Fortune News | May 04,2019
Sep 28 , 2019
Thousands of people congregated in Mesqel Square in Addis Abeba on Friday, September 27, 2019, to celebrate the annual religious festival, Mesqel, which the square is named after. It is a yearly celebration of the faithful in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. According to the church's tradition, it is a celebration of the finding of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. It is believed that the mother of Constantine, Saint Helena, saw a vision instructing her to find the lost cross. She had the people of Jerusalem burn a huge bonfire, and the direction of the smoke pointed to where the cross was found, according to legend. It is to commemorate this act of Helena that the bonfire, Demera, is lit in the middle of the square each year. It is a colourful and joyous celebration with thousands of priests and choirs from all the churches in the city and its surrounding area turning out adorned in their beautiful robes, displaying crosses and ceremonial umbrellas, singing and dancing to the beats of drums and cymbals. The square was a rhapsody of colours and songs filled with ecstatic crowds.
It is a yearly celebration of the faithful in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Among tight security, the people started streaming toward Mesqel Square early in the morning. Most main roads surrounding the square were closed to traffic from around 8:00am. Except for a stray bull that ran into the square, goring a few people and frightening the large crowd, the celebrations concluded without incident.
According to the church's tradition, it is a celebration of the finding of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
PUBLISHED ON
Sep 28,2019 [ VOL
20 , NO
1013]
Fortune News | May 04,2019
Viewpoints | May 11,2019
Fortune News | Mar 20,2021
Letter To Editor | Nov 16,2019
Fortune News | Jan 26,2019
Editorial | Mar 09,2024
Viewpoints | Dec 28,2019
Photo Gallery | Sep 09,2020
Fortune News | Oct 05,2019
Exclusive Interviews | Jan 05,2020
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transportin...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
The cracks in Ethiopia's higher education system were laid bare during a synthesis re...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Construction authorities have unveiled a price adjustment implementation manual for s...
Jul 13 , 2024
The banking industry is experiencing a transformative period under the oversight of N...
Jul 20 , 2024
In a volatile economic environment, sudden policy reversals leave businesses reeling...
Jul 13 , 2024
Policymakers are walking a tightrope, struggling to generate growth and create millio...
Jul 7 , 2024
The federal budget has crossed a symbolic threshold, approaching the one trillion Bir...
Jun 29 , 2024
In a spirited bid for autonomy, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), under its younge...