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In prayer to Our Lady Mary, birthgiver of God and in prayer to St Michael, the archangel ...

Anonymous · betmas

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 398 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

This anonymous Geʿez prayer addresses the Virgin Mary as 'birthgiver of God' (wālāditā ʾamlāk) and the archangel Michael, forming part of a larger corpus of Ethiopian Orthodox devotional texts. The work includes a prayer sequence, a list of divine or angelic names, and a concluding blessing. It invokes celestial beings such as the 'twenty-four priests of heaven' and the 'four living creatures,' and contains obscure names said to be written by Christ on Michael's wings. The text is preserved in the manuscript tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, with the source edition identified as betmas. It is used in liturgical and private prayer, reflecting Miaphysite Christology and angelological piety.

This prayer exemplifies the integration of Marian devotion, angel veneration, and apotropaic name-lists in Ethiopian Orthodox piety. It relates to other Ethiopic prayers to Mary and Michael, such as the 'Prayer of the Virgin Mary at Bartos' and the 'Homily on the Annunciation and Incarnation,' and to broader traditions of Theotokos veneration in Miaphysite Christianity. The work also preserves distinctive Geʿez angelological terminology, such as 'priests of heaven' for the twenty-four elders.

Historical context

The prayer is transmitted in Geʿez, the classical liturgical language of Ethiopia, and is part of the manuscript tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The source edition (betmas) provides no critical apparatus, limiting its use for textual criticism. The work is anonymous and undated; its composition likely falls within the medieval period of Ethiopian hagiographic literature, but no precise dating is possible. The title 'birthgiver of God' (wālāditā ʾamlāk) is a standard translation of the Greek Theotokos, a title affirmed at the Council of Ephesus (431 CE) and central to Miaphysite Christology. The 'twenty-four priests of heaven' echo the twenty-four elders of Revelation 4:4, while the 'four living creatures' (arbaʿtu ʾənsəsa) derive from Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4:6–8. The list of names in paragraph 110 (Ekos, Asle, etc.) appears to be a series of divine or angelic names, possibly of Coptic or Semitic origin, used in protective or invocatory contexts. Similar lists occur in other Ethiopic prayer texts, such as the 'Prayer of the Virgin Mary at Bartos' (dossier:ethiopic-anonymous-prayer-mary-bartos) and the 'Homily on the Annunciation and Incarnation' (dossier:ethiopic-anonymous-homily-annunciation-incarnation). The names in paragraph 112 (Aka', Ksabel, etc.) are said to be written by Christ on Michael's wings, but the text is obscure and may be corrupt. The sequence includes recognizable divine epithets (Shadday, Tseba'ot, Adonai).

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

12 commentary units 4 term2 structure2 background2 caution1 scripture1 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: hagiography 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
LIT7862PrSatan:1 · narrativemedium
Source
The following text is based on the edition of in 43–45 . ፻፰፤ በጸሎታ፡ ለእግዝእትነ፡ ማርያም፡ ወላዲተ፡ አምላክ፡ ወበጸሎቱ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ ወበስእለቱ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ገብርኤል፡ ዜናዊ፡ ትፍሥሕት፡ ወሐሤት፡ ወበጸሎቶሙ፡ ለዕሥራ፡ ወአርባዕቱ፡ ካህናተ፡ ሰማይ፡ ወበስእለቶሙ፡ ለአርባዕቱ፡ እንስሳ፡ ወበጸሎቶሙ፡ ለቅዱሳን፡ ወሰማዕት፡ ወኄራን፡ መላእክት፡ መንፈሳውያን፡ ወለነኒ፡ ይምሐረነ፡ ወይሣህለነ፡ ለኵልነ፡ ውሉደ፡ ጥምቀት፤ ወያድኅነነ፡ እመሣግሪሁ፡ ለሰይጣን። ፻፱፤ በረከተ፡ ጸሎቱ፡ ወሀብተ፡ ረድኤቱ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ የሀሉ፡ ምስሌነ፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን። ፻፲፤ ኤኮስ፡ አስሌ፡ ኤፓ፡ ኤፓስ፡ ኤነከምካም፡ ኤቦካ፡ ኪሮም፡ ለካፍ፡ ፌኤ፡ ሎኬ፡ ወአርናኬ፡ ጓ፡ አብሶላ፡ አስቤክ፡ አበሳኩ፡ አሜዕ፡ አውጽ፡ ኤቃ፡ ኤጴ፡ ካብዕ፡ ሬው፡ አርሂሊ፡ አዮን፡ ያብሳት፡ ጸ። ፻፲፩ ፤ ለዘተአመነ፡ በጸሎቱ፡ ወበስእለቱ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት፡ በትንብልናሃ፡ ወበአስተብቍዖታ፡ ለእግዝእትነ፡ ማርያም፡ ወላዲተ፡ አምላክ፡ ያድኅነነ፡ ወልዳ፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም። ፻፲፪፤ አካዕ፡ ክስብኤል፡ ቤቃ፡ ጼቃ፡ ሴቃ፡ አልፋ፡ ወዖ፡ ቤጣ፡ የውጣ፡ ዮድ፡ አህያ፡ ሸራህያኤል፡ ሻዳይ፡ ጸባኦት፡ አዶናይ፡ ዐማኑኤል፡ እልመክኑን፡ ወእሎንተ፡ አስማተ፡ ጸሐፈ፡ እግዚእነ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ላዕለ፡ አክናፊሁ፡ ለቅዱስ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ሊቀ፡ መላእክት።
English
108. By the prayer of our Lady Mary, birthgiver of God, and by the prayer of the holy Michael, chief of the angels, and by the intercession of the holy Gabriel, the herald of joy and gladness, and by the prayers of the twenty-four priests of heaven, and by the intercession of the four living creatures, and by the prayers of the saints, martyrs, and the good spiritual angels, may He have mercy upon us and be gracious to us, all of us children of baptism, and may He save us from the snares of Satan. 109. May the blessing of the prayer and the gift of the aid of the holy Michael be with us forever and ever. Amen. 110. Ekos, Asle, Epa, Epas, Enakemkam, Eboka, Kirom, Lakaf, Fe'e, Loke, and Arnake, Gu'a, Absola, Asbek, Abesaku, Ame', Awts, Eka, Epe, Kab'e, Rew, Arhili, Ayon, Yabsat, Tse'a. 111. For the one who believes in the prayer and intercession of the holy Michael, chief of the angels, through the humility and supplication of our Lady Mary, birthgiver of God, may He save us and our children forever and ever. 112. Aka', Ksabel, Beqa, Tseqa, Seq'a, Alfa, and 'O, Beta, Yawta, Yod, Ahya, Sherahya'el, Shadday, Tseba'ot, Adonay, 'Amanu'el, Elmaknenun, and these names which our Lord Jesus Christ wrote upon the wings of the holy Michael, chief of the angels.
LIT7862PrSatan:2 · narrativehigh
Source
ወበእሉ፡ አስማት፡ ወድቀ፡ ዲያብሎስ፡ ምስለ፡ ሠራዊቱ፡ ተዐጺፎ፡ ጽልመተ፡ ሌሊት፡ ከማሁ፡ አውደቆሙ፡ ለፀርየ፡ ወጸላእትየ፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን። ፻፲፬፤ ኦ፡ እግዚእየ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ክርስቶስ፡ ወልደ፡ እግዚአብሔር፡ ሕያው፡ ወወልደ፡ ማርያም፡ ሥግው፡ በዝ፡ ቃል፡ ዕቀብ፡ ነፍስነ፡ ወሥጋነ፡ እምሀጕል፡ እንበይነ፡ ሥጋከ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ወደምከ፡ ጥሉል። ፻፲፭፤ በእንተ፡ ሚካኤል፡ ወገብርኤል፡ ወበእንተ፡ ሱራፌል፡ ወኪሩቤል፡ በእንተ፡ አፍኒን፡ ወሳቁኤል፡ በእንተ፡ ዑራኤል፡ ወሩፋኤል፡ ወፋኑኤል፡ ወበእንተ፡ ነቢያት፡ ወሐዋርያት፡ ወበእንተ፡ ጻድቃን፡ ወሰማዕታት፡ እለ፡ ተጸውዐ፡ ስሞሙ፡ ወእለ፡ ኢተጽውዓ፡ አስማቲሆሙ፡ ኅቡረ፡ ይምሐረነ፡ እግዚአብሔር። ፻፲፮፤ እንበይነ፡ ኪዳኑ፡ ለሚካኤል፡ መልአከ፡ ምክርከ፡ ወገብርኤል፡ አብሣሬ፡ ትስብእቱ፡ ለወልድከ፡ ሥረይ፡ ኀጢአትየ፡ ወኀጢአተ፡ ኵሉ፡ ሕዝብከ። ፻፲፯፤ እስመ፡ አንተ፡ ውእቱ፡ እግዚአ፡ ሕያዋን፡ ወሙታን፡ ለዓለመ፡ ዓለም፡ አሜን፡ ወአሜን፡ ለይኩን፡ ለይኩን።
English
and by these names, the Devil fell with his armies, defeated, into the darkness of night; likewise, may you cast down my enemies and adversaries for ever and ever. Amen. 114. O my Lord Jesus Christ, living Son of God and incarnate Son of Mary, by this word preserve our soul and our body from harm, by the intercession of your holy body and your pure blood. 115. By Michael and Gabriel, and by Sərafel and Kərubel, by ʾAfnin and Saquʾel, by ʿUraʾel and Rufaʾel and Fanuʾel, and by the prophets and apostles, and by the righteous and martyrs, those whose names are invoked and those whose names are not invoked, may God have mercy on us together. 116. By the covenant of Michael, angel of your counsel, and of Gabriel, the herald of your incarnation, forgive my sins and the sins of all your people. 117. For you are the Lord of the living and the dead, for ever and ever. Amen and amen, let it be, let it be.
Citation. Tergwame, “In prayer to Our Lady Mary, birthgiver of God and in prayer to St Michael, the archangel ...”, LIT7862PrSatan:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/LIT7862PrSatan#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: $0.0020 · generated 2026-11-15.