Zion: Epitome of Saint Mary

However, Biblically ‘Zion’ symbolizes St. Mary. The prophets foretold the fulfillment of God’s Promise to save mankind through the Incarnation of the Son of God from the Virgin Mary and they personified St. Mary by ‘Zion’. Some among the prophets who foretold about St. Mary symbolically are cited below:  

The prophet David 

• “And of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her” (Psalm 87: 5).  St. David has forecasted about the birth of man (the Son of God) Jesus Christ from St. Mary; symbolizing Mary by Zion.  
• “For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.” (Psalm 132: 13-14) This refers to St. Mary because God has chosen her for motherhood.  As God is eternal, St. Mary as a mother of God is also called the Mother of God for eternity.
• “But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved and he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established forever” (Ps 78: 68-69). In his work known as Anketse Berhan, St. Yared, the great Ethiopian composer of hymnography said of the Mother of God, “You become the city of God on earth in place of the highest city in heaven – wherein God resides”. From this we understand that St. David used ‘Mount Zion’ to describe St. Mary. God built His sanctuary (Mary) through spotlessness and holiness and in ultimate wisdom.  Similar verse, “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple” (Is. 6:1). 

The prophet Zephaniah 
He joyfully foretells that Mary is “the exalted Daughter of Zion: Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.”  (Zeph 3:14) 

 The Prophet Zechariah
“… I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.” (Zech 4: 2-3).  From this we can understand that the Prophet Zechariah has seen St. Mary in the form of candlestick beautified by gold. 

The prophet Isaiah 
In regard to her perpetual virginity, it is central to the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and in accordance with which the Prophet Isaiah‘s prophesy, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14). 

The Prophet Ezekiel 
The Church very frequently refer to St. Mary as "eternal virgin” and a three-fold virgin – before, during and after birth as the prophet Ezekiel prophesized,  “Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the Lord unto me; this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut”. (Ezekiel 44:2). 

The Ethiopian church commentaries analysis shows us the threefold virginity of St. Mary symbolizing it thus:  Saint Mary by ‘The East’; her womb by ‘the Sanctuary’; while the phrases ‘this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened’ refers to the perpetual (three fold) virginity of St. Mary.  

The Ark of the Covenant
The other known symbols of St. Mary are the Ark of Zion as well as the Ark of Noah. The Ark of the Covenant is the place of the presence of God, being kept therein the tablets of the Law given to the Prophet Moses. In comparison, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the living Ark who bears in herself not the word of God written ‘on stone’, but the very Word of God, the Logos, made flesh, become her son; who carries in herself; who carries in herself the very Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Eucharist Christ. 

Generally, Mount Zion and the Ark of the Covenant are the very figure of St. Mary as the above prophets foretold her symbolically. Based on this biblical background the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has built the Church dedicated to Saint Mary named as Zion Mary wherein commemorates the Consecration of Ark of the covenant associated with miracles done during Old Testament times. 

  May the prayer and intersession of Saint Mary be up on us all!

Source: 
• መዝሙረ ዳዊት ንባቡና ትርጓሜው ፡ 1950 ዓ.ም አርቲስቲክ ማተሚያ ቤት፡፡ 
• መጽሐፈ ዚቅ ዘሕዳር ጽዮን፡፡ 
• The Holy Bible: King James Version.