Meskel:Honouring the Finding of the True Cross

Meskel is an annual celebration with spiritual grounds held in the 17thof September of each year by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and its followers. For centuries the day has been celebrated and has come to be one of the fundamental holidays of the nation’s calendar. The background to this festivity is narrated shortly along these lines.

History

After the resurrection of Christ, the cross on which he had been crucified begun to emit great light both by day and by night forthe blood of Christ had been splashed all overit.And it had begun to amaze the people of Israel by casting out demons from the possessed ones; raising the dead and healing theirillnesses. Observing this incredible power of the cross, the high priests of Judea conceived a feeling of envy in their hearts. They, therefore, buried the cross deep in to the bottom of the earth. And the place came to be ‘the waste bin’ to the people of Israel for theywere throwing their dirt and leftovers there. Three hundred years passed since this happened.

Queen Eleni of Ethiopia, in 320 A.D, had begun her journey to Jerusalem. The very drive behind her voyage had been the search for the true cross. Reaching the land of Israel, she could not find the place where the cross had been buried. Hence, she, with the help of many others, collected woods from all the land of Israel and burnt it all and then put incense in to the fire in great amount. Raising beyond the sky the smoke from the incenseindicated Eleni the ground where the cross had been buried.

The digging which had begun on September 17, after great effort and even greater cost, ended on March 10 with the finding of the true cross. Then, she built a temple on Golgotha and dwell the cross there. Once again, the cross had begun to amaze the people by recommencing its miracles.

Of the many powerful kingdoms of that era one was Holocos the king of Farce. He waged a great war and took the cross by force to his own people. The priests and followers in Jerusalem asked Herkal the King of Rome to help them get the cross back. He did. And it lived in Jerusalem for many years in peace. However, the clash amongst the powerful kingdoms from the entire world over preserving the cross had not been stopped. As the conflict was getting intense, the religious leaders of Jerusalem, Constantinople, Antsokia, Ephesians, Armenia, Greece and Alexandria, decided to share all the relics among themselves by lot. Africa got the right part of the cross in which the right hand of Christ had been nailed. With many other historical objects the cross was brought to Egypt. The Pope of Alexandriareceived the cross in honour and kept it under his great care.

The true cross had many years of peaceful stay in Egypt. But the Muslims in Egypt grow in number exceeding the Christians. They began to rule over the Christians with cruelty.

Realising that they were not strong enough to resist the Muslims, the Christians in Egypt sent a letter to King Dawit (David) of Ethiopia who was dominant at that time. The letter read,

Your Majesty, the Muslims in Egypt have come to rule over us in great brutality and viciousness. We need you raise your hand against them and put an end to this.

In the meantime, two Egyptian popes were imprisoned. One was called Abba/Father Michael; the other Abba/ Father Gabriel. Having heard of this situation, King Dawit held a general assembly at today’s Mogadishu, Somalia. (By then Mogadishu was called Meqadis to mean holy or blessed for the Churches of Christ and Saint Mary was built there)Three main decisions were passed by the gathering.

1. The two popes must be released 2. The brutality against the Christians must be stopped 3. The true cross must be brought to Ethiopia

Following this, except the king himself and some others the rest went to a nearby dense forest in order to hunt.Unfortunately a pride of lions attacked them all. Many died and many more hurt. The King and those who had stayed with him brought the dead and buried them in Keberedehar which literally means ‘getting back from burial’.

His honest for his faith and his love for Christ forced King Dawit to take many warriors with him and went to Egypt. Egyptian leaders have heard the king’s coming and the great number of warriors he had with him. Therefore, they set out to Khartoum, Sudan where the king was having a rest on his way. Messengers were sent to the Egyptians in Khartoum. Without any hesitation, they released the two popes immediately and made peace with the Christians. Furthermore, great amount of gold and silver were sent to King Dawit as a present. Dawit, however, did not accept the presents. Keeping the popes with him he returned the presents and asked for the cross instead. If they refuse, he sent them a message; he would get it by force. They did not want that to happen so they sent the cross to Khartoum with many other holy relics. At that time a great light went over the land of Ethiopia for three consecutive days.

Before the cross reached Ethiopia, King Dawit,falling from his horse died in Sudan. The King had two children; one boy, one girl. Nobody had known the whereabouts of the boy for he had chosen to be a hermit. As a result the girl had come to the throne as Queen Eleni. The public however did not give up looking for the boy for they did not want to have a queen when they could have a king.

For now, there was a great religious celebration in Axum which brought many believers from all the land of Ethiopia. And as they were seated circling a fire in groups around the Church of Axum Tsion to warm themselves a blast were heard from a fire near one hermit. Immediately he uttered, ‘Ye Jan lij’ to mean ‘Son of the King’. The people around him heard him say this and surrounded him saying, ‘Who do you think you are to exclaim as if you are the son of the King?’ He told them that he was Zera’yakob son of Dawit the King. The people, then, took him by force and made him king against his will.

Taking the kingship, though unwillingly, Zera’yakob went to Sudan and brought the cross and all the relics to Debre Birhan, Northern Ethiopia, which by then was the king’s capital. While Zera’yakob was working hard devoting himself to build a Church in Debre Birhan to dwell the cross there, the LORD had spoken to him in dream, ‘You shall keep my cross in a cross-like place’ The King, therefore, looked for a cross-like place throughout the land of Ethiopia. He could not find the spot though. Disappointed by his failure to find the place, Zera’yakob prayed and fasted for 7 days inabstinence through which he was able to see the location in revelation. Gishen Amba was the place where the cross-like mountain stands in pride.

On September 21, 1446 after circling the mountain seven times, King Zera’yakob brought the true cross on the top of the mountain. He also refurbished the Churches that had already been established there.

Inside the Church of God a secured ground was dug until a great hollow was formed. Then, the King placed the cross in to ironed box and placed the box in to another ironed container. The container was fastened and tied from two directions by iron-chains which are attached to the side walls of the great hollow. This left the box hanged on the air. A ceiling covered the cavern on top. Then, the Church of God by Zera’yakob; the temple of Saint Marry by Eleni was constructed there.

Now, from the day that the cross was brought to Gishen Amba Mountain, September 17, the day in which the digging had started in search of the true cross by Queen Eleni, has been celebrated in honour of the true cross for the last 555 years. Every year the celebration grows fascinating.

The Celebration these days

Meskel Square gets crowded from 6:30 afternoon up to 10:00 O’clock as the people gather there displaying excitement and pleasure on their faces. The Sunday school choirs flow from all the four streets into the square singing their breath-taking songs usually in Ge’ez. When the day begins to get dark around 12:30 the high priests and bishops of all Churches in the city fire the great bundle of woods that stands in the middle of the square. This rite is done to memorise Queen Eleni’s search for the true cross for she had help from the smoke that rose from the fire and indicated her spot where the cross had been buried.

Later on, the Patriarch gives blessing to the people, the Churches and the country. He finally speaks, ‘for us who believe in the word of the cross it is a blessing and power and for those who don’t it is foolishness.’