††† ✝እንኳን ለኢትዮዽያዊው ጻድቅ አቡነ ተጠምቀ መድኅን እና ለእናታችን ቅድስት ማርታ ዓመታዊ የዕረፍት በዓል በሰላም አደረሳችሁ፣አደረሰን። †††✝

††† በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ አሜን! †††

††† አቡነ ተጠምቀ መድኅን †††

††† ጻድቁ የተወለዱት በአፄ ሱስንዮስ ዘመን በ1610 ዓ/ም ሲሆን ወላጆቻቸው #ወልደ_ክርስቶስና #ወለተ_ማርያም ይባላሉ:: ታሕሳስ 2 ቀን እንደ መወለዳቸው ክርስትና የተነሱት ጥር 11 ቀን ነበርና ካህኑ "ተጠምቀ መድኅን" አላቸው:: በምድረ #ጐጃም ከበቀሉ ታላላቅ #ቅዱሳን አንዱ የሆኑት አባ ተጠምቀ መድኅን ገና ከሕጻንነታቸው ጀምሮ #ጸጋ_እግዚአብሔር የጠራቸው ነበሩ::

ሕጻን እያሉ #ቃለ_እግዚአብሔር መማር ቢፈልጉም አባታቸው በግድ እረኛ አደረጋቸው:: እርሳቸው ግን በሕጻን ልባቸውም ቢሆን ቤተሰብን ማሳዘን አልፈለጉም::

ይልቁኑ ወደ በርሃ ይወርዱና አንበሳውን: ነብሩን: ተኩላውን ሰብስበው:- "በሉ እኔ ልማር ልሔድ ስለ ሆነ እስከ ማታ ድረስ ጠብቁልኝ" ብለው ለአራዊቱ አደራ ይሰጣሉ:: አራዊቱ ከበጉ: ከፍየሉ: ከላሙ ጋር ሲቦርቁ ይውላሉ:: ተጠምቀ መድኅን ደግሞ ዳዊቱን: ወንጌሉን ሲማሩና ሲጸልዩ ውለው ማታ ይገባሉ::

ተጠምቀ መድኅን በሕጻንነታቸው ቁርስና ምሳቸውን ለነዳያን በመስጠት በቀን አንድ ማዕድ ብቻ ይቀምሱ ነበር:: 23 ዓመት ሲሞላቸው ወደ #መርጡለ_ማርያም ሔደው መንኩሰዋል:: ከዚሕ ጊዜ በሁዋላ ለ37 ዓመታት:-

1.በፍጹም ተጋድሎ ኑረዋል
2.ራሳቸውን ዝቅ አድርገው አገልግለዋል
3.ከጐጃም እስከ ሱዳን ድረስ ወንጌልን ሰብከው በርካቶችን አሳምነው አጥምቀዋል (ካህን ናቸውና)
4."7" ገዳማትንና "12" አብያተ ክርስቲያናትን አንጸዋል::

††† ጻድቁ በተሰጣቸው መክሊት አትርፈው በ60 ዓመታቸው በ1670 ዓ/ም (በአፄ #ዮሐንስ_ጻድቁ ዘመን) ዐርፈዋል::
እግዚአብሔር የምሕረት ቃል ኪዳን የገባላቸው ሲሆን አጽማቸው ዛሬ #በጋሾላ_ቅዱስ_ጊዮርጊስ የእናቶች ገዳም ውስጥ ይገኛል::

††† ቅድስት ማርታ †††

††† እናታችን ቅድስት ማርታ በቀደመ ሕይወቷ እጅግ ኃጢአቷ የበዛ ሴት ነበረች:: እጅግ ቆንጆ መሆኗን ሰይጣን ለኃጢአት እንድትጠቀምበት አባበላት:: እርሷም ተቀበለችው:: በወጣትነት ዘመኗ በመልኩዋና በገላዋ በርካቶችን ወደ ኃጢአት ሳበች::

መጽሐፍ እንደሚል ለሁሉም ሰው የመዳን ቀን ጥሪ አለውና አንድ ቀን (በበዓለ ልደት) ወደ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ሔደች:: ዘበኛው ግን ሲያያት ተጸይፏልና አትገቢም አላት:: ተከራከረችው: ለመነችው:: ግን አልተሳካላትም:: ሰዓቱ የቅዳሴ ቢሆንም እርሷ እሪ አለች:: ለቅዳሴ የቆሙ ሁሉ በመታወካቸው ዻዻሱ ወጥቶ ገሰጻት::

ያን ጊዜ ነበር ወደ ልቧ የተመለሰችው:: በጉልበቷ ተንበርክካ መራራ ለቅሶን አለቀሰች:: ዻዻሱንም ተማጸነችው:- "እጠፋ ዘንድ አትተወኝ:: ወደ ጌታየ አድርሰኝ" አለችው:: ወዲያውም ወደ ቤቷ ሔዳ የዝሙት እቃዋን አቃጠለች:: ጸጉሯን ተላጨች:: ንብረቷን ሁሉ ለነዳያን አካፈለች:: ዻዻሱም ንስሃ ሰጥቶ ወደ ገዳም አሰናበታት::

ወደ ገዳም ገብታ: በዓት ተቀብላ: ጾምና ጸሎትን ከእንባ ጋር አዘወተረች:: ለ25 ዓመታት በፍጹም ተጋድሎ ከበዓቷ ሳትወጣ: አንድም ሰው ሳታይ ኖረች:: ከማረፏ በፊትም ብዙ ተአምራትን አድርጋለች::

††† የቅዱሳን አምላክ ለእኛም እድሜ ለንስሃ: ዘመን ለፍስሐ አይንሳን:: ከበረከታቸውም ያድለን:: †††

††† ሰኔ 3 ቀን የሚከበሩ ዓመታዊ የቅዱሳን በዓላት=
1.ቅድስት ማርታ ተሐራሚት
2.አቡነ ተጠምቀ መድኅን ጻድቅ (ኢትዮዽያዊ)
3.ቅዱስ ኢላርዮን ሰማዕት
4.ቅዱስ ኮርዮን ሰማዕት

†††ወርኀዊ በዓላት
1.በዓታ ለእግዝእትነ ማርያም ድንግል ወላዲተ አምላክ
2.ቅዱሳን ኢያቄም ወሐና
3.ቅዱሳን ሊቃነ ካህናት አበው (ዘካርያስና ስምዖን)
4.አባ ሊባኖስ ዘመጣዕ
5.አቡነ ዜና ማርቆስ
6.አቡነ መድኃኒነ እግዚእ ዘደብረ በንኮል

††† "አልሞትም: በሕይወት እኖራለሁ እንጂ::
የእግዚአብሔርንም ሥራ እናገራለሁ::
መገሠጽስ እግዚአብሔር ገሠጸኝ::
ለሞት ግን አልሠጠኝም::
የጽድቅን ደጆች ክፈቱልኝ::
ወደ እነርሱ ገብቼ እግዚአብሔርን አመሰግናለሁ::
ይህች የእግዚአብሔር ደጅ ናት::
ጻድቃን ወደ እርስዋ ይገባሉ::
ሰምተኸኛልና:
መድኃኒትም ሆነኸኛልና አመሰግንሃለሁ::" †††  (መዝ. 117:17-22)

††† ወስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር †††

#Feasts of #Senne_3

✞✞✞On this day we commemorate the Ethiopian Saint, Abune Tetemqe Medhin, and our Mother Saint Martha✞✞✞

✞✞✞In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen!✞✞✞

✞✞✞ Abune Tetemqe Medhin✞✞✞
=>The Saint was born during the reign of Emperor Susenyos in the years 1610 E.C and his parents were called Welde Kirstos and Welete Maryam. As he was born on Tahisas 2 (December 11), he was baptized on Tir 11 (January 19) [during the feast of Epiphany] hence, the priest named him “Tetemqe Medhin”(in commemoration of the Lord’s baptism). Abba Tetemqe Medhin was one of the great saints of Gojjam, and he was called by the grace of God from his childhood.

✞When he was a kid, though he wanted to learn the word of God, his parents forcefully made him a shepherd. And he did not want to disappoint his parents [by objecting].
 
✞Instead, he would go to the wilderness and gather lions, leopards including wolves and would say, “Okay, because I am going to go and learn, guard my flock until nightfall” and he would entrust his flock to the wild animals. The beasts then would spend the day playing with the sheep, goats, and the cattle. Tetemqe, on the other hand, would spend his day learning the Psalms, the Gospels, and by praying. Then, he would return home [after collecting the animals from those that he trusted to].

✞Tetemqe Medhin in his childhood used to give his breakfast and lunch to the destitute and eat only once a day. And when he became 23 years old, he went to Mertule Maryam, and became a monk. Thereafter, in/for 37 years he;

1. Lived in complete spiritual struggle.
2. Served humbly by lowering himself.
3. Preached from Gojjam to Sudan and baptized (as he was a priest) many after converting them.
4. And built 7 monasteries and 12 churches.

✞✞✞The Saint departed at the age of 60 after bearing fruits with the talents he was given in the year 1670 E.C (during the reign of Yohannes). God has given the Saint a covenant and his relics are found in the Convent of Gashola St. George.

✞✞✞Saint Martha✞✞✞
=>Our Mother St. Martha, in her earlier life, was a very sinful woman. Because she was very beautiful, Satan compelled her to use it for sin and she agreed [as seen from her deeds].  And in her youthful days, she attracted many by her good looks and figure towards depravity.

✞As Scripture says since everyone has a day when he/she will be called for salvation, one day (on The Feast of the Nativity of the Lord) she went to church. However, when the guard saw her because he was despised of her said that she could not enter. And she argued and begged him, but she was unsuccessful. And though the time was when the liturgy was being celebrated, she screamed. And because all that were standing and participating in the liturgy were disturbed, the Bishop went out and rebuked her.

✞And that was when she returned to herself. She knelt down and wept with bitter tears. And beseeched the Bishop saying, “Do not let me perish. Help me reach my Lord.” Then, she immediately went to her home and burned all the materials she used for committing adultery, shaved her hair and gave all her other belongings to the poor. And the Bishop gave her penance and sent her to a monastery.
 
✞Thus, she entered a monastery, received a cell, and made fasting and prayer with tears her routine. And for 25 years without leaving her cell and seeing no one, she lived in complete struggle. And she performed many miracles before she departed. 

✞✞✞May the God of the Saints not deprive us of an age for repentance and true joy. And may He grant us from their blessings. 

✞✞✞Annual feasts celebrated on the 3rd of Senne
1. St. Martha the Austere
2. Abune Tetemqe Medhin the Righteous (Ethiopian)
3. St. Hilarius (Hilarion or Alladius) the Martyr

4. St. Karyon (Gorion) the Martyr
✞✞✞ Monthly Feasts
1. The Entrance of our Lady the Virgin Saint Mary the God-bearer into the Temple
2. Sts. Joachim and Anna
3. Sts. The Arch-Priests (Zacharias and Simeon)
4. Abba Libanos of Mata
5. Abune Zena Markos
6. Abune Medhanine Egzi of Debre Benkol✞✞✞“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.”✞✞✞
Ps. 117 (118):17-21

✞✞✞ Salutations to God ✞✞✞

(Translated by Mhr. Esuendale Shemeles with the permission of Dn. Yordanos Abebe)

🕊መንግሥተ ሰማያት ቀርባለችና ንስኅ ግቡ🕊
(ማቴ ፫:፫)

✨በአማን ተንሥአ መድኃኒነ!✨
🌿ብፁዕ አባ አቡነ ተክለ ሃይማኖት ዘኤለ ገዳማተ እምኀበ እግዚኡ ይነሣእ እሴተ ቦአ ሀገረ ደብረ ሊባኖስ በፍሥሐ ወበሰላም።

⚜ሰአል ለነ ጊዮርጊስ ኀበ እግዚአብሔር ወጸሊ በእንቲአነ ሐረድዎ ወገመድዎ ወዘረዉ ሥጋሁ ከመ ሐመድ ወወሰድዎ ኀበ ሰብአ ነገሥት ረገጸ ምድረ አንሥአ ሙታነ አባ ጊዮርጊስ በሰላም ዐደወ መንግሥተ ክብር ወረሰ።

🌿ወልደ እግዚአብሔር አምላክነ ወመድኃኒነ ዕቀብ  ሕይወተነ እም ገሀነመ እሳት ወእምኵሉ መንሱት በእንተ ቅዱስ ስምከ ወበእንተ ማርያም እምከ ወበእንተ ቅዱስ መስቀል ወበእንተ ዮሐንስ ወንጌላዊ ወበእንተ ዮሐንስ መጥምቅከ ወበእንተ ኵሎሙ ቅዱሳን ወሀባ ሰላመ ለሀገሪትነ ኢትዮጵያ ወለቅድስት ቤተክርስቲያን።

⚜ሰላም ለክሙ ጻድቃን ወሰማዕት እለ አዕረፍክሙ በዛቲ ዕለት መዋዕያነ ዓለም አንትሙ በብዙኅ ትዕግሥት። ሰአሉ ቅድመ ፈጣሪ በኩሉ ሰዓት እንበለ ንስሐ ኪያነ ኢይንሣእ ሞት።

🌿አንቅሐኒ በጽባሕ ክሥተኒ ዕዝንየ በዘአጸምእ አምላኪየ አምላኪየ እገይሥ ኀቤከ ዘይሰማዕ ግበር ሊተ ምሕረተከ በጽባሕ"

⚜ነቢያት ወሐዋርያት፥ ጻድቃን ወሰማዕት፤ ደናግል ወመነኮሳት፥ አዕሩግ ወሕጻናት፤ ገዳማውያን ወሊቃውንት፤ ሰአሉ ለነ ኲልክሙ፥ ቅድመ መንበሩ ለጸባኦት።

🌿እግዝእትየ ፍትሕኒ እማዕሠሩ ለሰይጣን፤
እሙ ለመድኅን ወለተ ብርሃን።

✝ዝክረ ቅዱሳን ማኅበረ ቅዱስ ዳዊት ጉባኤ ዘጎንደር

🌿ፍቅር ያጌብረኒ ከመ እንግር ዜናሆሙ ለቅዱሳን! (የቅዱሳንን ታሪክ እንድመሰክር ፍቅር ያስገድደኛል)
🌿አባ ጊዮርጊስ ዘጋስጫ (መጽሐፈ ምሥጢር)

🔗https://www.tg-me.com/zikirekdusn
▶️https://www.youtube.com/@ZikereKedusan

"" ሥራህን አየሁ ! "" (ዕን. ፫:፩)

(ግንቦት 24 - 2017)

✞✞✞ በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ ፡፡ አሜን ፡፡ ✞✞✞

❖ ሰኔ ፬ ❖

✞✞✞ እንኩዋን ለታላቁዋ ሰማዕት "ቅድስት ሶፍያ" እና ለቅዱስ "ዮሐንስ ዘሐራቅሊ" ዓመታዊ የዕረፍት በዓል በሰላም አደረሳችሁ ✞✞✞

+*" #ሶፍያ (SOPHIA) "*+

=>ሶፍያ ("ያ" የሚለው ላልቶ ይነበብ) በቀደመው ዘመን በነበሩ ክርስቲያኖች ዘንድ ተወዳጅ ስም ነበር:: ዛሬ ብዙ አሕዛብ ሲጠሩበት ብንሰማም ትርጉሙ "ጥበበ ክርስቶስ" የሚል ነው:: በዚህ ስም የሚጠሩ አያሌ ቅዱሳት አንስት ሲኖሩ አንዷ ዛሬ ትከበራለች::

+*" ቅድስት ሶፍያ ተጋዳሊት "*+

=>ቅድስቷ የተወለደችው በምሥራቅ ሮም ግዛት ውስጥ በ3ኛው መቶ ክ/ዘመን ነው:: ዘመኑ የጭንቅ : የመከራ በመሆኑ ሕዝቡ በስደት ይኖር ነበር::

+የቅድስት ሶፍያ ወላጆች ክርስቲያኖች ናቸውና በመልካሙ መንገድ በንጽሕና አሳድገዋታል:: ባለጠጐች በመሆናቸው አገልጋይ ቀጥረውላት : ያማረ ቤት ሰርተውላት በዚያ ትኖር ነበር:: ሁሉ ያላት ብትሆንም ሁሉን ንቃ በጾምና በጸሎት ትኖር ነበር::

+ለዐቅመ ሔዋን በደረሰች ጊዜ ወላጆቿ ለከተማው መኮንን (ገዢ) ሊድሯት መሆኑን አወቀች:: ወደ ቤቷ ገብታ 100 ጊዜ ሰገደች:: ወደ ፈጣሪዋም ጸለየች:- "ጌታየ ሆይ! የዚህን ዓለም ቀንበር አታሸክመኝ:: አልችለውምና:: ያንተው ቀንበር ግን የፍቅር ነውና እችለዋለሁ" አለች::

+አገልጋዩዋን ጠርታ ብዙ ወይን አጠጥታት ልብስ ተቀያየሩ:: በሌሊትም ወጥታ ወደ በርሃ ሔደች:: ዓላማዋ ምናኔ ቢሆንም የእግዚአብሔር ፈቃዱ ግን ሌላ ነበር:: በመንገድ ብዙ ክርስቲያኖች በመከራ ብዛት ሲሰደዱ አገኘቻቸው:: እርሷ ስደትን አልመረጠችም::

+እያጠያየቀች "ሰው በላ" ከተባለው አረመኔ ንጉሥ ዲዮቅልጢያኖስ ደረሰች:: በንጉሡ ፊት ቀርባ "እኔ ክርስቲያን ነኝ" አለችው:: ንጉሡ ከመልኩዋ ማማርና ከድፍረቷ የተነሳ አደነቀ::

+ሊያባብላት: ሊያስፈራራትም ሞከረ:: ግን
አልተሳካለትም:: ወታደሮቹ መሬት ላይ ጥለው ጦር ባለው
የብረት ዘንግ
ደብድበዋታልና ደም አካባቢውን አለበሰው:: መሬት
ለመሬት እየጐተቱ እሥር ቤት ውስጥ ጣሏት:: ቅዱስ
ገብርኤል መጥቶ
ፈውሷት ሔደ::

+አንዴ በእሳት: አንዴም በስለት: ሌላ ጊዜም በግርፋት
አሰቃዩዋት:: ከሃይማኖቷ ግን ሊያነቃንቁዋት አልቻሉም::
በመጨረሻ አንገቷን እንድትሰየፍ ንጉሡ አዘዘ::
ወታደሮቹም ፈጸሙት:: ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ወርዶ
ቅድስት ሶፍያን
በክብር አሳረጋት:: "ስምሽን የጠራ: መታሰቢያሽን ያደረገ
ምሕረትን ያገኛል" አላት::

+"+ ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ዘሐራቅሊ +"+

=>ቅዱሱ የነበረው በተመሳሳይ በዘመነ ሰማዕታት ነው::
አባቱ ዘካርያስ: እናቱ ኤልሳቤጥ: እርሱ ደግሞ ዮሐንስ
ይባላል:: የሚገርም መንፈሳዊ ግጥጥሞሽ ነው:: የቅዱሱ
ወላጆች የሃገረ ሐራቅሊ አስተዳዳሪዎች ሲሆኑ
የተመሰከረላቸው
ደጐች ነበሩ::

+ዘካርያስ አርፎ ዮሐንስ በመንበሩ የተቀመጠው ገና በ20
ዓመቱ ነበር:: በወቅቱ ከ2 አንዱን መምረጥ ነበረበት::

1.ለጣኦት ሰግዶ በምድራዊ ክብሩ መቀጠል
2.ወይ ደግሞ በክርስትናው መሞት

+ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ግን ልቡ በክርስቶስ ፍቅር የተሞላ ነውና
2 ከባባድ ነገሮችን ፈጸመ:: በመጀመሪያ በአካባቢው ያሉ
ጣዖት
ቤቶችን አወደመ:: ቀጥሎ ወደ ንጉሡ ሔዶ በመኩዋንንቱ
ፊት "ክርስቶስን የተውክ ሰነፍ" ብሎ ገሠጸው::

+ከዚህ በኋላ በቅዱሱ ላይ የተፈጸመው መከራ የሚነገር
አይደለም:: ያላደረጉት ነገር አልነበረም:: እሳቱ: ስለቱ:
ሰይፉ: መንኮራኩሩ . . . ከሁሉ የከፋው ግን ቆዳውን
ገፈው በእሳት ጠብሰውታል:: እርሱ ግን ስለ ሃይማኖቱ
ይሕንን
ሁሉ ታግሶ በዚህች ቅን አንገቱን ተሰይፏል::

=>አምላካችን እግዚአብሔር ግፍዐ ሰማዕታትን አስቦ
እኛን ከሚመጣው መከራ ሁሉ ይሰውረን:: ከበረከታቸውም
ይክፈለን::

=>ሰኔ 4 ቀን የሚከበሩ ዓመታዊ የቅዱሳን በዓላት=
1.ቅድስት ሶፍያ ተጋዳሊት ወሰማዕት
2.ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ዘሐራቅሊ (ሰማዕት)
3.ቅዱስ ሳኑሲ ሰማዕት
4.ቅድስት ማርያ ሰማዕት
5.ቅዱስ አርቃድዮስና ባልንጀሮቹ (ሰማዕታት)
6.ቅዱስ አሞን ሰማዕት

❖ወርኃዊ በዓላት
1፡ ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ወንጌላዊ
2፡ ቅዱስ እንድርያስ ሐዋርያ

=>+"+ እንግዲሕ አትፍሯቸው:: የማይገለጥ የተከደነ:
የማይታወቅም የተሠወረ ምንም የለምና:: በጨለማ
የምነግራችሁን
በብርሃን ተናገሩ:: በጀሮም የምትሰሙትን በሰገነት ላይ
ስበኩ:: ሥጋንም የሚገድሉትን: ነፍስን ግን መግደል
የማይቻላቸውን አትፍሩ:: ይልቅስ ነፍስንም: ሥጋንም
በገሃነም ሊያጠፋ የሚቻለውን ፍሩ:: +"+ (ማቴ.
10:26)

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#Feasts of #Senne_4

✞✞✞On this day we commemorate the Departure of Saint Sophia the Great Martyr and Saint John of Herakleia✞✞✞

✞✞✞In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen!✞✞✞

✞✞✞ Sophia✞✞✞
=>Sophia (‘-ia’ is unstressed) was a name which was popular amongst early Christians. Though today we hear the gentiles being called by it, it means “The Wisdom of Christ”. There are many saints called by this name and the Saint we commemorate today is one of them.

✞✞✞Saint Sophia the Fighter✞✞✞
=>The Saint was born in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire in the 4th century. And because the era was of persecution and unease, people lived in exile.

✞And since Sophia’s parents were Christians, they raised her in a good manner, purely. And as they were wealthy as well, they hired a servant and built her a house. And there, she lived. Though she had everything, she shunned all, and lived by fasting and prayer.

✞And when she came of age, knowing that her parents were going to wed her to the governor of the city, she entered her home and prostrated a 100 times and prayed to her Creator saying, “My Lord! Do not let me carry the weight of this world as I can not bear it but as Your yoke is love I can bear that.”

✞And then she called upon her handmaid, had her drink much wine and she exchanged clothes. And at night, she went to the desert. Though her wish was asceticism, God’s will for her was another. And on her way, she found many Christians fleeing because of great affliction. Nonetheless, she did not choose exile.

✞Instead, by asking for directions, she reached to the one named as the man-eater, Emperor Diocletian. And she approached before him and said, “I am a Christian.” And the Emperor was astounded by her beauty and bravery. Then, he tried to entice her. And when that failed, he tried to frighten her. But all his efforts were unsuccessful.

✞Hence, the soldiers threw her on the ground and beat her with metal rods that had spikes and the place was covered with blood. Then, dragging her on the ground, they threw her into prison. However, Saint Gabriel appeared and after healing her, he disappeared. 

✞And at times the tormentors tortured her with fire, and on other occasions with blades while on other instances they lashed her. But they were not able to shake her from her faith. Thus, the Emperor finally ordered that she be beheaded. And the soldiers executed his instruction. Then our Lord Jesus Christ descended and took up [the soul of] St. Sophia with honor. And He promised her saying, “The person that calls your name or holds your feast will be forgiven.”

✞✞✞Saint John of Herakleia✞✞✞
=>The Saint in a similar manner [to St. Sophia] lived in the Era of Persecution. His father was called Zechariahs and his mother Elisabeth and he was named John. An amazing spiritual similarity [to the family of St. John the Baptist]. The parents of the Saint were the rulers of the place called Herakleia, and their kindness was attested to.

✞John sat on the throne [of his father] at the age of just 20 years after Zacharias passed away. At the time, he had to choose from the following two.
1. Bow down before an idol and continue with his worldly honor.
2. Or die because of his Christianity.

✞And since St. John’s heart was filled by the love of Christ, he did 2 major things. First, he destroyed temples in his surroundings. And second, he went to the Emperor and rebuked him before his dignitaries saying, “You are an indolent that renounced Christ.”

✞And the tortures that were inflicted upon the Saint after that were unspeakable. There was nothing which his tormentors left out. They used fire, blades, swords, crushing wheels . . . but the worst was when they flayed his skin and burned him. However, he endured all these for his faith, and on this day, he was beheaded.

✞✞✞May our God recall the sufferings of the martyrs and conceal us from the trials which are coming. And may He grant us from their blessings.

✞✞✞ Annual feasts celebrated on the 4th of Senne
1. St. Sophia the Fighter and Martyr
2. St. John of Herakleia
3. St. Sanusi (Shenousi) the Martyr
4. St. Maria the Martyr
5. St. Arcadius (Akronius) and his friends (Martyrs)
6. St. Amon/Amoun the Martyr

✞✞✞ Monthly Feasts
1. St. John son of Thunder (the Evangelist)
2. St. Andrew Apostle

✞✞✞ “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”✞✞✞
Matt. 10:26-28

✞✞✞ Salutations to God ✞✞✞

(Translated by Mhr. Esuendale Shemeles with the permission of Dn. Yordanos Abebe)