በዓል መስቀል ብክብር ዝበለ ኣበዓዕላ ኣብ ደብረ ርእሰ ኣድባራት ጽርሃ ኣርያም ኦስሎ

Meskel is a religious festival that commemorates the discovery of the True Cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. According to tradition, the cross was discovered by Queen Helena. The festival is celebrated every year on September 17. in church calendar Cross «Meskel» has been celebrated in Eritrea and Ethiopia for more than 1,600 years and is one of the most important religious and cultural festivals in both countries. The Name cross“Meskel” and Its Meaning The word cross “Meskel” refers to the wooden cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. In Ge’ez, the word Meskel means “cross,” particularly the Cross of Jesus Christ. The festival commemorates the historical and religious tradition of Queen Helena’s discovery of the Holy Cross. Ancient History In 326 AD, Queen Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, travelled to Jerusalem in search of the True Cross on which Jesus Christ had been crucified. After nearly 300 years, the place where the Cross had been buried was covered with ruins, buildings, and rubbish. The accumulated debris had become like a large mountain, making it very difficult to identify the exact location of the Cross. According to tradition, Queen Helena ordered a large pile of wood to be prepared. She lit the pile, known as the Demera, and prayed that the smoke would reveal the place where the Holy Cross was buried. As the Demera burned, the smoke rose into the sky and then moved towards the place where the Cross was believed to have been buried. This was taken as a sign showing them where to begin digging. According to the tradition, the excavation began on September 17, in church calendar following the sign given by the smoke. After months of digging, the Holy Cross was finally uncovered on March 10, in church calendar Religious Significance cross «Meskel» holds a special place in the Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches. The Cross represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the salvation of humanity. On this day, believers remember and reflect on the love, suffering, and sacrifice of Christ. Priests conduct special prayers, sermons, and religious hymns as part of the celebration. Hymn of Faith Cross is our strength, Cross is our steadfastness, Cross is our redemption, Cross is the salvation of our souls. For those of us who believe, Amen. መስቀል ነቲ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ብንግስቲ እሌኒ ዝተሰቕለሉ ሓቀኛ መስቀል ዝተረኸበሉ ዝዝክር በዓል እዩ። በብዓመቱ መስከረም 17 ድማ ይኽበር። እዚ በዓል እዚ ኣብ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ንልዕሊ 1600 ዓመታት ዝኽበርን ሓደ ካብቶም ዓበይቲ ሃይማኖታዉን ህዝባዊን በዓላት እዘን ሃገርት እዩ። ስምን ትርጉሙን ናይ መስቀል "መስቀል" ዝብል ስም ነቲ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ዝተሰቕለሉ ዕንጨይቲ መስቀል የመልክት። ብቋንቋ ግእዝ "መስቀል" ማለት ናይ እየሱስ ክርስቶስ ዝተሰቀለሉ ዕንጨይቲ ወይ "መስቀሊ" ማለት እዩ። እዚ በዓል እዚ ንግስቲ እሌኒ ነዚ ቅዱስ መስቀል ዝረኸበትሉ ታሪኻዊ ፍጻመ ዝዝክር እዩ። ጥንታዊ ታሪኽ ብ326 ዓ.ም ንግስቲ እሌኒ (ኣደ ንጉስ ቆስጠንጢኖስ) ንሓቀኛ መስቀል ንምድላይ ናብ ኢየሩሳሌም ከደት። ድሕሪ 300 ዓመት እቲ መስቀል ዝተቐብረሉ ቦታ ብፍርስራስን ኣባይትን ጉሓፍን ተሸፊኑ ክነዲ እንባ ኮይኑ ስለ ዝነበረ ንምርካቡ ኣጸጋሚ ነበር። ንግስቲ እሌኒ እቲ ትኪ ነቲ መስቀል ዝተቐብረሉ ቦታ ምእንቲ ክሕብር ዓቢ ጎቦ ብዕንጨይቲ ክስራሕ ኣዘዘት። ነቲ ዓብይ ጎቦ ብሓዊ (ዳሜራ) ኣንዲዳ ጸለየት፤ እቲ እኩብ ዕነጨይቲ ወይ ዳሜራ ማለት እቲ ትኪ ናብ ሰማይ ዓሪጉ፡ እቲ ትኪ ናብቲ መስቀል ዘለዎ ቦታ ተደፊኡ ኣመልከተ። ስለዚ ምፍሓር በቲ ምልክት መሰረት መስከረም 17 ምፍሓር ጀሚሮም መጋቢት 10 መዓልቲ ነቲ ቅዱስ መስቀል ኣውጽእዎ። ሃይማኖታዊ ትርጉም መስቀል ኣብ ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ፍሉይ ቦታ ኣለዎ። መስቀል ምሳሌ መስዋእትን ድሕነትን ክርስቶስ እዩ። ኣመንቲ ንፍቕርን መከራን ክርስቶስ ብምዝካር ነዛ ዕለት እዚኣ የስተንትኑ። ካህናት ፍሉይ ጸሎትን ስብከትን መዝሙርን የቕርቡ። ናይ እምነት መዝሙር መስቀል ሐይልነ መስቀል ፅንእነ መስቀል ቤዛነ መስቀል መደሐኔነ ነብስነ ለእለ አመነ አሜን። መስቀል ሓይልና እዩ መስቀል ጽንዓትና (መጸግዒና) እዩ መስቀል በዛዊና (ነጻ ዘውጽኣና) እዩ ነቶም ዝኣመናሉ ኹላትና መድሓኒትና እዩ ኣሜን።