On Sunday July 22/ August 4, 2019, the commemoration of the Holy Myrrh-bearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene, was celebrated with especial liturgical brilliance at the Holy Russian Nunnery dedicated to the Saint in Gethsemane.

Before the end of the Divine Liturgy, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos visited the Holy Nunnery, escorted by Geronda Secretary-General Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina and Archdeacon Mark, and was welcomed by the Metropolitan Mark of Germany from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), Archimandrite Romanos, the Abbess of the Nunnery, Nun Elizabeth, and the Abbess of the Russian Nunnery of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives Nun Veronica.

His Beatitude addressed the congregation of the Nunnery with the following words in English and offered in the end an ivory sacred cross for the blessing of the congregation;

“Your Eminences,

Your Graces,

Reverend Fathers,

Dear Mother Abbess Elizabeth,

Beloved Sisters of this Convent,

Noble Pilgrims,

Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

It is a great blessing for us to be able to join you in this wonderful celebration of this special feast.

We gather today in this holy place on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, the holy and great Myrrh-bearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles, who was also the Apostle to the Apostles, and we sing together with the hymnographer;

Saint Mary Magdalene, thou didst again run to the apostles, saying unto them,

“I have seen the Lord”,

and therein thou art the first proclaimer of the Resurrection.

Thou art recognized by the Holy Church as Equal-to-the-Apostles,

for thou didst pray with them and travel with them

to proclaim the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

and to witness of his teachings.

The witness – the martyria – of Saint Mary Magdalene remains of the same crucial importance in our won day, especially here in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

Let us remember her martyria:

Saint Mary Magdalene had been delivered by our Lord Jesus Christ of seven demons, and so through her experience of the invisible world of evil powers she was able to recognize Christ as the Saviour. From that moment, she remained faithful to the Lord, even through his crucifixion and death, and she witnessed his burial.

She was the first witness to the resurrection of our Lord, and she brought the glad tidings to the Apostles.

Here is the model for each of us of our own Christian discipleship, a model that we must imitate.

For we too, live in a world of unseen cosmic evil powers that seek to destroy the beautiful creation and the children of God, and we pray fervently to Jesus Christ our God and Saviour for protection and deliverance.

We too live in a world in which Christ is crucified anew every day wherever there is persecution, conflict, terrorism, violence, or lack of respect to the human person who is made in the image and likeness of God.

And we too know the power of the Uncreated Light that shines from the Holy Tomb and that brings light and life to the world.

Jerusalem and the Holy Sites of this Holy Land are the testimony to this sacred history and the witness of the lives of the great saints of the Holy Bible. And the Mother of all the Churches, our beloved Patriarchate of Jerusalem, exists in her mission throughout the ages to be an eyewitness of all this, and to guard the unity of the Orthodox Church. This is a unique and precious privilege to us to whom the guardianship of the Holy Places has been entrusted, and it is a great blessing to all who come here on pilgrimage. It is therefore our moral obligation to pray always for the unity of all and particularly of the Orthodox Church, and never lose hope.

Let us never forget that the heart of the life of the Church is the kerygma- the proclamation – of Christ’s Anastasis, which we experience so intimately in the Divine Eucharist. For the Eucharist makes the Church, and the main characteristic of the Church is the Eucharistic synaxis. As we read in the Letter to the Ephesians, we must do all in our power, with the help of God, to remain faithful to;

“the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all”. (Eph. 4:1-5).

All of us who celebrate the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene here today, whether we call the Holy Land our home or whether we are pilgrims from other lands, cannot keep this experience to ourselves. We must be messengers in our turn like Saint Mary Magdalene, who proclaimed the resurrection and spread the Good News in a world that thirsts for union with God.

Please allow us, Your Grace, to present this cross as a blessing of your pilgrimage in Jerusalem.

May God bless you, dear Mother Elizabeth, and all the sisters of your monastic community, on this blessed feast, and May God bless all who are here today in pilgrimage and our beloved Holy Land.

Amen.”

From Secretariat-General

On Saturday, July 21/ August 3, 2019, the commemoration of the Holy Prophet Elijah the Thesbite was celebrated at his Holy Church in Ma’alule town, suburb of Nazareth.

This Church belonged to the Arab-speaking community of the Patriarchate, who deserted it along with the whole Ma’alule town when the State of Israel was established in 1948. The church remained abandoned until the ’90s. Then the Patriarchate asked for its return from the Israeli army which used it until that time, the Church was returned to the Patriarchate and it was restored and renovated by the funding of the Hegoumen of the H. Monastery of the Transfiguration of Mount Tabor Archimandrite Hilarion and of the Most Reverend Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth. Ever since the Church has been used for various services of worship and for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on the Feasts of Prophet Elijah and of the Ascension, to which it is dedicated.

For the Feast of Prophet Elijah, one day after the actual feast day, the Divine Liturgy was led by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, with co-celebrants the Most Reverend Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, the Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, and the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, Hagiotaphite Hieromonks, Archimandrite Hilarion, Archdeacon Mark and Deacon Eulogios, under the chanting of the Arab-speaking faithful Christians of Nazareth district.

His Beatitude delivered the following sermon to this congregation;

“Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5: 17-18), St. James the Brother of God says in his epistle.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Noble Christians and Pilgrims

The Divine Grace has gathered us all in this biblical place, which is related to Prophet Elijah, in order to honour his annual commemoration.

Prophet Elijah is distinguished not only for his prophetical office, but also for his Godly zeal, the harsh ascetic life in the desert and the apostolic ministry he developed, fighting the idolatry to which the people of the moral monotheism, namely of the Law of Moses were drawn. Elijah’s weapon in this mission was the power of prayer, as the Holy Apostle James mentions in his epistle.

The unceasing prayer of the heart is the special characteristic by which the prophets of the Old Testament achieved the experience of deification, namely the vision of God’s glory, just as it happened with the Disciples and the Prophets who were present on Mount Tabor on the day of the Transfiguration of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

And the experience of the deification, or the vision of God’s glory was being confirmed by both the vision of the uncreated divine light and the hearing of the voice of God the Word, as St. Simeon the New Theologian says; “the prophets’ vision was the hearing and the hearing of the Lord’s word by the prophets was a vision.” And according to King-Prophet David the Prophets were calling upon the Lord and “He answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions” (Psalm 99:6-8).

Moreover, the true Prophet was distinguished from the false one because the former had had the experience of the Living God, the God of the revelation, and not the god of the philosophical wisdom, of the human invention and thinking. The true Prophet is the righteous man of God, for whom the Psalmist says: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart” (Psalm 97:11). Interpreting this psalm, St. Cyril of Alexandria says: “the noetic and divine light rises in the mind and heart of everyone who is benign and righteous”.

This noetic divine light of the Trinitarian God which rose upon Elijah’s mind and heart, made him a vessel of the Lord’s Will and a preacher of the truth of the religion of the moral monotheism, which monotheism was being threatened by the idolatry, namely the comparative religion of magic, superstition and pan-theism in his era.

In other words, Elijah’s prophetic mission was the fight against the false prophets on the one hand, and the proclaiming of the true and Living God on the other. Elijah accomplished this, not only through his prophetic word, but also through the wondrous signs he performed as proof of these words, among which was the coming down of fire and the burning of the evening sacrifice of a cow, when he prayed on Carmel Mount, as we read in the Bible; “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God” (3 Kings 18:35-39).

Speaking on the gift of the prophets, St. Gregory Palamas says: “the prophets know God’s will, which has always existed in Him before it was ever accomplished”. In other words, the Prophets of the Old Testament, according to St. Gregory Palamas’ remarks, used to behold God the Word before He became Incarnate and simultaneously foresaw and foretold Christ’s incarnation and could see the Incarnate Divine Word being born by the Virgin at the appointed time. Prophet Elijah also had this experience, who was present on Mount Tabor on the day of Jesus’ Transfiguration according to the witness of the Evangelists and Disciples Matthew (17:1-9) and Mark (9:2-9) and as the hymn writer very clearly says; “As a seer of God, the Thesbite with Moses beholdeth upon Tabor tat which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and which the heart of the earthborn men hath not considered, even the Almighty Lord incarnate”.

“A true seer of God”, namely a communicant of God’s glory, our Prophet Elijah has joined the synaxis of the chosen and beloved children of God, who have become citizens of the heavenly Church as St. Paul says: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12-22-23).

This means that Elijah the Thesbite has a great boldness towards God, and God listens to him. Behold what his hymn writer says; “We know thee to be a vessel containing the Divine Spirit, and an Angel upon the earth, breathing the fire of divine zeal, turning away impiety and reproving kings, anointing Prophets, and cutting down with the sword the priest of shame, O Elijah”. For this reason our Holy Church especially honours and venerates his sacred commemoration.

As far as we are concerned, my dear brothers and sisters, let us try to imitate his Godly zeal, namely his great and steadfast faith, and ask him to deliver us through his prayers from every sorrow, every illness of the body and soul and every treachery of the evil one. Amen.”

After the Divine Liturgy there was a reception in the courtyard in the shade of the pine trees and at noon the Most Reverend Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth offered a meal.

From Secretariat-General

On Friday July 20/ August 2, 2019, the Patriarchate celebrated the commemoration of Prophet Elijah the Thesbite in his historic Holy Monastery, which is located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, near the ancient Monastery of Theotokos’ Seat.

On this feast the Church projects Prophet Elijah as a person full of strong and extreme zeal for the name of God, for which reason God graced him with the Divine power so that he was able to work many miracles and perform signs, as recorded in the books of Kings in the Old Testament and in St. James Epistle in the New Testament.

Worth mentioning among these is that he entreated God to stop the rain and there was no rain for three years, until he asked again and then it rained (James 3:17-18). With his prayer God sent down fire and burnt down the altars of the false gods on Carmel Mount near Haifa. He was ascended in heaven in a fiery chariot and threw his fleece down to his disciple Elisha who stood watching by the river Jordan and then Elisha stepped on the fleece and walked on the waters, crossing the river as if it were land.

For this great Prophet, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in his Monastery, officiated by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, with co-celebrants the Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the Most Reverend Archbishop Philoumenos of Pella, the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, the Hagiotaphite Archimandrites Ignatios and Meletios, and Arab-speaking Priests. The chanting was delivered by Fr. George Banoura in Greek on the right, and St. James Cathedral choir under Mr. Rimon Kamar in Arabic on the left, as the service was attended by representatives of the Greek Consulate, and a congregation of Greek, Russian pilgrims and local Arab-speaking faithful from Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Before the Holy Communion His Beatitude read the following Sermon;

“Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5: 17-18), St. James the Brother of God says in his epistle.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Noble Christians and Pilgrims

The Divine Grace has gathered us all in this biblical place, which is related to Prophet Elijah, in order to honour his annual commemoration.

Prophet Elijah is distinguished not only for his prophetical office, but also for his Godly zeal, the harsh ascetic life in the desert and the apostolic ministry he developed, fighting the idolatry to which the people of the moral monotheism, namely of the Law of Moses were drawn. Elijah’s weapon in this mission was the power of prayer, as the Holy Apostle James mentions in his epistle.

The unceasing prayer of the heart is the special characteristic by which the prophets of the Old Testament achieved the experience of deification, namely the vision of God’s glory, just as it happened with the Disciples and the Prophets who were present on Mount Tabor on the day of the Transfiguration of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

And the experience of the deification, or the vision of God’s glory was being confirmed by both the vision of the uncreated divine light and the hearing of the voice of God the Word, as St. Simeon the New Theologian says; “the prophets’ vision was the hearing and the hearing of the Lord’s word by the prophets was a vision.” And according to King-Prophet David the Prophets were calling upon the Lord and “He answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions” (Psalm 99:6-8).

Moreover, the true Prophet was distinguished from the false one because the former had had the experience of the Living God, the God of the revelation, and not the god of the philosophical wisdom, of the human invention and thinking. The true Prophet is the righteous man of God, for whom the Psalmist says: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart” (Psalm 97:11). Interpreting this psalm, St. Cyril of Alexandria says: “the noetic and divine light rises in the mind and heart of everyone who is benign and righteous”.

This noetic divine light of the Trinitarian God which rose upon Elijah’s mind and heart, made him a vessel of the Lord’s Will and a preacher of the truth of the religion of the moral monotheism, which monotheism was being threatened by the idolatry, namely the comparative religion of magic, superstition and pan-theism in his era.

In other words, Elijah’s prophetic mission was the fight against the false prophets on the one hand, and the proclaiming of the true and Living God on the other. Elijah accomplished this, not only through his prophetic word, but also through the wondrous signs he performed as proof of these words, among which was the coming down of fire and the burning of the evening sacrifice of a cow, when he prayed on Carmel Mount, as we read in the Bible; “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God” (3 Kings 18:35-39).

Speaking on the gift of the prophets, St. Gregory Palamas says: “the prophets know God’s will, which has always existed in Him before it was ever accomplished”. In other words, the Prophets of the Old Testament, according to St. Gregory Palamas’ remarks, used to behold God the Word before He became Incarnate and simultaneously foresaw and foretold Christ’s incarnation and could see the Incarnate Divine Word being born by the Virgin at the appointed time. Prophet Elijah also had this experience, who was present on Mount Tabor on the day of Jesus’ Transfiguration according to the witness of the Evangelists and Disciples Matthew (17:1-9) and Mark (9:2-9) and as the hymn writer very clearly says; “As a seer of God, the Thesbite with Moses beholdeth upon Tabor tat which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, and which the heart of the earthborn men hath not considered, even the Almighty Lord incarnate”.

“A true seer of God”, namely a communicant of God’s glory, our Prophet Elijah has joined the synaxis of the chosen and beloved children of God, who have become citizens of the heavenly Church as St. Paul says: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12-22-23).

This means that Elijah the Thesbite has a great boldness towards God, and God listens to him. Behold what his hymn writer says; “We know thee to be a vessel containing the Divine Spirit, and an Angel upon the earth, breathing the fire of divine zeal, turning away impiety and reproving kings, anointing Prophets, and cutting down with the sword the priest of shame, O Elijah”. For this reason our Holy Church especially honours and venerates his sacred commemoration.

As far as we are concerned, my dear brothers and sisters, let us try to imitate his Godly zeal, namely his great and steadfast faith, and ask him to deliver us through his prayers from every sorrow, every illness of the body and soul and every treachery of the evil one. Amen.”

Finally, the Hegoumen Archimandrite Paissios offered a reception and a meal.

From Secretariat-General

On Sunday July 8/21, 2019, His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos officiated the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Church of the Holy Great Martyr George the Trophy-bearer, in town Jifna – Biblical Gofna – at the outskirts of Ramallah.

The Divine Liturgy was celebrated also on the celebration of the golden jubilee, the completion of fifty years of fruitful dedicated Priestly ministry of Fr. George Awad from Beit Sahour, who has served in Gaza, Toulkarem, and Rafidia of the town of Samaria.

Co-celebrants to His Beatitude were the Most Reverend Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias, the Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, Archimandrite Ignatios, Hegoumen of Beit Sahour and Beit Jalla, Arab-speaking Priests, Fr. George’s son, Archimandrite Porphyrios from the Holy Metropolis Rethymnis and Avlopotamou of the Church of Crete, and his son who serves at the H. Metropolis of Fthiotida of the Church of Greece, Fr. Issa Mousleh, Representative of the Patriarchate Press in the Arab-speaking M.M., Fr. Boulos from Beit Jalla, and Fr. George Banoura from Beit Sahour. Present at the service were the Orthodox faithful of the town, as well as Governmental Representatives of the Palestinian State.

Before the Holy Communion His Beatitude read the following sermon;

“ A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field” (Leviticus 25:11-12) the Lord orders through His servant Moses.

Reverend Father George, Steward of our Hagiotaphite noble flock of the town of Jifna, and officiating Priest of the Holy Church of St. George the Great Martyr,

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, noble Christians

“Grace and peace of our God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be with you”; we have been gathered in this holy Eucharistic service in order to celebrate the jubilee year, namely the fiftieth year (Leviticus 25:10) of the Priestly ministry of Father George in our Holy Church.

The Biblical reference of the jubilee year does not only refer to the completion of fifty years according to the Law of Moses, in the Old Testament, but also to the “proclaiming liberty throughout the land” namely of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the New Testament.

The jubilee year has been called also “year to proclaim liberty” because during this year there was a proclamation of liberty from debts but also liberty of the people from slavery. It was also a year dedicated to the Lord, therefore it was called holy (Leviticus 25:11-12).

“The proclamation of liberty”, namely the wailing of the promise of the people’s freedom from the curse of the Law was done by our God and Saviour Jesus Christ who was crucified, as St. Paul preaches; “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Gal. 3:13).

In other words, the testament of Grace that had been agreed for us in Christ is our freedom from the law and the power of sin and of death as St. Paul says; “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

We enjoy the freedom in Christ within the Church, which is the body of Christ, and according to Paul, Christ is the head of this body; “And he is the head of the body, the church” (Col. 1:18). Interpreting these words our Father among the Saints Theophylactos says: “[St. Paul] did not see the fullness of the congregation of the Church, but the body, in order to show the precision of His closeness to us and that He took upon Himself “homoousion” (same essence) flesh to ours.”

“Homoousios (of the same essence) is the head to the body; likewise He also is homoousios (of the same essence) to us humans”.

Moreover the Church is the vineyard of the Lord and in this vineyard the Priests and the deacons of the bloodless altar of the Lord are continuously ministering as workers, offering the praise of sacrifice to God through Christ (Hebrews 13:15). In addition, the ministers of the Lord offer “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men” (1 Tim. 2:1). They take care of the Church of God, as St. Paul says (1 Tim. 3:5). Therefore the psalmist prays by saying; “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness” (Psalm 132:9), while the Lord says: “I will also clothe her priests [of Jerusalem, that is the Church] with salvation” (Psalm 132:16), I will surround them with the power of salvation. And this power of salvation is the grace of the Holy Spirit which establishes and perfects the Priests.

Our Lord’s words “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16) do not only refer to His disciples and apostles, but also to their successors the Bishops and the Priests who minister the mystery of the divine incarnation of God the Word’s Providence, who give glory to the Lord in this Temple according to the psalmist; “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2).

Dear Father George,

Your undertaking of the degree of the Priesthood in the yard of the Lord, the Church of Christ, has made you its worthy minister, therefore your motherly Church of Jerusalem salutes you today with the words of the Lord; “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 what is the joy into which you are called to enter? It is the “transmission of many good things” according to Zigavinos, it is “the fullness of beatitude” according to St. Chrysostom. This is the completion of the fiftieth year of litourgic and pastoral ministering of the Church. For this reason St. Paul says: “For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 3:13).

You have preached this very Orthodox faith and tradition of our Holy Fathers and Apostles with boldness, ministering the word of truth, the Gospel of Christ’s love on the one hand, and promoting the harmonious co-existence among the faithful of the other Christian and Islamic communities on the other hand, in the towns of the Palestinian State; Nablus, Rafidia, Beit Sahour, Gaza and in present Jifna.

Your Priestly contribution to the Church and the tested Palestinian people has been recognized by our Holy and Sacred Synod and by the initiative of our Patriarchal Mediocrity has decided your awarding with the honourary distinction of the famous Order of the Cross bearers of the Holy Sepulchre, hearkening to St. Paul’s words; “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine” (1 Tim. 5:17).

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through the prayers of our Most Blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and the intercessions of today’s honoured Holy Great Martyr Prokopios and you Patron Saint George the Trophy-bearer, be with you. Amen. Many happy returns.”

After the end of the Divine Liturgy His Beatitude honoured Fr. George with the medal of the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, offered him an icon of the Theotokos and a pectoral cross and wished him the continuation of his ministry for many years to come after his jubilee.

The President of the Care takers of the Church also addressed the Priest.

At noon Fr. George offered a meal to His Beatitude and other guests.  There, His Beatitude addressed Fr. George as follows;

“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men” (Romans 14:17-18) St. Paul proclaims.

Dear Father George,

Dear friends present

Feeling the ending of his ministry approaching, Great Paul says; “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Today’s honorary distinction of the celebration of the jubilee of your Priesthood Farther George refers to this fact of the ministry in the Church.

The biblical term of “jubilee” which our Church especially honours has as its only purpose to preach that the mission of the Priest, of the spiritual Father and leader is not the enjoying of material things as “eating and drinking” but the evangelizing of the righteousness, of peace and of the joy in the Holy Spirit.

In other words the spiritual Father and leader should possess these spiritual and moral values which also are the fundamental principle of progress and prosperity of society as a whole and particularly of the religious communities.

And we say this because the harmonious co-existence of the various religious communities and in our case of the Muslims and Christians, depends a lot on the spiritual leadership of the community for which we also boast, hearkening to the words of Christ’s Gospel; “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21).

Concluding, we would like to thank all those who honoured this feast with their presence, especially our much respected and dearest, His Excellency the President of the Palestinian State Mahmoud Abbas, through his representatives.

As for Father George, we wish strength from on high, health and longevity so that he may be pleasing to Christ our God and reliable to the people and our Roum-Orthodox Patriarchate. Many happy returns and blessed jubilee of his Priestly ministry.

Moreover we would like to congratulate warmly his wife who has been proven a true and invisible Cyrene to him during his Priestly pastoral and litourgical ministry in the Lord’s Church. Amen.”

From Secretariat-General

On Sunday July 8/21, 2019 the Patriarchate celebrated the commemoration of the Holy Glorious Great Martyr Prokopios at the chapel with his grave, located next to the grave of Saint Modestos Patriarch of Jerusalem on Abu-Tor hill opposite the Holy Zion hill in South Jerusalem.

Regarding the Holy Martyr Prokopios the Church holds the tradition that he came from Caesarea of Palestine and martyred during the reign of Diocletian around 303 A.D. He was called to Christianity by the Lord Himself with the appearance of a cross bright as a crystal with the inscription “I am the Crucified Jesus the Son of God”.

In honour of St. Prokopios Vespers was held in this chapel in the evening and the Divine Liturgy in the morning by Priest Nikitas, Technical Manager of the Website of the Patriarchate, under the chanting of Monk Raphael, with the participation of members of the Brotherhood and the Greek Community.

After the Divine Liturgy the good Care Taker and renovator of the Monastery Monk Antiohos offered a reception to all present at the courtyard of the Church.

From Secretariat-General

On Saturday, June 30/ July 13, 2019, the Patriarchate celebrated the Feast of the Synaxis (Gathering) of the Holy Apostles at their Holy Monastery in Tiberias, which is located at the centre of the Israeli town of Tiberias, on the north-west side of the Tiberias sea.

On this Feast the Church holds the Synaxis, the gathering, in order to honour and praise the Twelve Apostles, who were called by the Lord, they accepted the calling, followed Him and after Pentecost preached His Cross and Resurrection. Through them the Lord who loves men “drew the world into His net”.

For this feast the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the morning, led by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, with co-celebrant Hagiotaphite Hieromonks of the area and Arab-speaking Priests, with first in rank Archimandrite Chrysostom Hegoumen of Cana, while the chanting was delivered by the choir which was led by the Patriarchal Representative in Acre Archimandrite Philotheos. The Service was attended by Orthodox faithful, pilgrims, and members of the Galilee Communities.

After the contrite D. Liturgy the new Hegoumen Archimandrite Parthenios offered a reception and then a meal to which he also welcomed the uninvited protesters who entered the Church. Archimandrite Parthenios calmed them down with his peaceful behavior.

From Secretariat-General

On Friday June 2/July 12, 2019, the Patriarchate celebrated the commemoration of the Holy, Glorious, All-lauded and Chiefs of the Apostles Peter and Paul at the Monastery dedicated to their names, in ancient Capernaum, at the north-west side of the sea of Tiberias.

With this feast the Church especially commemorates the contribution of the two great Apostles, Peter who denied the Lord, but then repented and cried bitterly and preached Christ in parts of Judea, Antioch and Asia Minor, and Paul, former Saul, a renown persecutor of the Christians, who was called by the Lord on his way to Damascus and preached Him in the nations of Asia and Europe, in the West and in the East, and intercedes for them.

In honour of these two Apostles, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at their Church which was built by the Patriarch of Jerusalem Damian around 1930. The Liturgy was officiated by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, with co-celebrants Hagiotaphite Hieromonks from the neighbouring Monasteries of Capernaum. The chanting was delivered by the Archimandrites Hilarion and Chrysostom on the right in Greek and by a Byzantine music singer from Cana on the left in Arabic, and the Service was attended by a congregation of pilgrims, Arab-speaking Orthodox Christians from the Galilee district, who prayed in contrition and partook of the Holy Communion.

After the Divine Liturgy, the gook keeper of the Monastery Monk Eirinarhos offered a reception at the Hegoumeneion which was followed by a lunch meal with fish as the main course at the outside courtyard of the Monastery.

From Secretariat-General

On Sunday, June 24/ July 7, 2019, the Patriarchate celebrated the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Forerunner at the Holy Monastery dedicated to him, at the town of Oreini – Ayn Karem, near Jerusalem, which is believed to have been his hometown.

On this feast the Church commemorates the Nativity of St. John the Forerunner, of Prophet Zacharias and Elizabeth the barren woman, as it is narrated by the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:57-80).

The one who was born as promised by the barren woman, is according to the Lord’s witness “the greatest man ever born from a woman”, who lived in the deserts dressed with clothing made of camel’s hair, and ate locusts and wild honey, the one who pointed at the Lord and said: “behold the lamb of God, who taketh upon himself the sins of the world”, who baptized Him in the Jordan and was beheaded by Herod, because he reprimanded the latter for the commitment of adultery, as he had taken his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, for himself.

In honour of St. John the Forerunner, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the aforementioned Holy Monastery on the feast day, led by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, with co-celebrants Priest Nikitas and Archdeacon Mark, at the chanting of Nun Danielia and Monk Raphael. The service was attended by the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr. Christos Sophianopoulos and noble Christians.

After the Divine Liturgy, the good Caretaker of the Monastery Monk Chariton offered a reception to the Episcopal entourage and the congregation at the Hegoumeneion and the courtyard of the Monastery.

From Secretariat-General

On Thursday, June 14/27, 2019, the Patriarchate celebrated the commemoration of Holy Prophet Elisha at the Church dedicated to him, at the centre of the town of Jericho by the sycamore tree of Zachaeus.

The Church honours St. Elisha, son of Saphat from the land of Abelmeholah as a great Prophet, who was called to be Prophet Elijah’s disciple, he accepted the call and learned by him, working great miracles by the Divine Grace at the district of Jericho and the Jordan river. Some of these were the turning of the bitter waters of Jericho into drinking water, the healing of King of Syria Neeman from his leprosy, and the walking on the waters of river Jordan stepping on Elijah’s fleece. Prophet Elijah had thrown his fleece to Elisha and gave him two-fold his grace when he was carried on the fiery chariot into heavens (4 Kings, 11-14).

In this Church, the Divine Liturgy was led by His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, with co-celebrants the Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina and the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, Hagiotaphite Hieromonks, among whom Archimandrite Chrysostom and Fr. Kyriakos, Archimandrite Ignatios, Arab-speaking Priests among whom Fr. Yusef Hodali, Archdeacon Mark and Deacon Eulogios, while the service was attended by a congregation from the town of Jericho and pilgrims from elsewhere.

His Beatitude sermon to this congregation is the one below;

 “Rejoice, O Elisha, who while on earth hast shown an example of a life equal to the Angels, and while in the flesh hast lived without a peer. Since thou didst preserve the eye of thy soul pure of all that is material, O Prophet, thou was counted worthy to foresee things to come by the clear light of the Spirit” the hymn writer of the Church proclaims.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Noble Christians and pilgrims

The grace of Prophet Elisha has called us in this Holy place of the Biblical town of Jericho, where the waters were “bitter but they were healed” in order to festively celebrate the Prophet’s commemoration in his holy Monastery.

“God is wondrous in his saints” (Psalm 67:36), the Prophet-King David says. Indeed, Prophet Elisha is distinguished among the Prophets because God worked great miracles through this chosen Prophet, whose anointing to the prophetic gift was done at the command of God, by Prophet Elijah, whose heir he became. “And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room” (3 Kings 19:15-16).

As it is well known, Prophet Elijah found Elisha plowing his field at the valley of the river Jordan, and called him to follow him, throwing over him his fleece. “And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, go back again: for what have I done to thee?” (3 Kings 19:20-21). This event shows that Elisha became not only Prophet Elijah’ heir, but also an instrument of the mystery of the Divine Revelation, namely a vessel of the lighting power of the Holy Spirit.

Referring to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul ranks the Prophets directly after the Apostles by saying; “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets” (1 Cor. 12:28). “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy” St. Paul advices again (1 Cor. 14:1). And elsewhere he says; “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Eph. 2:19-20).

In these God-inspired words of the Apostle of the nations, it is clearly shown that both the Apostles, the sanctified vessels of the Grace of the Gospel, and the Prophets, the God-inspired instruments of the Law of Moses, are the foundation stones, while Christ is the corner stone, on which the structure of the Church is based. The Church of Christ, in other words, is the one that unites in a harmonious and inseparable unity the Old with the New Testament. “For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18).

The Holy Church of Christ honours and venerates the commemoration of the holy Prophets, and of Prophet Elisha, because they belong to the heavenly body of the “fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19). Let us hear the holy hymn writer saying; “Rejoice, Elisha supremely wise; for after cleansing thy mind of the carnal desires and lusts, thou within thee didst receive God the Spirit’s clear shining beams, which thou didst pass on to all, O glorious one, and didst appear wholly like unto the light. Hence, thou art gone to dwell in the never-setting light that is on high, ever praying for us all, who praise and honour thee”.

We are also called to this “never-setting light”, namely our mystical union with God in heavens, by Prophet Elisha, my dear brothers and sisters, in order to dwell in “the eternal dwelling places” (Luke 16:9).

And the Church of Christ on earth, is the dwelling place where the cleansing of our souls and bodies is being accomplished, a cleansing from the spiritual leprosy, namely of sin. And we say this because today’s honoured Prophet Elisha became among other things also a healer of the illness of leprosy, according to the witness of our Lord Jesus Christ who said; “And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27).

In the general Epistle of St. James, the Brother of God, the Prophets are projected as examples to imitate. “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience” (James 5:10).

Such an example of suffering affliction, of long-suffering but also of intercession towards God for the sick, those who suffer injustice, and those tested by misdemeanors have we the luminary of the world, Elisha the Prophet.

Let us therefore entreat St. Elisha and along with the hymn writer say; “Thou Prophet and herald of Christ, at no time art thou ever separated from the throne of majesty, yet thou art ever present at the side of every one in sickness; while ministering in the highest, thou dost bless the whole world and art everywhere glorified. As thou forgiveness for our souls”. Amen. Many Happy Returns!”

Before dismissal His Beatitude read the prayer for the fruit, especially for the grapes.

After the Divine Liturgy the Hegoumen of the Shrine Archimandrite Philoumenos offered a meal to the Patriarchal Entourage and others.

From Secretariat-General

On Tuesday, June 12/25, 2019, the Patriarchate celebrated the commemoration of our Righteous Father Onuphrius of Egypt at his holy Monastery, at the deep end of valley Enom, opposite of Siloam font.

Our Holy Father Onuphrius lived in Egypt in the 4^th century in total abstinence of the passions and in ascesis of the virtues of Christ, “having become an immigrant from the turbulent world”, he lived in outmost austerity and poverty and nudity that was covered with his long beard, and became an example to imitate for the ascetics of all times.

The Patriarchate has dedicated a Monastery to him in the lower part of Jerusalem, the City of David, opposite Siloam’s font, which is the place the Pharisees bought with the thirty silver coins that Judas returned to them when he regretted his action of Jesus betrayal. For this reason, this place was called “field of blood” or “Potter’s field”.

In this Church which has a part inside a cave, the Divine Liturgy was led by our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, with co-celebrants the Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina and the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, Hagiotaphite Hieromonks, with first in rank Archimandrite Ignatios and Fr. Nectarios and Fr. Eirinaios, from the Holy Monastery of Oblou, of the Holy Metropolis of Patra from the Church of Greece, Archdeacon Mark and Deacon Sophronios, at the presence of a large congregation of pilgrims, monks and nuns.

His Beatitude delivered the following sermon to this congregation:

“You ought to behold the delight of the Lord, O God-bearer and with Him alone did ye long to converse alone. Wherefore ye abandoned the world, fleeing afar off to dwell in the wilderness and in mountains; and putting on Christ, ye took no thought for raiment, for ye had trafficked for the garment of incorruption, wherewith ye entered into the heavenly bridechamber, where ye rejoice eternally, O Onuphrius” the hymn writer of the Church proclaims.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Noble Christians and pilgrims

The sacred commemoration of our Father among the Saints Onuphrius has gathered all of us today in his Holy Church in this Biblical and historical “potter’s field” also known as the “field of blood” (Matthew 27:7-8), in order to celebrate his feast in Eucharist and Doxology.

The holy hymn writer calls our Holy Father Onuphrius from Egypt, a citizen of the desert, an Angel in flesh, wonder worker and healer of the souls of all who come to him. Indeed, Saint Onuphrius became a co-citizen of the Angels, a participant of the righteous and the holy, therefore he received the crown of righteousness that Christ prepared for him, as St. Paul says; “I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for a me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing”(2 Tim. 4:7-8).

Our Father among the Saints Onuphrius loved Christ so much that when he heard the life of the great zealots of Christ, of Elias the Thesvite and John the Forerunner and Baptist, he retreated in the desert where he lived for sixty years without seen any man at all, as his synaxarist says. And according to the witness of St. Pafnutius the Great, who met the Saint in the deepest desert and was also present at the departing of the Saint to the heavenly dwelling places, saw that our Father Onuphrius “was naked and his body was covered with white hair all over”.

For this the holy hymn writer says: “Wherefore ye abandoned the world, fleeing afar off to dwell in the wilderness and in mountains; and putting on Christ, ye took no thought for raiment, for ye had trafficked for the garment of incorruption”.

And what was the raiment of incorruption which he strove to secure, for his cover? It was the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ for which St. Paul proclaims by saying; “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). And elsewhere he says; “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

This very newness of life did our Holy Father Onuphrius follow, namely the path of the Gospel. And the path of the Gospel is no other than the path of incorruption and of eternal life. Let us hear the hymn writer saying; “Thou madest thyself a temple altogether luminous with the virtues, O righteous and all-blessed Onuphrius, flashing lightning-like with eh far-shining radiance of the clear and divine beams of Godlike miracles”. And again; “Apprehending the illumination of Christ with an inspired mind, thou joyfully dweltest in the desert as in Paradise, putting forth shoots of incorruption.”

Our Father Onuphrious became co-heir of the glory of the Son and Word of God the Father, not only because of the power of his faith, but also because of his harsh ascetic striving, and of course through the help of the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul preaches; “ The Spirit [of adoption] itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:16-17). In other words, we become co-heirs of Christ if of course, we co-suffer with Him, in order to be glorified together with Him.

The holy festal commemoration by our holy Church of its saints, as our Holy Father Onuphrius, is not a commemoration of worldly events and historic persons, but rather a witness of the life in heavens, namely of “ the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23).

This witness, my dear brothers and sisters, are we called to join, heeding to our Holy Father Onuphrius on the one hand; and hearkening to the words of wise Paul on the other, saying; “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Hebrews 13:14).

This means that the one bearing the name of Christ should continuously strive, praying unceasingly, hearkening to the words of the Lord in the book of Revelation of St. John: “be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). In other words, the one who belongs to the mystical body of Christ, namely the Church, should not neglect his spiritual duties for the sake of the worldly matters. And this is so because the danger of his spiritual death is always lurking.

Interpreting the words of St. Paul, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Cor. 12:27) and “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called” (Ephes. 4:4-5), St. Gregory of Sinai says: just as the body without the spirit becomes dead, likewise, the one who neglects the commandments of the Lord becomes dead in the spirit and remains without the power and the light of the Holy Spirit and the grace of Christ.

Because we, my brothers and sisters, through the Holy Baptism have been born children of light and sons of day (1 Thess. 5:5), let us not sleep the sleep of indifference and carelessness, as those who do not know Christ do, but let us be vigilant and sober, according to St. Paul’s advice; “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thess. 5:6).

Let us imitate the vigilance, the abstinence, the fasting and the wakefulness, as well as the unceasing prayer of today’s honoured, our Holy Father Onuphrius, as well as our Holy Father Peter of Mount Athos, and along with the hymn writer say; “As Angels in the flesh who dwelt in the hosts incorporeal, ye lit the desert like stars flashing in the night with your ascetic pains and toils. Now O God-bearing Fathers, importune God’s great mercy for us who sing your praise, Onuphrius and Peter while crying out: Alleluia”. (And along with our Most Blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary who prays for our souls). Amen.”

The Divine Liturgy was followed by a procession inside the Monastery and a memorial service for the repose of the souls of the founders of the Monastery and Nun Seraphima who has recently slept in the Lord, as well as a prayer for the blessing of the fruit.

After the Divine Liturgy the good keeper and renovator of the Monastery Abbess Paissia offered a reception to the Patriarchal Entourage and the congregation at the hegoumeneion.

From Secretariat-General