WHO IS ABBA YOHANNES TESFAMARIAM?
The founder and abbot of
- Wenkehset St. Gabriel Monastery
- St. Yohannes Monastery
- Debre Zeyt St. Mary Nunnery
- Gina St. Kirkos monastery
- The church of Jesus Christ, our Savior
Abba Yohannnes Tesfamariam was born on September 11, 1958, in a village called Anbesame, Located within Ethiopia, Amhara region, south Gondar, Dera wereda.
EARLY LIFE
As our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ says in the Holy Gospel “if any man wants to follow me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me”. (Matthew 16:24), Starting from his early childhood his only wish was to live the life of Monasticism by taking up the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering and preaching the Gospel. His ambition also included building monasteries and churches, and making history as the early fathers of the faith did praying to God with compassion while weeping for those in the world who suffer from sickness, sin, and other personal difficulties.
On September 12, 1971, Abba Yohannes saw a vision from God about a re-establishment of a church that had been destroyed by a Muslim Imam and general named Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al ghazi who took control over most of the Christian highland kingdom in the 16th century.
In his youth, Abba Yohannes was often praying to God to give him a spiritual father who would live with him in a life of Monasticism and hesychasm. And simultaneously there was an elder monk named Abba Gebremariam, who was famous all over Ethiopia and would also coincidently pray to God to give him a spiritual son, who could serve him with love and firmness. And one day God heard both of their prayers and sent his angel to Abba Gebremariam. And the angle told him to go to a church where Abba Yohannes was serving and praying ceaselessly.
When the elder came to Abba Yohannes and told him about the vision he had, he found out that God already revealed it to Abba Yohannes earlier. So, without question Aba Yohannes left his family, hometown, and everything else in his life to follow Jesus Christ and followed Abba Gebremariam. We have forsaken all, and followed thee. Mat. 19:27
ABBA YOHANNES TESFAMARIAM’S LIFE OF MONASTICISM.
From a very young age, Aba Yohannes had a strong desire to carry the cross of Christ and suffer for his sake.
Until the time Abba Yohannes met Abba Gebremariam, Abba Yohannes lived a life that was centered on serving only the church. He lived a life of monasticism, waiting for the will of God to come. And after he left with the great monk, Abba Yohannes just like Joshua did with mosses and Elijah with Elisha, served Abba Gebremariam with great devotion
They lived by going from one place to another building churches along the way and preaching the gospel to believers and unbelievers. As it is written in Mark 16: 17-18
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
By blessing holy waters and by the grace of the holy spirit which has been given to him, He has healed the sick, cast out demons, returned those who had fallen from the law of God, and worked many other miracles. While living in this manner of serving God and the people Abba Yohannes’s real desire has remained to establish monasteries, gather monks and nuns, see the sick being healed and preach the Gospel turning those who have walked away from God. And for this, the hermit used to pray day and night.
ESTABLISHMENT OF WENKESHET MONASTERY.
In the year 2000 Abba Yohannes went to the holy land Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the finding of the holy cross and while presiding there on September 29 he heard a voice from God saying “the people of Jerusalem will beg you to stay. but go back to your country because there you will establish a great monastery. When you establish that church enemies will rise up against you, those who were with you will be against you, and those whom you trust will betray you. But be still for this is the fate of monks.” After hearing this voice Abba Yohannes Tesfamariam returned to Ethiopia.
HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY
Wenkeshet monastery was a place of worship and prayer until the 16th century. It was during this unfortunate century the country faced one of its worst nightmares. Imam Ahmed ibn Ibrahim (Ahmed Gragn) had annexed most of the country and destroyed hundreds of churches, persecuted thousands of believers. Wenkeshet was sadly one of these churches. The church was destroyed, and the priests and monastics were killed.
After its destruction it became a home for robbers and thieves who used it to beat people who would pass through the forest and steal all their cattle and money. For this reason, no one could pass through the place for a long time.
After Abba Yohannes came back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem he lived in prayer and devotion for the will of God to be fulfilled. And one day the people who lived around Wenkeshet gathered up and came to Abba Yohannes asking him to rebuild the monastery.
Abba Yohannes accepted it graciously and got a permit from the clergy and the government as he did from God. After that, the hermit went to the place that was home to robbers and thieves only with a cross in his hand. And he started to dig the mountain that was a straight up hill.
On January 13, 2002, after lots of struggle and hard work he built a temporary church and brought the ark of the archangel saint Gabriel into it.
Abba Yohannes Tesfamariam brought engineers to see how it could be possible to build a church at the sacred place. But all the engineers claimed that it would be impossible to build anything on the place given because of its unsuitable terrain. But Abba Yohannes stated that “it’s God’s will, not humans” and started working day and night, digging with a pickaxe and shovel. And used to pay the workers by selling CDs of hymns and books. And people and animals used to carry all the materials including cement and metal to the site of the soon-to-be monastery. And on the 27th of January 2006 of hard work and struggle for 7 months and 10 days, Wenkeshet saint Gabriel communal monastery was finished.
After that Debre Zeyit (mount of olive) nunnery was built in only four months and finished on January 30, 2008, and on January 23 ,2011, saint Kirkos men’s communal monastery was finished in only seven months. And on June 22, 2013, the church of John the Baptizer was finished. Additionally, by the people’s pleading, the church of the Saviour of the world was built in Anbessame in 2013. By establishing four monasteries and one church in a decade, Abba Yohannnes has made a great history for our country.
WENKESHET SAINT GABRIEL MONASTERY
on January 13, 2002, our father Aba Yohannes brought the Arc of St. Gabriel into a small temporary church. The work of the main church was finished within 7 months and 10 working days and consecrated on January 27, 2006. In this monastery, every year on January 19 and July 19, we celebrate the feast of St. Gabriel with pilgrims from all over the world.
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST MONASTERY
The church of St. John the Baptist Unity Monastery was consecrated on June 22, 2013. St. John the Baptist is celebrated annually in this monastery on September 1 and June 30.
SAINT KIRKOS MONASTERY
The building work of this church was completed in 7 months and consecrated on January 23, 2011. In the monastery, we celebrate the feast of the martyr Saint Kirkos on January 15, the feast of Abune Selama on November 26, and the feast of the evangelist Saint Mark on April 30 every year.
DEBRE ZEYT SAINT MARY NUNNERY
The construction work of Debre Zeyt St. Mary nunnery Church was completed in just four months and was consecrated on January 30, 2008. in this monastery, we celebrate the Feast of Debre Zeyt (the memorial feast of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ) and Our Lady Saint Mary.
ANBESAME MEDHANEALEM CHURCH
Based on the request of the people, Anbesamie Medhanealem church was built by Aba Yohannes Tesfamariam and consecrated on September 2, 2014
MONASTICS IN WENKESHET SAINT GABRIEL COMMUNAL MONASTERY
Starting from 2001 when the great hermit Abba Yohannes Tesfamariam came into the forest alone, many men and women who rejected the world and aimed to become monks and nuns used to gather around Aba Yohannes. And now there are over 400 monks and nuns who live under the Abbot abba Yohannes Tesfamariam in his monastery.
As they have learned from the Abbot, by the time they have left from prayer, they work in modern weaving, cattle breeding, livestock, farming, and many other works. In this monastery which was founded by the Great hermit Aba Yohannes Tesfamariam, there is no payment for services that the monastery provides like holy waters and others. And there is no stop when it comes to preaching the Gospel and miracles. They serve the believers and God with complete love. And by this Wenkeshet is a great example for all the churches and monasteries of the country and the whole world.
a rosary made in wenkeshet monastery
MONASTICS OF WENKESHET MONASTERY
SPIRITUAL SERVICES IN WENKESHET SAINT GABRIEL COMMUNAL MONASTERY
The hermit father Aba Yohannes Tesfamariam, starting from childhood, had the grace of the holy spirit. And from the time when he entered the mountain and blessed it in the name of the holy trinity, by the goodness of God, by the intercession of our lady the virgin saint Mary, by the help of the angle saint Gabriel and by the prayer our father Aba Yohannes Tesfamariam, people with horrifying sicknesses like cancer, HIV Aids, hypertension, diabetes, and many other diseases are being cured. And those who were being enslaved by the spirit of Satan by sorcerers and witches are freed and those who could not have children now have children. And those who were addicted to bad addictions like smoking, drinking, and drugs have stopped and come to God by hearing the gospel from our father and they became believers of the one true Orthodox Tewahido religion. Also, they became good citizens for our country.
Our father Aba Yohannes Tesfamariam by the grace that he has received from God preaches the Gospel day and night all year long in the monastery
OUR FATHER ABA YOHANNES TESFAMARIAM’S CHARITY WORK
Abba Yohannes Tesfamariam is also doing charity work in addition to the monasteries he built. These include the following. in 2019 he has built a primary school in Anbessame by 1.7 million birrs. And by being with many of his spiritual children he has given 1 million birrs and 30,000 kg of grain to those who had lost their homes and fled from north Gondar. and to stop the fleeing of church elders and priests in Dera wereda, our father has been paying the salary of all elders and teachers of our churches starting from November 2018. He has constructed a 23 km road from Sene Mariam to Wenkeshet Monastery with 15 million birrs. Moreover, for church students who are learning in Gondar Debre Haile We Debre Tibeb Church lest they be scattered because of lack of food he is giving money monthly to each one of them. And again, Abba Yohannes has gone to many prisons, prepared feasts, and preached the Gospel to the prisoners. To sum up, the charity work he is doing for the country and the Holy Church is so many that we do not have enough time and space to list them all.
A school built by Abba Yohannes
a conference held to support church scholars
CONDITIONS OF THE HOLY WATER IN WENKESHET
There are many holy waters in Wenkeshet monastery. Some of them are; holy waters of the angle saint Gabriel, john the Baptist, Abune Tekle haymanot, the angel Saint Michael, Saint George, our Lady the virgin Saint Mary… etc. all of the holy waters work day and night all year in all seasons. There is no payment we ask for any of the services like holy waters and similar services. There are also many natural hot holy waters in the monastery.
OUR ADDRESS
Wenkeshet saint Gabriel Communal monastery is located in Ethiopia, Amhara region, south Gondar, Dera woreda wof argif Tamre kebele.
For anyone who wants to visit the monastery whether you are in Ethiopia or outside Ethiopia first, you need to come to Bahir Dar and then to tis Abay (where the famous fountain of Nile is located) which is 30 km from Bahir Dar. after that there is 45-minute-long walk. If you cannot walk that long with your feet, we provide you can go on horses which you can order by going to the shop of Wenkeshet monastery in Tis Abay.
NOTE:
FOR ALL OF YOU WHO WANTS TO COME TO OUR MONASTERY BEING INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, YOU SHOUD KNOW THAT THERE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY THE DEVIL SPREADING RUMORS AND LIES ABOUT OUR MONASTERY AND OUR FATHER. SO, WHOEVER WANTS TO COME TO OUR MONASTERIES MUST RESIST TO RUMORS AND LIES WHICH YOU MAY FACE IN AIRPORTS, HOTELS, BUSES, TAXIS, STREETS AND PLACES LIKE THESE.