One of the earliest accounts of a conversion in the Acts of the Apostles (which some have called the "Gospel of the Holy Spirit") is that of the Ethiopian Eunuch of Queen Candace by St Philip.  After riding with him and explaining to him the Scripture he was reading, the Eunuch turned to St Philip and asked what was preventing him from being baptized in the water they were beside?  Afterwards, the Spirit took St Philip away for other tasks.  The Ethiopian tradition has had an impact throughout Europe, including Ukraine and the Kyivan Church.  Here is how . . .

It was the famous Queen of Sheba whose memory Christ honoured in the Gospels referred to her as the "Queen of the South" who came to Jerusalem to meet King Solomon.

A philosopher and truth-seeker in her own right, she came to accept the One God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and brought the religion of Israel home with her.

That is not all she brought home, however.  Solomon was so taken by her that he had a brief, but passionate love affair with her.  Legend has it that of all the women he knew, he loved Queen Makeda the most.  But she was the one that got away!

The Queen became pregnant, however, and gave birth to Ethiopia's first Emperor, Menelik I.

Menelik later went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to see "dear old dad" who received him warmly.

Legend has it that Menelik, apparently feeling that he needed one more souvenir of his visit, took the Tablets of the Law with him to Ethiopia where he deposited the Ark at the religious capital of Axum.  They are there to this day and it is forbidden to gaze upon them!

Archaeologists today say that the "Tsilat" that St Menelik took was one of several Arks that were around at that time.

With the coming of Christianity through St Eunuchus and Queen St Candace, along with the Apostles Philip and Matthew, Ethiopia amalgamated its Judaic traditions with Christianity and the spiritistic cults of its people.

To this day, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (of the Oriental Orthodox family) is unique in its traditions.

It practices circumcision at Baptism, for example.  Shoes are removed when going to Church.  The staff of Moses called the "Miquamia" is employed for ceremonial, musical (tapping on the floor) and physical support purposes.  The prayer shawl is worn by all as a necessary garment for attending Church as are white caps worn by all men.

A cord is worn around the neck in memory of St Peter's cords that he cut from his own shawl and tied around those he was baptizing in the River Jordan.

Ethiopian Crosses are many and varied.  Hand Crosses abound.  They often have the Tablets of the Ark depicted on them.

Each Ethiopian Church has a beautifully constructed Ark of the Covenant that is named after a Saint and decorated with Crosses.  They take at face value Christ's words that He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.

The Divine Presence is contained in both the Cross as well as the Ark, in the Ethiopian tradition!

A characteristic feature of Ethiopian Christianity is liturgical dance in imitation of King David who danced before the Ark which is sacred because it bears the name of God and His Law.

Old Testament Saints are especially honoured in Ethiopia, with the Feast of Sts. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ranking as a national day.

And St Pontius Pilate and his wife St Procla have their feast on June 25^th! The veneration of Pilate is based on an apocryphal account that portrays Pilate doing penance for crucifying Christ and then dying by beheading.

The Ethiopian tradition also honours Alexander the Great as a prophet, following in this the Islamic tradition ("Nabi Iskander" or "the Prophet Alexander") as well as in some other points.

The Ethiopian Church is truly a grand expression of the fullness and richness of Ethiopian culture!

European visitors to Ethiopia, especially the Knights Templar who escaped there after their defeat at Akkar, were mesmerized by Ethiopian civilization.

The Ethiopians often wrote Icons depicting the Mother of God and Christ with dark skin.

While it was natural for an African people to do this, the underlying iconographical reason was unique.

They were devoted to the Mother of Light and so thought of St Mary bathed in the Light of God.

As anything that is put up toward the sun turns black, so too was the Mother of God painted with dark skin!

And so the tradition of the Mother of Light with dark skin was brought to Europe.  The Ukrainian icon of the Black Madonna, now at Czestochowa, is of this tradition.  

Many Templar promontories in Western Europe also have Shrines to Black Madonnas.  These Shrines are also decorated with the Star of David in the middle of which is a Cross - an Ethiopian emblem adopted by the Knights.  

The Knights had, in fact, adopted so many Ethiopian religious traditions, the original meaning of which they had forgotten, that they were accused of playing at"black magic" on the basis of foreign practices that appeared very strange to the European mind.

The Ukrainian Kozaks also adopted this same Cross, the Cross of Emperor St Lalibela which became uniform for most Knightly orders in Europe.

Other Coptic influences on the Kyivan Church could possibly be explained by the fact that Coptic and Ethiopian bishops were sometimes banished to the Crimea which was a kind of "spiritual Australia" for excommunicated persons and others who were "non grata" such as the Oriental Orthodox Saint Timothy Aelurus.  

The Ethiopian heritage is one that sets an example regarding how the Church can and should link itself with the culture of the people.  

As a unique blend of Coptic Christianity and Judaic practices, the Ethiopian Church is a contemporary reflection of the Apostolic Judaic Rite practiced by the early Church of Jerusalem, especially beginning at Pentecost.

The Ethiopian Church continues to jealously guard its unique charisms in the life of the Spirit and today shares them with the world.

A suffering Church, it is therefore a Church that is close to the Cross of Christ.  As such, it will also share in the complete glory and freedom of His Resurrection in the power of the Holy Spirit!