Ewostatewos
Saint Eustathius of Ethiopia | |
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![]() Ewostatewos preaching to his disciples | |
Born | Tsira,Enderta Province,Ethiopian Empire | 22 July 1273
Died | 23 September 1352 Armenia | (aged 79)
Venerated in | Oriental Orthodoxy |
Patronage | House of Ewostatewos |
Controversy | Sabbath observance |
Ewostatewos(Ge'ez:ኤዎስጣቴዎስ,ʾEwosṭātewos,or ዮስጣቴዎስ,Yosṭātewos,a version ofAncient Greek:ΕὐστάθιοςEustathios;22 July 1273 – 23 September 1352) was an Ethiopian religious leader of theOrthodox Tewahedoduring the early period of theSolomonic dynastyofEthiopian Empire.He was a forceful advocate for the observation of theSabbath in Christianity.His followers, known as theHouse of Ewostatewos(individuals are known asEwostathians), have been a historic force in Tewahedo Orthodoxy.
Early life
[edit]Ewostatewos was born on 15 July 1273 (Julian calendar), or 22 July 1273 (Gregorian calendar) or 21Hamle1265 as Māʿqāba ʾƎgziʾ (ማዕቃበ እግዚእ) to Śǝna Ḥǝywat (ሥነ ሕይወት) and his father, Krǝstos Moʾa (ክርስቶስ ሞአ). According to the 16th-centuryhagiographyof his pupil Ananya, Ewostatewos was born in the Tsiraʿ northeast ofMekelle,part ofEnderta Province(now inEndertaworeda) near where he would later found the monastery ofDebre Tserabi.
Around 1280, while still young, he was sent to live with his uncle,AbbaDaniel (monastically known asZekaryas), the abbot of the mountain abbey of DebreMaryam QorqorinGar'alta,a district of Enderta Province. Daniel provided him with his earliest education and introducing him to monastic life. Māʿqāba ʾƎgziʾ announced his intention to become a monk at 15 and with his decision was renamed to Ewostatewos.[1]
Career as a religious figure
[edit]After being ordained a monk by his uncle, Ewostatewos left the community and founded his own monastery inSerae,in what is nowEritrea.There he attracted a large number of students and explained his views until the arrival ofAbuna Yaqob III(c. 1337), who was opposed to his views. Ewostatewos, accompanied by most of his disciples, including Bakamos Marqorewos and Gabra Iyasus. He first reached Sudan thenCairo,where he metPope Benjamin II of Alexandriaand defended his views before the church leader. He then visitedJerusalemand eventually traveled toArmenia,where he died on 23 September 1352 (Gregorian calendar), 15 September 1352 (Julian calendar), or 18Meskerem1345 in the Ethiopian calendar.[2]: 206f.
The Ewostatewos view of the Sabbath was that it should be observed on both Saturday (the Lesser Sabbath) and Sunday (the Great Sabbath): Saturday for the original Sabbath of theOld Testamentand Sunday in honor of the resurrection of Christ in theNew Testament.He found support for his views in theTen Commandmentsand theCanons of the Apostles.This has been the historical practice of the Tewahedo Churches.Taddesse Tamratcites evidence that suggests that the interpretation of Ewostatewos regarding the Sabbath was not his own innovation, but had been practiced in theCoptic Orthodox Church of Alexandriabefore his time and only declaredhereticalin Egypt a few centuries before.[2]: 209
Influence on the Orthodox Tewahedo
[edit]After his death, his students and disciples continued to advocate Ewostatewos' religious views. When Ewostatewos leftEritrea,he had entrusted his community to his senior disciple,Absadi,who had a difficult time keeping the community together until the other disciples returned toEritreaafter a 14-year absence. Together they helped him establish a community atDebre MariaminEritrea.His followers later spread across northernEthiopia,founding new monasteries that not only promoted Ewostatewos' interpretation of the Sabbath but created a religious hierarchy that was independent of the Abuna. Their persistence eventually led to their success in 1450 at theCouncil of Debre MitmaqinTegulet,where EmperorZara Yaqobwas able to convince the Egyptian leadership to acquiesce to this local observance.
James Brucenotes that the leader of this order, at the time of his visit to Ethiopia, was the abbot ofMahebar Selassie,in the northwestern corner of that country.[3]
Notes
[edit]- ^Gianfranco Fiaccadori, "Ewosṭatewos" in Siegbert Uhlig,Encyclopaedia Aethiopica:D-Ha(Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005), p. 469.
- ^abTamrat, Taddesse(1972).Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527.Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN978-0-19-821671-1.OCLC653228.
- ^James Bruce,Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile(1805 edition), vol. 5 p. 6
Further reading
[edit]- Olivia Adankpo-Labadie, "An Ethiopian Fugitive Allied with a Nubian King? Ewostatewos and Sab'a Nol at Noba through Hagiographical Narrative",Journal of Nubian Studies,6 (2019), pp. 9-22.doi:10.5070/D66146249