Thursday, September 28, 2023
What you need to know:
- UNESCO recognised the feast of the finding of the True Holy Cross of Christ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.
Ethiopian and Eritrean community residing in Kampala gathered at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Bunga on September 27 to celebrate the Annual Meskel Festival.
Mr Anthony Samuel, one of the organizers of the festival, explained that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church observes this day to honor the discovery of the True Cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans.
“History tells us that in the 4th Century BC, the Roman Empress Helena received a vision in a dream instructing her to find the true cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. It was said to be thrown in a ditch or well and then covered with litter,” he recounted.
Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, prayed for guidance until she discovered a place where three crosses believed to have been used at the crucifixion of Jesus and the two thieves were buried. She followed the direction indicated by smoke from a burning fire.
“She ordered the people of Jerusalem to collect wood, and the smoke from the huge bonfire apparently indicated where the cross was buried. The celebration is considered the most important religious holiday in Ethiopia,” he added.
Samuel explained that the celebration is significant as, during the Middle Ages, the Patriarch of Alexandria gave the Ethiopian Emperor Dewit half of the Meskel in return for the protection afforded to the Coptic Christians. A fragment of this cross is reputedly held at Gishen Mariam, about 70km northwest of Dessie City.
He emphasized that the day is celebrated worldwide irrespective of age, gender, language, or ethnicity. Participants are believed to receive spiritual rewards and blessings from the Holy Cross.
UNESCO recognised the feast of the finding of the True Holy Cross of Christ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013.
The Wednesday event is the first-ever conducted in Uganda, 2016 years after Jesus’s death, according to the Ethiopian calendar, which now reads as 2016.
sotage@ug.nationmedia.com