They Sing for 15 Hours Straight (And That's a Short Service) | Deacon Mihret Melaku

Deacon Mihret Melaku is an Ethiopian Orthodox deacon, host of the Burning Bush Podcast, and author of Defending the Ancient Faith. In this conversation we explore the full breadth of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity — its theology, its extraordinary sacred music system, its deep roots in Second Temple Judaism, and its living traditions of liturgical poetry.Burning Bush podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCKL74lcBHGYh2Xwsz8X68Nw Dcn. Mihret's book: https://www.defendingancientfaith.com/We begin with theology: how Ethiopian Orthodoxy understands salvation as ontological transformation rather than forensic transaction, the church's relationship to the divine energies tradition, and what makes the Axumite school of exegesis its own distinct synthesis of Alexandrian allegory and Antiochian typology. Deacon Mihret explains the Andimta commentary tradition — Ethiopia's uniquely narrative approach to scripture, which draws on hagiographic oral traditions to build midrashic-style stories around biblical events, including the extraordinary story of the man with the withered hand.A major thread of the conversation is Ethiopian Orthodoxy's relationship to Judaism. Deacon Mihret makes the case that the Ethiopian church is the most faithful continuity of Second Temple Judaism in Christendom — preserving the books of Enoch and Jubilees, keeping Saturday as the first Sabbath, maintaining circumcision and kosher practice, and tracing its Levitical vestments to the priesthood of ancient Israel. We work through four competing theories of how Judaism entered Ethiopia, centered on the Kebra Nagast and the Queen of Sheba narrative.The second half focuses on the sacred music system — one of the most complex liturgical music traditions in the world. We cover the structure of Aqwaqwam, the three-hour Divine Liturgy and the pre-liturgical vigils that can last 12–15 hours, the three modes (Ge'ez, Izl, and Araray) and their tonal relationship to the pentatonic scale, and the Ge'ez poetry tradition with its "wax and gold" (sem ena worq) double-meaning structure and three schools of poetic composition (Washara, Wadla, and Gonj). Deacon Mihret explains what a full certification path looks like — roughly 14 years across Aqwaqwam, Digwa, and Zimmari — and why even a scholar in his 60s considers himself still a student.We close on the question of Eucharistic frequency — Deacon Mihret explains why the widespread practice of Ethiopian Orthodox laypeople not receiving communion is a historical aberration contradicted by Apostolic Canon 9, which is actually chanted at the opening of every Divine Liturgy as a rebuke to non-communicants, and what the canons actually require for worthy reception.