{"id":8150,"date":"2024-09-10T10:22:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T10:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/?p=8150"},"modified":"2024-09-10T11:01:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T11:01:13","slug":"8150-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/8150-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

The First Month<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meskerem<\/strong><\/p>\n

The First Month of the Ethiopian Liturgical Year is known as \u201cMesekerem.\u201d The Amharic word \u201cMesekerem,\u201d is derived from two Geeze words \u201cMeseyae,\u201d and \u201cKereme.\u201d When we define these words separately, they give the following meanings. The first word \u201cMeseyae\u201d is defined as \u201cbecoming dark, evening.\u201d And the second one is \u201cKereme,\u201d meaning rain. Then, the compound word is termed as \u201cthe ending of winter.\u201d The meaning of this month\u2019s name is also defined as \u201cthe beginning, primary, the beginning for the whole world, the head of the winter seasons, the first month and the arrival of autumn.\u201d (Aleka Kidan Wolde Kiflea Page 612)<\/p>\n

The Book of Synaxarium states that this month is the first of new year for the Ethiopians as well as the Egyptians. In Coptic Synaxarium, the first month is known as, \u201cTute.\u201d This is the month where we begin a new year leaving the old one. It is named after the Saint John the Baptist, as he is considered as the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament, for he preached repentance, the coming of the judgment day and inheritance of God\u2019s Kingdom. (Mark 1:15)<\/p>\n

Patristic Fathers received the Liturgical Year of feasts including \u201cMount of Olive, Hosanna, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost as well as these days of fasts, The Fast Nineveh, The Great Lent, The Fast of Apostles, Fasts of Salvation.<\/p>\n

On the first day of the Month of Meskerem, we sing the song \u201cMahelaete,\u201din our Church and the Liturgical Year of Feasts and Fasts are announced. The calendar days of feasts and fasts are derived from the Liturgical Year announcement announced on the day of Mesekrem 1st. <\/sup><\/p>\n

Additionally, on this day, wheat, currants, incense and water used for scarification are presented for prayer on them. This is the representation of our prayer to God saying \u201caccept our spiritual gift on the new year; have mercy on us and bless the year for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Age of John <\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the Psalm of Saint Yared, the days from Mesekerem 1st<\/sup> to 7 are known as \u201cThe Age of John.\u201d The Saint has received his crown of martyrdom on Meskerem 2 and the year is named after his name.\u00a0 Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has witnessed about him saying, \u201cAssuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.\u201d (Matthew 11:11)<\/p>\n

The Evangelist Apostle Saint John has also said, \u201cthis was He of whom I said,\u00a0\u2018He who comes after me\u00a0is preferred before me,\u00a0for He was before me. And of His\u00a0fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For\u00a0the law was given through Moses,\u00a0but\u00a0grace and\u00a0truth came through Jesus Christ.\u201d (John 1:15-18) These words are witnesses about the revelation of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and as the martyrdom of Saint John occurred on the second day of Mesekrem, so the days from Mesekerem 1st<\/sup> to 8th<\/sup> are known as \u201cThe Age of John.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Cont’d…<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The First Month of the Ethiopian Liturgical Year is known as \u201cMesekerem.\u201d The Amharic word \u201cMesekerem,\u201d is derived from two Geeze words \u201cMeseyae,\u201d and \u201cKereme.\u201d When we define these words separately, they give the following meanings. The first word \u201cMeseyae\u201d is defined as \u201cbecoming dark, evening.\u201d And the second one is \u201cKereme,\u201d meaning rain. Then, the compound word is termed as \u201cthe ending of winter.\u201d The meaning of this month\u2019s name is also defined as \u201cthe beginning, primary, the beginning for the whole world, the head of the winter seasons, the first month and the arrival of autumn.\u201d (Aleka Kidan Wolde Kiflea Page 612) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8150"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8150"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8155,"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8150\/revisions\/8155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eotcmk.org\/e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}