The Covenant of Mercy
Dear Children of God! How are you? How is school? How are you doing on your exams? We hope you are well and studying! Children, education is very important and you shall acquire all the necessary knowledge.
Dear Children of God! on Yekatit 16, we celebrate our holy mother’s day of Kidane Meheret (The Covenant of Mercy). So, today we will tell the story of how Saint Mary received “The Covenant of Mercy” from Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Our holy Mother Saint Mary, the two-fold Virgin, the God-bearer, for on it He gave her the Covenant of Mercy and she received it from her Son, our Redeemer Jesus Christ, in respect of him that should celebrate her commemoration, or should call upon her name, or give alms to the poor, even if it were only [a cup of] cold water.
Dear Children of God, after Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, taking of Saint Mary’s pure flesh with Him, sat down at the right hand of His Father. He left His mother Mary in the house of Saint John, His disciple, so that he might love her, even as He committed him to her, saying, “Behold your son,” and He said to that disciple, “Behold your mother.” Thereupon our Lady Mary lived there. She used to go to the tomb of her Son, Golgotha, to pray there. When the Jews saw her there, they were filled with anger, and envy. They wished to drive her away; but God hid her from their eyes. Then they took counsel and decided to set guards over His tomb, so that she might not come there again and pray. But she did not stop to go there day by day, and the guards did not see her, because the covering of the glory of her Son hid her It is it amazing children!
Then, the angels were always coming to her and her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, visited her frequently and fulfilled for her all her desires. Some of the angels used to take her up into the heavens and show her the places where the saints rested, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; And all the souls of the fathers who had died from Adam until that time worshipped her, saying, “Glory be to God, who has created you flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone. In you we have found salvation, and you have become the sanctuary of life for us from damage through the Son of God taking upon Himself flesh through you.”
Then the angels took her, and brought her to her beloved Son on His throne, and the curtains, which were flames of fire, were drawn aside on the right hand and on the left, and our Lord took her hand, and kissed her mouth, and said to her, “Have you arrived, O my mother?” And He raised her up on to the throne of His glory, and He seated her by Him, and He described to her all the joy and gladness which eye has not seen, nor ear heard of, nor heart of man imagined, which were prepared for her. Below the throne of glory, she saw Prophet David, the King of Israel, her father, (with all the company of the prophets, the angels, and the souls of the righteous, in a circle,) singing to the harp, saying, “Hearken to me, my daughter, consider and incline thine ear. Forget thy people and thy father’s house. The king has desired your beauty; he is your Lord.” (Psalm 45:10)
There the angels took her to show her the place of punishment, and they brought her to the limit of darkness, which is prepared for Satan and his hosts, and for all those who walk in his ways. Our Lady Mary said, “I feel Sad! Who will describe this place to the children of men, so that they may not come too?” The angel said to her, “Fear not, O Mary, God is with you, and for your sake with those who shall come after you.”
Then the angels carried her away and brought her into a certain place, and thereupon our Lady Mary sat down, being exceedingly sorry for all sinners. As it might be this day the sixteenth day of the month of Yakatit, she stood on the Place of the Skull (Golgotha), and asked her Son, saying, “O my Son, swear to me by God your Father, and by your Name of Christ, and by the Paraclete,(helper) your Spirit, and by my womb which carried you for nine months and five days, you Whom the earth cannot bear up, you Whom the angels cannot approach, I adjure you, O my Son, by you going forth from me without exhaustion, and by you delivery which was painless, I adjure you by my breasts which suckled you, and by my lips which kissed you, I adjure you by my hands which embraced you, and by my feet which walked with you, I adjure you by the manger wherein you did lie, and by the untidy cloths wherein you were wrapped, O my Son, and Beloved One, I beg you, and plead you, to hearken o the words of my petition, and to come to me, and to fulfill for me everything which is in my heart.”
When our holy Lady, the Virgin Mary, the mother of the Light, had spoken thus, our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ came down straightway, and there were with Him, surrounding Him, thousands of thousands, and tens of thousands of tens of thousands of angels, and he said to her, “What shall I do for you, Mary, My mother? What desire do you have that would have Me fulfill for you?” Our Lady the holy Virgin Mary answered and said to her beloved Son, “O my Beloved Son, my Lord and Redeemer, my Hope, my Refuge, upon Thee is placed my trust. Because of you, I was strong in the womb of my mother, and in the womb which covered you, and you are my memorial, at all times. Now do you hear my prayer and request, and hearken to the word of my mouth which I speak to you. I you mother Mary, I Thine handmaiden (servant of God), on behalf of him that shall celebrate my commemoration, and him that shall build a church in my name, or shall clothe the naked, or visit the sick, or feed the hungry, or give drink to him that is athirst, or shall comfort the sorrowful, or shall make the sad to rejoice, or shall write the history of my strife, or shall sing a song at my festival; [swear to me] that God shall give him the good reward from you, which eye has not seen, nor ear heard of, nor the heart of man imagined. I beg and entreat you on behalf of all those who believe in me, to set them free from hell (a place filled with fire that bad people are punished), and to remember the hunger, thirst, and all the trials which came upon me through you.” Our Lord Jesus Christ answered and said to her, “It shall be to you even as you say, and I will fulfill for you all your petition; I became incarnate of you, and I swear that I will not make any covenant with you to be a lie.”
May her prayer and intercession be with us!!!
Glory be to God who is glorified in His Saints, Amen!
Source: Book of Synaxarium ,Yekatit 16