Remembering Archbishop Melketsédiq

his beatitude archbishop melketsédiq is one of the great men of ethiopian history. it has been forty days since he fell asleep with the lord, and in our ge’ez rite tradition, this is one of the many intervals at which we remember and commemorate him, making his memory eternal. he was already the chief amongst authorities and spiritual advisor to the king of kings of ethiopia, when my parents were in grade school. he is the great modernizer and the great traditionalist. he single-handedly invented the modern choir (intentionally including women) and reinvented the homily. he crafted baptismal and matrimonial rubrics that had been lost to the ages. much of this, he was initially criticized for, but many critics later repented and became fans. he also published many books of scripture, liturgy, digwa, zimaré wemewasiit, aqwaqwam, qiné, trgwamé, and 22 of his own original books; one of which is in english, and has served as the basis of our sunday school curriculum at the virgin mary’s eotc in los angeles for a decade. find his works, read them, and continue carrying his torch. sew hun (become the human you were meant to be).

Start with The Teaching of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.