The Ethiopian Church
by Lili Eylon
In the courtyard with tall cypresses and ancient olive
trees, men in black cloaks, women in white or black flowing robes slip by
almost imperceptibly, the quiet of the courtyard disturbed only by the
chirping of birds. The quiet lasts till midday. Then there begins a slow
gathering of men and women greeting each other, a table is carried into the
courtyard and women set plates with slices of sweet bread, fruit and
vegetables. For it is Friday and the faithful are fasting. They will partake
of food only after midday Mass.
This scene repeats itself on each of the over 100 fast days
of the year: every Wednesday and Friday, and each day for 40 days before
Christmas. Eating is permitted only in the afternoon and all animal-based
foods – meat, eggs, milk, cheese – are forbidden.
No fasting takes place between Easter and Pentecost.
The Ethiopian Church had its beginnings in the 4th century
CE in the city of Aksum in northern Ethiopia. From the very start, magic and
witchcraft, which were part of the cultural fabric of Africa, were strictly
forbidden by the Church. Ethiopian Christian pilgrims came to Jerusalem, as
early as the fourth century, and in the following centuries the Ethiopian
Church enjoyed important rights in the Holy Places. The Church has had a
community in Jerusalem since the Middle Ages. Today the small community, led
by an archbishop, consists of a few dozen monks and nuns, and a growing lay
community. Pilgrims continue to arrive, especially since the establishment of
diplomatic relations between Israel and Ethiopia.
The Easter celebration in the Ethiopian Church in unique.
On Palm Sunday, directly after the divine liturgy (the Qeddase in the
language of prayer) is read, the worshippers begin the Palm Sunday prayers, in
preparation for the procession in the courtyard of the Dabra Seltan monastery,
situated on the roof of St. Helena’s Chapel, one of the chapels of the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The palm procession, with four stops around the
dome, then begins. Special prayers are recited at each stop: At the first
stop, the hymn of St. Yared is sung: "Halleluia. Abraham named it and
said of it: This day is the feast of the Lord. Blow the trumpet on the day of
the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day, while we
remembered Zion."
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week, the monks,
the nuns and the faithful gather in the chapel of the Four Living Creatures,
which is also on the roof of the Holy Sepulcher, to read the portion of the
day from the story of the Passion, reciting from the Psalms of David, seven
times in all, and reading portions from the Old and the New Testaments as well
as from the Liqawent, the books of Ethiopian ecclesiastical scholars.
Sister Abraham, a tall, authoritative figure, is a
prominent member of the Ethiopian community in Jerusalem and one of its more
picturesque citizens. Born to a Lutheran family in Denmark as Kirsten
Stoffregen Pedersen, she converted to Catholicism in her teens and began to
study Semitic languages. She arrived in Jerusalem in the mid 60’s, and
continued her studies of biblical and post-biblical literature at the Hebrew
University. She had intended to work with the Greek Orthodox Church, but was
met with a cool reception. She was subsequently offered a position with the
Greek Orthodox Church in France, but replied in the negative, adding "My
place is here, in Jerusalem." She then joined the Ethiopian Orthodox
community, and for many years studied the Church’s doctrine and language.
Today she masters 15 languages; recently she translated a book of commentaries
on the Psalms from Amharic into English. She has eight books about the
institutions, histography and iconography of the Ethiopian community in
Jerusalem to her credit. Sister Abraham is also a prolific lecturer – she
has just returned from her native Denmark, where she delivered 37 lectures in
6 weeks, to church groups and groups from political organizations and open
universities. One of her topics is the history of Christians in the Holy Land.
"In its beliefs and dogmatic doctrine the Ethiopian
Church is entirely Christian-orthodox," states Sister Abraham.
Nevertheless, there are some similarities with Judaism. Thus, the Song of
Songs is read in church on the Saturday morning before Easter Sunday, as it is
on Passover in the synagogue; a number of Old Testament dietary laws are
observed, and circumcision of newly-born boys on the 8th or 10th day after
birth, regarded as an initiation into the "Covenant of Abraham," is
practiced.
Today, Jerusalem’s small Ethiopian community continues to
keep its heritage alive.
Sources: Israel Magazine-On-Web, April 1998,: Israeli
Foreign Ministry |