If we didn’t believe that the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus were historical events that took place on a date in history and at a place on the map and that the world needs to know about this then we wouldn’t be here. However I have rarely thought much about what happened to the actual cross that the Romans used to execute Jesus. It was an old rough piece of wood – it was probably reused, or made into something else, or burned, or something. I don’t suppose anyone took any notice – after all, no-one seems to preserve other means of execution – axes, guillotines, ropes, gallows, syringes, needles – that sort of thing.

Except, they believe, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Preserved in the remote mountain monastery of Gishen Mariam is the right arm of the true cross of Christ. On Friday evening In order to celebrate how it was found  we joined tens or even hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians in the middle of Addis Ababa to watch priests set fire to a huge bonfire. “Huh?” I hear you ask. Before I explain, here’s 1 minute 13 seconds of the whole event that took up over four hours of our Friday evening:

The Amharic word “Meskel” means “cross”. That huge open plaza near the city centre is known as “Meskel Square”. (During the communist days and futile attempts to abolish religion it was known as “Revolution Square”). In recent years it has been the site of a lot of railway construction and now has huge elevated concrete tracks on two sides. We drive through there sometimes. There are no lights, no traffic lanes, dozens of pot holes and it’s every vehicle for itself. You drive in, you guess where to go, you drive out. Here’s a video (taken before the railway construction) that went “viral” a few months ago, and it is exactly like this. On this video the area where we were standing is over on the right side; the new railway is now on the left:

So here’s the story. Emperor Constantine the Great had a thing about crosses. Rumour has it he saw one in the sun during the battle of Milvian Bridge. or he might have had a dream the night before and saw a cross. Who knows? Anyway, he emblazoned crosses on his soldiers and started winning battles, became a Christian, stopped Christians being crucified and spared clergy from some taxes. However he remained a bit confused and kept an eye on some other “gods” presumably just in case he’d made a mistake. He did a bit of sun worship as well. His mother Helena (who some believe was British) was a Christian long before him and may have been responsible for his conversion. She made a habit of collecting Christian relics, including Jesus' tunic (which must have needed a wash after 300 years) and some of the rope he was tied to the cross with. She also for some reason introduced cats to Cyprus. legend has it that in 326 AD she went to the Holy Land to find the true cross. To find it she lit a big fire and the smoke curled up then down to the ground pointing to the spot where she then dug up three crosses. She found out which one was the right one because a terminally ill woman was healed by touching it. Torches were lit to celebrate. Eventually and for all sorts of complicated reasons a part of the cross came to Ethiopia and has been here ever since. So every year these events are celebrated by lighting a big fire in the middle of the city and by folks all over the country lighting smaller ones, amidst much rejoicing and dancing and Orthodox worship and singing. The next day people have a holiday, kill sheep or bulls or chickens (depending on what they can afford) and eat a lot.

So that’s why we spent Friday evening in Meskel Square. It was a lovely unique cultural experience, and all because Jesus.

The evening is best related in pictures. Check out the gallery and the descriptions I’ve added to the photos.

By the way, as the rain stops the fields and hillsides come alive with “adey abeba” or “Meskel daisies”. They are actually “Bidens Macroptera” and feature highly in the Meskel celebrations. We have bunches of them in our apartment and the clinic nurses brought loads into our offices.

All in all this is a very special time of year.