጠሩት "መቃብያን" በሚል ስም ነው::

+በያዕቆብ እሥራኤል: በዔቦር ዕብራውያን: በይሁዳ አይሁድ: በፋሬስ ፈሪሳውያን: በሳዶቅ ሰዱቃውያን እንደተባሉት ሁሉ እነዚህም በአባታቸው በመቃቢስ ምክንያት መቃብያን ተብለዋል:: ታሪካቸው ሰፊና በመጽሐፈ መቃብያን የተጻፈ ሲሆን እኛ ግን በአጭሩ አንዷን የታሪክ ዘለላ ብቻ እንመለከታለን::

+በዘመኑ መቃቢስ የሚባል ደግ ሰው 5 (3) ወንዶች ልጆችን (መቃብያንን) ወልዶ ነበር:: እነዚህም በመልክ ይህ ቀራችሁ የማይባሉ: በጠባይ እጅግ የተመሰገኑ: በኃይላቸው ጽናትም የተፈሩ ነበሩ::

+በተለይ 3ቱ ከግሩማን አራዊት አንበሳና ድብ ታግለው ያሸነፉ: በጦርነትም ጠላትን ያንበረከኩ ነበሩ:: ታዲያ ይህ ሁሉ የተሰጣቸው ከእግዚአብሔር እንደ ሆነ ያውቁ ነበርና ፈጣሪያቸውን በንጹሕ ልብ ያመልኩት ነበር::

+በዘመኑ ደግሞ ሞዐባውያንና ሜዶናውያን አካባቢውን ያስገብሩ ነበር:: በተለይ የሞዐቡ ንጉሥ ጺሩጻይዳን ከክፋቱ ብዛት 70 ጣዖታት በወንድና በሴት ምሳሌ አስቀርጾ ያመልክ ነበር:: ከዚያም አልፎ ሕዝቡን "አምልኩ" እያለ ያውክ: ይቀጣ: ይገድልም ነበር::

+ቅዱሳን መቃብያን ይህንን ሲሰሙ ወደ እርሱ ገሰገሱ:: ምንም እንኩዋ ሊያጠፉት ኃይል ቢኖራቸውም አላደረጉትም:: ይልቁኑ ቀርበው ዘለፉት እንጂ::

+እርሱም "ጣዖትን አናመልክም" ስላሉ ለአንበሳ ጣላቸው:: አንበሶቹም ለቅዱሳኑ ሰግደው የንጉሡን ወታደሮች ፈጇቸው:: እርሱም 3ቱን ወደ እሥር ቤት ጣላቸው:: በዚህ ጊዜ 2ቱ ወንድሞቻቸው መጥተው ተቀላቀሉ::

+ቀጥሎም 5ቱንም አስወጥቶ በሰይፍ አስመታቸው:: ከተገደሉ በሁዋላም ወደ ውሃ ጥሏቸው: በእሳት አቃጥሏቸው ነበር:: ባይሳካለት ስለ ተቆጣ ሳይቀበሩ እንዲጣሉ አዘዘ:: ከ14 ቀናት በሁዋላም የቅዱሳኑ አካል እንደ መብረቅ እያብለጨለጨ ተገኝቶ በክብር እንዲቀበር ሆኗል::

>

+*" አባ ዮሐንስ ከማ "*+

=>ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ከማ በዘመነ ጻድቃን (በተለይም በ5ኛው መቶ ክ/ዘመን) ከተነሱ አበው አንዱ ነው:: ቅዱሱ ድንቅ ሕይወት ስለ ነበረው በዜና አበው በስፋት ተጠቅሷል:: መጽሐፈ ስንክሳር "ከማ" የሚለውን ቃል "ከማ ብሒል ካም - 'ከማ' ማለት 'ካም' ማለት ነው" ይላል::

+"ካም" የሚለው ቃል ደግሞ ብዙ ጊዜ መልካቸው ጠቆር ላሉ ሰዎች የሚሰጥ ስም ነው:: ምናልባት የድሮ የኢትዮዽያ ግዛት በነበረው ደቡብ ግብጽ የነበረ አባት እንደ መሆኑ የዘር ሐረጉ ከኢትዮዽያ የተመዘዘ ሊሆን እንደሚችል ይታመናል::

+ቅዱሱ በስፋት የሚታወቀው በድንግልና ሕይወቱ ነው:: መልካም ቤተሰቦቹ በሥርዓት አሳድገው "እንዳርህ" አሉት:: እንቢ ቢላቸው ብቸኛ ልጃቸው ነውና ፈጽሞ ሊያዝኑበት ነው:: ደስታውን ለቤተሰቦቹ ሰውቶ በተክሊል ተዳረ::

+እርሱ የሚሻው በድንግልና መኖርን ነውና ጥበበኛ እግዚአብሔር ሚስቱ የተቀደሰች እንድትሆን አደረጋት:: በሠርጋቸው ምሽት ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ከማ መልከ መልካሟን ሙሽራ በድንግልና ይኖሩ ዘንድ ቢጠይቃት በደስታ አነባች::

+ምክንያቱም እርሷም ያገባችው ቤተሰብን ለማስደሰት እንጂ ፈቃዷ በድንግልና መኖር ነበርና:: 2ቱም ስላደረገላቸው ፈጣሪን እያከበሩ የድንግልና ሕይወት ተጋድሎን ቀጠሉ:: ቅዱሳኑ በአንድ አልጋ ላይ እየተኙ: አንዲት ምንጣፍን እያነጠፉ: አንድ ልብስንም በጋራ ለብሰው እያደሩ ድንግልናቸውን ጠበቁ::

+አምላከ ድሜጥሮስም ቅዱስ መልአኩን ልኮላቸው በመካከላቸው ያድር: ክንፉንም ያለብሳቸው ነበር:: ክብራቸውን ይገልጥ ዘንድም በቤታቸው መካከል ታላቅ ዛፍን ያለ ማንም ተካይነት አበቀለ::