Mazgaba Maṣāḥəft

Title

• Dabra Zamaddo's three adulterous priests who are revealed and defrocked

Description

There was a church in Ethiopia where three priests resided, all of whom were serial adulterers. Mary was aware of their sins, and she induced them to confess. On the day of Berhan, the people of the country gathered in the church for mass. While the priests were still in the beta lehem ("house of bread;" i.e., the building where the Eucharist is prepared), they decided that if the people were unable to name their deeds, then they would excommunicate them. The priests announced their ultimatum, and the people, who knew of the priests’ sins, responded by calling out their adultery. Upon hearing this answer, the priests refused to celebrate mass, and they buried the Eucharist in the ground. Astonished, the people brought the priests before the metropolitan, Abbuna Marqos, who immediately demoted the priests. He also severely chastised the people for allowing known sinners to perform the mass. After the people returned home to reconsecrate their church, a thunderbolt came down on the shrine, throwing the clergy to the ground and displacing the Eucharist. When the clergy found the Eucharist, they also discovered the Eucharist the sinful priests had buried. Mary put it into their mind to bring the buried Eucharist to the metropolitan, who broke it into three pieces, keeping two pieces and returning the third.