Orthodox Christians Across Ethiopia Celebrate Meskel

Ethiopian Orthodox Christians across the nation are celebrating today Meskel which marks the founding of the True Cross.

Meskel festival is a religious event marked annually by Orthodox Christians to commemorate the founding of the true cross up on which Jesus Christ was crucified.

According to scholars of the religion, the true cross was discovered by Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome.

It is believed that in 4th century BC Empress Helena ordered the people of Jerusalem to collect wood after she received a vision in a dream telling her where to find the cross. And the smoke from a huge bonfire directed the site where the cross was placed.

The bonfire celebration was conducted on the eve of Meskel to commemorate the smoke that led Empress Helena to the site of the True Cross.

Meskel celebration is considered the most important religious holiday in Ethiopia, largely because it’s believed that a piece of the cross Empress Helena found was brought to Ethiopia, and is housed in the mountains of Amba Geshen.

The faithful across Ethiopia are today celebrating Meskel with various religious and cultural festivities across the country.

The annual religious bonfire, Demera, was colorfully celebrated on Wednesday, on the Eve of Meskel in Addis Ababa in the presence of President Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopian Orthodox Church archbishops and other dignitaries.

Demera is a colorful occasion that attracts a huge gathering of followers of the church, Sunday school students, and members of the clergy dressed in robes and traditional clothes and several tourists.

The festival is one of UNESCO’s intangible heritages that become a world treasure with many cultural and spiritual values.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency