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SUSPENSION OF MONASTIC SCHEMA

The monastic schema of nun Marianna Agathokleous, Abbess of the Holy Monastery of Saint George in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem is suspended until her chastisement. The reason for this is that she abandoned her ministry and went to Australia without proper permission.

From Secretariat-General

 




ARCHIMANDRITE THEODORITOS HAS SLEPT IN THE LORD

The Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood regretfully announces the departure to the Lord of its chosen member, the Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery of Saint Simeon Katamon., Archimandrite Theodoritos Kapae, a native of Cyprus, slept in the Lord on Wednesday, January 25th / February 7th, 2024 at 10 o’clock at night.

His Memorial Service will be held at 10:30 am on Thursday, January 26/February 8, 2024 in the chapel of Saint Thekla, inside the Central Monastery, presided over by His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos.

May his memory be eternal!

From Secretariat-General




HUNGARY CONTINUES GRANTING SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE HOLY LAND CHRISTIANS

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem thanks the Government of the country of Hungary for granting scholarships to Christian Palestinians to study in Hungary this year.

The granting of these scholarships is proof of the practical support and protection of the country of Hungary towards the Christians of the Holy Land.

Those interested in these studies in Hungary can apply following the instructions of the attached letter from the Embassy of Hungary in Ramallah:

Your Eminence,

 We would like to inform you that the Hungary Helps Agency published the call for applications for the Scholarship Program for Christian Young People for the academic year 2024/25. The Scholarship Program is founded by the Government of Hungary and implemented by the Hungary Helps Agency. The core mission of the Program is to provide opportunities to pursue higher education studies in Hungarian host institutions for Christian youth living in crisis regions of the world or being threatened in their countries because of their faith, in order to contribute to the social appreciation of professionals returning to their home countries. Applicants are required to obtain a recommendation letter from their Local Church as only those applicants can be awarded the scholarship who are recommended by their Church.

The call for application can be found at the following link: https://apply.scyp.hu/

You can also access the Call for Applications and its Annexes by clicking on the following link: https://hungaryhelps.gov.hu/apply/

 The deadline for submitting the application is: 10 JANUARY, 2024.

 We would also like to inform you that the Ministry of Higher Education of Palestine and the Hungarian Tempus Public Foundation, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, have published the call for application for the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Program for the next academic year 2024/2025. A monthly stipend, accommodation or financial support and the program’s admission fee is included in the scholarship.

The call for application can be found at the following link: https://www.mohe.pna.ps/scholarships/Post/5807/%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AD-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%87%D9%86%D8%BA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85-2024-2025

The deadline for submitting the application is: 15 JANUARY 2024.

 Please share this information with those who could be interested in studying in Hungary.

If you have any further question, please do not hesitate to contact the Representative Office of Hungary.

Sincerely,

Rita HERENCSÁR

Head of Mission

 Representative Office of Hungary, Ramallah

 




STATEMENT ON THE CELEBRATION OF ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS IN THE MIDST OF WAR ON GAZA




STATEMENT OF THE PATRIARCHS AND HEADS OF THE CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM ON THE ESCALATING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA

Jerusalem, October 13, 2023

“God created mankind in his own image” (Gen 1,27).

Today, an emergency committee of the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem met for prayer and consultation over the grave humanitarian crisis that has befallen all of us.

Our beloved Holy Land has changed dramatically over the past week. We are witnessing a new cycle of violence with an unjustifiable attack against civilians in Israel. Tensions continue to rise and more innocent and vulnerable people are paying the ultimate price as the dramatic amount of deaths and destruction in Gaza clearly show.

The order to evacuate the north of Gaza and to ask 1.1 million people—including all the members of our Christian communities there—to relocate to the south within 24 hours will only deepen an already disastrous humanitarian catastrophe. Gaza’s entire population is being deprived of electricity, water, fuel supplies, food, and medicine. According to UN sources, 423,000 people have already been displaced because of the destruction of their homes. Many civilians in Gaza have said to us that there are no realistic ways in which they can evacuate to safety in any direction.

We call upon the State of Israel, with the support of the International Community, to allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza so that the thousands of innocent civilians may receive medical treatment and basic supplies. Moreover, we call upon all parties to de-escalate this war in order to save innocent lives while still serving the cause of justice.

Finally, in support of all those who have suffered in this war and of the families reeling from the violence, we call upon the people of our congregations and all those of goodwill around the world to observe a Day of Prayer and Fasting on Tuesday, October 17th.

 There is yet time to stop the hatred.

—The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem




MONK PANTELEIMON OF SAINT SAVVA’S LAVRA HAS SLEPT IN THE LORD

The Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood sadly announces the death of Monk Panteleimon Andronikos, of Saint Savva’s Lavra, which happened today, Thursday, July 28/August 10, 2023, in Kythera, where he was born, possibly from a heart attack at sea.

The deceased practised for years in the holy Lavra of Saint Savva the Sanctified by his Elder and Spiritual of the Lavra Archimandrite Seraphim and has served at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for years.

The body of the deceased is kept in the mortuary of Kythera and Antikythera by the Holy Metropolis this city until the necessary autopsy to investigate the exact cause of his death.

The Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood is praying from the Horrendous Golgotha for the repose of the soul of its chosen member in the land of the living after the holy and righteous, and will soon announce the details of his funeral service.

May his memory be everlasting!




HOLY LIGHT CEREMONY – RESPONSE TO THE STATEMENT BY THE ISRAELI POLICE

The statements issued by the Israeli police, yesterday and today, in regards to the Holy Light Ceremony, are incorrect. They are a complete misrepresentation of the facts and of our clearly stated position.

Attributing the restrictions, imposed by the Police on the Holy Light Ceremony, to the advice of a so-called church-affiliated safety engineer is categorically misguided and false. This engineer was not commissioned or authorised to produce any report on this matter. Furthermore, once these claimed opinion letters came to light, it quickly transpired that this engineer previously stated very different figures regarding safe worship at the Holy Light Ceremony, but he then changed his report upon request from the Israeli Police so that it was brought in line with their restrictions, and thereafter retrospectively re-affirmed previous figures yet again. This, unfortunately, proves a conflict of interest and lack of good faith professionalism on his part, and loss of confidence in his opinions. Such discrepancies and differences cannot serve as an authority on a matter as important as this.

Once the fact of him having produced such a claimed opinion was disclosed, the Patriarchate through it’s legal representatives, sent an official written notification on the 10 April 2023 to the Police rejecting any and all such opinions and any reliance on them.

With this clarified, we again reaffirm our official position through the two statements produced on 09 April and 12 April 2023. We look forward to celebrating the Holy Light Ceremony and the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ with faithful worshipers and pilgrims from near and far, as we have safely done so for nearly two millennia.




STATEMENT BY THE STATUS QUO COMMITTEE OF THE CHURCHES IN REGARDS TO UNREASONABLE RESTRICTIONS BY ISRAELI POLICE FOR THE HOLY LIGHT CEREMONY




A STATEMENT BY THE JERUSALEM PATRIARCHATE ON THE OCCASION OF PALM SUNDAY, HOLY WEEK AND SATURDAY OF THE HOLY LIGHT

On the occasion of the glorious Palm Sunday and the Holy Week, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem extends its greetings to the Orthodox communities and to the people of the world in general. The Patriarchate hopes and prays that peace and security will come to the Holy Land and the entire world in those holy great days.

On this glorious occasion, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem calls for the largest participation in the ceremonies of the Holy Week and Saturday of the Holy light in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the first destination for believers from all over the world during the Holy Week and the Feast of Resurrection.

His Beatitude expresses his wishes and expectations that all believers would be able to exercise their natural God-given right to reach the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, especially on Saturday of the Holy Light, and to worship freely and safely without restrictions, as was the case for 2000 years, for this Holy Saturday is one of the holiest days marked in the annual calendar of the Orthodox Church. It is a symbol of new life and joy in the resurrection, especially in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Here we note, as indicated by His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, with the Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, on several occasions and through the Council’s statements, that worship and access to holy places is a right guaranteed by religious and worldly laws, This was also confirmed by His Beatitude during his meeting with a number of heads of state and other high-ranking public figures, and accordingly His Beatitude asks the existing authorities to respect the sanctity of this Holy Week, especially on Holy Saturday, when believers come from all over the world to receive the blessings of the Holy Light coming from the Holy Tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

In these blessed days, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate stresses the importance of establishing the values ​​of love, tolerance, and cooperation among human beings, and urges everyone to work in the spirit of unity and cooperation in order to build more prosperous and advanced societies. The Patriarchate, represented by His Beatitude the Patriarch, members of the Holy Synod and members of the Brotherhood of thr Holy Sepulchre, extend to all the people of the Orthodox Church and all of humanity, wishes for health, wellness and a happy life, and may the Holy Land enjoy justice, love, and security, and the world enjoys peace, security, and stability.




TIMETABLE FOR THE HOLY WEEK AT THE MONASTIC CHURCH OF SAINTS CONSTANTINE & HELEN

 From April 8 to April 17, 2023

 Palm Sunday;

Matins and Divine Liturgy of St Chrysostom at 5.00

Vespers at 15:30 

Service of the Bridegroom at 18:15 

Holy and Great Monday;

The Hours and the Pre-sanctified Liturgy at 06.30 

Great Compline at 15:30 

Service of the Bridegroom at 18:15 

Holy and Great Tuesday;

The Hours and the Pre-sanctified Liturgy at 06.30 

Great Compline at 15:30 

Service of the Bridegroom at 18:15 

 Holy and Great Wednesday;

The Hours and the Pre-sanctified Liturgy at 06.30 

Small Compline – Holy Unction at 17:00 

Holy and Great Thursday;

Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great at 04:30 

Service of the Passion at 18:15 

 Holy and Great Friday;

Royal Hours at 08.00 

Service of the Epitaph at 18:30 

Holy and Great Saturday;

The Hours and the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great at 08:00 

Holy Pascha;

Matins & D. Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom at 0:40 am – after midnight

 Monday, after the Day of Pascha;

 Divine Liturgy at 08:00 

 

The Typikon Keeper of the Monastic Church

Archimandrite Alexios