St. Takla Haymanot the Ethiopian
Sunday, November 19, 2006
St. Takla Haymanot the
Ethiopian
24 Mesra / 30 August
On this day, the
great hermit and the blessed St. Takla Haymanot, the Ethiopian, departed. He was born in a village
nearby Jerusalem which was the share of Zadok and Abia-thar the priests during the reign of King Soliman, son of King David.
Zadok begot Azariah, Azariah
begot Zadok, who was named after his grandfather, and
Zadok begot Levi, and so forth till the father of
this saint was born. His name was Tsega Ze-Ab (which means the Grace of the Father) and he married
a woman whose name was Sarah. They were righteous, God fearing and very rich.
They always celebrated the commemoration of the honorable
Archangel Michael on the twelfth day of each Coptic month, and gave alms to the
poor and the needy.
Sarah, the mother of this saint, was very beautiful, meek and adorned
with many virtues, hence they called her "Egezi-Hareya"
(i.e. God has chosen her). However, She and her
husband were bitter and sad because they did not have any children. She went
daily to the church imploring God to give her a child that would delight her
heart. Her husband also went to the church at the time of the offering of the
incense and taught the congregation the fundamentals of faith. Every time he
went to the church he took from his own money an offering to the house of God.
They both agreed to disperse their money to the poor, the needy, the
monasteries and the churches.
Meanwhile the king died, and another king reigned who worshipped the
idols. The new king demolished the churches and built pagan temples. He was
unjust and he plundered and captured women, among them "Egezi-Hareya", the mother of St. Takla.
Later she returned safely to her husband and both glorified God and praised His
Holy Name.
Afterwards, the angel of the Lord appeared to them in a vision at night,
and announced to them the birth of this saint. When the saint was about one and
half years old, a famine befell Ethiopia. When the twelfth day of the blessed
month of Baramhat, the commemoration of the
honourable head of the Heavenly hosts, drew near, Sarah, the mother of the
child, was crying because she was not able to celebrate this occasion. The
child wiped away her tears with his little hands and yet he was still unable to
talk. He pointed to her to carry him to where there was a plate with a little
flour in it. She took him to the plate where he dipped his hand in the flour.
The flour increased until it was pouring onto the floor. She brought baskets
and every time she emptied the plate, it became full again, until she had
filled twelve baskets.
His mother then knew that God was with the child. Then she brought to
him the empty container of oil.
He placed his hand over it and it was filled with the power of God. In
the same fashion, other containers in the house were filled. When Tsega Ze-Ab, the father of the
child, returned from the church and knew what happened, he glorified God. They
celebrated the commemoration of the archangel Michael, fed the poor and all the
neighbors.
God honored this saint with many miracles that
he performed during his life and also after his departure. When St. Takla Haymanot completed his good
strife, he departed in peace.
