Ethiopians celebrating Ketera, eve of Epiphany across the nation

Addis Ababa, January 18,2022 (FBC) – Ketera Festival, eve of Timket Holiday is being celebrated among Christian faithful across Ethiopia.

The Timket-Ketera Festival or Ethiopian Epiphany is one of the intangible heritages of the country inscribed by UNESCO marks the travel of Jesus Christ from Galilee to River Jordan and his baptism by John the Baptist.

The Tabots which are replica of the Ark of the Covenant have been delivered from churches to special places designated for Timket festival celebration.

Hundreds of thousands of faithful and clergymen singing and chanting hymns, have accompanied the Tabots with huge processions to the places that symbolize the River Jordan where the vigil of the Holiday, the sermon and spray of the holy water will take place beginning from the vigil to the mid-day of tomorrow as part of the celebration.

Here in Addis Ababa, hundred thousands of faithful have flocked to Jan Meda, major celebration place, and other designated places in other districts of the city accompanied the Tabots. Many Ethiopians and visitors have also congregated in Gondar City where Timket is also celebrated in a more colorful manner. Yesterday, 22 local flights have been carried out to Gondar city as many were traveling to the historical town to attend the Timket festival.

Many followers will spend the whole night attending the vigil and sermons of the Holyday.

From the point of view of Ethiopian Church theology, one of the significance of baptism is the revelation of Trinity. As Jesus was being baptized, the Word of God the father came from Heaven came from heaven saying Jesus is the true son and then the Holy Spirit descended on him in the form of a Dove. That is one of the instances the trinity is revealed, based on the teachings of the Ethiopian church the story of which is in Mathew’s gospel, chapter three.