Debre Genet ST. TEKLE HAYMANOT ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH TORONTO.

Tekle Haymanot or Takla Haymanot (Ge'ez ተክለ፡ ሃይማኖት takla hāymānōt, modern tekle hāymānōt, "Plant of Faith"; known in the Coptic Church as Saint Takla Haymanot of Ethiopia) (c. 1215 – c. 1313) was an Ethiopian monk who founded a major monastery in his native province of Shewa..

Early Life

Tekle Haymanot was born in Zorare, a district in Selale which lies on the eastern edge of Shewa. He was the son of the priest Tsega Zeab ("Gift of Faith") and his wife Egzi'e Haraya ("Choice of God"), who is also known as Sarah; Tekle Haymanot was born after his parents, who had failed to have children, pledged their firstborn to God. According to tradition, his ancestors had been Christians from Tigray who had settled in Shewa ten generations before.[3]

During his youth, Shewa was subject to a number of devastating raids by Motalami, the pagan king of Damot, which lay beyond the Jamma River. One of Motalami's most notorious predations was the raid which led to the abduction of Egzi'e Haraya; she was reunited with Sagaz Ab through the intercession of the Archangel Michael.[4] These raids weakened the morale of the Christians in Shewa, and strengthened the practice of paganism. There are a number of traditions, some of less historical value than others, which describe Tekle Haymanot's interactions with Motalami.

His father gave Tekle Haymanot his earliest religious instruction; later he was ordained a priest by the Egyptian Bishop Cyril (known as Qerilos in Arabic).

Later career

The first significant event in his life was when Tekle Haymanot, at the age of 30, travelled north to seek further religious education. His journey took him from Selale to Grarya, then Katata, Damot, Amhara,[4] to end at the monastery of Iyasus Mo'a, who had only a few years before founded a monastery on an island in the middle of Lake Hayq in the district of Amba Sel (the present-day Amhara Region).

There Tekle Haymanot studied under the abbot for nine years before travelling to Tigray, where he visited Axum, then stayed for a while at the monastery of Debre Damo, where he studied under Abbot Yohannes, Iyasus Mo'a's spiritual teacher. By this point, a small group of followers began to attach themselves around him, attracted by Tekle Haymanot's reputation.