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Salutations for Mary for the Canonical Hours

Anonymous · betmas

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machine-draft · no human review 3 passages · 452 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The Salutations for Mary for the Canonical Hours is an anonymous cycle of Geʿez poetic salutations to the Virgin Mary, structured around the canonical hours of the Coptic Horologion (twilight, compline, midnight). The edition (betmas) presents the Geʿez text without translation or commentary, and the work is attested in early modern manuscript witnesses (e.g., Hollis 990003815950203941). The genre belongs to a broader Ethiopic tradition of Marian devotion, comparable to the Taʾammǝra Maryam miracle collections and the Nagara Maryam homily. The work is undated, but the genre likely has medieval roots. The text employs standard Marian epithets and typological allusions, linking Mary to biblical figures and salvation history.

This work exemplifies the integration of Coptic liturgical structures into Ethiopic Marian devotion, showing how the canonical hours were adapted for vernacular hymnody. It provides insight into the poetic and typological language used to honor Mary in the Ethiopian tradition, linking her to biblical figures and salvation history. The text's survival in early modern manuscripts attests to the continued popularity of such devotional cycles.

Historical context

The work is anonymous and undated, but its genre—a cycle of salutations for the canonical hours—reflects the influence of the Coptic Horologion on Ethiopic liturgical practice. The Ethiopic tradition of Marian devotion flourished from the medieval period onward, with the Taʾammǝra Maryam (miracle collections) and Nagara Maryam (homily) as key parallels. The manuscript witnesses are early modern (e.g., Hollis 990003815950203941), but the genre likely has medieval roots, possibly from the 14th–15th centuries, when Ethiopic hymnody and Marian piety expanded. The text is transmitted in Geʿez, the classical liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. No colophon or internal evidence assigns authorship or a specific historical context; the attribution to 'Anonymous' is conventional. The work's structure follows the Coptic Horologion, indicating the enduring influence of Egyptian Christianity on Ethiopian liturgy.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

18 commentary units 3 structure3 term3 scripture3 background3 reception2 caution1 parallel 1 derived notes 6 open questions 3 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: poetry in Geʿez; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 3 narrative.
  • scripture1 scriptural phrase match(es) noted: Luke 1:28.
  • sourceSource edition: betmas — CC BY-SA 4.0 (per file); site footer states NC-SA - treat as NC

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
LIT2807RepCh91:1 · narrativemedium
Source
The following incipit and explicit are based on . First salutation, for the twilight (ዘሠርክ፡) ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ምልዕተ፡ ጸጋ፡ ምልዕተ፡ ጸጋ። ምልዕተ፡ ክብር፡ ወብዕል፡ እንበለ፡ ንትጋ፡ አምላከ፡ ሰማያዌ፡ ዘወለድኪ፡ በሥጋ። ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ጽላተ፡ ሙሴ። ወሐውልተ፡ ስምዕ፡ ዘነቢይ፡ አውሴ። እምአመ፡ ንዕስኪ፡ እንተ፡ ኢተአምሪ፡ ብእሴ። ለኪ፡ ወለወልድኪ፡ ይደሉ፡ ውዳሴ። Second salutation, for the compline (ዘንዋም፡) ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ መንበረ፡ ፀሐይ፡ ሰማይ፡ ዘከዋክብት፡ አክሊላ። ምድርኒ፡ ሥርጉት፡ በጽጌ፡ ሂላ። ማርያም፡ ዘመነ፡ ተድላ። ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ማርያም፡ ዳግመ፡ ተአምረኪ፡ ክሥቲ። ድኅረ፡ ንዋምየ፡ ለመዋቲ። ምስለ፡ ሰላምኪ፡ ፍሥሐ፡ ዘባቲ፡ ታስተርዒ፡ ከመ፡ ጽጌ፡ ልሳንየ፡ ዛቲ። Third salutation, for midnight (ዘመንፈቀ፡ ሌሊት፡) ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ማርያም፡ ስብሐት፡ ቀስተ፡ መሐላሁ፡ ለኖኅ። ዲበ፡ ገጸ፡ ምድር፡ ዳግመ፡ እምደመና፡ ላህ። ኢያንጠብጥብ፡ ዝናመ፡ አይኅ።
English
Salutations to you, full of grace, full of grace, full of glory and power without negligence, God of heaven whom you bore in the flesh. Salutations to you, tablet of Moses and rod of the prophet Hosea; from your youth, you who knew no man, to you and to your son are due praises. Salutations to you, throne of the sun of heaven, whose crown is the stars; the earth is adorned with the flower of the moon, Mary of the season of joy. Salutations to you, Mary; again your miracle is revealed after the sleep of the dead; with your salutation is the joy wherein you cause my tongue to bloom like a flower. Salutations to you, Mary; the rainbow of the covenant of Noah upon the face of the earth; again from the clouds, let not the rain of the eyes drip.
LIT2807RepCh91:2 · narrativemedium
Source
ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ድካመ፡ ጊጋይየ፡ ትማዕ፡ ማርያም፡ ጽድቀ፡ ዚአኪ፡ በፅንዓ፡ መዳልወ፡ ጥበብ፡ ሶበ፡ መልዓ። ከማኒተ፡ ነፍስ፡ ዘምስለ፡ ስብዓ። ከመ፡ ሕፍነ፡ ማይ፡ ኀይለ፡ ወሞዓ። Fourth salutation, for the morning (ዘነግህ፡) ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ማርያም፡ ድንግል፡ ዘመዓዛ፡ አፉኪ፡ ኮል። እንተ፡ ትፄንዊ፡ በገዳም፡ ወሐቅል። ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ በከመ፡ ልማድኪ፡ በሊ፡ ኀበ፡ ወልድኪ፡ ሰአሊ። ኦርኅሩኅ፡ ኢተበቃሊ፡ ያጠፍዖኑ፡ ለሥዕሉ፡ ሠዓሊ። ኪነተከ፡ ዘትካት፡ ሐሊ። Fifth salutation, for the third hour (ዘ፫፡ ሰዓት፡) ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ማርያም፡ ርግብ፡ ሰማያዊት። ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ወንስር፡ መንፈሳዊት። ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ጊዜ፡ ጸልዮትኪ፡ በጽሐ፡ ከመ፡ ኢይሙት፡ ገብርኪ። ቅድሜሁ፡ ስግዲ፡ ወአከብርኪ። እንዘ፡ ታዘክሪዮ፡ እሙ፡ ፃማ፡ ንግድትኪ። ርግብየ፡ የዋሂት፡ ለየዋህ፡ ወልድኪ። Sixth salutation, for the sixth hour (ዘ፮፡ ሰዓት፡)
English
Salutation to you, the endurance of my pilgrimage, Mary, the righteousness of yours in the strength of the weapons of wisdom, when it was filled like a vessel of the soul, which is with the seven, like a handful of water, power and time. Fourth salutation, for the morning Salutation to you, Mary, virgin, whose mouth is fragrant like a dove that coos in the wilderness and field. Salutation to you, according to your custom, eat before your son, merciful one, O compassionate one, intercessor, who will destroy his image, O craftsman, your art of healing is sweet. Fifth salutation, for the third hour Salutation to you, Mary, heavenly dove. Salutation to you, spiritual eagle. Salutation to you, at the time of your prayer, it reached like the death of your servant. Before him, bow and honor you, while you remind him of his mother, the thirst of your journey, my gentle dove, for the gentle your son. Sixth salutation, for the sixth hour
LIT2807RepCh91:3 · narrativemedium
Source
ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ማርያም፡ ውድስት፡ በአፈ፡ ኵሉ፡ ፍጥረት፡ ታቦት፡ አንቲ፡ ዘሙሴ፡ ጽላት፡ ዘሕግ፡ ወዘሥርዓት። ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ እሙ፡ በሊዮ፡ በእንቲአየ፡ ለፍሬ፡ ከርሥኪ፡ ብኖዲ። ላዕሌሁ፡ ምሕረተ፡ ኢታጐንዲ። እመ፡ አኀዘነከ፡ ብእሲ፡ ዓባዲ። ቤዛ፡ ነፍሱ፡ ንጽሕየ፡ እፈዲ። Seventh salutation, for the ninth hour (ዘ፱፡ ሰዓት፡) ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ ማርያም፡ ዕክል። ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ መፅንዒተ፡ ኃይል። ሰላም፡ ለኪ፡ አስምዕኒ፡ ቃለ፡ ፍሥሐ፡ ጊዜ፡ አኃዝን፡ ወአስቆቁ። ሣህልኪ፡ ይምጻእ፡ እምሥራቁ። ለእሳተ፡ ኀዘን፡ እስከ፡ ይቈርር፡ ሞቁ። ማርያም፡ ለኃጥእ፡ ጽድቁ። ኦእግዝእትነ፡ ዕቀብነ፡ ወአድኅንነ። ለአግብርትኪ፡ ወለአዕማትኪ። ሞገስ፡ ዓም፡ ሚካ።
English
Salutation to you, Mary, the new covenant, in the mouth of all creation, the ark; you are the tablets of Moses, of law and of ordinance. Salutation to you, mother of Belio, for my sake, for the fruit of your womb, Binodi; upon him mercy, do not be angry; the mother who took hold of you, a man, a servant; the ransom of his soul, pure, my hand. Seventh salutation, for the ninth hour Salutation to you, Mary, the intellect; salutation to you, the fortress of power. Salutation to you, make me hear a word of joy when I take and am silent; your mercy shall come from its east, for the fire of sorrow until its death is quenched; Mary, for the sinner, his righteousness; O our Lady, guard us and save us, for your servants and for your handmaidens; favor, year, Mika.
Citation. Tergwame, “Salutations for Mary for the Canonical Hours”, LIT2807RepCh91:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/LIT2807RepCh91#s1
Colophon. Source: betmas · licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (per file); site footer states NC-SA - treat as NC · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0023 · generated 2026-11-15.