“Your Eminence Metropolitan Juvenalii,

Your Eminences,

Dear Archimandrite Alexander,

Reverend Fathers,

Beloved Monastics,

Sisters and Brothers in the Lord,

Christ is in our midst!

We gather today in this holy and venerable Cathedral to give thanks to the Almighty God for 170 years of faithful service and witness of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. Founded in 1847, the primary purpose of the Mission over the generations has been to support the many thousands of pilgrims who have come to the Holy Land from the Russian Church. Your witness here has endured many challenges both in the Holy Land and in your motherland, and yet you have endured. In particular we celebrate today the recent restoration of the Sergei Building of the Russian Compound to the Mission.

This Divine Liturgy that we have just concelebrated is the great and visible sign of the unity of the Holy Orthodox Church. The Eucharist is the expression of our unity in the apostolic faith, but our sharing in the common Chalice runs even deeper than this. As St. Paul says of the Body of Christ, if one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it (1 Cor. 12:26).

Together we share in each other’s sufferings as well as in each other’s joys. We in the Church of Jerusalem, which is the Mother of all Churches, have long had compassion for the many sufferings of the Russian Church over the generations, and we are particularly mindful in our own day of the painful schism that exists in Ukraine.

And we know that you have a special concern for the Church of Jerusalem and the Christian communities of the Holy Land, especially at this time when the Church in this region is facing new and difficult challenges.

So our unity in this Divine Liturgy finds its most profound expression in our mutual diakonia, our care of one for the other. We wish to express our profound gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Cyril, whose pastoral zeal for the Church of Jerusalem is well known. And we also wish to take this opportunity to thank His Excellency the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin, whom we regard highly both as a defender of Orthodoxy and as a world leader, who has a particular care for peace and reconciliation in the Middle East in general and in the Holy City of Jerusalem in particular.

Our mutual support and care is what everybody expects from spiritual leaders in our day. Our Holy Orthodox Church is the witness that guarantees the identity and vitality of our Orthodox nations and communities. May this providential anniversary of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem strengthen our unity, so that we may, in our generation, give our best efforts together for the well-being of the Church, both at home and in our beloved Holy Land.

May God bless you all.”

The feast of the Holy Cathedral in Doha was celebrated with special ecclesiastical brilliance, with the participation of Jerusalem Patriarchate clergy, who came to honour the feast and co-celebrate the Divine Liturgy and the ordination of Deacon Demetrios as Priest. For pastoral reasons the feast was transferred on Friday.

On Thursday 12th October 2017, Great Vespers was officiated by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Benedict of Philadelphia with the blessing of bread. The hymns were sung by the Choir Leader of the All-holy Church of the Resurrection Archimandrite Aristovoulos in Greek and Russian and the choir of the Holy Church sang in Arabic. After Vespers there was a pre-festal meal for the clergy and the parish members.

On Friday 13th October 2017, Matins and the Divine Liturgy were celebrated, with the ordination of Deacon Demetrios as Priest, officiated by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Benedict of Philadelphia with co-celebrants the Most Reverend Archbishop Makarios of Qatar, Archimandrite Aristovoulos, Archimandrite Stephen, Archimandrite Leontios and Deacon Demetrios, with the participation of a crowd of faithful. The feast was honoured by the presence of the Ambassadors of Greece Mr. Constantinos Orphanides, of the Democracy of Cyprus Mr. Mihail Zacharioglou, the Consul of Greece Mr. John Zelomosides and the Defense Attache, Colonel Mr. Panagiotis Krikis. After the Divine Liturgy there was the litany of the Holy Icon of St. Isaac the Syrian, followed by a reception at the reception hall of the Archdiocese.

From the Holy Archdiocese of Qatar

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On Sunday 25th September/8th October 2017, H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos officiated the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Church of the Greek-Orthodox Arab-speaking Community of Rene.

The town Rene is nearby Nazareth, and it there has always been a Greek-Orthodox Arab-speaking Community there, numbering approximately one thousand two hundred members.

Co-celebrants with His Beatitude at this Divine Liturgy were the Most Reverend Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, the Most Reverend Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias, the Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, Dragouman Archimandrite Mattheos, the former Master of Ceremonies Archimandrite Porfyrios, the Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery of Tabor Archimandrite Hilarion, the Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery of Tiberias Archimandrite Dionysios, the brother of the Metropolitan of Nazareth Fr. Telemachos, the Head of this parish Presbyter Fr. Simeon, Presbyter Fr. Lazarus and Deacon Anastasios. The choir leader of the All-holy Church of the Resurrection Archimandrite Aristovoulos sang in Greek, Arabic and Russian with the choir he has been teaching in Nazareth and a great crowd of Orthodox people participated in reverence.

His Beatitude preached the divine word to this people as follows:

 “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever” (2 Cor. 9:8-9), the wise Apostle Paul preaches.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Noble Christians

We rend glory and thanksgiving to the Holy Trinitarian God, Who has directed us in the historic city of yours, in order to become communicants of the Holy Table of the divine body and blood of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, in this Eucharistic gathering in the Holy Church of St. George the Great Martyr.

In the second Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul urges the Christian brothers to be willing to offer generously, namely to be charitable, in order to have the grace of God on the one hand, and on the other, to work exceedingly in every good work. “And God is able to bless you abundantly” (2 Cor. 9:8), “His righteousness endures forever” (2 Cor. 9:9).

And like that, the righteousness of God endures forever, because we who bear the name of Christ have put on Christ during the Holy baptism. That is, we have been surrounded with the light of Christ as a garment. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12) says the Lord.

According to St. Chrysostom, “St. Paul refers to the virtue of good works and charity when he talks about righteousness here; He named charity as righteousness here. And it is right for him to do so, as [charity] burns sins like fire.” It is however noteworthy, that the righteousness we are called to apply in our earthly life is the life in Christ, namely to keep the commandments of the Gospel of Christ, as St. Paul teaches by saying: “ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:14-15). And in more detail; Stand upright in the battle, having buckled around your waist with truth as another belt, so that the enlightenment of the truth may give you spiritual strength and agility. And be dressed with righteousness as another breastplate, so that you may be unharmed by every arrow of unrighteousness and you won’t be enthralled by any work of injustice against your neighbour. And as new shoes, put on your feet the willingness to act, which is given to the soul by the keeping of the Gospel which gives peace.

And according to Prophet David, God’s mercy and righteousness remain to all generations of those who keep His law and remember His commandments, so that they live according to them. “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts” (Psalm 103:17-18).

Those whom our Holy Church honours and respects as its saints, are nothing else but “human beings, even as we are” (James 5:17), who guarded and kept the law and the commandments of the Gospel. Behold why our Church projects its Saints throughout the centuries as prototypes and examples to imitate.

The Saints of the Church are our spiritual luminaries, who guide us through the ocean of adversities and the confusion of this century. While the Church the mystical body of Christ, is the safe harbour of the salvation of our souls. “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Mat. 16:26) says the Lord.

Moreover, the Apostles were called exactly to this by Christ, namely to the preaching of the salvation of the people’s souls, as it is clearly witnessed by today’s Gospel narrative according to St. Luke: “Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people” (Luke 5:10). [Do not be afraid, from now on that I call you to become my apostle, you will continue to fish, not fish but living people instead, whom you will guide to the salvation of their souls by your preaching]. This means that the mission of the Church is the transfiguration of man and the world into Christ, Who has conquered the death of corruption and sin by His Cross and Resurrection. ““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). While St. Paul does not hide his pain and suffering for the rebirth of his spiritual children until Christ’s character is formed in them: “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” he writes to the Galatians 4:19.

On the contrary, those who claim that the Church should conform to the will of the world and thus of man, are no others than those for whom St. Paul prophesizes: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).

Today’s celebrated St. Euphrosyne, an exemplar of the transfiguration in Christ, is projected to us my dear brothers, who having denounced the things of the world is rejoicing with the saints in heaven and intercedes for us to the pioneer and perfecter of our faith our Lord Jesus Christ, Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God(Hebrews 12:2). To Whom belongs all glory honour and worship unto the ages. Amen. Many happy returns.”

The Divine Liturgy was followed by a reception at the Community’s reception hall, at the presence of Mr. Caesar Martzie, representative of the Ministry of Religion of Israel. There were also thanking addresses to His Beatitude for His support to the Community and the purchase of land property for the Community followed by His Beatitude’s address as sited below:

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). [Seek peace with all men; seek the sanctification and purity of heart from every passion; because without sanctification no one will see the Lord], St. Paul preaches.

Your Excellency Mr. President of the Church Council,

Honourable members of the Church Committee,

Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen,

Reverend Fathers and Holy Brothers

Our meeting today in the town Rene of Sebastia County, where Christians and Muslims live in peace and harmony, is an event of joy and moral satisfaction. And this is so, because the Lord’s commandment is kept here; “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luke 10:27), and according to St. Paul, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour” (Romans 13:10).

The unceasing and historical presence of the primary institution of the Church through the centuries, which has shed its light to the world on the day of Holy Pentecost, in this very place of the crucified blood and the resurrection of its founder our Lord Jesus Christ, has made the Church of Jerusalem, namely the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate with its order of monks of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, the undeniable guarantor of the safe-keeping of the All-holy Shrines on the one hand, and on the other, the Christian presence and witness in both the Holy Land and in the outer Middle East district.

Needless to say, within its sacred mission of preaching the principles and values of the Gospel, the Greek-Orthodox Jerusalem Patriarchate has cultivated mutual respect and harmonious co-existence among the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Moreover, the good cooperation between the Church vestrymen of your community and our Patriarchate has brought forth the fruits of reorganization to both your community and the young people. We praise and bless this good effort of your vestrymen and that of the fighter and energetic worker of Christ’s vineyard, namely the Reverend for you and us Priest and keeper Fr. Sama’an.

Finally, we would like to assure you, my dear brothers and sisters and respected members of your community, that we don’t stop our care for you. Therefore, along with the wise Apostle we say: “being reviled, we bless; Being defamed, we intreat” (1 Cor. 4:12,13) and we pray our God and Saviour Jesus Christ so that the fruit of His Spirit, namely love, joy, peace, faith, gentleness and longsuffering (Gal. 5:22) fills the hearts of all of you, by the intercessions of the Most-holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary and the prayers of St. George the Great Martyr and St. Euphrosyne. Amen.”

From Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/NCLBzcOAHJs

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On Saturday 24th September/7th October 2017, the memory of the Holy First Martyr and equal to the Apostles St. Thecla was celebrated at her chapel in the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, located to the west of the H. Church of Saints Constantine and Helen.

The Holy First Martyr  Thecla came from Ikonion of Asia Minor, she became a student of the Apostle of nations St. Paul and taught Christ in many towns, and having suffered a lot she died at the age of ninety in her own country.

In the aforementioned chapel dedicated to her, Vespers was held in the evening at the presence of H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, officiated by Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nectarios and other Hagiotaphite Fathers, at the singing of the Typikon keeper of the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen Archimandrite Alexios and the Most Reverend Archbishop Demetrios of Lydda and Secretary of the Holy Synod.

After Vespers, boiled wheat and wine with dried bread were offered at the courtyard of the Epitropikon.

On the day of the Feast, according to the Order of worship, Matins and the Divine Liturgy were celebrated at the presence of His Beatitude, with the participation in prayer Hagiotaphite Archbishops and monks as well as pilgrims, nuns and the students of the Patriarchal School.

After the Divine Liturgy there was a reception at the Epitropikon where His Beatitude wished the Fathers the intercessions and help of the Holy First Martyr and equal to the Apostles Thecla.

From Secretariat-General

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On the first Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross, 18th September/1st October 2017, H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, following the Church order of Jerusalem, officiated the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Monastery of the Sacred Cross, located on West Jerusalem near the Hebrew Houses of Parliament.

According to the Church tradition the wood by which the Lord’s Cross was made, was planted by Lot in the place where this Holy Monastery stands. The Patriarchate held a Higher School of Theology in this Monastery from 1845 to 1909, where exceptional Theologians of the Church, clergy and laity, and many of the Hagiotaphite Fathers of the second half of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th centuries studied, such as the later Archbishop of Athens and Professor of the School of Theology of the University of Athens Chrysostomos Papadopoulos, Meletios Metaxakis, Kallistos Milaras and Timotheos Themelis Patriarch of Jerusalem and many others.

In the very old Church of this Monastery with Byzantine mosaics on the floor and excellent murals, His Beatitude celebrated the Divine Liturgy with co-celebrants the Most Reverend Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the Most Reverend Archbishop Theophylactos of Jordan, Hagiotaphite Hieromonks led by Archimandrite Ieronymos, Dragouman Archimandrite Mattheos, Archimandrite Kallistos, Archdeacon Mark and others. The choir was led by the left choir singer of the Church of the Resurrection Mr. George Alvanos, at the presence of the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr. Christos Sophianopoulos and members of the General Consulate of Greece, with the participation in prayer of a congregation of the few remaining members of the Greek Community of West Jerusalem, as well as those of the Old City of Jerusalem, alongside monks and nuns.

During the Divine Liturgy His Beatitude gave the following Sermon:

“Gleaming like the sun, Thy precious Cross hath brightly shone forth today at the Place of the Skyll, O Christ, set fast on that blessed ground glorified of all men; and being exalted on this all holy mount of Thine, it indicateth most plainly unto all that by Thy Cross, O Saviour, Thou hast raised our nature to Heaven’s heights, at the merciful Friend of man, O Almighty and Sovereign Lord” the hymn writer of the Church exclaims.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Noble Christians and pilgrims.

By the grace of God and the power of the Sacred and Life-giving Cross we celebrate this sacred and Eucharistic Gathering on the Feat of the Exaltation of the Sacred Cross, in this holy place where according to the tradition Lot, Patriarch Abraham’s nephew, planted the three tree branches which blossomed. These branches were of pine, cedar and cypress trees. One of the branches of this tree, was used for the making of the Cross of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Today’s annual feast in this historic Monastery of the Cross is an extension of the great feast that was held a few days ago at the very sacred place of the finding of the Cross and at the place of Skyll, namely of the Crucifixion on Horrendous Golgotha. 

The Holy Church of Jerusalem, being the faithful and truthful witness of the these sacred places glorifies the Holy Trinitarian God, because through the Cross the heavens proclaimed God’s glory to the people, as the hymn writer says “the voices of the Prophets declared beforehand the holy Wood, whereby Adam was set free from the ancient curse of death. Today as the Cross is lifted up, creation also lifteth up its voice, asking God for His rich mercy.” In other words, not only the old Adam, but the whole creation were liberated from the corruption of death, and the creation as a whole is called to take part in the freedom of the glorious nature of God’s children, as St. Paul preaches by saying: “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

The finding of the Cross by St. Helen and its exaltation by Makarios, Patriarch of Jerusalem, are facts of the universal history, and this is because they refer to the common nature of men, whether they are Christians or not, believers or non-believers.

Chirst’s Cross is the ultimate symbol of the sacrifice of the Righteous One, namely the Son of Man, and for this reason it incarnates the outmost humility on the one hand, and the exalting power of repentance on the other. Being nailed on the Cross, Christ said: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

In other words the mystery of the Cross confirms and seals the great and unspeakable mystery of the Divine Providence, the gift of the salvation in Christ for the whole world. Moreover, the exaltation of the Sacred Cross reveals the triumph of the truly sacrificial love of Christ and His mystical body of the Church.

Behold why, having experienced unspeakable words on his ascend in third heaven, St. Paul writes to the Galatians: “ God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). And in more detail, St. Paul says, his only boast is the Lord’s death on the cross, and through his faith in this cross he has become dead to the world. And every action and miracle of Christ is great and divine and marvelous, but most marvelous of all is His Sacred Cross, St. John Damascene says. And this is so, because it was only by the Cross and no other means that death was abolished, the forefather’s sin was released, the resurrection was granted a gift, the gates of heaven were opened. “So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ” St. Paul says, “were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27), “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinth. 1:24). Behold therefore, Christ’s death, namely His Cross, has surrounded us with God’s existing wisdom and power.

For this reason, my dear brothers and sisters, we exceptionally honour and venerate Christ’s Cross, and simultaneously we glorify His Holy Resurrection, at the place where He lay His feet, as Prophet David says “We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool” (Psalm 132:7). And the fact that David is referring to the Cross is revealed by the following verse: “Arise, O Lord, into thy rest” (Psalm 132:8), as St. John Damascene interprets.

As for us today, “seeing the Cross’s Wood exalted, let us render all majesty and glory to God, Who in His goodness was crucified while wearing flesh”.

 And with the hymn writer let us say: “O God, fulfilled is the saying of Thy Prophet Moses, which saith: Ye shall see your Life hanging before your eyes. Today the Cross is exalted and the world is set free from error. Today the Resurrection of Christ is inaugurated, and the ends of the earth rejoice, as with Davidic cymbals they offer Thee a hymn and say: Thou hast wrought salvation in the midst of the earth, O God, even the Cross, and the Resurrection, whereby Thou hast saved us, O Thou Who art good and the Friend of man. O Almighty Lord, glory be to Thee.” Amen.”

After the Divine Liturgy, the Service of the Exaltation of the Sacred Cross followed, and then the Hegoumen of the Holy Monastery Archimandrite Klavdios offered the Patriarchal Entourage a reception at the hegoumeneion.

From Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/za-9PdtAbR0

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On Wednesday, 14th/27th September 2017, the Feast of the universal Exaltation of the Sacred Cross was celebrated by the Patriarchate at the All-holy Church of the Resurrection.

On this Feast, the Church commemorates the fact that in the year 336 A.D., during the service of the Consecration of the Church of the Resurrection the newly found Cross of the Lord was “exalted” so that the gathered crowd could see it and they all exclaimed “God save thy people…and Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison”.

1. In the Evening

This event was celebrated beginning with the 9th Hour at the Monastic Church of Saints Constantine and Helen followed by Vespers at the Catholicon of the Church of the Resurrection, officiated by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, with co-celebrants the Archbishops at the Holy Altar and Hagiotaphite Priests, first of whom was Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nectarios and Priests from other Orthodox Churches, Archdeacon Mark and Deacon Anastasios, with the Choir Leader of the All-Holy Church of the Resurrection Archimandrite Aristovoulos and the Left Choir singer Mr. George Alvanos, with the participation of a congregation of many pilgrims from Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Romania, Ukraine and local Greek-Orthodox and Arab-Orthodox and monks and nuns.

2. On the Day of the Feast

On Wednesday 14th/27th September  2017, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Catholicon of the All-holy Church of the Resurrection, led by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, with co-celebrants the Most Reverend Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias, the visiting Most Reverend Metropolitans Pitirim of Siberia of the Moscow Patriarchate, Gabriel of New Ionia and Philadelphia of the Church of Greece, and the Most Reverend Bishop Nikolaos of Amathounda of the Church of Cyprus, the Most Reverend Archbishops Theophanes of Gerassa, Aristarchos of Constantina, Methodios of Tabor, Theodosios of Sebastia, Demetrios of Lydda, and the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, Hagiotaphite Hieromonks, first of whom was Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nectarios, and visiting Hieromonks from other Orthodox Churches, with the Choir Leader of the All-Holy Church of the Resurrection Archimandrite Aristovoulos and the Left Choir singer Mr. George Alvanos, at the presence of the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr. Christos Sophianopoulos and the participation of a vast crowd of pilgrims similar to that of the Easter period.

After the Dismissal of the Divine Liturgy, the Litany with the Sacred Cross which encompasses a part of the Sacred Cross of the Lord began.

The Procession went past Deposition, Adam’s chapel, the Crown of Thorns, and down the chapel of the finding of the Sacred Cross. There the Patriarch performed the exaltation of the Sacred Cross at the four parts of the horizon, despite the unfortunate event of the Armenians trying to hinder the Litany of the Orthodox faithful.

On the way up, the procession went past the chapels of the Seven Pillars and round the Holy Sepulchre three times, then through the chapel of the Holy Deposition went up to Horrendous Golgotha.

Therein, the Patriarch exalted the Cross at the four parts of the horizon according to the Status Quo of worship and having placed the Sacred Cross on the Holy Altar of Golgotha, the people venerated the place of the actual Sacred Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was nailed for our salvation.  

Having venerated the Sacred Cross and received the blessed basil leaves, the procession went down to the Holy Altar of the Catholicon where the congregation was dismissed for its ascend to the Patriarchate.

At the Patriarchate, His Beatitude gave the following address:

““But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14) St. Paul preaches.

Most Honourable Consul General of Greece Mr. Christos Sophianopoulos,

Reverend Fathers and Brothers,

Noble Christians and pilgrims

The power of the sacred and life-giving Cross has gathered us all in this sacred place of the passion on the Cross and the same place where the Cross was found, so that we can festively celebrate its universal exaltation.

“Being lifted upon the Cross, Thou didst raise Adam with Thyself and, with him, our whole fallen nature, O our Lord. Wherefore, exalting Thy spotless Cross, we ask Thee, O Friend of man, for Thy power from above, as we cry out: o Thou Most High, save them that revere the divine, bright and hallowed Exaltation of Thy Cross with fitting honour, since Thou art God and All-merciful” the hymn writer says.

That is why St. Paul boasts and the whole Church of Christ together with him. Indeed, the whole fallen nature of the humankind was co- exalted in the Cross of Christ the new Adam, and was liberated from the offense of the disobedience through the blotting out of the handwriting of ordinances that was against us (Col. 2:14).

In other words, the former Angel of light of God’s glory, having been obsessed with the cursed disease of conceit, was transformed into an angel of darkness and a malicious snake, the devil of disobedience. On the contrary, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Philipians 2:8-10). And the Cross of Christ has become the wood of blessed obedience and ultimate humility, the divine trophy and weapon against the devil and the visible and invisible enemies. Behold why the Sacred Cross is the beauty of the Church and the guardian of the whole world. Moreover, according to St. Gregory Palamas, the Sacred Cross glorifies and exalts our Saviour Christ, manifesting His victory to the world.

Therefore, together with St. Paul and the hymn writer of the Church let us say: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom having suffered, He mortified the passions. This very Cross of the Lord all of you and I hold as our boast; for it is our salvation this wood, the weapon of peace, the undefeated trophy.” Amen. Many happy returns.”

From Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/XESlqN-rd6U

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On Tuesday morning, 13th/26th September 2017, the commemoration of the consecration of the All-Holy Church of the Resurrection was celebrated by the Jerusalem Patriarchate.

On this Feast the Church as a whole, and especially that of Jerusalem celebrates the fact that after the completion of the building of the All-holy Church of the Resurrection at the place of the Cross and the Resurrection of our Saviour Christ in the year 336 A.D., all Bishops of the Synod of Tyra under the Archbishop Makarios of Jerusalem were gathered in Jerusalem by the command of the Emperor Constantine the Great, and held the magnificent Consecration Service of this Church, at the presence of the Emperor’s mother, St. Helen.

For this feast, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Catholicon of the All-holy Church of the Resurrection, officiated by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, with co-celebrants Hagiotaphite Fathers and the singing of the Choir Leader Archimandrite Aristovoulos and the Left Choir singer Mr. George Alvanos, with the participation of many pilgrims.

After the Divine Liturgy His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos received the Episcopal entourage at the Patriarchate.

From Secretariat-General
httpv://youtu.be/ifhRDRSrKc0

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During the Divine Liturgy on Sunday 11th/24th September 2017, at the Holy Church of the Nativity of Theotokos in the town Beit Jala, the Patriarchal Representative of Bethlehem Most Reverend Archbishop Theophylactos of Jordan ordained Mr. Elias Zareb a deacon, in order to minister this Community as a Presbyter later on.

Participants at the ordination were the Hegoumen Archimandrite Narkissos, the ministering Priests of this town and many people, praying and wishing the new deacon all the best.

From Secretariat-General
httpv://youtu.be/Zmj62zfmma4

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On Thursday, 8th/21st September 2017, the Patriarchate celebrated the memory of the Nativity of our All-Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. During this feast, the Church commemorates the fact that the Theotokos was given by God as the fruit of the womb of her childless parents, Joachim and Anna, who had been praying fervently for this reason, and were thus granted to become the parents of the Mother of God.

This event was celebrated at the Monastic Church of Saints Constantine and Helen of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, with the participation in prayer of H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos and Hagiotaphite Fathers. Likewise, the feast was observed at the Tomb of Theotokos in Gethsemane by an Episcopal Divine Liturgy, led by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias.

Nevertheless, the feast was celebrated at the Holy Monastery of Saints George and John the Chozevites, in the desert of Judea, where Saints Joachim and Anna owned a field to which they used to isolate themselves in prayer for childbearing, and where the Patriarchate keeps a Scete named after St. Anna.

From Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/57jl0-h0-_Q

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On Saturday, 3rd/16th September 2017, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the prayers and blessings of His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, at St. Demetrios’ chapel next to St. Demetrios’ School, on the occasion of the beginning of the new School year for the School students, with the participation of students and teachers.

From Secretariat-General

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