THE SERVICE OF THE SECOND RESURRECTION AT THE PATRIARCHATE (VESPERS OF LOVE)
In the afternoon of Easter Sunday, 11/24 April 2022, the Service of the second Resurrection, or Vespers of Love was observed at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The High Priests and Priests came to the Patriarchate to His Beatitude, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos and got dressed in their Paschal liturgical vestments, while the 9th Hour was being read.
Then the Patriarchal Entourage marched through the Christian Road to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, while crowds of faithful were standing on either side of the road.
The Vespers of Pascha began at the Catholicon once the Patriarchal entourage entered, and the entrance with the Gospel was followed by the reading of the Gospel narrative according to Saint John regarding the first appearance of the resurrected Lord to His Disciples, “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you…But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came…”(John 20,19-25).
This narrative was read in Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, English, and other languages, showing the universal character of the Gospel.
After Vespers, the Patriarchal entourage returned to the Patriarchate.
From Secretariat-General