፲ ወ ፬ ፡ ሕማማተ ፡ መስቀል ።
ASERTU WE ARBATU HEMAMATE MESQEL
The 14 Sufferings of the Cross
1) Capture – Te(e)hazot ተእኀዞት
– Christ was arrested at 9:00 PM of Thursday (the third hour of the night of Friday, according to traditional counting). He died at the 3:00 PM of Friday (the ninth hour of that day), thus facing an agony of about 18 hours.
2) Back Binding – Teasrote Dehrit ተአስሮተ ፡ ድኅሪት ፡
– His hands were tied behind the back. They also tied 5 ropes around His neck, and by those they pulled and dragged Him in the places of His passion.
3) Slapping of the Jaw – Tetzef’ote Melthat ተጸፍዖተ ፡ መልታሕት ፡
– He was slapped 41 times, in turn, by the Jews, that willingly lost many times their counting, and had him in derision.
4) Flagellation of the Back – Teqeshfote Zeban ተቀሥፎተ ፡ ዘባን ፡
– He was whipped with 41 slashes (the Law of Moses set a maximum of 40) and all the bones of His body were exposed.
5) Spoliation of dress – Te’arqote Lebs ተዐርቆተ ፡ ልብስ ፡
– He was completely naked, though the icons desplay Him with covered genitals for respect.
6) Crown of thorns – Aklile Shok አክሊለ ፡ ሦክ ፡
– He was crowned with a crown having 70 thorns. They placed it above His head, and hammered down it against His head.
7) Plumming of the head – Tekwer’ote Rees ተኰርዖተ ፡ ርእስ ፡
– He was beaten by staff and iron 6666 times
8 ) Bearing the cross – Tzewire Mesqel ጸዊረ ፡ መስቀል ፡
– The Lord bore the vertical staff of the Cross, the “trunk”: it represented Divinity. The horizontal staff was borne by Simon of Cyrenes, and represented Humanity. The Cross was made of 8 different woods, mainly fig tree, but also vine and olive tree.
9) Weakness – Dekam ድካም
10) Falling (3 times) – Wediq ወዲቅ
– When He fell down, the Jews trampled him and walked over His body.
11) Drinking Vinegar with Bile – Sheribe B(e)hie Mesle Hamot ሠሪበ ፡ ብሒእ ፡ ምስለ ፡ ሐሞት ፡
– They gave Him to drink vinegar with elephant bile.
12) Crucifixion – S(e)q(e)let ስቅለት
– He was crucified with 5 nails: two for His hands, one for both His feet, one to merge together the two staffs of the cross, one to sustain the tablet above His head. The 5 nails are called Sador, Alador, Denet, Adera and Rodas. These names are the same of the famous latin magic palindrome: SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS.
– He was perforated with 5 wounds: hands, feet, and side.
– He was crucified on Golgotha, where there was the tomb of Adam, and from where God took the soil to create Him (Elda). He was crucified among two thieves (Diemàs and Ghiestà), the first was pagan and the second was jew. The first converted and was saved, the second was damned.
13) Thirst of Water – Tzema May ጽምአ ፡ ማይ ፡
14) Dieing – Mewit መዊት ፡
– Dieing as an ordinary man, the Lord came down into Siòl (Hell) for 3 hours, and had Satan undergo tremendous tortures and sufferings: he freed the spirits of the fathers, kept as prisoners by the wicked, and entered with them into the Paradise at the sunset of Friday.
From the Cross, He pronounced 7 words:
1) “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
2) “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
3) “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
4) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
5) “Woman, here is your son…Here is your mother.”
6) “I am thirsty.”
7) “It is finished.”
7 Terrible Signs were manifested:
1) The sun darkened
2) The moon turned into blood
3) The stars shone
4) The veil of the temple was cut
5) The earth was shaken
6) The tombs opened up.
7) The dead rose again.
