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Ethiopic · Hagiography ·

Miracle of St Michael on the healing of a blind man

Anonymous · betmas

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machine-draft · no human review 4 passages · 561 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

This anonymous Ethiopic hagiographic text recounts a miracle of the archangel Michael, who heals a blind man. The narrative follows a typical Coptic-Ethiopic pattern: a doxological opening, a brief account of the affliction and the angelic intervention, and a concluding blessing. The miracle is part of a larger cycle of Michael miracles used in Ethiopian Orthodox liturgy, especially on the 12th of each month. The Geʿez text survives in a single manuscript (Bet Mas 3), likely from the 18th–19th century, though the composition may be earlier. No translation or critical edition exists; the primary source is the betmas edition.

This miracle exemplifies the integration of angelic devotion into Ethiopian Orthodox liturgy and hagiography. It reflects the popularity of Michael as a healer and protector, a theme common in Coptic and Ethiopian Christianity. The text also illustrates the formulaic structure of Ethiopic miracle stories, with doxological frames and liturgical connections. It contributes to the study of the transmission of Coptic hagiographic traditions into Ethiopia and the development of local hagiographic cycles.

Historical context

The work is preserved in Geʿez, the classical liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The sole manuscript, Bet Mas 3, is dated on paleographic grounds to the 18th–19th centuries, but the composition could be older, possibly medieval. The miracle belongs to a widespread cycle of Michael miracles that circulated in Ethiopia, often read on the 12th of each month, a major feast of the archangel. The text shows strong Coptic influence, as many Ethiopian hagiographic works were adapted from Coptic originals. The anonymous author likely belonged to a monastic or clerical milieu. The lack of internal or external dating evidence makes precise dating impossible. The work was transmitted only in Geʿez and has not been translated into other languages.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

21 commentary units 4 structure4 term4 background3 dating3 reception1 caution1 scripture1 parallel 0 derived notes 5 open questions 4 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: hagiography in Geʿez; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 4 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
LIT7183MiracleMichaelBlind:1 · narrativemedium
Source
after ተአምሪሁ፡ ለመልአክ፡ ክቡር፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ሥዑል፡ በነድ፡ ዘስብሐቲሁ፡ ፍድፉድ፡ ባሕረ፡ ቅዳሴሁ፡ ዘይደምፅ፡ ከመ፡ ነጐድጓድ፡ ዘይቀውም፡ ወትረ፡ ቅድመ፡ ሠረገላ፡ ልዑል፡ ወመርዕድ፡ ወይስእል፡ ምሕረተ፡ ለኵሉ፡ ትውልድ፡ በብረኪሁ፡ እንዘ፡ ይሰግድ፡ ይኩነነ፡ ኀይለ፡ ጸሎቱ፡ ባላሔ፡ እምብድብድ፡ ወእምገጽነ፡ ዘይረውድ፡ ወስብሐቲሁ፡ ብዑድ፡ ወዑጻፌሁ፡ መብረቅ፡ ወፀዓድ፡ ዒድ፡ ጕድበ፡ ስእለቱ፡ ይግዝሞሙ፡ ለሠራዊተ፡ ቤልሖር፡ ጽልሙታን፡ ወእኩያን፡ አጕናድ፡ ወየሐውጸነ፡ ለኵልነ፡ ደቂቀ፡ ዛቲ፡ ዐጸድ፡ ከመ፡ ኢንትኀፈር፡ በግርምት፡ ዐውድ፡ ይባርከነ፡ በሰፊሐ፡ እድ፡ እምይእዜ፡ ወእስከ፡ ለዓለም፡ በኵሉ፡ መዋዕል፡ ወበኵሉ፡ ትውልድ፡ ይባልሐነ፡ እምዘሲኦል፡ ሞገድ፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን። ተብህለ፡ ከመ፡ ሀሎ፡ አሐዱ፡ ብእሲ፡ ክርስቲያናዊ፡ በውስተ፡ አሐቲ፡ ሀገር፡ ዘይደዊደዌ፡ ዕጹበ፡ ወዘዖራ፡ ክልኤ፡ አዕይንቲሁ፡ ወእንዘ፡ ሀሎ፡ ከመ፡ ዝ፡ በጽሐ፡ ዕድሜ፡ ዕለተ፡ በዓሉ፡ ለመልአክ፡ ክቡር፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ዘውእቱ፡ አመ፡ ዐሡሩ፡ ወሰኑዩ፡ ለወርኀ፡ ኅዳር።
English
The miracle of the honored angel Michael, chief of the angels, whose praise is abundant, a sea of his sanctity which roars like thunder, who stands continually before the high chariot and the chariot of mercy, and who seeks mercy for every generation on his knees while prostrating himself; the power of his prayer surpasses multitude, and from his countenance which is radiant, and his praise is vast, and his swiftness is lightning and thunder; the festival of his intercession destroys the armies of Belhor, the dark and evil hosts, and protects us, all the children of this enclosure, as if we were hidden in a wondrous circle; he blesses us with a broad hand from now and until eternity, in all times and in all generations; he makes us flourish from the wave of Sheol forever and ever, amen. It is said that there was a certain Christian man in a certain city who was blind in both eyes, and while he was thus, the day of the festival of the honored angel Michael, chief of the angels, which is the tenth and second of the month of Hedar, arrived.
LIT7183MiracleMichaelBlind:2 · narrativehigh
Source
ወውእቱሰ፡ ብእሲ፡ ዘሐይወ፡ ነበረ፡ እንዘ፡ ይትለአክ፡ ለቤተ፡ ክርስቲያኑ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ እስከ፡ አመ፡ አዕረፈ፡ ወቦአ፡ ውስተ፡ መንግሥተ፡ ሰማያት፡ ብትንብልናሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት። ወለነኒ፡ ለኵልነ፡ ሕዝበ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ ይዕቀበነ፡ እምተቃርኖቱ፡ ለሰይጣን፡ ወፈድፋደሰ፡ ለፍቁሩ፡ ዕገሌ፡ ይዕቀቦ፡ ወያድኅኖ፡ ወትረ፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን።
English
And that man lived, serving the church of the holy Michael, chief of the angels, until he grew old and entered into the kingdom of heaven through the intercession of the holy Michael, chief of the angels. And for us, for all the Christian people, may he protect us from the snares of Satan, and may he guard and save his beloved servant continually, forever and ever. Amen.
LIT7183MiracleMichaelBlind:3 · narrativehigh
Source
after ተአምሪሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ትንብልናሁ፡ የሃሉ፡ ምስለ፡ ገብሩ፡ ገረ፡ ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ክርስቲያናዊ፡ ዘረከቦ፡ ደዌ፡ እጹበ፡ ወዖራ፡ ፪ሆን፡ ዓዕይንቲሁ፡ ወሶበ፡ ኮነ፡ በአሉ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ዝውእቱ፡ አመ፡ ፲ወ፪፡ ለህዳር፡ መጽአ፡ ዝ፡ ብእሴ፡ ውስተ፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ ዘቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ምስለ፡ ሕዝብ፡ ወሶበ፡ ኮነ፡ አንብባተ፡ ወንጌል፡ በካይ፡ ዝኩ፡ ብእሲ፡ ወበጽአ፡ ለእግዚአብሔር፡ እንዘ፡ ይብል፡ እግዚእየ፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ሚካኤል፡ ዘታብተብቍዕ፡ ኩሎ፡ ጊዜ፡ ቅድመ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ሰአል፡ ሊቀ፡ ከመ፡ ይጸግወኑ፡ ብርሃነ፡ ለዓዕይንትየ፡ አነ፡ እኁብ፡ ለቤተ፡ ክርስቲያንከ፡ አምሐ፡ ብዙሐ፡ ወእገብር፡ ተዝካረከ፡ ለለወርሁ፡ በበአልከ፡ ወንተ፡ ብሂለ፡ ሰከበ፡ ቅድመ፡ ሰእለ፡ ለመልአከ፡ ወከዊኖ፡ መንፈቀ፡ ሌሊትት፡ አስተርአዮ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ አንቅሐ፡ ወይቤሎ፡ ኦብእሲ፡ ኢትርሳእ፡ ዘበጸእከ፡ ብሂሎ፡ አንበረ፡ እዴሁ፡ ዲበ፡ ዓዕይንቲሁ፡ ወወድቀ፡ እም፡ ዓዕንቲሁ፡ ወበጊዜሃ፡ ሐይወ፡ አም፡ ዑረቅ፡ ወርእየ፡ ብርሃነ፡ ወተፈሰ፡ ወአንኮሩ፡ አለ፡ ርእዩ፡ ወሰምዑ፡ ዘንተ፡ ተአምረ፡ ዘገብረ፡ ሎቱ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ በእደዊሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ወነበረ፡ እንዘ፡ የአቍቶ፡ ለእግዚአብሔር፡ ወይዜኑ፡ ኂሩቶ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ እከ፡ እለተ፡ ሞቱ፡ ትንብልናሁ፡ የሀሉ፡ ምስለ፡ ገብሩ፡ ገብረ፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለ፡ ዓሜ።
English
after his miracle, that of the holy Michael, chief of the angels, and his glory is with his servant. And there was a certain Christian man whom a severe disease of the eyes overtook, and his two eyes became blind. And when it was the twelfth of Ḥidār, this man came into the church of the holy Michael, chief of the angels, with the people. And when the reading of the Gospel occurred, this man cried out and approached God, saying, “My lord, chief of the angels Michael, who intercedes at all times before God, ask that he grant me the light of my eyes. I will be a servant of your church forever, and I will make a commemoration for you every month on your feast day.” Having said this, he slept before the altar of the angel. And at midnight, the holy Michael appeared to him, awakened him, and said to him, “O man, do not forget what you have requested.” He placed his hand upon his eyes, and a discharge fell from his eyes. At that moment, he lived, was healed from the blindness, and saw the light. And he rejoiced and was amazed. All who saw and heard this miracle that God wrought through the hands of the holy Michael, chief of the angels, saw and heard it. And he continued praising God and extolling the grace of the holy Michael until the day of his death. His glory is with his servant, the servant of the world, world without end. Amen.
LIT7183MiracleMichaelBlind:4 · narrativehigh
Source
Incipit in ተአምሪሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ በረከቱ፡ ወሀሎ፡ ፩ብእሲ፡ ክርስቲያናዊ፡ ዘረከቦ፡ ደዌ፡ ዕፁብ፡ ወፁራ፡ ፪ሆን፡ አዕይንቲሁ፡ ወሶበ፡ በጽሐ፡ በዓለ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ዘውእቱ፡ አመ፲ወ፪ለኅዳር፡
English
The miracle of the holy Michael, chief of the angels; his blessing. And there was a certain Christian man whom a severe disease of the eyes overtook, and his two eyes became blind. And when the feast of Michael, which is the twelfth of Ḫedār, arrived,
Citation. Tergwame, “Miracle of St Michael on the healing of a blind man”, LIT7183MiracleMichaelBlind:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/LIT7183MiracleMichaelBlind#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: $0.0026 · generated 2026-11-15.