Up in Ethiopia’s Tigray mountains sits Debre Damo, a monastery so high you climb a rope to get there—and monks feel St. Athanasius’ prayers are with them there! He didn’t build it, but he’s tied to it through Frumentius, Ethiopia’s first bishop he picked. Monks there believe Athanasius watches over them, keeping their faith tough like his. In 2023, one story says a farmer near Debre Damo lost his cow, prayed to Athanasius, and saw him in a dream pointing the way—cow found! That’s his kind of help.
On his feast day, May 15th (7 Ginbot), the monks chant his hymns with drums, saying they feel him close. A story from 1936 says that when enemies came to Debre Damo, a fog hid the monastery after prayers to him—another save! Debre Damo is a sky-high spot where Ethiopian kids know Athanasius as their faith’s big brother, still protecting them from way up there with Jesus.
Lesson 12 of 21
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