Ethiopian cultural celebration and tradition

The Ethiopian Liturgical Calendar

The calendar of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church traces its origins to Egypt, and in its methods and dates broadly agrees with the calendar of the Coptic Church. The two calendars differ, however, in their saints' days and the timing of specific commemorations — reflecting the distinct traditions that developed in each church over fifteen centuries.

Structure of the Ethiopian Year

The Ethiopian year contains 365 days, with an extra day added every fourth year — a system directly analogous to the Julian leap year. Each year in this four-year cycle is dedicated to one of the four Evangelists in the following order:

  1. Matthew
  2. Mark
  3. Luke — the Ethiopian leap year (the year before the Western leap year)
  4. John

The year is divided into 12 months of exactly 30 days each. The remaining 5 days are placed at the end of the year in a 13th short period called Pagumen. In a leap year, one extra day is added to Pagumen, making it 6 days long.

The 12 Months of the Ethiopian Calendar

# Ethiopian Month Gregorian Equivalent
1MeskeremSeptember – October
2TeqemtOctober – November
3HedarNovember – December
4TahsasDecember – January
5TerJanuary – February
6YekatitFebruary – March
7MegabitMarch – April
8MiyaziaApril – May
9GinbotMay – June
10SeneJune – July
11HamleJuly – August
12NehaseAugust – September
+Pagumen5 days (6 in leap year) — end of Nehase

To convert any date between the Ethiopian and Gregorian calendars instantly, use the Geez Calendar app — available free on iOS and Android — or try the online calendar tools.

Days of the Week in Ge'ez and Amharic

Day Ethiopian Name
SundayEhud / Senbete Krestian
MondaySagno
TuesdayMaksagno
WednesdayRabue
ThursdayHamus
FridaySadus / Arb
SaturdayQadamit Sanbat

Ethiopian Chronology: The Year Difference

The Ethiopian calendar runs 7 or 8 years behind the Gregorian calendar. This gap arises from the Ethiopian Church's calculation that our Lord was born 5,500 years after the creation of the world — a reckoning that places the Incarnation 7–8 years earlier than the Anno Domini system used in the West.

The church also uses other chronological systems: the Era of the World, dating from 5493 BC, and the Years of Mercy (or Grace), which follows the great lunar cycle. These systems are employed in theological calculations and in the reckoning of the movable feasts.

Movable Feasts: The Calculation of Easter

The movable feasts of the Ethiopian Church centre on Easter (Fasika) and the days that depend on it. The calculation of Easter is based on the system of Ammonius, an ancient Alexandrian computist, and follows the Coptic reckoning. The starting point for the entire Easter cycle is the Fast of Nineveh, which precedes the Easter Lent.

Once the date of the Fast of Nineveh is determined according to established principles, the dates of all movable feasts follow in sequence:

Festivals and Feast Days

Saints' days and other festivals were not imposed by any divine law — they were established by the Church herself. Some trace back to apostolic times; others are of later origin. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has a prodigious number of feast days. The principal feasts are:

The Nine Major Feasts of the Lord

  1. His Conception — the moment of the Incarnation in the womb of the Virgin
  2. Christmas (Gena / Liddet) — the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ
  3. Epiphany (Timkat) — the Baptism of Christ and the manifestation of the Holy Trinity
  4. Transfiguration (Buhe) — the glorification of Christ on Mount Tabor
  5. Palm Sunday (Hosanna) — Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem
  6. Good Friday (Siklet) — the Crucifixion
  7. Easter (Fasika) — the Resurrection of Christ
  8. Ascension — Christ's ascension into heaven forty days after Easter
  9. Pentecost — the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles

The Nine Minor Feasts of the Lord

  1. Sibket — commemorates the preaching of the prophets that the Messiah would come to redeem His people from bondage
  2. Brahan — commemorates Christ having come into the world as its enlightenment
  3. Nolwae — the feast of our Lord as the "Good Shepherd"
  4. Gena — commemorates the reality that our Lord was actually born — not a mythical phenomenon but a historical fact
  5. Gizret — the feast of the Circumcision of Christ
  6. Kana ze Galilee — the feast of the Wedding at Cana of Galilee, when Christ turned water into wine
  7. Debra Zeit (Mount of Olives) — a day of solemn prayer that the faithful may be righteous at the Second Advent, which the Church holds will take place on the Mount of Olives
  8. Megabit Meskel — the feast of the Cross in the month of Megabit
  9. Ledete Simon — commemorates when a sinful woman (Mary Magdalene) washed the feet of the Lord with her tears and anointed them with ointment; Simon the Pharisee, who had invited Jesus, complained but the Lord made clear the depth of her repentance

The 33 Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary

No other Christian church in the world celebrates the Virgin Mary with the same depth and frequency as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. There are 33 distinct feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary observed each year:

  1. The day on which she was conceived
  2. Her Nativity
  3. Her Presentation — the day she was taken to the Temple there to dwell for a time
  4. The Annunciation — the day she conceived Christ
  5. The Flight to Egypt
  6. Commemoration of the day when she was thirsty, and her Son commanded the rock so that water came forth to quench her thirst
  7. The day of the Promise — on which her Son assured her that for her sake He would in future have mercy upon sinners
  8. The Sleeping of Mary (Asterio Mariam)
  9. The Assumption (Filseta) — celebrated for 16 days, each counted as a separate feast
  10. –24. Her appearances: the day when after her death she was revealed for the first time, followed by successive appearances (second, third, fourth, fifth)
  11. –27. Twelve monthly commemorations: once a month on the 21st day the Church commemorates her death or birth in heaven, totalling 12 additional feasts
  12. The feast of the day when an infidel struck an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary and blood flowed copiously from the image
  13. The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The death of our Lady is commemorated on Ter 21 of the Ethiopian calendar (January 29 Gregorian). For this reason the 21st of every Ethiopian month is dedicated to the Virgin. Her Nativity falls on Ginbot 1 (April 26 Western reckoning) and Meskerem 10 (September 7 Western reckoning). Her burial is on Nehase 15 (August 8) and her Assumption on Nehase 16 (August 9).

The Major Feasts of Our Lady

Kidane Mehret — The Covenant of Mercy

The feast of Kidane Mehret (ኪዳነ ምሕረት — Covenant of Mercy) honours the merciful power of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is kept on Yekatit 16 of the Ethiopian calendar (February 24 in the Gregorian calendar). The feast commemorates the covenant Christ made with His mother: that for her sake, He would have mercy on sinners who call upon her name.

Monthly Feast Days Throughout the Year

In addition to the annual feast days, the following commemorations recur on a fixed date every month of the Ethiopian year:

Patron Saints

Every Ethiopian Christian has a patron saint, and each family maintains a patron saint whose anniversary is commemorated from generation to generation. The most venerated patron saints include:

The daily commemorations of saints are found in the Senkessar (the Ethiopian Synaxarium) — the calendar containing the list of saints to be remembered each day alongside their brief history. The Angels hold a place of high honour in the church: they are believed to protect homes, churches, palaces, and all important places. Chief among them are St. Michael and St. Gabriel.

National and Religious Holidays

Some feast days are both national and religious in Ethiopia. The major ones include:

Fasting and Abstinence in the Ethiopian Church

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church observes the most rigorous fasting discipline of any Christian church in the world. The Church teaches the necessity of penance for spiritual growth — "chastising the body and bringing it under subjection," as St. Paul advises. Self-denial in lawful things enables the faithful to turn with greater earnestness to spiritual things. The Church has strictly adhered to the injunctions of the Didascalia and enjoined on the faithful the longest and most austere fasts in Christendom.

Fasting total: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church observes approximately 250 fasting days per year — of which about 180 are obligatory for all faithful above age 13. The remaining days are required for priests, monks, nuns, and other special groups. This is the highest number of annual fasting days of any Christian tradition.

Rules of Fasting

Fasting implies abstention from food and drink until a specified hour. On fasting days, only one meal is permitted, to be taken either in the evening or after 2:45 p.m. The fast requires total abstention from:

Instead, the faithful use cereals, vegetables, legumes, and other foods devoid of animal products. On Saturdays and Sundays during fasting seasons, people are permitted to eat from 9:00–9:30 a.m.

Wednesday and Friday are days of fasting throughout the entire year, except during the Feast of Fifty Days (from Easter to Pentecost). Wednesday is fasted because on that day the Jews held the council that condemned our Lord; Friday because on that day He was crucified.

The Ordained Fasting Seasons

The following fasting seasons are ordained in the Fetha Negest (the Law of the Kings):

  1. Fast of Hudade / Abiy Tsom (Great Lent) — 56 days
    The greatest and most rigorous of all fasts, observed with stricter discipline than any other. It is a test of one's Christianity: one who fails to keep it is not considered a good Christian. Properly observed, it is held to nullify the sins committed during the rest of the year. Daily church services are held from morning until 2:45 p.m.
  2. Fast of the Apostles — 10 to 40 days
    Commemorates the fast the Apostles kept after receiving the Holy Spirit. Begins after Pentecost; its length varies depending on the date of Easter.
  3. Fast of the Assumption (Filseta) — 16 days
    Observed in the month of Nehase before the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
  4. Gahad of Christmas — fast on the eve of Christmas (Tahsas 28)
  5. Fast of Advent (Christmas Fast) — 40 days
    Begins with Sibket on 15th Hedar (November 25) and ends on Christmas Eve with the Feast of Gena on the 28th of Tahsas (January 6). A time for penitential preparation for the Nativity.
  6. Fast of Nineveh (Ye'Nineweh Tsom) — 3 days (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday)
    Commemorates the preaching of the Prophet Jonah and the repentance of the people of Nineveh. Falls on the third week before Lent. Its date anchors the calculation of all the movable feasts.
  7. Gahad of Epiphany — fast on the eve of Timkat (Ter 10 / January 18)

Additional Fasts

Advent — Sibket

The word Advent derives from the Latin adventus (arrival). It embraces approximately five Sundays before Christmas and is a season of devout and penitential preparation for the worthy celebration of the Nativity. In the Ethiopian tradition, the Advent season is called Sibket.

The Christmas fast of 40 days begins on 15th Hedar (November 25) and ends on Christmas Eve with the Feast of Gena on the 28th of Tahsas (January 6). Though the discipline is not as severe as in Lent, the Law of the Church is strictly observed.

Christmas — Gena / Liddet

Year after year, the Christmas season brings to the minds of all Christians the story of the Child in the manger, the shepherds on the Judean hills, and the celestial song "Glory to God in the highest."

Liddet or Gena is the Ethiopian name for Christmas. It is celebrated on Tahsas 29 of the Ethiopian calendar — January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. The difference in date is due to the calendar discrepancy: the Ethiopian calendar is based on the Era of Incarnation set 7 or 8 years before the Anno Domini reckoning. Ethiopian Christmas coincides with Christmas in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

Qiddus Bale Wold (Holy Son of God) is another name for Christmas, alongside Liddet and Gena. The word Gena is also the name of a traditional game played during the holiday — a form of field hockey played by boys and men.

Lent and Holy Week — Hudade and Himamat

The Church has always taught the necessity of penance for justification. Lent is instituted as a remembrance of the forty days fast of our Lord in the desert and as a means of sanctification.

To the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Lent (Hudade or Abiy Tsom) means a period of 56 days of fasting, prayer, and penitence — the most rigorous fast of the year. All kinds of meat and dairy products are forbidden. Only one meal is allowed each day, to be taken at 3 p.m. or in the evening. On Saturdays and Sundays, eating from the morning is permitted.

Daily services are conducted in all churches, from morning until 2:45 p.m. Priests regularly attend night services from midnight until 7 a.m.

Qibela is the Sunday before the opening of Lent — the last day of free eating before the fast begins on Monday.

Holy Week (Himamat)

In accordance with the Gospel account of the last days of our Lord's mortal life, a special Holy Week — Himamat, the Week of Pains — was established. The faithful re-live the events of the Passion and receive graces from the mysteries of redemption.

Palm Sunday (Hosanna) is celebrated with proper ceremonies: palms, processions, and special liturgical services commemorating Christ's entry into Jerusalem.

For some of the most devoted faithful, from Holy Thursday afternoon until Easter morning no morsel of food nor drop of water passes the lips — three days known as Qanona. The priests neither eat nor drink but remain in the churches singing and praying without ceasing. No absolution is given during this time.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is a special day on which the Mass is celebrated with unleavened bread. For those who are able, much of the day is spent outdoors. When the fast is broken late in the afternoon, no ordinary bread is eaten — a special mixture of flour is compounded and boiled. The ceremony of the washing of feet is performed in imitation of what our Lord did to the twelve Apostles at the Last Supper. All the faithful with clean souls should receive communion on Holy Thursday.

Good Friday

The solemn liturgical service of Good Friday is attended by thousands of believers. There is a profound sense of sorrow and desolation. All the symbols, images, and instruments associated with the Passion of the Saviour are publicly exhibited in the church. Men and women come to prostrate themselves, remaining from early morning until 3 p.m. — the hour of the death of Jesus Christ.

The faithful confess their sins to the confessor or sit reading their Psalter. According to Ethiopian tradition, on Good Friday blood fell from Christ on the cross and dripped into the grave of Adam beneath, raising about 500 souls from the dead. The thief crucified on the left was sent into darkness, but the one on the right went before Adam into Paradise. On this day, Christ descended to Sheol (Seol) and sent forth to Paradise all the souls that were held in darkness. Good Friday is therefore a special day for confession and absolution.

Holy Saturday

Qidame Shur (Holy Saturday) is the day on which the good news went forth. Everyone who fasts passes the day and night in expectation of the Resurrection. On the night before Easter, many go to church and spend the entire night in prayer and prostration. Confession is heard throughout that day.

Easter — Fasika

Easter, the feast of feasts, is celebrated with special solemnity. The church is filled with the fragrance of incense and the light of a myriad of candles. The clergy are arrayed in their finest vestments. All the people hold lighted tapers. Greetings are exchanged, drums are beaten, hands are clapped, and singing is heard everywhere:

"Our Resurrection has come — Hosanna!"

Men are heard praying: "O Lord Christ, have mercy upon us." They pray for a blessing: "O God, make it to be a festival of our good fortune and of our well-being! Let us have another threshing floor and another year, if thou wilt." Letters and messages are exchanged between friends. The whole day is one of spiritual and physical celebration — a commemoration of the holiest occasion in all history — a truly blessed time when Christ rose from the dead.

Track all Ethiopian Orthodox holidays, fasting seasons, and feast days — along with today's Ethiopian date — using the Geez Calendar app. Available free on iOS and Android.

Source

Edited by Aymero Wondmagegnehu and Joachim Motovu. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Published by the Ethiopian Orthodox Mission, Addis Ababa, 1970.