Praise of Mary

Day One ('Sunday') continued

O blessed woman amongst women, you were appointed to be the beloved woman. You are the second inner room, appointed the holy of holies, inside which is the ark of the covenant, the ten words that were written by the fingers of the lord. He first brought us this news through iota, which is the first name of our savior Jesus Christ, who became man from you, without change, and became the conciliator of the new testament. And by the spilling of his holy blood he purified the faithful (ones) and the pure (ones) of the people.

Beg for us, holy woman!

And because of this, we magnify you, all of us, o our lady, pure woman who gave birth to God. We beg you and look up toward you, so that we may receive forgiveness from the Lover of Mankind. You are the portable, temporary, and holy dwelling place of the Lord, gilded on all sides, crafted of wood that cannot be eaten (by termites, moths, and worms); that, for us, is like the word of the Lord, who became man without splitting and without changing. His divinity is pure, without decay, equal with (God) the Father, and he (the Son) is the one who was announced to the pure woman. Without seed, he became like us, with the skill of his holy wisdom; he who became man from you, he who is without accursedness, added his divinity.

Beg for us, holy woman!

Interpreter’s Notes:

weladeete amlak is a Ge’ez translation of the Early Church Old Greek term Theotokos which is commonly translated into English as God-Bearer or Mother of God. The Ge’ez is more faithfully rendered the way I did above. Bearing (tsore) is another verb, and mother (imu/imoo) is another noun.

mefqeré seb is a Ge’ez translation of the Early Church Old Greek term philanthropos, from whence we get philanthropy. It is literally the lover of men or the men-lover; dynamically, he who loves people or all of humankind.

The tabot, or tabernacle, is the portable, temporary, and holy dwelling place of the Lord (shemot (Heb.)/asmat(Ge’ez)/Exodus).

yitmésel, is like, is a Ge’ez word directly connected to the Hebrew mashal (parable, allegory, moral story, analogy, illustration, example et cetera).

By seed (zer3), human sperm, and thus will, is implied.

Tibebu qidus (holy wisdom) is the Ge’ez translation of the Old Greek hagia sophia; also the famous name of the Greek church turned Turkish mosque in Istanbul formerly Constantinople.