On Wednesday 10/23 February 2022 the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of the Holy Hieromartyr Haralambos.

On this feast, the Church according to the Synaxarion commemorates Saint Haralambos, a Priest from Magnesia of Thessaly during the reign of Severus and Governor Lukianus. In AD 198 he confessed Christ, refused to offer a sacrifice to the idols and patiently endured torture, beating, and tearing of his flesh which concluded to his beheading.

The Church of Jerusalem honoured Saint Haralambos for his faith and martyrdom for Christ at the Holy Monastery dedicated to him which is located at the end of Via Dolorosa before the Horrendous Golgotha.

In honour of Saint Haralambos there was Vespers on Tuesday afternoon and the Divine Liturgy on Wednesday morning, officiated by His Eminence Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, along with Archimandrite Klaudios, Archdeacon Mark, and Priests Haralambos (Farah) and Nectarios. The chanting was delivered by Hierodeacon Simeon and Mr Gotsopoulos with the Patriarchal School Students. The Service was attended by Nuns and laity from Jerusalem, praying for the Saint’s protection from covid-19, as during previous plagues the Saint was proven to be a strong helper and healer. The feast was honoured by the presence of the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Evangelos Vlioras.

H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem also came to the Liturgy for veneration, accompanied by Hagiotaphite Fathers.

The Patriarchal and Episcopal entourages as well as the congregation were offered a reception by the good keeper of the Monastery, Hegoumen Archimandrite Kallistos.

From Secretariat-General

On Saturday 6/19 February 2022, after the Divine Liturgy at the Horrendous Golgotha, which was officiated by His Eminence Archbishop Thephanes of Gerassa, the fortieth-day memorial service for the blessed Hagiotaphite Eusevios Dagalas was observed. The departed was the right Byzantine choir singer at the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen.

The memorial service was led by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos with the participation of the Most Reverend Hagiotaphite Archbishops and Hieromonks, at the chanting of Hierodeacon Simeon and Mr Gotsopoulos.

After the memorial service, the Hagiotaphite Patriarchal Entourage returned to the Patriarchate Headquarters for the memorial reception.

From Secretariat-General

On Friday 5/18 February 2022, H.H.B. the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos and His Entourage went to Beer Sheba, the capital of Negev desert in Southern Israel and officiated the Divine Liturgy in a temporary Prayer House which serves the Liturgical needs of the parish until God allows the building of a Church dedicated to the Patriarch Abraham, Saint Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Holy Martyrs Maccabees. Co-celebrants to His Beatitude were their Eminences, Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the Hegoumen of the H. Monastery of the Shepherds Archimandrite Ignatios, the Hegoumen of Cana Archimandrite Chrysostom, the ministering Priest of Nazareth Archimandrite Seraphim, the Steward of Nazareth Priest Simeon, and the Ministering Priest of Beer Sheba Priest Alexander Yatsevich. The chanting was delivered by the whole congregation of the parish in Slavonic, Greek and Arabic, under the lead of their Hegoumen, His Eminence Archbishop Aristovoulos of Madaba.

It should be noted that this was the first Patriarchal liturgy in Beer Sheba in the last 70 years. Despite the presence of tombs in the old Orthodox Christian cemetery in the old city of Beer Sheba since the19th century, there is no testimony proving the celebration of a Patriarchal Divine Liturgy since the time of the blessed Patriarch Timotheos in 1947 when the remaining Orthodox Christians abandoned the city and moved elsewhere.

In the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude had prepared a Sermon which the ministering Priest of Beer Sheba read translated in Russian. After the Divine Liturgy, the Hegoumen of Beer Sheba Aristovoulos hosted a festal meal for His Beatitude and His Entourage. The Franciscan Fr. Roman from the Latin Parish was also a guest at the meal.

During the meal His Eminence Archbishop Aristovoulos of Madaba delivered the following address:

“Your Beatitude Father and Master,

I feel chills running through me watching this historic moment, seeing Your Holy Beatitude among us to bless and support us in the struggle of establishing the parish of our Russian-speaking flock from nought, in a remote area far from the Holy City, where our presence as Orthodox Christians has not yet been entirely accepted by the local community. Especially today, Your Beatitude, amidst Your reverend Patriarchal Entourage, I wish to express my gratitude once more, as from the very first moment that I asked Your blessing, in December 2008 to come to Beer Sheba, You have supported, advised, consoled me in my difficult times, and when we found ourselves in the happy event of officially establishing the parish with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in Pentecost of 2017, You very willingly funded the rent of the first house of prayer, and when the needs of the parish increased and the members of the parish exceeded the 70 families, You again supported us, funding the rent of the present house of prayer.

I raise my glass on a toast to the health of Your Beatitude, wishing from the depths of my heart that God will enable Your Beatitude to soon place the founding stone and later on officiate the consecration of the new Holy Church, which will be a bastion for our Patriarchate in the historic city of the Patriarch Abraham and a spiritual shelter for the Orthodox Christians living herein.”

From Secretariat-General

On Wednesday 3/16 February 2022, the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of Saint Simeon the God-receiver at the Holy Monastery dedicated to him, also known as Monastery of Katamon at the West New Jerusalem.

On this feast, the Church according to the Gospel narrative (Luke 2:22-40) commemorates Saint Simeon the God-receiver as the primary person in the event of the Lord’s presence in the Temple on the fortieth day after His Nativity.

The Church commemorates that the Holy Spirit had informed Simeon that he was not going to face death before seeing the Christ of the Lord. This happened when Simeon received the Lord in his arms and recognized Him, saying ““Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

In honour of the events of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple and of Saint Simeon, at this Monastery Vespers was held on Tuesday afternoon and the Divine Liturgy on Wednesday morning. The Liturgy was officiated by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos with the co-celebration of their Eminences the Metropolitans Kyriakos of Nazareth and Isychios of Kapitolias, the Archbishops, Aristarchos of Constantina, Aristovoulos of Madaba and Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, Hagiotaphite Hieromonks, Arab and Russian-speaking Priests, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Simeon. The chanting was delivered by Mr Gotsopoulos and Hierodeacon Dositheos, as the Service was attended by many faithful from the Katamon Greek Community, Arab-speaking, Russians, Romanians, as well as the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Evangelos Vlioras.

Before the Holy Communion His Beatitude delivered the following Sermon:

“My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:21), the psalmist cries out.

Beloved Brethren in Christ,

Noble Christians and pilgrims

The grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us all in the Holy Monastery of Saint Simeon the God-receiver and righteous, where his tomb lies, to celebrate his holy commemoration, in praise and doxology of the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, saying: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

The feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple of Solomon, which was the entrance of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple brought by His immaculate Mother and the righteous Joseph, according to the custom of the Law of Moses, is linked with today’s synaxis of the Holy and righteous Simeon the God-receiver and the prophetess Anna. We observe their synaxis today, we confess the unspeakable God’s condescension to us, humans.

This unspeakable condescension of God toward the human race through the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is confirmed and testified on the one hand by the embracing of God the Word, Who had become flesh and was a baby, by Elder Simeon; on the other, the confession of both Simeon and Anna that the Son of God, namely Christ, is the salvation God had prepared “before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32, 2:38).  

This Divine condescension is proclaimed also by the hymnographer, saying: “He that made Adam is carried as a babe; the Uncontainable is held in the arms of the Elder; He that abideth uncircumscribed in the bosom of His Father is willingly circumscribed in the flesh, not in His Godhead, even the only Friend of man” (Minaion, Matins, Oikos).

And God’s condescension refers to the work of the salvation of man by Christ the Messiah and the revelation of his righteousness as light before all peoples and nations as the Prophet David foretold: “The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen” (Psalm 98:2). The universal nature of the redeeming mission of the Messiah, namely of the Divine Providence, is evangelized by Saint Luke, who refers to the Prophet Isaiah: “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6, Isaiah 40:5).

Interpreting these words of Isaiah, Saint Cyril of Alexandria says: “the mystery of Christ had been prepared before the beginning of the world; it was though revealed at the end of times, and became the light to those sitting in the darkness who had fallen into fallacy, fallen by evil hand”. These words of our Father Cyril find their origin in those of the Apostles Peter (1 Peter 1:20) and Paul, according to which the people, having been led astray by the devil, “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).

Indeed, Christ became the light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of His people. As for the phrase “and the glory of thy people Israel”, according to Saint Cyril is “a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5) of the people of God. “Even if some of them [of the people of God] became abusive and disobedient, having their minds filled with imprudence, however, the ‘remnant’ is saved and is glorified by Christ. The beginning of this remnant was the Holy Disciples and Apostles, whose merriment of goodness illumes all under the sky” Saint Cyril notes.

“And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against” (Luke 2:34). Being brought by the Holy Spirit, the Elder Simeon blessed the Virgin because she conceived not by a man but by the Holy Spirit, and he blessed Christ saying: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against” (Luke 2:34).

Interpreting Simeon’s prophetic words, Saint Cyril of Alexandria quotes the words spoken by the Prophet Isaiah “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isaiah 28:16, Romans 9:33); “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever, it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Matt. 21:44).

In other words, God the Father has placed at the foundations of Sion a precious and righteous cornerstone, that is Christ, and those who believed in Him were not put to shame; while those who did not believe nor understood the great mystery of salvation of God in Christ, stumbled upon that rock and fell and were ground into powder; on the contrary, those who believed in Him were raised up.

“The sign that shall be spoken against” (Luke 2:3) according to Saint Paul is the Cross; “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:23). This very Cross and the shameful and martyr’s death of Christ on it, did righteous Simeon mean when he told the Virgin: “a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also” (Luke 2:35).

Christ, whom the Elder Simeon received in his arms, is the cornerstone of the Church, and its members “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Therefore we, my dear brethren, are called to receive in our spiritual arms, namely in our minds and hearts, the marvellous light of Christ. And say along with the psalmist: “Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness” (Psalm 119:123). Amen. Many happy returns in health!”

After the Divine Liturgy the elder Hegoumen and renovator of the Monastery, reverend Archimandrite Theodoritos hosted a reception for His Beatitude and all congregation at the Hegoumeneion and the courtyard of the Monastery.

From Secretariat-General

On Monday 2/15 February 2022 the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple.

On this feast, the Church commemorates that our Lord Jesus Christ, who became incarnate through the Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary and was born in the flesh, after the completion of the forty days since His Nativity, following the Law, He was brought to the Temple of Solomon by His parents with a pair of turtledoves and two young pigeons for His sanctification. Then the righteous elder and prophet Simeon the God-receiver took Him in his arms and cried out “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel”. This event is handed over to the Church by Luke the Evangelist (Luke 2:22-38).

This feast was celebrated at the Monastic Church of Saints Constantine and Helen with H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos preceding in the Service.

It was also celebrated at the Nunnery of Panagia Sayda Naya in the Old City of Jerusalem near the Patriarchate, with Vespers on Monday afternoon and the Divine Liturgy on Tuesday morning. The Services were officiated by His Eminence Archbishop Aristovoulos of Madaba with the co-celebration of the Archimandrites Nectarios and Klaudios, Priest Farah and Hierodeacons Eulogios and Dositheos. The chanting was delivered by Hierodeacon Simeon, Mr Gotsopoulos and a young boy of a Russian family from Beer Sheba in Greek, and Saint James Cathedral choir under the lead of Mr Rimon Kamar in Arabic. The service was attended by the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Evangelos Vlioras and faithful Christians from Jerusalem and Beer Sheba.

Before the Holy Communion, His Eminence spoke to the congregation on the Despotic feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple.

During the Divine Liturgy H.H.B., our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos came for veneration, accompanied by Hagiotaphite Fathers.

The Patriarchal and Episcopal Entourages along with the congregation were offered a rich reception by the Abbess of the Monastery, Nun Seraphima, who has recently renovated the Church of the Monastery.

From Secretariat-General

During the Night Vigil at the All-holy and Life-giving Sepulchre on 31 January/13 February 2022, Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, the Hagiotaphite Hieromonk Anastasios Kirmitsakis, who serves at the Holy Sepulchre was ordained a Priest.

The ordination was held by Geronda Sacristan His Eminence Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis, preparing the ordained with the following Fatherly words:

“Most devout Hierodeacon Anastasios,

Blessed is the time that His Beatitude, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos has chosen to promote you to the second degree of Priesthood. Your ordination to Priest coincides with the beginning of the most important period of our Church; the preparation for the luminous Resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

There, then, “the arena of the virtues” is being opened before you. You are given the chance to renounce the works of darkness, which are the worldly cares, the confusion of this vein world and be clad in the weapons of light, that is, to be spiritually prepared in order to see the Holy Light of the Resurrection, which stems from the same Holy Place, the All-holy and Life-giving Tomb of our Lord, where in a short while, the Holy Spirit will come down to alter you once more and make you a vessel of His choice.

“Behold a well-anticipated time, behold, a time of repentance”. And my mediocrity will add: Behold the Most Holy Place, behold the centre of salvation. What honour did the Divine Grace reserve for you, after a long journey and wandering in the cosmic paths and after it has removed you from the “broad way, that leadeth to destruction” (Matt. 7:13), leading you to the “narrow way, which leadeth unto life” (Matt. 7:14).

God led your footsteps when you first came to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a pilgrim, and the spark of God’s love was kindled in you. You were not content with only the pilgrimage, which millions of pilgrims take for centuries.

The divine love altered your heart and put out the carnal love which you had as a father and husband for your worldly family. You discovered the divine Pearl and sold all your belongings to gain it. You realised that nothing in this world can be compared to the love of Christ. You remembered the words of our Lord to His Holy Disciples and Apostles: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37-38).

Like another Paul, the so-called ‘simple’, you left your wife and children behind and went away to save your life. And while in the case of Saint Paul the ‘simple’, his wife and daughters lived an irreverent life, and their father’s desire for the true life in Christ did not touch them, your family on the contrary, not only was benefited by your decision but also followed your example. A living example is standing by your side, your son in the flesh, who despite his young age was not impressed by the sirens of the world, but chose to follow you in the Holy Land.   

As, therefore, by God’s help you have escaped the traps set by the devil on your left, you stand before us today, waiting to enter the interior of the purple curtain.

          At this very point, I want to draw your attention, because the danger that awaits you is much greater and the temptations are much more indistinguishable, since the devil has now failed to throw you into the temptations from the left side, he is now preparing other temptations, which will come to you from the right side. You will be besieged by thoughts of Pride.

You will think that you are superior to other priests, who serve in other parts of the world. The honour and respect that will be given to you by the pious pilgrims can very easily deceive you and make you think that you have already reached the measures of holiness and that you are the centre of the world. The admiration and the flattering words, which are usually addressed by the various visitors to all the members of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, will always be in your ears.

To protect you from these dangerous thoughts I will remind you of what our Lord said to His chosen people, the Jews, whom He had destined to be an integral part of the Divine Providence. He called this same chosen people “generation of vipers”(Matt. 23:33), repeating the prophetic words of Saint John and Baptist when he urged his compatriots to “cultivate fruits worthy of repentance and not to think they will be saved because they have Abraham as their father, as God can even transform the stones and turn them into children of Abraham” (c.f. Luke 3:7).           

So do not think that only your physical presence in the Holy Sepulchre of our Lord is enough to open the way to salvation. No human being, as long as he breathes, can take his salvation for granted. “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12).

Besides, you should not think that we are the protectors and guardians of the Holy Sepulchre and the other Holy Shrines as if our Lord and God were weak and had the need to be protected by us.

Lest it also happens to us what we see happening to his chosen people, who were called by God and prepared for the incarnation of the Lord and the Word of God, nevertheless its Pharisaic pride blinded him and he did not recognize the Saviour.

For this, as we have heard today the troparia of the Vespers and Matins, I will personally address you with the same advice. Take care with all your might to maintain a humble mind. You will achieve this initially with obedience, which you will demonstrate in the uncomplaining performance of your ministry. If the Devil sows thoughts like weeds in you that from now on your ministry should be commensurate with your age, then immediately repeat the omnipotent words of our Lord in the Sarantarion Mount “Get thee hence, Satan” (Matt. 4:10) and drive away the evil thoughts at once.

In particular, when the toil of the day closes your eyelids and brings you thoughts of exhaustion, you will think of the eternal rest in the bosom of Abraham that will have those who have conquered their flesh and overcame their nature, just as we see at the mural of our Holy Father Savvas the Sanctified at the refectory of his Holy Lavra to remind us that: “the one who conquered the flesh has conquered his nature. And the one who has conquered his nature has become above nature in all things”.

You should be like the newly-appeared and popular Saint Nectarios in forbearance, as he suffered harsh persecutions not by people of different religion and nation but by his own brethren, High Priests and Hieromonks; nevertheless, he never grouched and moreover, he never complained against anyone and endured the inhuman slander in patience and forbearance.

In complete renunciation of the world, you should have in front of you a living example, Saint Maximus Kausokalyvitis, and you should always be ready just like all the Agiotaphites to leave the position, in which you were comfortable and rested and adapt to any new situation.

Above all, honour the divine gift of Priesthood, which you are about to receive in a little while inside the Holy and Life-giving Tomb. Perform the Divine and Holy Liturgy in the fear of God and love without thoughts of vengeance against your brothers. Have the courage to apologize to your brothers when you make a mistake and to forgive those who have unwillingly caused you grief.           

By keeping the above, you will not be far from that servant of the Gospel, who was deemed worthy to hear the Lord telling him: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matt. 25:21)

And now kneel and open your heart to receive the Divine Grace of the Holy and Ritual Spirit, Who will cure you of any spiritual illness and will make up for your deficiencies, to make you a worthy Minister, sanctifying us and being sanctified yourself. Amen.”

After the placing of the Archbishop’s hands on the head of the ordained, the invocation of the Divine Grace and the reading of the prayers, along with the giving of the liturgical vestments, the people exclaimed ‘Axios’ and the service was concluded with the phrase “this is the altering of the right hand of the Most High”.

The ordained and those who honoured him were offered a reception after the service by Geronda Sacristan at his office.  

According to the order, the ordained paid his respects and received His Beatitude’s blessing on Monday 1/14 February 2022.

His Beatitude also blessed the monastic cassock of novice George Kirmitsakis, the son of the newly ordained Priest.

From Secretariat-General

On Saturday, 30 January/12 February 2022, the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of the Three Great Hierarchs, Basil the Great Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Gregory the Theologian Archbishop of Constantinople and John Chrysostom Archbishop of Constantinople.

The Church celebrates these Saints in a common feast since the 12^th century, to solve the dispute of the faithful regarding who of the three Saints is the greatest, as they had formed groups with the names of the Saints.

The Church celebrates these Saints not only as prototypes of virtue and holiness but also as the patron Saints of education and the elements of Ancient Greek Literature, which do not oppose the Christian doctrines.

The Church of Jerusalem honoured these Three Hierarchs at the Church of the Holy Trinity in the Patriarchal School of Zion with Vespers on Friday afternoon and the Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning, led by the Chairman of the School Board, Geronda Sacristan His Eminence Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis, with the co-celebration of Archimandrite Klaudios, Priests Farah and Nectarios, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Patrikios. The chanting was delivered by the Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod, Ηιerodeacon Simeon, Mr Gotsopoulos and the School Students, as the Service was attended by many faithful and the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Evangelos Vlioras. The Sermon of the day was delivered by the Managing Director of the School, Archimandrite Mattheos.

After the Divine Liturgy, the Managing Director Archimandrite Mattheos hosted a reception for the Episcopal Entourage, the Teachers and the congregation at the reception hall of the School.

From Secretariat-General

On Wednesday, 20 January/2 February 2022, the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of our Holy Father Euthymios the Great.

On this feast the Church commemorates that Saint Euthymios came to the Holy Land around AD 420, having first lived as a monk and Priest in his hometown, Melitini of Armenia.

Since he came to the Holy Land, he lived in utmost poverty and every virtue, in ascesis at the Judea desert, having Saint Theoktistos as a fellow ascetic. Saint Theoktistos founded a Coenobitic Monastery while Saint Euthymios founded a monastic Lavra, where he received the advanced monks, after their training in the Coenobium. In this Lavra, in the Judea desert between Jerusalem and Jericho, he received Saint Savvas, when the latter had completed his training at the Coenobium of Saint Theoktistos. Saint Savvas came to the Holy Land in AD 456.

In this Monastery and the wider area of the desert, Saint Euthymios became a great guide of both monks and laity and a defender of the Doctrine of the 4^th Ecumenical Synod of Chalcedon in AD 451, regarding the two natures of Christ, against the Monophysites, from whom he delivered the Empress Eudoxia.

Saint Euthymios was gifted by God with clairvoyance and miracle-working and drew to Christianity some Persians who came to his Lavra and asked from the Patriarch of Jerusalem the ordination of their superior named Aspevetus, to become the Metropolitan of Paremvoles.  

This is the information given by the biographer of the Palestinian Saints, Cyril of Skythopolis.

At the place of the historic monastery of Saint Euthymios, there are ruins now, which can be visited as an archaeological site.

The commemoration of Saint Euthymios was celebrated at the Monastery dedicated to him in the Old City of Jerusalem with Vespers on Tuesday afternoon and the Divine Liturgy on Wednesday morning, which were officiated by His Eminence Archbishop Theophanes of Gerassa, with co-celebrants the Archimandrites Mattheos and Klaudios, Priests Farah and Nectarios, Archdeacon Mark and Heirodeacon Dositheos, at the chanting of Mr Gotsopoulos and the Patriarchal School Students. The Services were attended by Nuns and laity from Jerusalem.

During the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos came for veneration, accompanied by Hagiotaphite Fathers.

His Beatitude, the Episcopal Entourage and the congregation were offered a reception by the good keep of the Monastery, reverend Abbess Sarrah.

From Secretariat-General

The feast of Saint Anthony the Great was celebrated by the Patriarchate on Sunday 17/30 January 2022.

On this feast the Church commemorates that Saint Anthony (251-356) was a great pillar and leader of the monastic life of Egypt and lived in utmost hesychasm and ascesis, “imitating the zealot Elijah in the ways and succeeding the Baptist in the life”. He greatly helped the Christians during their persecution by the Arians at the time of the 1^st Ecumenical Synod and the years after it. His biography was written in detail by Saint Athanasios the Great, who had a spiritual connection with him.

The commemoration of Saint Anthony was celebrated at the chapel dedicated to him within the Monastery of Saint Nikolaos, near the Patriarchate, with the Divine Liturgy which was officiated by His Eminence Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias, with the co-celebration of Archimandrite Klaudios, Fr David from the Romanian Patriarchate and Archdeacon Mark. The chanting was delivered by Mr Gotsopoulos, as the service was attended by Nuns of the Patriarchate and the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Evangelos Vlioras.

After the Divine Liturgy, the good caretaker of the Monastery, who continues its renovation, Archdeacon Mark offered a reception to the congregation at the renovated Hegoumeneion.

From Secretariat-General

On Saturday, 16/29 January 2022, the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of the Veneration of Apostle Peter’s Sacred Chain.

On this feast, the Church commemorates Apostle Peter’s imprisonment by Herod, with the aim to kill him as a tribute to the Jews, and the liberation of the Apostle by an angel of God, as we read in the Book of Acts (Acts, 12:6-19).

This event is believed to have taken place at the prison of the Praetorion-Roman Court. The Patriarchate has a Monastery there, named after Saint Nicodemus, the one who came to the Lord at night (John 3:1-2), or “Lentil” where there is a Church a chapel and an underground prison.

At this Monastery, Vespers on Friday afternoon and the Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning were officiated by His Eminence Archbishop Theophanes of Gerassa, with the co-celebration of Archimandrite Meletios, Priest Nectarios and Hierodeacon Eulogios, at the chanting of Mr Gotsopoulos. The Service was attended by Nuns and laity from Jerusalem, along with the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Evangelos Vlioras and members of the Consulate.

During the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem came for veneration, accompanied by Hagiotaphite Fathers.

The Hegoumen Archimandrite Makarios offered a reception at the end of the Liturgy to the Patriarchal and Episcopal entourages.

From Secretariat-General