The Seven Major Fasts In The Orthodox Tewahedo Church

By: Tigist Lakew 1. The Fast Of Nativity/ Advent ( Tsome Nebiyat)

The fast that precedes . Christmas is celebrated on January 7th.

This fast is to commemorate the fast that Moses fasted in the Mount of Sinai. He fasted for 40 days before receiving the Ten Commandments which hosted the word of God in it.

As a lesson from Moses, he fasted prior to Christmas for 40 days before receiving the word of God, so we do the same and fast for 40 days before receiving the word of God. 2. The Fast Of Nineveh ( Tsome Nineveh)

Precedes the great by 2 weeks. This Fast is held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This Fast commemorates the fast the people living in the city of Nineveh did because the city was full of sins .

God sent the prophet Jonah to the city of Nineveh , to repent and pray because their city was about to get destroyed. The King and the whole city began and God heard their prayers and he forgave them.

And taking that as a lesson we fast the three day fast so we can repent and be forgiven by God. 3. The Fast Of ( Abiy Tsom)

Proceeds the Fast of Nineveh.

It begins on a Monday and ends on ( Faskia, Abiy Tsom) Within this Fast each week is broken down into specific themes. 3. The Fast Of Great Lent

First Week: Zewerede To come, mission of Christ when he came here. To give us salvation.

Second Week: Kidist To be Holy.

Third Week: Mukrab The house of prayer, we commemorate a time went to the temple and threw out all the items that weren’t needed . We are reminded that the house of prayer is a praying time only and to remove our distractions that don't belong in the temple of God.

Fourth week: Metsagu Commemoration of a sick man. Do we want to be heard ? John Chapter 5:26 A man was laying there for 38 years waiting for someone to heal him. And Christ came to him and asked “Do you want to be healed ?” So we ask ourselves the same question: Do we want to be healed from all the sickness we have in both our flesh and soul? 3. The Fast Of Great Lent

Fifth Week : Debre Zeit Revealed his divine nature to some of the disciples that he took with him . And we understand who Christ is.

Sixth Week: Gebreheir A devout servant , reminded that each one of us has a gift that God has given us. Are we putting the gifts to work like God wanted us to ?

Seventh week : Nicodemus Nicodemus was a Pharisee who came to Christ at night . A Pharisee who learnt about the importance of baptism.. During this week we also learn about the importance and significance of baptism

Eighth week : : Hosana Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem while riding a donkey. As Jesus was entering Jerusalem children began to sing “ Hosanna “ as a form of praising Christ. The crowd was waving and laying palm tree branches on the road.

Ninth week : We are there with Christ witnessing his journey leading up to him being crucified. is when we commemorate the crucifixion and Saturday evening a late night liturgy is held. Sunday is the day of Fasika/ Easter . Faskia means to cross over to the other side. 4. The Fast Of The Apostles ( Tsome Hawariyat)

It begins the day after and always finishes on the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

5. The Fast Of Assumption This Fast commemorates the Fast the apostles did ( Tsome Filseta) before starting their Mission And we are reminded that we should always fast It begins on August 7th and ends on August before starting our own mission. 22nd. This fast commemorates the apostles who fasted this fast after the death of the Virgin Mary.

Through this fast we ask the Virgin Mary to pray on our behalf on her son Jesus Christ that we may have forgiveness. 6. The Fast Of Salvation ( Wednesday and Fridays)

With the exception of 50 days proceeding Fasika and 50 days preceding Pentecost. Throughout the year we fast on Wednesday and Friday

Wednesday- Final decision was made by the Pharisees and Sadducees to crucify our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. It was the day mankind decided to crucify Jesus Christ.

Friday- Is the actual day Jesus Christ was crucified. We fast on these two days so we can remember and commemorate Jesus Christ . 7. The Fast Of Revelation ( Tsome Gehad)

The fast that is fasted the day before Epiphany and the day before Nativity

Gehad means revealed.

The day before the Epiphany, Jesus Christ when he was being baptised, God ( the father) was revealed to the world saying “ This is my begotten son who i love”.

In Nativity, it was God that we couldn't see who came to this world and took natural flesh and natural soul from the Virgin Mary. We were able to see the invisible God by the trinity ( referring to God the son ) who came down and was revealed to the world. SOURCES

Sermon by: Deacon Dawit Muluneh https://youtu.be/rAmcvtWYKms https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZk2YG_iJVd__loyHgbaU2w

Sermon by: Deacon Gorgorios Dejene https://www.youtube.com/user/torawgeorge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filseta https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/474566879486019853/ https://www.ethiosports.com/2018/08/02/why-historic-church-unity-helps-unify-ethiopia/ https://www.pinterest.com.au/goodwin3521/ethiopian-icons/ https://daggy93.wordpress.com/2017/01/08/ethiopian-orthodox-christmas-2017/ https://lisantewahdo.org/index.php/2019-09-30-12-08-10/item/548-2-4-2012 http://stteklehaimanotottawa.org/sunday-school/teaching-%E1%89%B5%E1%88%9D%E1%88%85%E1%88%AD%E1%89%B5/lessons-of-faith-%E1%89%B5%E1%88%9 D%E1%88%95%E1%88%AD%E1%89%B0-%E1%88%83%E1%8B%AD%E1%88%9B%E1%8A%96%E1%89%B5/sacraments-%E1%88%9A%E1%88%B5%E1%8C%A5 %E1%88%AB%E1%89%B0-%E1%89%A4%E1%89%B0%E1%8A%AD%E1%88%AD%E1%88%B5%E1%89%B2%E1%8B%AB%E1%8A%95/confirmation/