Continued 👇🏾
The Hymn of Saint Yared and the Voice of the Fathers
✍🏾The Diguwa that Saint Yared composed for Zemene Tsige also teaches about the shortness of human life, the vanity of worldly existence, and reminds us that a person created in this world should not do evil deeds but should always live in remembrance of death.
✍🏾In addition to the hymn written by Saint Yared, as mentioned above, there is also a spiritual composition by Abba Tsige Dengel related to this season, composed in the 14th century. This spiritual composition is written in poetic form, consisting of five sections, and contains about one hundred and fifty verses.
The Symbol of Flower and Fruit
✍🏾Abba Tsige written composition is known as “Mahlete Tsige.” Just as fruit comes from a flower and a flower from fruit, so Mahlete Tsige is a composition that describes Our Lady, the Holy Virgin Mary, and her Son, our Savior and God, Jesus Christ, by comparing them with flowers and fruits.
✍🏾When he compares her to a flower, he compares her Son to fruit; and when he compares her to fruit, he compares her Son to a flower. As the prophet Isaiah said, “There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1), thus portraying Our Lady, who is from the seed of Jesse, as the rod, and Christ, who is born of her, as the branch that springs forth.
The Structure of “Mahlete Tsige”
Abba Tsige Dengel also composed his Melk-e in this light, combining each Melk-e of Our Lady and her Child, and representing them in Tsige and Fre. In doing so, he united the wonderful work of God—revealed in mystery, history, prayer, and related aspects—in a truly beautiful and harmonious way.
✍Just as Our Lady expressed her praise and liturgy to Saint Ephrem and Abba Hiriakos, who longed for her love and guidance, she also allowed this Mahele Tsige to be written by abba Tsige Dengel, who was yearning for her love.
✍As mentioned above, Mahele Tsige is organized in a hierarchical order, and for ease of understanding, it can be divided into the following sections:
👉🏾 Prayer (Tselot)
👉🏾 History( Tarik)
👉🏾 Reproof (Tegsats)
👉🏾 Secret ( mistir)
✍🏾The division into History, Reproof, and Secret is intended to show the abundance and richness of the work, yet all these elements are present throughout the entire composition.
1. Prayer
In this context, when we say prayer, we are not referring to prayer in general, but to a particular form of devotion expressed through prayer. We will also look at some examples that stand out in this spiritual expression.
1.1
My mother Mary, you are in my heart; my queen, my name is in your love; my death is in your love; my life is in your hands.
The wise Solomon, in the Song of Songs, where he speaks about the believers and Christ in mystery, says:
“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.”
(Song of Songs 8:6)
This describes the unity between the believers and Christ.
Likewise, the prayer says:
“Remember me, Mary, in your heart; remember me, O princess of your motherhood.”
After saying, “Keep me as a seal in your heart; do not forget me in your motherhood and intercession,” it continues, “In your mercy, O Queen.”
This expresses a humble plea: Do not forget me; do not let good deeds make you forget me. Because of the weakness of my body, my sins, and my wickedness, do not remove me from your heart. Despite my sinfulness, it is a prayer that reminds us of our Lady’s compassionate heart, through which she intercedes, saying:
“Have mercy, my Son, and remember my covenant.”
Continues 👇🏾