Hohite Semay St. Mary
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Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church
MAIN DOCTRINES AND PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH 1. HOLY TRINITY The formula for the Trinity is this, "Worship we the Father, worship we the Son, worship we the Holy Spirit, three in one and one in three". God is one in Godhead, Three in Persons, in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity has no beginning and will exist for ever without end. In the Trinity there is none that precedes and none that follows; none that is elder and none that is younger, none that is ruler and none that is subject; the Three are One, in all things equal (Jn. 10: 30; 1 Jn. 5: 7.). In nature, in authority, in Lordship, in Godhead, in Divinity, in creating, in saving, in giving, in taking away, in breadth, in fulness, in length, They are One. The eternal and immutable God has been revealed in three co-eternal Persons. The Father is the first Person, i.e. the first hypostasis of the one God, the Son is the second Person begotten of the only Father, the Spirit is the third hypostasis who proceeds from the only Father whom He has as the cause of his own eternal existence. The Spirit is called Spirit because he breathes and is moved of the Father and rests in the Son. He is wholly pure, shining, undefiled, holy, purifying and illuminating and sanctifying the other intellectual and spiritual beings. The dogma of the three separate Persons is inseparable from the dogma of the one God. "There are three that bear witness in the Heaven, the Father, the Logos, and the Holy Spirit, and these three agree in one." ( 1 John 5:7). "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, Amen", (2 Cor. 13:13). Back 2. CREATION Creation is God's handiwork. He is the ruler of the Universe and creator of the Angels. The creation was originally good but was corrupted later. Spirit, life, body and all good proceed from God. He is the creator of the whole world, and so He is the Father, Governor and Lord of all creation (Gen. 1:1; Neh. 9:7; Deut. 32. 6,18; I Chron. 29:12). God is "The Lord, who is a good father"; in His goodness He forgives, as Father He protects and feeds, as Lord He judges. He fills the heaven and earth though not seen by the eye of the flesh, is jealous and takes vengeance, is patient, merciful and gentle, omnipotent, omniscient, glorious, most high, mighty, wise, righteous, good, true, faithful. He has no respect for persons but gives recompense to all according to what they have done. The Lord God created Adam and Eve with freedom to do evil if they pleased and to reject evil and good. Diablos, or Satan, envious of them, planned to separate them from the Lord, and tempted them. They ate the forbidden fruit and were cursed by God and lost the good life they had, and affliction and suffering started as a consequence of their disobedience. Redemption was effected by the second Person dying on the cross. As a conclusion the Church teaches that all that exists was produced out of nothing by God, the world is the work of the Divine Wisdom, God was moved by His goodness to create the world for His glorification. God keeps all created things in existence, and through His Providence protects and guides all that He has created. Every creature of God is good and there is nothing to be rejected. Back 3. THE FALL Originally God's creation was good. "The Lord brought forth all good cretion, spirit, life, body and all that is good. But this was "perverted by impure words". Our first parents, before the Fall, were endowed with the favour, benefits and graces of God. They had bodily immortality, freedom from suffering, the knowledge of natural Supernatural truth infused by God. God imposed death as punishment for the transgression of His probationary commandment. Suffering and sorrow are consequences of sin. Adam was perfect in knowledge, which was lost after the sin. Another consequence was subjection to the dominion of Diablos or Satan, and Adam's sin was transmitted to his posterity. Back 4. INCARNATION Incarnation is a divine mystery. The two natures of Godhead and Manhood are perfectly united and Christ is thus one Person and one Nature from two Natures. Christ is one Incarnate nature of God the Word. After the union it is impossible to speak of Christ as being in two natures. By the union of the nature in the Incarnation the two natures became one nature, the natures being united without separation, without confusion, and without change. Neither of the two natures was assimilated by the other, the properties of the Divine Word were attributed to the flesh and those of the flesh to the Divine Word. The Logos revealed Himself in our flesh and became man like us. He did all things that man does with the exception of sin (John 8:46). And at the same time was truly God. He is God-Man. He is co-equal and consubstantial with the Father in his Godhead. He is perfectly united with us the union being from two modes of life into one. The union of the Word with the flesh took place in the womb of the Virgin Mary. St. John says: "The Word was made flesh...". In the same way we can say that also the flesh was made divine. The attributes of the flesh can be given to the Divine Word and vice versa. However, the properties of each nature are preserved without change after the union. Therefore, we believe that Christ is one Person and one Nature, and thus is both divine and human. We speak of one because of the union. We hold "mia physis", composite nature, one united nature. Again the Lord Jesus Christ is perfect man and perfect God. The word "perfect" closes the door to all quibble and prevarication. We accept both unity and duality in Christ who in acting performed as one. Christ, in whom humanitv and divinity were united in one Person and one Nature, was crucified on the cross. The Divine Word without being united with the flesh cannot be crucified, because as God He is beyond suffering. But through the union with the flesh He was crucified and subjected to death. If, on the other hand, only the human body was crucified, He could not save the world. The purpose of the Incarnation was the salvation of man. God sent His only Son into the world to bring unto Him the lost sheep and He did this by reason of His unspeakable love towards mankind. Back 5. "Tewahido" is the Ethiopian term (meaning "made one") which is the best expression conveying the faith of the Church, since it emphasizes the inseparable unity of the Godhead and manhood in the Person of Christ. The Church's official title is "The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Bete Christian"..
Vancouver Hohite Semay Kidist Mariam
As an organic unit of the church of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church founded upon the faith and the persons of the Holy Apostles, the Hohite Semay Kidist Mariam in Vancouver is to provide an ecclesiastical home for individuals and for communities practicing the ancient and ever living Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido faith enshrined in the Holy Scriptures, the received Councilor decrees and the writings of the Holy Fathers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tradition. Our Church in Vancouver is named after our Holy Mother Virgin Mary. "All creatures, the assembly of Angels and the human race rejoice in You, O Blessed One." From the early times of Christianity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, because of Her great virtues, Her help to the needy, and Her preeminent role in God's plan for the salvation of mankind, held a distinct position of admiration and love among Christians. The honoring of the Holy Virgin began from the time when the Archangel Gabriel greeted Her with the words: "Rejoice, O Blessed One, the Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou among women!" announcing to Her the mystery of the conception of the Son of God. A few days later with the words "Blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb," the righteous Elizabeth saluted the pure Virgin. St. Luke explains in his Gospel that the Holy Spirit revealed to Elizabeth that Mary had become the Mother of the Lord, the promised Savior of mankind (Luke 1:28-42). The Orthodox Church expresses reverence toward the Blessed Virgin by the many feast days commemorating the various events in Her life. In prayers the Virgin Mary is called Theotokos, which in Greek means the Mother of God, since the One Who was born from Her was at the time of conception and always will be the true God. Many of our fathers and poets composed prayers, songs of praise and inspirational sermons in honor of the Virgin Mary. With all this reverence for the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is consoling and enlightening to learn how she lived, how she prepared herself, and how she blossomed to such a spiritual height as to become the receptacle for the incarnate Word of God. Several prophecies of the Old Testament foretold of the incarnation of the Son of God and of the blessed Woman who would become a tool for the salvation of mankind. The very first promise concerning the Redeemer, heard by our fallen ancestors Adam and Eve, contained a prophecy about a special Woman. God said to the devil: "I shall put enmity between thee and the Woman, and between thy seed and Her Seed" (Genesis 3:15). It should be noted that during the time of the Old Testament the progeny were always called the seed or descendent of a male parent. Only here is the Redeemer-to-Come referred to as the Seed of the Woman, and this was the first indication that He would have no human father. Many centuries afterward the prophet Isaiah added important details to this first prophecy of Genesis. He said that the Woman, Who will give birth to the Messiah-Emmanuel, will be a virgin. "God Himself shall give you a sign," explained the prophet Isaiah to the disbelieving descendants of king David, ? "the Virgin shall accept into her womb and bear a Son, and shall name Him Emmanuel, which means: God is with us" (Isaiah 7:14). Even though the word "Virgin" did not seem right to the ancient Hebrews, since a birth without fail conjectured conjugal cohabitation, they did not dare to substitute another more "appropriate" word, for example, "woman." Another important message in the prophecy of Isaiah about the coming Messiah is that He will be God Himself. Hence the title ? "birth-giver of God" ? given to the Virgin Mary by the ancient Church.
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