Five Pillars of Mystery
This Pillar teaches that receiving the Body and Blood of Christ is true communion with God and life-giving grace.
What is the Mystery of the Holy Communion?
This sacrament restores us when we repent, confess honestly, and receive absolution through the priest's ministry.
What is Penance(Repentance/Confession)?
The number of days in the Great Lent.
What is 55?
The number of days of the fast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
What is 16?
The total number of books in the Bible according to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church canon.
What is 81?
The Nine Saints of the late 5th century are credited with strengthening the Church and promoting Scripture in this liturgical language.
What is Ge'ez?
As the site of this year's Hawire Hiwot gathering, identify the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church hosting this pilgrimage.
Meskele Berhan Debre Genet Kidus Giorgis Kidiste Mariam EOTC (መስቀለ ብርሃን ቅዱስ ጊዮርጊስ ወቅድስት ማርያም ቤተክርስቲያን)
Through water and the Holy Spirit, this Pillar signifies spiritual birth and is linked to the sacrament traditionally administered after 40 days for boys and 80 days for girls.
What is the Mystery of Baptism?
In this sacrament, the faithful receive the true Body and Blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
What is Holy Communion(Eucharist)?
The Great Lent follows Christ's example of overcoming temptation through this spiritual tool.
What is fasting?
According to EOTC teaching, children under this age are typically not required to keep all fasts strictly.
What is seven?
Once a prosecutor of Christians, this apostle authored the majority of the New Testament epistles after his conversion on the road to Damascus.
Who is Saint Paul?
This Ethiopian Saint was a revered 13th century monk known for founding Debre Libanos monastery and evangelizing around Ethiopia. He is known for extreme monastic discipline and is depicted with six wings in iconography.
Who is Saint Teklehaimanot?
This foundational confession of faith, prayed before Wudase Mariam, summarizes the beliefs of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
What is the Nicene Creed( ጸሎተ ሃይማኖት)?
The mystery of the descending of God the Son who is one of the Trinity from heaven and taking up flesh and rational soul from the Holy Virgin Mary. This is the mystery of God becoming fully human without ceasing to be God.
What is the Mystery of Incarnation?
In this sacrament, a man and woman are united as one in a holy covenant, blessed and witnessed by the Church.
What is Matrimony?
In EOTC teaching, this day of the Holy Week commemorates the washing of the disciples' feet and the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper.
What is Holy Thursday?
Rooted in the preaching of the Prophet Jonah, this three-day fast commemorates the repentance of an entire city.
Rooted in the Psalms of David and chanted prior to the Gospel reading, this hymn prepares the faithful to hear the Word of God.
What is Misbak?
This first bishop of Axum, ordained by St. Athanasius of Alexandria, played a key role in establishing the Ethiopian Church.
Who is Abune Selama (Frumentius)?
The number of Anaphoras by which the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church celebrates the Holy Communion.
What is 14?
In the Creed(ጸሎተ ሃይማኖት), "We believe in one baptism..." matches with this Pillar, while "We look for the resurrection of the dead..." matches with that Pillar. Name both.
What is the Mystery of Baptism, and the Mystery of the Resurrection of the Dead?
According to EOTC teaching, these four sacraments are described as necessary for every believer.
What are Baptism, Confirmation, Penance/Confession, and Holy Communion?
List the 8 Weeks of the Great Lent(in order).
What is Zewerede, Kedest, Mekurab, Metsagu, Debre Zeit, Gebre Her, Nicodemus and Hosanna.
Identify three of the nine Major Feasts and three of the nine Minor Feasts of our Lord in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
What are Tsinset(Conception/Announciation), Lidet(Nativity/Christmas), Timket(Epiphany), Transfiguration(Debre Tabor), Hosanna(Palm Sunday), Crucifixion(Good Friday), Easter, Ascension, Paracletos(Pentecost)?
What are Sibket, Birhan, Nolawi, Christmas Eve, Gizret(Circumcision), Lidete Simeon, Kana Ze Gelila, Debre Zeit, Meskel?
Collectively known as the Pentateuch, these five books were written by Moses and begin the Old Testament.
What are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy?
This 6th-century Ethiopian saint, said to have learned perseverance from a caterpillar falling seven times, is known for composing hymns and establishing three musical modes used in Church worship. Identify the saint and the three modes.
Who is Saint Yared, and what are Geez, Ezel, and Araray?
Rotating among the four Evangelists(Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Ethiopian calendar assigns each year to one Gospel writer. Using this system, identify the Evangelist of the current year.
Who is Saint Mark?
Identify the five pillars of mystery(in order).
What are the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, Incarnation, Baptism, Holy Communion, and Resurrection of the Dead?
This Sacrament is the only one a priest cannot perform on his own, since it must be conferred by a bishop.
What is Holy Orders(Ordination)?
Observed alongside prayer and fasting during Passion Week, this physical act expresses humility and repentance before God.
What is prostration(Segdet)?
We fast every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year, except during this liturgical season following Fasika.
What is the Fifty Days (Pentecost season)?
These two Old Testament biblical figures did not taste death but were taken up by God.
Who are Enoch and Elijah?
As a young student, this Ethiopian saint struggled greatly with learning until, through prayer and the intercession of the Virgin Mary, he gained understanding. He later authored over 40 theological works, including the Book of Mystery, and became known as the “Light of Ethiopia” for defending the faith.
Who is Abba Giyorgis of Gascha?
These are the three main sections of an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church building.
What are Qene Mahlet(Outer Ambulatory), Kidest(Surrounding Ambulatory), and Mekdes(Sanctuary/Holy of Holies)?
This Pillar teaches that God is One in essence, yet Three in Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(name at least 2)The Holy Trinity is Three in [blank].
(name at least 2)The Holy Trinity is One in [blank].
What is the Mystery of the Holy Trinity?
What are Name(ስም), Hypostasis(አካል), Deed(ግብር)?
What are Essence, Divinity(መለኮት), Authority(አገዛዝ), Power(ሥልጣን), Will(ፈቃድ), Coinherence(ሕልውና)
This sacrament seeks God's mercy for the healing of both body and soul, especially for the sick.
What is the Unction of the Sick?
On this mountain, Christ tells the apostles of the signs of His second coming?
What is Mount of Olives?
Identify four of the seven major fasting seasons observed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Genesis chapter 5 records that this biblical figure lived 969 years, making him the longest living person in the Bible.
Who is Methuselah?
This Ethiopian saint commissioned 11 rock-hewn churches at a site that has become one of the world’s most famous pilgrimage destinations.
Who is King Lalibela?
Name one of the major Church councils accepted by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
What is the Council of Nicaea?
(Accept: Council of Constantinople, Council of Ephesus)
In Ethiopian Orthodox theology, this doctrine describes the complete unity of Christ's divine and human natures without separation or confusion, affirming that He is fully God and fully man.
What is Miaphysite Christology(Tewahedo)?
Recite the seven Holy Sacraments of our Church.
What are Baptism, Confirmation(Myron), Confession(Repentance/Penance), Holy Communion(Eucharist), Unction of the Sick, Matrimony, Holy Orders(Ordination).
Christ fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, yet the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church observes a 55-day fast. What is included in the extra days.
What are preparatory week and Holy Week(Passion Week)?
This optional fasting season, observed in the Ethiopian Church during the "Season of Flowers", commemorates the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. It is distinguished by hymns like Mahilete Tsige and special liturgical celebrations honoring the Virgin Mary.
What is Zemene Tsigie?
In Acts 8, name the apostle who baptized the Ethiopian eunuch and the Old Testament prophet whose book the enoch was reading.
Who are Philip and Isaiah?
While their full group numbers nearly ten, name five of the "Nine Saints" who arrived from the Byzantine Empire in the 5th century to spread Christianity in Ethiopia.
Who are(any five of the following): Abba Aregawi, Abba Garima, Abba Pantelewon, Abba Afse, Abba Liqanos, Abba Alef, Abba Guba, Abba Sehma, and Abba Yem'ata?
These six churches make up the Oriental Orthodox communion, sharing the same faith and apostolic tradition.
What are the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church(Ethiopia), Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church(Eritrea), Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria(Egypt), Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch(Syria), Armenian Apostolic Church(Armenia), and Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church(India).