2012 Meskel Celebration

It's amazing how quickly time goes by. I remember thinking 2 weeks ago that I had to blog about this.....then last week. Now, it's 2 1/2 weeks after and I'm just now getting around to it. 

Around to what?

Two and a half weeks ago, on September 26, was an Ethiopian celebration called Meskel. It is the celebration of the Finding of the True Cross. 

Here's a little history on it:

In the 4th century, Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great found 3 crosses buried. One was the True Cross that Jesus Christ was crucifed on. She took pieces of the True Cross and distributed them to all the churches, including the Ethiopian church. This piece was then brought back to Ethiopia and later buried at the mountain of Gishen Mariam monastery in Wollo region. The monastery also has a book that has this whole story recorded.

We had not been to a Mekel celebration for 2 years. So I was really looking forward to this. The whole day leading up to the celebration it looked like the sky was going to open up and pour down buckets of rain. 

We got there early, around 5 o'clock and were able to spend some time with friends before the prayer ceremony began. 

Eva was very excited! 

The priests and other clergy members came out around 6:30 and the ceremony began.

Prayers lasted for about 40 minutes. By the time prayers ended, it was dark outside. The bonfire was lit and everyone with a firestick (similiar to a candle wick) started lighting theirs as well. It was very pretty.

Eva was so mesmerized with the bonfire and the firesticks all around her.

Everyone began singing and dancing around the bonfire and then it was time to eat. After waiting several hours and only eating a few pieces of injera, we were definitely ready for dinner.

The food was absolutely wonderful, as usual. As God's design would have it, just as everyone was starting to say their goodbyes and farewells, the sky opened up and the first drops started to fall. We were so glad that Eva got to be a part of the celebration.