The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple

A few months ago I posted about the Nativity of the Theotokos and references two source materials, the Protoevangelium of James and the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. I will do the same for the feast day for the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple, which is on November 21. This feast date commemorates Mary entering …

The Prayer of Mary at Bartos

If you like the North African magic that appeared in the “Book of Mary’s Repose” and the “Lefāfa Ṣedeḳ“, you’re going to love this. I recently obtained an English translation of the text known as “The Prayer of Mary At Bartos.” The booklet I received is just the text with no commentary or history, thus …

Nativity of the Theotokos

September 8 is the feast day of the Nativity of the Theotokos. I realized I never shared the story of the event before, so I will present it here. This is from the Protoevangelium of James, a second century text. I have referenced this text before for other aspects, but never the first part. Here …

Syrian Dormition of Mary story

Three years ago I wrote about the oldest known Dormition story titled “The Book of Mary’s Repose” and had did a review of the Ge’ez version (see post #1 here). Recently I found an old book published by my favorite early 20th century translator, E.A. Wallis Budge, titled “History of the Blessed Virgin Mary“, which …

The Virgin Mary and the Woman who was about to bring forth

Sorry for the month long departure. I try to post at least twice a month however Lent / Pascha season had my attention, but now I am back with another Theotokos Ethiopian short story. This story is another incession story, this time involving a pregnant woman. The English translation is provided by E. A. Wallis …

The Virgin Mary and the Egyptian Priest John

I am digging back into the Ethiopian tradition with this short tale about the Theotokos and her encounter with an Egyptian Priest named John Bakansi (at least that is how it’s translated). It has an odd turn of events, and I’m always up for quirky tales. What I really like about this short story is …

The Virgin Mary and the Cannibal of Qemer

Now here is something a bit different! Cannibals have made their way into the apocrypha throughout the years (believe it or not!). This particular tale I am sharing with you comes from the Ethiopic tradition and features Our Lady interacting with a cannibal. This story is a well known tale in the Ethiopic apocrypha but …

Lefāfa Ṣedeḳ: Book of Life (2 of 3)

Now we continue with the Lefāfa Ṣedeḳ! Please refer to post 1 if haven’t already. Section three starts “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, One God” and follows with a prayer concerning the carry of the deceased. It is as follows: DEKÂS BATRÔN KÛGÛYÂ, GÂNÔN, KÂWES KÎREL This …

The Virgin Mary’s Vision of Hell

Here lately I have been going down the rabbit hole of Ethiopic Christianity, particularly the apocrypha texts from that tradition. It has been a fascinating journey and I am only getting started. I am working on a blog entry about the “Lefāfa Ṣedeḳ” but in the meantime, I wanted to post about this text that …