meskel finding of the true cross

The legend

Meskel has been celebrated in Ethiopia for over 1600 years. The word actually means “cross” and the feast commemorates the discovery of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified, by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. The original event took place on 19 March 326 AD but the feast is now celebrated on 27 September.
The origins of the celebration are expressed in Ethiopian manuscripts of parchment. According to the manuscript, in the 20th year of the reign of her son Constantine, she set off for Jerusalem in search of the ‘life giving cross,’ which she eventually found after many trials and tribulations. She is said to have compelled the Jews to reveal the whereabouts of this ‘Honourable Cross’, which allegedly lay under the hill of Golgotha, formed from sweepings, ashes and offal piled on the grave of Jesus Christ.
Helena is said to have found the Cross by lighting incense and following the smoke as it descended to earth. She caused bonfires to be lit on the hills of Palestine which could be seen across the sea by the people of Constantinople.
So how did the rediscovered cross come to Ethiopia? According to Tefut, a massive volume dating from the 15th century which records details of the alleged acquisition of a fragment of the True Cross by Ethiopia, the Christian Kings of Ethiopia were often called upon in the early Middle Ages to protect Egyptian Copts against the Egyptian Muslims. In return for this delivery from Muslim persecution, fabulous gifts of precious gold were offered to Ethiopian Emperor Dawit. He rejected these offerings and asked instead for four pieces of the True Cross, which were under the custody of the patriarch of Alexandria. The request was granted and the pieces brought to Ethiopia. They were guarded on the journey by torchbearers and then deposited in a church at Gishen, in northern Wollo dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Rejoicing followed throughout the whole country and the Emperor ordered that the capes of the priests be embroidered with flowers. Since that day, Ethiopian Christians are believed to have commemorated the occasion with flaming torches and huge bonfires.
Emperor Dawit’s fourth son, Zara Yacob(1434 - 1468), succeeded him as Emperor and, when he was a very old man, dreamt that God ordered him to ‘place the cross upon a cross.’ Zara Yacob spent two years in abstinence, searching in seclusion, and at last discovered a mountain shaped like a cross. There he built the beautiful church of Egziabher Ab, the remote mountain monastery of Gishen Mariam located 483 kms north of Addis Ababa in Wello, and a fragment of the True Cross was kept within a gold box in the church. The priests of Gishen still safeguard this treasure along with the Tefut, which is handwritten in Ge’ez on beautiful parchment and records the story of how a fragment of the cross was acquired.
The celebration
Many of the rites observed throughout the festival are said to be directly connected to the legend of Empress Helena. On the eve of Meskel, tall branches are tied together and yellow daisies, popularly called Meskel Flowers, are placed at the top. During the night those branches are gathered together in front of the compound gates and ignited - this symbolizes the actions of the Empress who, when no one would show the Holy Sepulcher, lit incense and prayed for help. Where the smoke drifted, she dug and found three roses. To one of the three, on the True Cross of Jesus, many miracles were attributed.
During this time of the year flowers bloom on mountains and plains and meadows are yellow with the brilliant Meskel daisy. Dancing, feasting, merrymaking, bonfires and even gun salutes mark the occasion. The festival begins by planting a green tree on Meskel eve in town squares and village market places. Everyone brings a pole topped with Meskel daisies to form the towering pyramid that will be a beacon of flame. Torches of tree branches tied up together, called “Chibo”, are used to light the bundle called “Demera”.
In Addis Ababa, celebrations start in the early afternoon when a procession bearing flaming torches approaches Meskel Square from various directions. A colour procession of priests, deacons and choir boys and girls from Sunday schools wearing embroidered robes walk around a huge pyre, bearing ceremonial crosses and wooden torches decorated with olive branches. As the sun begins to set, the torch-bearers move forward in unison to set alight the slender pyramid-shaped structure, topped with a cross made from the yellow flowers known as Meskel daisies which are placed on the tallest central pole.
The crowd of spectators are kept at bay while visitors are allowed to enter the inner circle in accordance with the Ethiopians age-old tradition of hospitality. The casually dressed tourists form an incongruous contrast as they brandish their cameras, while around them the procession of proud clergy clad in dazzling ceremonial robes chant as they perform this ancient rite.
Today Meskel is a religious and joyful annual social occasion that Christians throughout the country look forward to each year. Both women and men wear their national clothes, while youths boast and compete in fights with sticks. There is also jesting as well as flirting and courting sanctioned by the festival. These days, people return from the capital parade to their houses and bring the torches called Chibbo to neighbourhood bonfire gatherings. The torchbearers chant as they circle the pyre, the Damera, (literally stack or pile of wooden torches), which are covered with cloth until a priest blesses it. The torchbearers then hurl their flames into the midst of the Dameras, while the gathering watches the blaze light up the night sky.
On the following day people go to the bonfire and make the sign of the cross on their foreheads with the ash.
Meskel and the Guragae
Though Meskel is a national holiday, its celebration is extra special among the Guragae who begin preparations for Meskel three months in advance. The celebration is not also a one day affair, as opposed to the rest of the Ethiopian nationalities, for the tribe as they dedicate the entire month to Meskel, which is for the Guragae, a time when they go back to their localities from different parts of the country. Members of the tribe who live in other administrative regions save for the celebration and do their best to ensure that their relatives back home have a great holiday. The expenses are such that it is said that the Guragae start saving for the coming Meskel right after the end of the celebration.