Meskel Festival – Ethiopian Celebration of the Finding of the True Cross

Meskel is an annual festival commemorating the finding of the True Cross of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on September 27 (or September 28 in a leap year) as a religious and cultural celebration among millions of people in Ethiopia.

Meskel also means many things. It is a festival of bonfires and flowers, and the land of Ethiopia is decorated with yellow flowers during the Ethiopian New Year. But it is not only about fire or flowers. It is a cultural celebration where people gather for a day of song and festivity, yet it is not only about celebration or music. It is also a day of solemn religious services and joyful secular gatherings. Above all, it is about the finding of the True Cross.

How Meskel Is Celebrated

Though the story of the Meskel celebration reaches back into the pages of antiquity, its meaning is renewed each year. Meskel falls at the end of the long rainy season and is marked by riotous flowering throughout the nation.

There are many well-known symbols of Meskel celebrations that are intimately woven into the lives of all Ethiopians. These symbols define the day itself.

Demera or Bonfire

Demera is a massive pole set up on the eve of Meskel in every city, town, and village. On the eve of Meskel, men and boys gather in the villages and place long poles together until an enormous pyramid is built. Later, they add grasses and Meskel daisies, or yellow flowers, as decoration.

At night, elders come together to offer blessings. In churches, priests pray and chant around the pile while carrying crosses and burning incense. They make a procession around the Demera three times. Meanwhile, twigs and branches are thrown at its base by the people. At dusk, the poles of the Demera are set on fire.

Throughout the night, people carry chibos (lighted torches) to the bonfire, where they are hurled into the blaze. People sing, chant, and circle around the fire. Finally, the next day, on Meskel itself, people gather charcoal from the burned wood, take it home, crush it into dust, and use it to anoint their foreheads with the sign of the Cross.

Meskel Celebration at Homes and Villages

Every village or hamlet has its own Meskel fire that night, and from any high place one may see countless flickering points of light scattered across the darkened landscape. The young men of the village rush out from their homes carrying lighted torches, known as chibos, which they hurl into the blaze. When all are assembled, they move round and round the blazing fire in a circle, chanting traditional Meskel songs.

The following morning, on Meskel Day, men and women collect the charcoal from the burnt wood, carry it home, and break it into pieces. They rub it on their palms and, using a finger of the right hand, anoint their foreheads with the sign of the Cross. For this is the Feast of the Cross, and the charcoal is its sacred mark.

The Ceremony of Meskel in Public

Though the celebration of Meskel remains largely the same today, the following describes how Meskel was celebrated in earlier times in Addis Ababa.

On the twenty-seventh of September each year (or the twenty-eighth in a leap year), just at the end of the rainy season when flowers appear across the hills and plains in wonderful profusion, and the whole landscape turns yellow with Meskel daisies, the Ethiopian nation observes Meskel, or the Festival of the Finding of the True Cross upon which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was crucified.

The Festival of the Cross is a great time of rejoicing. Like all major church holidays, Meskel holds enormous significance throughout the country. It is observed with special church services, a national holiday, and, in Addis Ababa, an imperial luncheon.

Meskel itself is preceded by the highly colorful annual ceremony of Demera (Pile of Wood), observed a day earlier on the eve of the Finding of the True Cross. On that day, every community sets up a massive pole, or Demera, in an open space. Later in the afternoon, everyone gathers around the poles, while men and boys bring their own long, thin poles decorated with Meskel daisies and place them against the large central pole until they form enormous pyramids.

As multitudes of people gather in anticipation of the bonfire ceremony, a half-religious and half-secular celebration takes place. Following this, priests and deacons — in Addis Ababa led by His Holiness the Patriarch assisted by members of the clergy — officiate at the ceremony, circle the Demera with crosses and incense, and bless the pile.

After them come the dignitaries — in Addis Ababa, the Emperor and members of the Royal Family — followed by the assembled masses. All process around the pyramid of poles three times according to tradition, throwing twigs and tree branches at its base while singing Ioha Ababaie-Meskerem Tebaie (“The Light of the Cross is Revealed, the New Year Has Dawned”).

At dusk, the huge Meskel pole and surrounding reeds are set on fire, creating a magnificent blaze symbolizing the search for, and eventual discovery of, the original Cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified.

The Story of the True Cross in Ethiopia

The festival of Meskel is a familiar symbol known and shared by millions of Ethiopians, as well as by many visitors from other countries who have been moved by the profound Christianity and colorful symbolism of the feast. Yet there is another symbol of the day, less widely known even among Ethiopians: the fragment of the True Cross of Jesus Christ, said to rest high in remote and inaccessible mountains, far removed from the public festivities.

The fragment of the True Cross lies in a holy sanctuary on a cross-shaped plateau, inside a cross-shaped church at the monastery of Gishen Mariam.

Monophysite Christianity, which holds that the divine and human natures of Christ are united in one form, has been Ethiopia’s official religion since the fourth century AD. As one of the deepest expressions of Ethiopian identity, the Church observes numerous feasts and festivals throughout the year. Meskel, or the Festival of the Finding of the True Cross, is celebrated nationwide every year.

Celebrated at the end of the rainy season, the event commemorates the success of the pious Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine I of Rome, in finding the holy cross upon which Christ was crucified. It is said that in 326 AD, through divine guidance, the True Cross was unearthed at Golgotha, where it had been buried.

Meskel has been observed in Ethiopia as both a religious and secular festival ever since. However, the event gained even greater significance at the end of the fourteenth century, when, according to tradition, a fragment of the original Cross was brought to Ethiopia, causing great rejoicing throughout this ancient Christian kingdom.

The following account attempts to describe — as coherently as possible among the many intertwined strands of Christian history, folklore, and legend — the events leading to that historic episode, the personalities involved, and the legends surrounding the monastery of Gishen, the long-time Ethiopian home of the fragment of the Holy Cross.

The Legend About the Arrival of the True Cross (Meskel) in Ethiopia

According to legend, Queen Helena (Eleni in Ethiopian scriptures), in her efforts to discover the Holy Cross, set up long poles, lit them afire, and burned incense. The smoke rose skyward and then bent downward, touching the exact spot where the original Cross was buried. After the Holy Cross was unearthed, Queen Helena lit torches to announce her success to the surrounding areas.

According to The Ethiopian Synaxarium (መጽሐፈ፡ ስንክሳር), the Cross was unearthed at Golgotha in the year 326 after the birth of Christ, during the twentieth year of the reign of Queen Helena’s son, Emperor Constantine I, the first Christian emperor of Rome.

The Synaxarium, the book of saints of the Ethiopian Church and a vast storehouse of Christian traditions, legends, and folklore, records the following:

“And the blessed woman Helena took a large sum of his money, and she said unto her son Constantine, ‘I wish to be blessed by God, and I will go to the holy city of Jerusalem, and I will seek for and discover the wood of the life-giving Cross.’”

The text continues by describing how Queen Helena journeyed to Jerusalem, discovered the Holy Cross after much hardship, and ordered the construction of sanctuaries and shrines at Golgotha, Bethlehem, Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives, and other holy places.

At this point, the Ethiopic Synaxarium states that a bishop and holy man named Aba Macarius advised Queen Helena:

“Do not build with gold and silver, for foreign peoples may one day rule this land and destroy these treasures. Rather, build strong sanctuaries that cannot be overthrown.”

Following Bishop Macarius’ advice, Queen Helena ordered the construction of strong and lasting sanctuaries. Emperor Constantine later summoned the Archbishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch to Jerusalem to consecrate the newly built holy places.

The Synaxarium records:

“And they all assembled in the City of Jerusalem, and they tarried there until the seventeenth day of Maskaram (September 27), by which day they had consecrated the sanctuary and all the holy places.”

Since the fourth century, Ethiopians, like other Monophysite Christians, have faithfully observed the Festival of the Cross with the enduring belief that:

“Meskel is our strength, our might, and the savior of our soul.”

Where Is the True Cross (Meskel) Now?

According to Ethiopian tradition, the fragment of the True Cross is now kept in Ethiopia in the mountainous region of Ambasel in Wollo, northern Ethiopia, within the historic monastery of Gishen Mariam. It is preserved in the innermost sanctuary of the Church of Egziabherab.

This history is recorded in a manuscript known as “Tefut,” written by order of Emperor Zar’a Yaqob (1434–1468). The manuscript describes the story of the True Cross and its journey to Ethiopia in detail.