Giyorgis of Segla

Giyorgis' work has had great influence on Ethiopian monastic calendars, hymns and Ge'ez literature. He is considered one of the most important Ge'ez writers in fifteenth-century Ethiopia.

Giyorgis was involved in a controversy concerning Sabbath in Christianity and consequentially fell into disfavor of emperor Dawit I. He managed to continue his work later in life, under the reigns of Tewodros I and Yeshaq I.

Disputed identity

It is possible that two or three prominent religious figures have been mixed into the same figure in Ethiopian Church tradition, and Giyorgis' identity remains uncertain. One theory is that Abba Giyorgis of Dabra Bahrey and Giyorgis of Segla (or Gasicha) are separate persons who lived in the mid-14th century. Abba Giyorgis of Dabra Bahrey may have flourished during the reign of emperor Amda Seyon I (1314–1344). He would have been the disciple of saint Iyasus Mo'a at the monastery of Hayq. Giyorgis of Segla (died between 1424 and 1426) would have been the writer, the preacher and the musician. A single remaining copy of his Gadl is being kept in the monastery of Hayq. Gadl (Saint's Life) is a traditional form of Ge'ez hagiography written by disciples of the saints after their demise.

Early life

It is said that he was born either in Tigray or Wollo and that his parents were of noble descent.

His father was known by his contemporaries as "a comprehender of the Scriptures like Salathiel" (Salathiel refers to Ezra the Scribe) and his mother was Emmena Seyon. Giyorgis is among the monks who are claimed to have been students of Ethiopian saint and monastic leader Iyasus Mo'a at Lake Hayq's prominent monastery, which had become a place of pilgrimage already during Iyasus Mo'a's lifetime. The beginning of Giyorgis' career was not without hardship. He was so slow in learning that his teacher had lost hope at one point. Ethiopian education of the time relied heavily on memorization, and without showing ability one would not get very far in studies where knowledge was preserved orally. It has been told that: A late 17th-century Ethiopian book from Gondar, the Miracles of Mary (Te'amire Maryam), includes a story how Virgin Mary favored Giyorgis' book of hours. Notably Giyorgis' student and future emperor Zara Yaqob held very similar theological views throughout his life. Giyorgis' thoughts concerning the Sabbath, however, got him into trouble with other churchmen and Dawit I, who imprisoned him. With the book, Giyorgis also attempted to refute heretical beliefs. It is an extensive anti-heretical work composed of 30 chapters. Treatises on heresy are meant to be read during important feast days of the Ethiopian Church. Each treatise concentrates on a different heretical doctrine, and the book refutes them one by one. The book was completed on 21 June 1424. It is the most important original Ethiopian theological work. At the monastery named after him, there is a crosscut in warka tree's bark claimed to have been left behind by Giyorgis himself.

Hymnody

In addition to being a renowned author of religious books, Giyorgis also composed hymns, such as ones in honor of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. He authored a collection of hymns that competed with other hymnals of the time for recognition as the hymnal of the Ethiopian Church's saints, and its contents leaned towards viewpoints of the Roman Catholic Church at a remarkably early date. Emperor Zara Yaqob's hymnal, however, was the most successful one. Under Giyorgis' leadership, scholars from Debre Negudgad and Debre-Egziabiher separated hymns of the fasting season into their own section. This was an innovation compared to the traditional division of Saint Yared's 6th century hymnals (degua) which featured only three divisions. The full extent of Giyorgis' compositions is unknown, and various local anaphoras of the Divine Liturgy may have been originally composed by him.

Relying on the authority of the Jubilee and Enoch calendars was possible because both the Book of Jubilees and Enoch are part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's Biblical canon. The Church, however, had already long before switched to the 365-day Ethiopian calendar (based on the Julian calendar). In effect, this meant that Giyorgis' calculation would have no practical impact on the liturgical year of the Church.

Giyorgis lays out his idea in the following passage of his Sermon on the First Sabbath:

This can be summarized as:

Works Book of Hours [for the Daytime] (Sa'atat) Book of Hymns Hymns of Praise (Enzira Sebhat) Arganonä Maryam (The Organ of mary) Saqoqāwa dǝngǝl (Lament of the Virgin) Fékkare haymanot (Synopsis of the Faith) Hohétä Bérhan (The Gate of Light)