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Upon his return from Greece Abune Zena Marqos was ordained a deacon by Archbishop Mika'el of Gonder. Not long after this he joined the famous Monastery of Debre Libanos in northern Shewa to deepen his spiritual life. After some time in Debre Libanos the novice went to the equally famous Ziqwala Monastery in eastern Shewa, where with the blessing of Memhir Weldesilase he became a monk.
After becoming a monk Abune Zena Marqos was ordained to the holy priesthood and sent back to Debre Libanos to serve there. He was also appointed the overseer of monasteries and churchs churches throughout Ethiopia, being most remembered for his service at St. Gabriel's Church in Qulubi, a major Ethiopian Orthodox holy place in the eastern and largely Muslim province of Harerzhe. Abune Zena Marqos was later appointed to administer the Ethiopian Orthodox monastery in Jerusalem and shortly thereafter elected to the episcopacy and and consecrated on 21 January 1979.
In 1979 Abune Zena Marqos returned to Ethiopia following his election as Archbishop of Nekemte to serve the Archdiocese of Welega in western Ethiopia. Abune Zena Marqos served in Welega for 6 years before being elected deputy to the ever memorable Patriarch Teklehaimanot[[Tekle Haimanot II]]. Following the election of Patriarch Merqoriyos in 1988 Abune Zena Marqos was again made deputy to the patriarch, in which capacity he served until 1991.
The long-standing Ethiopian Communist government was overthrown by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991, which then forced Patriarch Merqoriyos to resign from the patriarchate. For the sake of peace within the Church, which in Ethiopian Orthodox canon law does not allow for the dethronement of a patriarch except on the grounds of heresy, Abune Zena Marqos served from 1991 to 1992 as chairman of the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as it waited to see what the new Ethiopian government's next move would be.
