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Ethiopic · Liturgy ·

And again we beseech the God of compassion

Anonymous · betmas

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 385 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

This anonymous Ethiopic litany, opening with 'And again we beseech the God of compassion,' is a repetitive petitionary prayer from the Geʿez liturgical tradition. It survives in manuscripts held in European collections such as the Bodleian Library and the British Library. The work likely dates from the later medieval or early modern period of Ethiopian liturgical development, though its exact origin is uncertain. It was probably used in monastic or communal prayer contexts and later compiled in printed editions. The text lacks a critical apparatus and may represent a single manuscript tradition.

This litany exemplifies the rich tradition of Geʿez liturgical prayer, offering insight into the devotional practices of Ethiopian Christianity. Its anonymous, repetitive structure connects it to broader Eastern Christian litanies, while its survival in European collections highlights the transmission of Ethiopian manuscripts to the West. The work contributes to understanding the development of Ethiopian liturgy and the role of petitionary prayer in monastic and communal contexts.

Historical context

The litany belongs to the Ethiopic (Geʿez) Christian tradition, which developed in the Aksumite and post-Aksumite periods of Ethiopia. Geʿez, a classical language, remained the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The work's genre—a litany of repetitive petitions—reflects a common form in Eastern Christian and Ethiopian prayer cycles, often used in monastic or communal settings. The manuscripts, now in European libraries, were likely brought to the West during the 18th or 19th centuries by travelers or collectors. The dating is uncertain; the litany may have been composed between the 14th and 18th centuries, a period of significant liturgical compilation and standardization in Ethiopia. The text's survival in a single manuscript tradition without variant readings suggests limited circulation or a late compilation.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

12 commentary units 5 scripture2 term2 background2 structure1 reception 0 derived notes 4 open questions 2 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: liturgy in Geʿez; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • 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
LIT4859Litany:1 · narrativemedium
Source
The following text is taken from 187-188 . ይ፡ ካ፡ ወከዕበ፡ ናስተበቍዖ፡ ለአምላከ፡ ምሕረት፡ ዘረዳእኮ፡ ለአብርሃም፡ አመ፡ ይቀትሎሙ፡ ለንገሥት፡ ዘአድኀንኮ፡ ለይስሐቅ፡ እምነ፡ መጥባሕት፣ ዘመራሕኮ፡ ለያዕቆብ፡ በውስተ፡ መንገድ፡ ወአስተርአይኮ፡ በራእየ፡ ሌሊት፡ በኀበ፡ አቀሞን፡ ለሐውልት፡ ዘአዕበይኮ፡ ለዮሴፍ፡ በብሔረ፡ ባዕድ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ አምላክነ። ይ፡ ዲ፡ ጸልዩ። ይ፡ ሕ፡ አቡነ፡ ዘበሰማያት ። ይ፡ ካ፡ እወ፡ እግዚኦ፡ አምላክነ፡ ዘኀደፍኮ፡ ለኖኅ፡ በውስተ፡ ታቦት፡ ወለዳንኤል፡ እምአፈ፡ አናብስት፡ ወለሶስና፡ እምእደ፡ ረበናት፡ ዘለአኮ፡ ለሙሴ፡ ምስለ፡ ዐቢይ፡ ረድኤት፡ ዘመራሕኮሙ፡ ለሕዝብከ፡ መዓልተ፡ በደመና፡ ወኵሎ፡ ሌሊተ፡ በብርሃነ፡ እሳት። ወተናገርከ፡ በዲበ፡ ነቢያት። ወአስተርአይከ፡ ጸጋከ፡ ላዕለ፡ ሐዋርያት፡ እንዘ፡ ጉቡኣን፡ እሙንቱ፡ ውስተ፡ ፩ዱ፡ ቤት፡ ወረደ፡ ላዕሌሆሙ፡ መንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ከመ፡ ዘእሳት፡ ወተናገሩ፡ በነገረ፡ ኵሉ፡ በሐውርት፡ ውእተ፡ መንፈሰከ፡ ፈኑ፡ ዓማዴ፡ ሰማይ፡ ወምድር፣ በርክ፡ ማኅበረነ፡ በኵሉ፡ ጊዜ፡ ወበኵሉ፡ ሰዓት። በ፩ዱ፡ ወልድከ፡ ዘቦቱ፡ ለከ፡ ምስሌሁ፡ ወምስለ፡ ቅዱስ፡ መንፈስ፡ ስብሐት፡ ወእኂዝ፡ ይእዜኒ፡ ወዘልፈኒ፡ ወለዓለመ፡ ዓለም። ይ፡ ሕ፡ አሜን። The text follows 14-15
English
And again we beseech the God of compassion, who succored Abraham when he was about to slay the kings, who saved Isaac from the sword, who led Jacob on the way and appeared to him in a vision by night at the pillar of Aqemon, who magnified Joseph in a foreign land. O Lord our God, pray! Our Father who art in heaven! O Lord our God, who preserved Noah within the ark, and Daniel from the mouth of the lions, and Susanna from the hands of the elders, who provided for Moses with great assistance, who led your people by day in a cloud and all night by the light of fire, and spoke through the prophets, and revealed your grace to the apostles while they were gathered together in one house, and the Holy Spirit descended upon them like fire, and they spoke in every tongue in their journey. Send that same Spirit of yours between heaven and earth, bless our assembly at all times and at every hour, through your only Son who is with you, and with the Holy Spirit, praise and glory now and forever and unto eternity. Amen.
LIT4859Litany:2 · narrativemedium
Source
ወካእበ፡ ናስተበቍዖ፡ ለአምላከ፡ ምሕረት፡ ዘረዳእኮ፡ ለአብርሃም፡ አመ፡ ይቀትሎሙ፡ ለነገሥት፡ ዘአድኀንኮ፡ ለይስሐቅ፡ እምነ፡ መጥባሕት፡ ዘመራሕኮ፡ ለያዕቆብ፡ በውስተ፡ መንገድ፡ ወአስተርአይኮ፡ በራእየ፡ ሌሊት፡ በኀበ፡ አቀሞን፡ ለሐውልት፡ ዘአዕበይኮ፡ ለዮሴፍ፡ በብሔረ፡ በዕድ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ አምላክነ። ይ፡ ዲ፡ ጸልዩ። ትእ፡ በዝየ፡ ይበሉ፡ ሕዝብ፡ አቡነ፡ ዘበሰማያት። ይ፡ ካ፡ አወ፡ እግዚኦ፡ አምላክነ፡ ዘኀደፍኮ፡ ለኖኅ፡ በውስተ፡ ታበት፤ ወለዳንኤል፡ እምአፈ፡ አናብስት፤ ወለሶስና፡ እምአእደ፡ ረበናት፡ ዘለአኮ፡ ሰሙሴ፡ ምስለ፡ ዐቢይ ረድኤት፡ በመራሕኮመ፡ ለሕዝብከ መዓልተ በደመና፡ ወኵሎ፡ ሌሲተ፡ በብርሃነ፡ እሳት። ወተናገርከ፡ በዲበ፡ ነቢያት። ወአስተርአይከ፡ ጸጋከ፡ ላዕለ፡ ሐዋርያት፡ አንዘ፡ ጉቡአን፡ እሙንቱ፡ ውስተ፡ ፩ቤት፡ ወረደ፡ ላዕሌሆሙ፡ መንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ከመ፡ ዘእሳት፡ ወተናገረ፡ በነገረ፡ ኵሉ፡ በሐውርት፡ ውእቱ መንፈሰከ ፈኑ፡ ዐማዴ፡ ሰማይ፡ ወምድር፡ በርክ፡ ማኅነበረ፡ በኵሉ፡ ጊዜ፡ ወበኵሉ፡ ሰዓት። በ፩ዱ፡ ወልድከ፡ ዘቦቱ፡ ለከ፡ ምስሌሁ፡ ወምስለ፡ ቅዱስ፡ መንፈስ፡ ስብሐት፡ ወአኂዝ፡ ይእዜኒ፡ ወዘልፈኒ፡ ወለዓለመ፡ ዓለም። ይ፡ ሕ፡ አሜን።
English
And again we beseech the God of compassion, who succored Abraham when he was about to slay the kings, who saved Isaac from the sword, who led Jacob on the way and appeared to him in a vision by night at the pillar of Aqemōn, who magnified Joseph in the land of Egypt. O Lord God, our God, pray, say: "People, our Father who art in heaven." O Lord God, who preserved Noah within the ark, and Daniel from the mouth of the lions, and Susanna from the hands of the elders, who gave Samson great help, who led your people by day in a cloud and all night by a pillar of fire, and spoke through the prophets, and revealed your grace to the apostles while they were gathered together in one house, and the Holy Spirit descended upon them like fire and spoke in every tongue. It is he. Send your Spirit throughout heaven and earth, bless the dwelling in every time and every hour. With your only Son, who is of you, with him and with the Holy Spirit, praise and hold now and forever and ever. Amen.
Citation. Tergwame, “And again we beseech the God of compassion”, LIT4859Litany:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/LIT4859Litany#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: $0.0018 · generated 2026-11-15.