Ethiopian Holidays

Ethiopia, like any other country, has several religions and holidays, but the majority celebrate Christian holidays. This is probably due to the age of the country. Ethiopia is said to be the Beginning of Civilization. Ethiopians claim the Ark of the Covenant is housed in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. Many believe that Ethiopia was converted to Christianity when Phillip met the Ethiopian traveler (the traveler was an important official of the time) in the book of Acts. While others believe the overall conversion of the country happened later when a ruler was converted.

I’ve been looking into the customs and holidays of the country, trying to see which ones we could adopt into our family. For the most part, they celebrate many of the same holidays we do - Christmas, New Year’s, Easter - but the dates are slightly different because Ethiopia and most of the Western world are on different calendars. One of the holidays that they celebrate is Epiphany (which is when the Magi reached Jesus as a baby).

I think Epiphany is one of the holidays I would like to add to our family’s celebrations. Partially because it’s not a completely foreign holiday to me. It feels like a good way to bring the 2 cultures of our family together and celebrating a holiday that is already a part of our family’s beliefs.