09/26/2022
Meskel (Ge'ez: መስቀል, romanized: Mesk’el) is a Christian holiday in the Ethiopian Orthodox and Eritrean Orthodox churches that commemorates the discovery of the True Cross by the Roman Empress Helena (Saint Helena) in the fourth century. Meskel occurs on the 17 Meskerem in the Ethiopian calendar (27 September, Gregorian calendar, or on 28 September in leap years). "Meskel" (or "Meskal" or "Mesqel", there are various ways to transliterate from Ge'ez to Latin script) is Ge'ez for "cross".
The festival is known as Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in other Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant churches. The churches that follow the Gregorian calendar celebrate the feast yearly on 14 September.
The feast is held in Meskel Square, named after the festival, in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Religious and civil leaders preside over the celebration, and public figures give speeches and reference biblical themes and stories. Many Ethiopians who live in cities return to their villages to celebrate the national event. When it gets darker, the Demera is burned.[UNESCO inscribed Meskel in 2013 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.]
Humanity had suffered a lot due to the grave sin Adam and Eve committed through the temptation of the Devil. The entire human race was rendered slave to Satan until our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the three Persons in the Holy Trinity, came to redeem us.
Christ came to the world in human form to atone for the wrongdoings of humans on our behalf and fulfill the Divine justice. He reopened the gate of heaven through His death as all humans, be they sinners or righteous, were not allowed to enter paradise. Between our Creator and us was a big wall that no one could take down but only our Lord Jesus Christ.
As the Lord promised to Adam, He came to the world and endured severe pain and contempt for our sake. He was then crucified on the Cross (Meskel) between two criminals who spent their entire lives robbing and terrorizing people. The Lord took our sin and our death and gave us His life; He called us His sons while everything we have ever done was crucified him and sin.
Christ redeemed us through His death on the Cross. The Cross has thus become the sign of victory for Christians. It is the symbol of our freedom from evil and our rebirth for a new life in Jesus Christ. That is why Saint Paul the Apostle said “But God forbids that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Gal 6:14)
Even after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Cross kept on making numerous miracles among believers. But the Jews who lived in those days were envious, and hence buried the Cross and turned the place into a dumping ground for garbage. Through time, the garbage piled up and took the form of a hill. The Jews had made every effort to obscure the place where the Cross was buried.
After 200 years, Queen Elena, mother of Constantine the Great, set out to locate the place where the cross was buried and excavate it. She prayed hard to request for the will and help of God and then headed for Jerusalem in 319 E.C to accomplish her project.
Given the lapse of two centuries, it was hard for Queen Elena to spot the exact place of burial of the Cross. She thus sough the counsel of an old man named Kirakos who told her that the Cross was buried in one of three hills located in city of Jerusalem.
Elena summoned all priests in the city for mass prayers. She then lit a bonfire and put incense into it. The smoke from the bonfire billowed into the sky and then bent down to the hill where the Cross was buried. She had the place dug, and three crosses were excavated. The True Cross on which our Lord was crucified was identified for the enormous miracles it did. After unearthing the Holy Cross, Queen Helena lit torches heralding her success.
In the Middle Ages, the Patriarch of Alexandria who got hold of part of the True Cross, gave the Ethiopian Emperor Dawit a piece of the Cross in return for protection afforded to the Coptic Christians. This piece is reputedly held at the Gishen Mariam church located about 70 kilometers northwest of Dessie in northern Ethiopia.
Happy Holiday!
Reference - Wikipedia
- EOTCMK
