Especially Regarding St. Mark's Church ! *
(በተለየ ስለቅዱስ ማርቆስ ቤ/ክ)
(በተለየ ስለቅዱስ ማርቆስ ቤ/ክ)
- by Hénock Gugsa ሄኖክ ጉግሣ -
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In the Sidist Kilo neighborhood where I was born in the quarters just behind the Ministry of Finance's compound, the whole surrounding sections of Ligaba Bureau, Seba Dereja (70-Steps), and Jann Meda were all in my domain. To be certain, all of my formative years were spent there! The places of worship were Markos (St. Mark's), St. Mary's at Amist Kilo, and Medhane Alem (our Lord and Savior's) adjacent to Tafari Makonnen School !
My father and I went mostly to St. Mark's (Markos) because it was the closest and the most ideal, and because it was never crowded. My dad (God rest his soul!) was definitely more devout than I, and he attended church daily by arriving at Markos in the very early hours around 5:00 a.m. Growing up in Eritrea, he had reached the position of church deacon before life and destiny took him in other directions. Nevertheless, the church's rites and especially the Coptic psalms and prayers were always second nature to him!
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6 ኪሎ ሠፈር ከገንዘብ ሚኒስቴር ጀርባ ተወልጄ ፥ በአካባቢው በሊጋባ ቢሮ ፥ በ70 ደረጃ ፥ እና እንዲሁም ወደ ጃን ሜዳ አካባቢ ያለው ሁሉ በመላ የኔ ሠፈር (ግዛት) ነበር !!! ቅዱስ ማርቆስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን የሠፈራችን ዕንቁ የነበረ ቤተ እግዚያብሔር ነበር ። ሌሎች የሠፈራችን ተወዳጅ ቤተ ክርስቲያናት እነ ቅድስት ማርያም (በ 5ኪሎ) እና ምሥካዬ ህዙናን መድሃኔ ዓለም (ከት/ቤቴ ማለት ከተፈሪ መኰንን ጐን ያለው) ናቸው ።
የኔ አባት ፥ እና እኔ በብዛት (mostly) የቅዱስ ማርቆስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ምዕመናን ነበርን ። በተለይ ከኔ ብዙ ብዙ ይበልጥ አባቴ (ነፍሳቸውን ይማረውና) ተሳታፊ ነበሩ ! በየዕለቱ ከሌሊቱ 11 ሰዓት ከቄሶቹ ጋር ያስቀድሱ ነበር ። በልጅነታቸው በኤርትራ እስከ ዲያቆን ደረጃ ደርሰው ስለነበር መዝሙረ ዳዊትን እና የቅስና ፀሎትን ሁሉ ሁሉ በደንብ ከጫፍ እስከ ጫፍ ያውቁ ነበር። _____________________________________________________
* Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
