The rainy season passed in its time and blessings took its place, behold the flowers have blossomed. Spikenard, spices [cinnamon], lemons, and their fragrance bear fruit in Paradise. Christ established the Sabbath. We give thanks to Him who has granted us His goodness.
St Yared
The scholars of the Church place the commemoration of the 3.5 year flight of the Holy Family to Egypt during this time, because in Eritrea this is the spring season following the rainy season. This symbolism is of great significance because of the beauty that is seen in the springtime. Like in the West, the spring is when we start to see the fruit of the rainy season, namely flowers blooming. Soon after flowers bloom, the fruit on the trees flourish.
Looking at the world around us, the Church brings us to remember the true Flower who is our Lady Mary and the true Fruit who is our Lord. We admire the beauty of the Flower from which the Fruit of life comes., that which sustains all creation We also bask in the fragrance of the harvested and procured spices which are the saints of the Church.
As the Psalmist says, the righteous are also likened to the fruit of the earth.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree;
He shall be multiplied like the cedar in Lebanon.
Those planted in the house of the Lord shall blossom forth in the courts of our God;
Ps. 91(92):13-14
In another hymn of this Sunday, we look again to the Lord’s creation and remember the incarnation. St Yared says, “ትመስል እምኪ ማርያም ዕለተ ሣልስተ ወራብዕተ ትመስል እምኪ፤ ዘወለደት ጽጌ ወፀሐየ ዓለም። O Mary, your mother looks like the 3rd and the 4th day for she bore the Flower [our Lady] and the Sun of the world [our Lord].”
The Church teaches us that simply by looking around us, nature shows us Theo-logy. Creation is not only an event but a way of understanding our God. May He give us the wisdom and attentive eyes soley for Him.
በጊዜሁ ኀለፈ ክረምት። ቆመ በረከት ናሁ ጸገዩ ጽጌያት። ናርዶስ ፈረየ በውስተ ገነት። ቀንሞስ ቀናንሞስ ከርካዕ ምስለ ዕንጐታት ክርስቶስ ሠርዐ ሰንበተ። ነአኵቶ ለዘጸገወነ ሠናይቶ።
be-gīziehu halefe kiremt. qome bereket nahu tsegeyu tsigieyat. nardos fereye be-wiste genet. qenimos qenanimos kerka’i misle ingotat kiristos ser’a senbete. ne’akwito leze-tsegewene senayto.
