Bob Marley's Funeral program
Journey To Orthodoxy yesterday ran a piece about the conversion of reggae artist Bob Marley to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (a non-Chalcedonian church very similar to but not currently in communion with the [Eastern] Orthodox Church). It’s worth a read. We thought it might also be of interest to see this primary source document pictured above which also witnesses to his 1980 baptism—at which he took the name Berhane Selassie (“Light of the Trinity”)—and subsequent burial in 1981 by the Ethiopian Orthodox in Jamaica.
The image we found is a little small, so here’s the full text for those whose eyes (zoom capability) might not be quite up to the task:
FOR THE
HON. ROBERT NESTA MARLEY, O.M.
(BOB MARLEY – BERHANE SELASSIE)
(Light of the Trinity)
AT
THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
HOLY TRINITY
89 MAXFIELD AVENUE, KINGSTON, JAMAICA
8.00—9.00 a.m.
AND
THE NATIONAL ARENA
11.00 a.m.
THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1981
OFFICIATING:
HIS EMINENCE, ABOUNA YESSEHAQ
ARCHBISHOP OF THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Assisted by Priests and Deacons of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jamaica
SERVICE WILL BE PERFORMED IN GEEZ, AMHAIRIC AND ENGLISH
what do the the “honorable” & “o.m.” before & after his name signify?
In February of 1981 (shortly before he died), Marley was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit. That’s the source of both the style The Honorable and the postnominal O.M. (“Order of Merit”).
thanks, Fr.
he’s the second coolest Bob who converted to Christianity. the first coolest being Bob Dylan, of course.