THE FEAST OF THE MONDAY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AT THE HOLY ZION

Monday, May 23/June 5, 2023, was celebrated as the Monday of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity, especially on the hill of the Holy Zion, because it was on this hill that the Holy Spirit descended upon the holy disciples and apostles in the form of fiery tongues.

In honour and adoration of the Holy Spirit and in memory of the event of the inspiration, Vespers was held on Sunday evening in the chapel of Pentecost in the Cemetery, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, with the participation of the priests and parishioners of Saint James Cathedral, the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Evangelos Vlioras, nuns and pilgrims.

On Monday morning, a Divine Liturgy was held in the Holy Trinity Church on the ground floor of the building of the Patriarchal School of Zion, presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Theodosios Sebasteia, with the co-celebration of the Archimandrites, Raphael, the Exarch of Athens and Amphilochios, and Hierodeacon Dositheos. The chanting was delivered by His Eminence Archbishop Aristovoulos of Madaba and Hierodeacon Simeon along with the students.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, a procession marched from the Church after the recitation of the prayers of the Kneeling service, one prayer in the Church, the second in the chapel of the School’s estate (catacomb), the third in the Upper Room.

On the way down from the upper room, the officiating Archbishop and his Entourage entered the interior of the tomb of David and prayed.

A supplication was also offered for the departed in front of the south door of the Cemetery.

The Episcopal procession in litany went to the ceremony hall of the School, where the Managing Director Archimandrite Mattheos offered a reception.

On this day, the Most Reverend Archbishop Philoumenos of Pela presided over a Divine Liturgy in the celebratory Church of Pentecost in the county of Toubas, the area of Samaria after Jacob’s Well.

From Secretariat-General