Selam=+= (To mean Peace be to you in Ethiopic!)
Here is the second part of what I have promised you in the last time.
St. Yared; the great Ethiopian scholar, was born in Axum (One of the Ancient Cities in the world in Northern Part of Ethiopia and where the Arc of the Covenant lies) in 505 AD (This is Ethiopic calendar. I will present in the future). His father was called Isaac and his mother Christina.
His father died when he was 7. His mother then gave to the then Scholar and his uncle; Gedewon, in the courtyard of Axum Zion church to adopt her son and to take over the responsibility regarding his education. But; St. Yared was not intelligent enough in the beginning to compete with the other children, and His uncle was so impatient with him and he gave him several lashes for his inability not to compete with his peers.
Realizing that he was not going to be successful with his education, Yared left school and went to Medebay, a town where his another uncle resided. On his way to Medebay, not far from Aksum, he was forced to seek shelter under a tree from a heavy rain, in a place called Maikrah. While he was standing by leaning to the tree, he was immersed in thoughts about his poor performance in his education and his inability to compete with his peers. Suddenly, he noticed an ant, which tried to climb the tree with a load of a seed. The ant carrying a piece of food item made six attempts to climb the tree without success. However, at the seventh trial, the ant was able to successfully climb the tree and unloaded the food item at its destination. Yared watched the whole incident very closely and attentively; he was touched by the determined acts of the ant. He then thought about the accomplishment of this little creature and then pondered why he lacked patience to succeed in his own schooling.
He got a valuable lesson from the ant. In fact, he cried hard and then underwent self-criticism. The ant became his source of inspiration and he decided to return back to school. He realized the advice he received from his uncle was a useful advice to guide him in life. He begged Aba Gedeon to forgive him for his past carelessness. He also asked him to give him one more chance. He wants all the lessons and he is ready to learn.
His teacher, Aba Gedewon then began to teach him the Book of David. Yared not only was taking the lessons, but every day he would stop at Aksum Zion church to pray and to beg his God to show him the light. His prayer was answered and he turned out to be a good student. Within a short period of time, he showed a remarkable progress and his friends noticed the change in him. They were impressed and started to admire him. He completed the Old and New Testaments lessons at a much faster pace. He also finished the rest of lessons ahead of schedule and graduated to become a Deacon. He was fluent in Hebrew and Greek, apart from Ge’ez. After that he become a Deacon & served at Axum Zion Church where he late on become a married priest who succeeded to the position of his uncle. He was the first Ethiopian Scholar to compose a hymn. But his hymn was not a result of learning only; but a matter of inspiration. As a matter of inspiration, he was made to enjoy the company of, and listening to the singing of angels (which revealed themselves in the form of three birds!) and then he was taken up in spirit to the heavenly Jerusalem where he could learn the song of the Twenty Four Priests to heaven. When he returned to himself, he went into the church of Axum at the 3rd hour of the day & he began to cry out with a loud voice saying “hale luya laab, hale luya lewold, hale luya wolemenfes qidus qidameha letsion semaye sarere wedagem arayo lemusse zekeme yegeber gibra ledebtera which is to mean Hallelujah to the Father, Hallelujah to the Son, Hallelujah to the Holy Spirit.’’ This was later labeled Mahlete Aryam (The Highest).
His hymn has three modes: Geez, Araray, and Ezil. These three modes are well characterized in a way, which can be used on fast days, ordinary days, and on great festivals.
His literature has unique mystery in his hymnary (In Ethiopic Digwa). He arranged hymns for each season of the year; for summer, winter, spring, and Autumn, and for festivals and Sabbaths, and for the days of St. Mary, Angels, the Prophets, the Martyrs, the Apostles and the Righteous.
St. Yared preached the Gospel throughout Ethiopia. He also composed a song to the Ethiopian Anaphora. There are five hymn books composed by St. Yared. They are: Digwa, Tsome Digwa, Mieraf, Zimare,Mewasiet, and The Chant of the Liturgy.He used to elaborate his hymn in musical notation which in many ways is connected with its religious meaning (symbol). It consists of Biblical signs and letters as well as musical dots placed above the relevant syllables. They indicate the raising or lowering of the voice as well as other modes of pronunciation.
These Signs (Milikt in Ethiopic) serve to instruct the singer in how to instruct the single note and how to interpret the melody (Note that Mozart was not yet born).
The signs are 8. (It is difficult for me to put them here in sign as am not good in drawing! But; you can easily Google it.)
In general the works of Yared would consolidate almost the Theological, Ethical, Musical and Philospphical world of human thought (Qine- to mean Poet in Ethiopic).
St. Yared is the most venerated Holy Father canonized by the church and a great Theologian who could help the Christian Faith to be deeply rooted in the country. The bad news is his writings are not yet translated to other international languages.
The feast of St. Yared is tomorrow, Ginbot 11 E.C. (which is 19th of May in. G.C.).
May the blessings and Intercession of St. Yared be with us and all Christians. Amen!!
(To be continued in other Ethiopic articles)
