Greetings in that Divine and Most Precious Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
THE SIXTH MONTH
YEKATIT 08
(February 15)
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT,
ONE GOD. AMEN.
On this day took place the coming of our Lord Christ into the sanctuary (i.e. temple). Forty days after His glorious birth Joseph, the just man, who was the messenger of this mystery, and Saint Mary, His mother, brought Him, that they might fulfill the Law with which He, to Whom be glory! had commanded the people of Israel, and to offer up offerings as the Law ordered. And this Simeon, the priest, was a righteous man, and he carried Him upon his shoulders and held Him up in his hands. And when King Ptolemy, who was called the “Conqueror,” was reigning in the five thousand nine hundred and fourth year (?) of our father Adam, and the Jewish people were under his dominion, by the Will of God he sent to the city of Jerusalem, and brought [to Alexandria] seventy-[two] learned Jewish Rabbis, and he commanded them to translate the Books of the Law from the Hebrew tongue into the Greek tongue. And this look place by the Will of God so that the Law might depart from the Jews, and come to the Christian people who were to appear after many years. And then the king commanded his officers to separate them into pairs and to put each pair in a separate place; now they were seventy-two [in number], and he lodged them in thirty-six tents. And he set men over them to watch them, and to see that they did not met each other, or make an agreement about what they were going to write, or change one word of the Law, for it is very well known that the Jews are wicked men. And when this Simeon, the just man, had translated all the Books of the Law, he came to the Book of Isaiah the prophet, who saith, “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel” (Isaiah vii, 14). And he was afraid to write “a virgin shall conceive,” and said, “The king will laugh at him (i.e. the prophet), and will not accept his word.” And he determined to change the word of the Law as it was written, and instead of writing the word “virgin” he wrote “young girl.” And then he had doubts within himself, and he said, “This is impossible--for a virgin to conceive and to bring forth a son”; and whilst he was thinking upon the matter slumber overcame him and he fell asleep. And the angel of God appeared unto him, and said unto him, “O thou who doubtest this thing, thou shalt not taste death until thou hast seen the Christ, Who shall be born of a virgin, and hast carried Him into the sanctuary, as it might be this day. And the eyes of Simeon were blind, and when he received our Lord Christ into his hands, his eyes were opened, and he saw straightway. And the Holy Spirit spoke unto him, saying, “This is He for Whom thou wast waiting.” And Simeon blessed God, and said, “O Lord dismiss Thy servant in peace, for I have remained bound in the life of this fleeting world for Thy sake. Behold, I have come and have seen Thee; dismiss me that I may depart into everlasting life. Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation which Thou hast prepared before all Thy people. Thou hast revealed the light to the Gentiles, and glory to Thy people Israel” (Luke ii, 29). And then he said unto His mother Mary, “This thy Son is set for the falling and the rising of many of the children of Israel,” that is to say, “For the falling of those who do not believe in Him, and for the rising of those who do believe in Him.” And then he made known unto her that suffering and separation would enter her heart at the time of His Passion, and he said, “The spear of separation which shall be in thy heart shall pass through it.” And when he had finished what the Law had commanded him, he died in peace. And Hannah the prophetess, the daughter of Penuel, whom the Holy Gospel mentioneth, also prophesied concerning Him, and she praised God, and told the orthodox among the children of Israel that He was the Savior Who should deliver them from the works of Satan, and from the fetters of Sheol. Salutation to Thy coming to Jerusalem and Thy reception by Simeon, and to Hannah. Salutation to Simeon who embraced our Lord and kissed His hand.
And on this day also died Hannah the prophetess, the daughter of Penuel. This woman was of the tribe of Asher, and her days [for bearing] were passed, and she had lived with her husband for seven years, and had been a virgin for four and eighty winters; and she never left the temple, and she fasted and prayed all day and all night. And when they brought the Lord Jesus into the sanctuary forty days after He was born, she stood up before Him, and gave thanks to God, and she spoke about Him to all those who waited for the salvation of Jerusalem; and then she died at a good old age. Salutation to Hannah.
From the Ethiopian Synaxarium Yekatit 8
http://www.stmichaeleoc.org/The_Ethiopian_Synaxarium.pdfstay blessed,
habte selassie
