saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
; his feast day is 5 December (26 Hedar in the Ethiopian calendar). In life he was an Ethiopian
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
and abbot of
Istifanos Monastery
Istifanos Monastery (or St Stephen Monastery) is a monastery in Ethiopia, located in Lake Hayq
Lake Hayq ( Amharic: ሐይቅ ሐይቅ, ) is a freshwater lake of Ethiopia. It is located north of Dessie, in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Re ...
in
Lake Hayq
Lake Hayq ( Amharic: ሐይቅ ሐይቅ, ) is a freshwater lake of Ethiopia. It is located north of Dessie, in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region. The town of Hayq is to the west of the lake.
Lake Hayq is 6.7 km long and 6 km w ...
of
Amba Sel
Ambassel (Amharic: ዐምባሰል) is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, and an ''amba'', or mountain fortress, located in the woreda. The word Ambasel is derived from two words "Amba" from the Amharic word for plateau, and “Asel” from the ...
.
Life
Iyasus was born in Dehana, which may have been the
woreda
Districts of Ethiopia, also called woredas ( am, ወረዳ; ''woreda''), are the third level of the administrative divisions of Ethiopia – after ''zones'' and the '' regional states''.
These districts are further subdivided into a number of ...
in the
Wag Hemra Zone
Wag Hemra (Amharic: ዋግ ኽምራ) is a Zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Its name is a combination of the former province of Wag, and the dominant local ethnic group, the Kamyr (or "Hemra") Agaw. Wag Hemra is bordered on the south by ...
, although
G.W.B. Huntingford
George Wynn Brereton Huntingford (19 November 1901 – 19 February 1978) was an English linguist, anthropologist and historian. He lectured in East African languages and cultures at SOAS, University of London from 1950 until 1966.Tekeze River.Huntingford, ''The Historical Geography of Ethiopia'' (London: The British Academy, 1989), p. 74 At the age of 30, Iyasus Mo'a travelled to the monastery of
Debre Damo
Debre Damo (), also spelled Debre Dammo, Dabra Dāmmo or Däbrä Dammo), is the name of a flat-topped mountain, or amba, and a 6th-century monastery in Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The mountain is a steeply rising plateau of trapezoidal shape, abou ...
during the abbacy of Abba Yohannis where he was made a monk, and was given arduous tasks by the abbot. After seven years, he left Debra Damo and came to live with a hermetic community around the eighth-century church of Istanafanos at Lake Hayq, and organized this group into a monastery with rules and a school. One of the students of this school was Saint
Tekle Haymanot
Abune Tekle Haymanot ( Ge'ez: አቡነ ተክለ ሃይማኖት; known in the Coptic Church as Saint Takla Haymanot of Ethiopia; 1215 – 1313) was an Ethiopian saint and monk mostly venerated as a hermit. He was the Abuna of Ethiopia who f ...
, who stayed at the monastery for 10 years. One of the Zagwe kings later made him abbot of this monastery.
His biography, the ''Gadla Iyasus Mo'a'' ("Acts of Iyasus Mo'a"), records that
Yekuno Amlak
Yekuno Amlak ( Ge’ez: ይኩኖ አምላክ); throne name Tasfa Iyasus (ተስፋ ኢየሱስ; died 19 June 1285) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, which lasted until 1974. He was a ruler from Bete Amhara (i ...
had fled from the authorities in Amba Sel and hid in the church because of a prophecy (''tinbit'') that he would become a king. His mother, upon hearing such prediction, brought him to
Istifanos Monastery
Istifanos Monastery (or St Stephen Monastery) is a monastery in Ethiopia, located in Lake Hayq
Lake Hayq ( Amharic: ሐይቅ ሐይቅ, ) is a freshwater lake of Ethiopia. It is located north of Dessie, in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Re ...
in Lake Hayq and begged the priests there to hide her son and save him from being killed. Iyasus Mo'a protected and educated the boy, and in return, Emperor Yekuno Amlak built the structure to house his community. Later hagiographies state that Yekuno Amlak was helped by Tekle Haymanot, but the critical researches of
Carlo Conti Rossini
Carlo Conti Rossini (1872–1949) was an Italian orientalist.
He was director of the State Treasury from 1917 to 1925, a member of the Accademia dei Lincei in 1921 and Royal Academy of Italy from 1939. He wrote various works on the historical g ...
suggest that the ''Gadla Iyasus Mo'a'' is closer to the correct version of events.Taddesse Tamrat, ''Church and State'', p. 67.