Laity’s Role in Church
Part Five
Prostration and Alms Giving
Prostration is the veneration we give to the Divine Power; Almighty God. It is our way of revealing our worship to the Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:5) Prayer, Fasting, Prostration and alms giving are ways of spirituality and obedience through the governance of our corporeal to our soul. Prostration is made not only by humans but the celestial (heavenly) being, The Angels. (Isaiah 6:3) It is the main aim of the two creations Angles and humans.
The Aim of Prostration
Spiritual life embraces two types of prostration according to the Church education. The first one is the prostration for The Divinity which is made for the One God, Alpha and Omega, in showing our obedience to Him. We make prostration to “The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.” In our daily prayer we say, “We make one prostration to The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit” in which the one prostration signifies the oneness of the Holy Trinity.
The prostration for Divinity is only made for God but not for any other. In confirming this, it is in scripted in the Holy Bible as, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)
The Second Prostration is “Prostration of Grace” made foremost for our Holy Mother Saint Mary, the Mother of God, The Ark of the Covenant, The Holy Cross, Holy Church, Saint Angels, Saints, Martyrs and Righteous. We also commemorate these kinds of prostration. Our Lord is the one who taught us to make prostration as in scripted, “Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!” (Genesis 27:29)
The Liturgy of Prostration
Holy Church teaches us three kinds of Prostration.
The First type is bowing until we touch the ground. It is said,“ And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10)
The Second type is known as “Astebarko” in Amharic which is a bowing made without the toughing of the ground of the head, forehead and knee.
The Third Type is called “Adeno” in the local language that is bowing the head, forehead and neck.
In the Ethiopian Orthodox Incarnation Church Liturgy, there are days we do not make prostration, for they are special holidays known as in Amharic “Gezete Beale.” These are Sabbath, Pentecost, Eucharist; feasts of Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Mother’s Saint Mary and of Saint Michael’s Feasts. And there are days we make prostration much mainly on Passion Week, Crucifixion and also when the special feasts are on Passion Week we make prostration since the feasts are not to be celebrated for we commemorate the Lord’ suffering and Crucifixion.
Alms Giving
Alms Giving is the mercy we make for the poor and needy. We ought to feed the hungry, water the thirst, clothe the deprived. It is said in the Holy Bible, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given.” (Proverb 19:17)
We shall also help the weak, aid the victims of tribal wars and in trails within the Church. As it is necessary to make alms giving, it is necessary to realize the good virtue of our good endeavors in particular to fasting seasons, as it is written in the Old Testament and New Testament, “For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:11) and “If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.” (Leviticus 25:35)
May our Lord God accept all our good and endeavors, Amen!
