Eritrean orthodox abune aregawi biography

Sixth-century Syrian monk and exiled missionary to Ethiopia

Abuna Aregawi (also called Za-Mika'el Aragawi) was a sixth-century Syrian monk^[2][3] and canonized by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by the Ethiopian Catholic Church, as well as the Eritrean Orthodox Church.

He is one of the Nine Saints, who came from the Roman Empire to Ethiopia, and are credited for founding many monasteries and churches and was the main force behind installing monasticism in Ethiopia.^[4]

Tradition holds that Abuna Aregawi founded the monastery of Debre Damo in Tigray Region of Ethiopia, which is said to have been commissioned by Emperor Gebre Meskel of Axum.

Biography

He is one of the Nine Saints of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. These learned monks came from various parts of the Roman Empire to escape persecution after the Council of Chalcedon (451). Once in Ethiopia, they revitalized Christianity in Ethiopia, and to whom th