A brief history of Saint Yared
Translated from Meleket (EOTC church Bulletin) No 4 Hamle 1986 EC
By Dr. Abebe Kebede

Saint Yared was born on Miazia(April) 5, 525 AD in the city of Axum from his father Abyud (Isaac) and his mother Christina (Tawklia).

His parents were born and raised in Aksum. When Saint Yared was seven years old his father died. His mother gave the young Yared to his uncle Gedeon to raise and take care of him. Gedeon was the Gebez (Treaurer) in Aksum. School was hard for Young Yared. He never understood the Psalms of David. Because of his terrible weakness in school, he was confronted with his angry uncle at home and occasional physical punishment. Young Yared tried to learn and understand the teachings of the church for over seven years, but he always failed. He was tired of the anger and punishment and life was becoming difficult for him.

One day, young Yared ran away. He traveled for the entire day and he came to rest under a tree. He was crying and painfully hungry. In the middle of his anger and frustration, young Yared noticed a small insect trying to climb the tree. The insect tried once, it failed. Tried the second time, it failed again. The insect tried to climb the tree six times and it failed. By the seventh time it succeeded to climb the tree and ate the fruits. Young Yared learnt a great wisdom of God through the little insect.

He went back running to his uncle. He apologized for his behavior. He started school the next day. He finished 150 Psalms of David, the books Prophets, and King Solomon including the translations and the laws of the church. Young Yared became a server of Zion-Axum.

At that time, singing loudly was not allowed. One day, three birds came flying toward young Yared. The first bird was Green, the second bird was yellow, the third bird way red in color. [ Exactly the same as the Ethiopian flag]. The birds exemplified the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The birds also exemplify the melodies named as GeeZ - green bird,Izil - yellow bird and Ararai - red bird. As indicated in Genesis Chapter 22, No 28-31, one of the birds said to Young Yared " Yared the Great one, you are holy, the stomach that carries you is holy". Then the birds disappeared.
Young Yared was deeply contemplating about the heavenly Jerusalem. He heard the angles gathered around God and Begna (Ethiopian Harp).Young Yared learnt the heavenly musical praise. He went back to the city of Axum and entered the church of Zion and stood in front of the Ark of the Covenant ( Tabote Tsion). He started praising the lord by singing in GeeZ loudly

Hale luya le-Ab
Hale luya le-wold
Hale luya le- Menfes qidus
kedamiha le-Tsion Semaye sarere
webedagim arayo le-Muse
Ze-Keme yigebir gebra le-debtera

It is translated as:
Praise be to the Father Praise be to the Son Praise be to the Holy Ghost Prior to Zion God created the Heavens God showed Moses the tent

He called this song the rhythm of Aryam (Zema Aryam). Which means a rhythm that came from the angles or the heavens. This rhythm will never be lost until the end of this world. The Gift of God can never be destroyed by man. Civilizations pass but praising of God in heavenl manner would never cease.
Saint Yared thought us the rhythm of Aryam. While from this world, God chose Saint Yared to hear and learn the songs of the angles in the heavens. He heard something extraordinary, a song for the heart and the soul. He was amazed and mesmerized by that sound from the heavens. He expressed his admiration by singing
Wai Zema ze-sema-Eiku
be-semaiy I-melaIkt qidusan Inze Yiblu
Qidus Qidus Qidus IgeeziAbher
MeliA Semayate We-Medre
Qidisate Sibhatike

This translates as

The Holy of Holy our Lord I heard the angles singing "Your praises saying, Holy Holy o Holy-
a parise that filled the Earth and the Heavens
" What a song it is
What a rhythm it is
What depth it has

Saint Yared served and praised lord. He died on Gunboat (May) 11, 571 AD
God told us to praise him as do the angles following the example of saint Yared. The rhythm and the songs are always new. They never get old. The word Aryam translates as "above all". We can find the word Aryam in several places in the bible. The angles sang "praise be God BeAryam", when Jesus was born from Saint Mary. When Jesus came to Jerusalem on an Ass, the people sang "Hosanna BeAryam".

Saint Yared Musical Notation

Deret: represents the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ
Difat: Jesus came to this world
Zu: Jesus thought us
Qurt: Jesus decided/promised to save Adam from death
Yezet: Jesus was caught and beaten by the Jews
Qinat: Judah has given up Jesus to the Jews
Chiret: Jesus Christ was beaten
Hidet: Jesus was take to Hanna and to Pilatos
Rikrik: JesusRis: The prophesy told by David was realized on Friday.

As you can see, there are lots of secrets that we need to know about ourselves and the design of our society. Like Saint Yared the young generation must inquire, learn by example and specifically learn how to use the traditional knowledge. If we dismiss such profound traditional knowledge, we will become people who cut their heads.

Wesbihat le-amlake abewine

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