Gishen Mariam

Marian Advocation of Gishen (Amhara)

According to the Ethiopian traditionGishen Debre Kerbe Mariam was founded in the 5th century by King aksumita Kalebwith the spiritual help of the so-called "Nine Saints" coming from the Byzantine Empire. This tradition has been very old in Gishen, a monastic community dedicated to the Virgin Maryon a typical mountain, which will be known as Debre Gishen.

Main data

Origin and history

According to the Ethiopian traditionGishen Debre Kerbe Mariam was founded in the 5th century by King aksumita Kalebwith the spiritual help of the so-called "Nine Saints" coming from the Byzantine Empire. This tradition has been very old in Gishen, a monastic community dedicated to the Virgin Maryon a typical mountain, which will be known as Debre Gishen.

As for the Vera Cruzthe tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church maintains that a part of the Cross of Christ, found by Saint Helena in Jerusalem, he came to Ethiopia and was deposited in various holy places; one of them would be precisely Gishen Debre Kerbe. Ethiopian Ecclesial Texts and Chronicles tell that a fragment of the Cross was carried and guarded in a golden urn in the main church of the monastic complex, and that this fact is at the origin of the great pilgrimage associated with the feast of the Cross (Messel and, in particular, Gishen's own celebration).

From the perspective of the documented historymodern sources describe Gishen Mariam as a monastery of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Tewahedo, located in the South Wollo area of Amhara region, about 483 km north of Addis Ababa and about 3,019 m above sea level. It is recognized as one of the country's main religious pilgrimage centres, with a remarkable annual flow of faithful, especially around the feast of the Cross and the self-commemoration of Gishen. The concrete link with King Kaleb and St. Helena belongs to the Pious tradition and cannot be documented with contemporary historical accuracy.

The image and the sanctuary

Gishen Debre Kerbe Mariam es ante todo un monasteries-sanctuary orthodox, also known as Debre Gishen. The monastic complex occupies about 26 hectares in a mountainous region, and is surrounded by hills. On the cross-shaped mountain are found four churches: the church of Gishen Maryam (dedicated to the Virgin Mary), San Gabriel, la de San Miguel y la denominada Egziabher Ab ("God the Father"). In the latter, according to tradition, the fragment of the Vera Cruz was deposited in a gold box and guarded by the local priests.

The sources consulted describe the place as an important National sanctuary of pilgrimage for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Tewahedo, but they do not qualify it with canonical titles specific to Catholic discipline (no document of appointment as a minor basilica in the Catholic field, nor recognition as a "national sanctuary" by the Catholic hierarchy, as it is an Orthodox center). There is also no detailed description, in easily accessible sources, of a concrete Marian iconography (type of image, material, etc.) that functions as the main image of the advocation in Western terms; the emphasis is rather on the whole of the sacred place, the church of Gishen Mariam and the presence of the fragment of the Cross. Therefore, no consta a precise and documented description of the type of revered Marian image (material, style, size).

Sponsorship and coronation

Gishen Mariam is considered a great Marian and Cross sanctuary for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Tewahedo and, in fact, one of the most important pilgrimage goals of the country, with a practically National. Several tourist and academic sources describe the place as one of Ethiopia's largest religious tourism centres, but do not mention a formal legal patronage equivalent to the concept of "patron of diocese or nation" in Catholic canon law. In this sense, it can be said that Gishen Mariam exercises a patronage and devotional on numerous Ethiopian faithful, especially from the Amhara region and the South Wollo area, without a legal proclamation of patronage in the Catholic-Roman style.

As for a canonical coronation of the Marian image according to the use of the Latin Catholic Church (Pontifical Decree, ceremony presided over by a papal delegate, etc.), does not contain a documented canonical coronation. The Ethiopian sources and the descriptions of the sanctuary highlight veneration, liturgy and great pilgrimages, but they do not mention a pontifical coronation or such recognition by the Holy See.

Party and devotion

The devotion to Gishen Mariam is deeply linked to the party of the Cross. La Iglesia ortodoxa etíope celebra la fiesta de Meskel (finding of the Cross by St. Helena) the 27 September (28 in leap year). Within this framework, the monastery of Gishen has its own particular celebration: it commemorates the deposit of the fragments of the Vera Cruz in Gishen Debre Kerbe on October 1the date of the great feast of the sanctuary and one of the moments of the greatest influx of pilgrims.

Several sources point out that the Gishen Mariam Festival On October 1, he gathered many faithful who came on foot from different parts of the country, especially from the region of Dessie and other places in Amhara. Studies on religious tourism describe Gishen Mariam as a place with "great potential" of pilgrimage and spiritual tourism, with important crowds during the feast of the Cross and other marked Marian days. Devotion combines the veneration of the Virgin Mary with the veneration of the Cruz: the faithful go in search of mercy, blessing and healing, participate in the divine liturgy according to the Ethiopian rite Tewahedo and in processions and prayers of Ethiopian tradition.

Some texts of the Orthodox Church Tewahedo also mention the commemoration of the dedication of the church of Santa Maria in Gishen on the 21st of the first month of the Ethiopian calendar, which adds another Marian date relevant to the place, although the great concentration of pilgrims is mainly linked to the celebration of the Cross in late September and early October.

Link to the Rosary

In the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Iglesia Tewahedo, Marian devotion is expressed above all through liturgy, hymns, traditional prayers (such as the veneration of Kidan MehretMary's "Covenant of Mercy") and the use of prayer strings (Malachi), rather than by the prayer of Rosary Latin as known in the Catholic Church. The sources consulted on Gishen Mariam do not contain an explicit and documented relationship with the prayer of the Catholic Rosary.

Therefore, no consta a specific link between this advocation and the practice of the Rosary in a strict sense. However, in Marian key, the Rosary can spiritually accompany the devotion to Gishen Mariam in several ways:

– Al contemplar en los misterios dolorosos la Passion and Cross of Christthe Rosary is harmonized with the heart of Gishen's devotion, where the Virgin Mary is venerated in close union with the Vera Cruz. – Los misterios gloriosos, especialmente la Resurrection y la Exaltació