The Hymns of The Heavens
አልቦሙ ፡ ዕረፍት ፡ መዐልተ ፡ ወሌሊተ ፡ እንዘ ፡ ይብሎ ፡ ቅዱስ ፡ ቅዱስ ፡ ቅዱስ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ አምላከ ፡ አማላክት፡ ዘሀሎ ፡ ወይሄሉ ።
In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, when you hear a choir, a priest, a deacon or a professional spiritual singer give praise in song-form you say ዝማሬ ፡ መላእክት ፡ ያሰማልን ። (zimaray melaikt yasemaln). This translates into "may God permit you to hear the hymns of the angels". I pray that we mean what we say when we say it. We get ensnared by culture and habit. When this happens we are not critically thinking about the words that sprout forth from our tongues and lips. This is dangerous. God so loved us, that He created us and the heavens themselves with words. Words have the power of death and life. When we speak, especially when we are pronouncing blessings to each other like, "may God permit you to hear the hymns of the angels", we better mean what we say. Forget Santa Claus, God is always watching.*
If we mean what we say, then we mean that the hymns sung by angels are to be admired. That their hymns are greater than our hymns. The way they worship God should be an example to all of us. I wholeheartedly believe this. And, the word of God tells us how they worship.
አልቦሙ ፡ ዕረፍት ፡ መዐልተ ፡ ወሌሊተ ፡ እንዘ ፡ ይብሎ ፡ ቅዱስ ፡ ቅዱስ ፡ ቅዱስ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ አምላከ ፡ አማላክት፡ ዘሀሎ ፡ ወይሄሉ ።
and day and night they never cease to sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
ይብልዎ ፡ ለከ ፡ ይደሉ ፡ እግዚኦ ፡ አምላክነ ፡ ስብሐት ፡ ወክብር ፡ ወኃይል ፡ እስመ ፡ አንተ ፡ ፈጠርከ ፡ ኩሎ ፡ ወበፈቃደ ፡ ዚአከ ፡ ይሄሉ ፡ ኩሉ ፡ ዘተፈጥረ ።
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” **
If you write or sing spiritual songs, make sure the words are grounded in the words of God before preaching them to His people. We are all impressionable, but especially our children are impressionable. Make sure that you and your children hear these blessed words.
Furthermore, we must love each other.
Post Scriptum:
*I mean no disrespect to the actual saint and bishop Nicholas of Myra. Don't buy and place ornaments on so-called X-mas trees. But, do celebrate this saint by giving gifts to people without expecting any in return. Especially, to the afflicted and oppressed.
here's a real Christmas carol that should be sung about jolly Saint Nick
You revealed yourself, O saint, in Myra as a priest, for you fulfilled the Gospel of Christ, by giving up your soul for your people, and saving the innocent from death, therefore you are blessed as one become wise in the grace of God.
** these are verses 8 & 11, respectively, of the 4th chapter of Saint John's Revelation