On Friday, May 20 / June 2, 2023, the feast of the glorious and God-crowned great sovereigns and equal to the apostles Constantine and Helen was celebrated by the Patriarchate with a transference of the actual feast date.

On this feast, the Church honours Constantine the Great as an apostle, because with the decree of the Milanese of the year AD 312, he recognized Christianity as the freed religion of the Roman state, and allowed the construction of Churches for the worship of the true God through Christ, His incarnate Son. The Church also honours his mother Saint Helen on this day, because, following her son as king, she came to the Holy Land and erected the Church of the Resurrection on the Holy Sepulchre and the Martyrdom on the Horrendous Golgotha and the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem and other churches in different places of the incarnate presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This holiday was celebrated by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem through the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood in the central monastery’s Holy Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, its patrons.

The feast was celebrated in the afternoon during Vespers, presided over by His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, with the co-celebration of the Typikon keeper of the Church Archimandrite  Alexios, the Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nektarios, the Exarch of Athens Archimandrite  Raphael the priests of the Church Archimandrites; Stefanos and Amphilochios, Epiphanios, Claudius, Meletius and  Dionysios, Arabic-speaking Priests, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Dositheos, under the chanting of Hierodeacon Simeon and the members of the Brotherhood.

After Vespers, the Brotherhood sat down in the courtyard of the Epitropikon and received the boiled wheat and the bread with wine.

On the morning of the feast, H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem officiated the Liturgy in this Church, with the Typikon Keeper Archimandrite Alexios, the ministering Priests of the Church as above, as well as the Archimandrite Ieronymos, Priest George Baramki from Saint James Cathedral and Fr Youssef Hodali, ministering Priest in Beit Jala, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Dositheos, with the co-prayer of representatives of the Patriarchate of Moscow and Romania, two Bishops of the Patriarchate of Serbia, John and Damascene, in the presence of the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem, Evangelos Vlioras, the Consul Mrs Christina Zacharioudaki, member of the Consulate and Mrs Zozonakis representative of the E.U. after her husband and many local believers and pilgrims from various countries.

After dismissal, His Beatitude the priests and clergy and the people, chanting in unison, went to the Patriarchate Hall, receiving, according to the custom, the bread of blessing from the hands of the baker Abbess Seraphima in the aisle towards the Throne Hall.

At the Hall, His Beatitude spoke through His following address:

“Raising up thy perception to Heaven’s heights, and considering the comeliness of the stars, through them, thou wast brought to know the divine Lord of all that is; for amidst them the weapon of Christ’s Cross shone brilliantly; the words: Conquer and rule in this sign, were inscribed thereon. Wherefore, having opened thy soul’s eyes, thou didst read there the words written for thy sake, and didst learn what way thou shouldst take, O all-venerable Constantine. Intercede with Christ our God that forgiveness of all their transgressions be granted to them that with longing keep thy holy memory” (Matins sessional hymn after Ode 3), the hymnographer of the Church proclaims.

Your Excellency Consul General of Greece Mr Evangelos Vlioras,

Dear Holy Fathers and Brothers,

Reverend Christians and pilgrims,

Today the Holy Church of Christ of the East, especially the Church of Jerusalem, honours the Holy memory of the glorious Saints, God-crowned and equal to the apostles, the great sovereigns Constantine and Helen.

The leadership personality of Constantine the Great undoubtedly contributed effectively to the reshaping of human history through the recognition of the Christian faith and the mission of the Church in the world. The First Ecumenical Council under him in Nicaea in AD 325, of the three hundred and eighteen godly Fathers is a landmark in the institutional organization of the Church on earth.

Saint Gregory, extolling the political and religious significance of the work of Constantine the Great, of the reconstruction of the state into a single Empire of East and West, thanks to the freedom granted to the Christians and the Church, says: “…he increased the matters related to the Christians and joined the state with Christ’s presence”.

The hymn writer of the Church, speaking of the inextricable link of the reverence of Saints Constantine and Helen to the Holy Land, says: “Let us faithfully honour Constantine with his mother Helen?” for hearing the words of the Prophet, who spoke of cedar, pine and cypress, thy understood him to refer to the tripartite Cross, whereby the saving Passion was accomplished” (Matins, Oikos). “With divine deeds thou didst build up thy heart as a temple of God, O Helen? and thou didst raise up unto Him sacred temples at the places where He suffered for our sakes the immaculate Passion in the flesh” (Matins, Ode 7, Troparion 3).

The acceptance of the Christian faith by Constantine the Great, which resulted in the Christianization of the Roman Empire, created the wonderful culture of Romiosyni, whose spiritual greatness was reflected in the peoples and nations of the Mediterranean, but also in the Middle East and especially in the Holy Land and its centre, the Holy City of Jerusalem, which bears the indelible imprint of his seal.

A true witness of this fact is the Church of Jerusalem after the Order of the Studious (Spoudaioi), of the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, which throughout the centuries has guarded and ministered to the Holy Places by erecting magnificent Temples, such as the Church of the Nativity and Resurrection of our Saviour Christ.

Therefore, we dutifully performed a Patriarchal Divine Liturgy in the monastic Church of the glorious Saints, great Sovereigns and equal to the apostles Constantine and Helen, surrounded by the honourable members of our Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood and having as part of our prayers the faithful members of our Christian flock, as well as the visiting pilgrims.

The venerable memory of the redeemed Constantine and his mother Helen, we solemnly honoured, having prayed to them, so that with the intercessions of our Most Blessed Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, they may not cease beseeching the Lord for us of the Holy City of Jerusalem and for the peace of our region and the whole world. Amen. Many happy returns”.

At noon, there was a meal at the Patriarchate’s refectory, for our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, the Holy Fathers, Mr Vlioras and other guests of honour.

From Secretariat-General

On Sunday, May 15 / 28, 2023, on the commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Synod, H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos made a Pastoral visit to the Greek Orthodox Arabic-speaking Community of the county of Turan, adjacent to Cana of Galilee.

His Beatitude was warmly received by a parade of Scouts and a reception by the Priests, and he officiated in the Holy Church of Saint Georgios of this Community, with the co-celebration of their Eminences, the  Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, the Elder Chief Secretary Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the Archbishop Philoumenos of Pella, the Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nektarios, Arabic-speaking Priests of the Galilee region, the Archdeacon Mark and the Hierodeacon Eulogios, under the chanting by the members of the Community choir and the participation of many faithful of the city.

Before the Holy Communion, His Beatitude delivered the following Sermon:

“O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles”, (Ps. 43,3), the psalmist exclaims.

Beloved brethren in Christ,

Dear Christians,

The wishes of the holy God-fearing Fathers of the holy Church of Christ have brought us all together today in your city of Lower Galilee Turan, so that we may thankfully celebrate their holy memory as well as the establishment of the First Ecumenical Synod, in Nicaea of Bithynia, in the year 325.

Our holy Church especially honours the 318 God-bearing Fathers, because they are the ones who, at the invitation of the holy Emperor Constantine the Great, convened the first Ecumenical Council, which on the one hand condemned and fought against the heretic teaching of Areios; on the other hand, it formulated in the most precise way the Orthodox faith, as we profess it in the Creed.

The accuracy of the doctrines is that which also determines the correct way of life of the Christian. For this reason, Saint Paul commands his disciple, Timothy, saying: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called” (1 Tim. 6,20).

Those who lost their aim at faith, are those who invent and do not resort to the sources of our faith, that is, to the Holy Bible, Old and New Testament and the holy Apostolic Tradition, constituting the totality of the divine sources of faith of salvific truths, handed down by the Lord and the Apostles to the faithful in the Church.

Let us hear in this case Saint John of Damascus saying: “You believe by hearing”. “Listening to the Holy Scriptures, we believe in the teaching of the Spirit. This is the end of all those who are legislated under Christ, believing, worshipping and doing the commandments of the one who reformed us. The person who does not believe nor commune with the Catholic Church’s tradition of beliefs through inappropriate works to the Devil is unfaithful”. And more simply: “you believe by hearing”, because by listening to the Holy Scriptures we believe in the teaching of the Holy Spirit. And this faith is perfected by all that was legislated by Christ since it is manifested by works, which show piety and apply the commandments of Him who renewed us. He, therefore, who does not believe in the tradition of the Catholic Church or communes with the devil, doing inappropriate works, is an infidel. This is what Saint Paul preaches: the Church, “which is the Church of the living God, is a pillar and ground of the truth” (Cf. 1 Tim. 3:15).

As for the Holy Apostles and their successors, the God-bearing and God-breathed ones who are said to be fathers of the Church, they received the light and truth of God, according to the psalmist saying, ” O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles ” (Ps. 43,3).

Today’s Gospel narrative of St. John the Theologian, who is known as “the priestly prayer of Christ to God the Father”, refers to his preserving his unity with His disciples and the members of His Church: “Father, the hour has come…and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me “, the Lord says(John 17, 22-23).

The prayer of Jesus Christ to God His Father: “that he may be one as we are one” (John 17:22), refers to unity, which is founded on the correct faith of the Church and is reflected in the life of believers through the expression of mutual love, that is, the spiritual unity of believers in imitation of the physical and essential unity of the persons of the Holy Trinity, as Saint Cyril of Alexandria says.

In other words, my dear brothers, we are called according to Paul to preserve the unity of love between us, ” With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, (Eph. 4, 2-3).

In his prayer to God the Father, Jesus asks for the joy of His disciples: “that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves ” (John 17,13). Interpreting these discourses of the Lord, Saint Cyril of Alexandria asks: “What then is the fulfilled and perfect joy? To know and believe, not only that Christ was man for us, but also that He was like us except for having any sin and He is the true God. It is clear and there is no doubt that He (Christ) has the ability to save those who worship him, whenever he wills, even though he does not seem to be present in the flesh. This fact will give us the possibility to have complete joy because we always have near us a supporter who is able to save us from all evil.

Joy, my dears, has as its source God the Father. The Only Begotten Son and Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the self-joy, as the Apostle Peter assures us: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy ” (1 Peter 4, 12-13).

It is worth noting that joy in Christ is inextricably linked to repentance, as the Evangelist Luke testifies, referring to Christ’s sermon: “I say unto you, that likewise, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15,7).

We too, my beloved brothers, can have fulfilled joy when we observe the correctness but also the unity of our Orthodox faith, listening to the voice of the holy and God-fearing Fathers who, by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, and the intercessions of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary the Most blessed, “With pious mind they refuted the godless dogma of the grievous Arius, and by synodal decree banished him for the Catholic Church. And they instructed all to openly confess the consubstantial and co-eternal Son of God, Who existed before the ages. This in exactness and piety, did they set forth in the Symbol of Faith. Wherefore, following their divine doctrines and believing with assurance, we worship, in one Godhead, the Father, Son and the All-holy Spirit, the Trinity in one essence”. Amen, many happy returns!

A reception followed, where His Beatitude addressed the President and the members of the Ecclesiastical Committee and the congregation again as follows:

“Blessed are you, the God of our fathers, and blessed be your name, holy and glorious forever” (Tobit 8,5), ” thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness” (Ps. 143, 10).

Dear Mr President and respected members of the Ecclesiastical Committee,

Dear Holy Fathers and Brothers,

Dear Father Spyridon,

My beloved brothers,

In addition to today’s feast, the Holy Church of Christ celebrates the glorious Ascension of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ into heaven and the memory of the first Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in AD325 of the three hundred and eighteen godly Fathers.

The feast of the Ascension of our Saviour Christ refers to the sealing of the glorious Resurrection of Christ. And this is because through His Ascension, our Lord Jesus Christ “divinized the body which He had assumed”, i.e. our human nature, which was assumed by the pure blood of the Ever-Virgin Mary. The feast of the holy God-bearing Fathers of the first Synod in Nicaea, refers to the entrenchment of the sanctifying teaching, (1 Tim. 1:10) namely of the right faith, as Paul wrote to his disciple Titus saying: “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers…who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake…Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Tit. 1,10-13).

This healthy teaching and correct faith, the Apostolic tradition, has been preserved by the Church of Jerusalem, the Rum Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, founded on the blood of the Cross of Golgotha and the empty tomb of the Resurrection of Christ, through the ages, thanks to its presence and constant tireless activity of the monastic order of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood.

We boast in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:31) that here, in your beautiful town of Turan, where our Christian Orthodox Community lives and we rejoice in your good testimony of the moral values and truths of the Gospel of love, peace, love for our fellow men and hospitality, especially the harmonious symbiosis and coexistence with other respected religious communities.

We also proclaim this Gospel message today, my beloved brothers, through the Eucharistic fellowship with you, listening to the order of Saint Paul saying: ” Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20, 28-30).

With these words, we want to assure you that the Venerable Rum-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Mother of all the Churches, has never spared effort and expense, has never abandoned the Christian flock entrusted to it by the divine Providence, and has never ceased to care for the preservation of the Holy Places of our faith as well as for the preservation of the multi-religious and multi-ethnic status of the Holy City of Jerusalem. Many and blessed returns.”

At noon, a hospitable, rich banquet was offered by the Community.

From Secretariat-General

On the evening of Tuesday, May 10/23, 2023, the 35th ceremony of awarding degrees to the thirteen graduates of the School of Saint Demetrios of the Patriarchate took place in the ceremony hall of the Notre Damme hotel near New Gate.

This ceremony was honoured by H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, who was accompanied by the Inspector of Arabic Schools of the Patriarchate His Eminence the Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, the Elder Chief Secretary, His Eminence Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, His Eminence Archbishop Philoumenos of Pella, Fr Farah Bandour, Fr Issa Mousleh and the Archdeacon Mark, in the presence of the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Mr Evangelos Vlioras, the teachers, the parents and relatives of the graduates.

This ceremony began with the Palestinian and Greek National Anthems and the reading of a passage from the Holy Bible. The ceremony also included songs and dance performances by the students of the School’s Primary School and a speech on the long-term educational experience of the School’s director, Mr Samir Zananiri.

In his speech, the Director presented the important educational work of the School, which has been carried out for thirty-five years, and of this year, and praised the Patriarchate for the support of the School.

A student of the School offered His Beatitude a bouquet of flowers as an expression of gratitude for His support in the School.

One of the students addressed His Beatitude in Arabic, one student in English and one student in Greek. All three expressed their gratitude to their teachers and to His Beatitude for the support of the Patriarchate to the School.

Palestinian songs were sung and Palestinian and Greek traditional dances were danced. With the teaching of Mrs Panagiota Cafetzi and the performance of Mr Nikolaos Michailidou, they sang hymns and danced under the music of Pontus.

This was followed by the address of His Beatitude through the mouth of Fr Essa and the awarding of titles by His Beatitude to each of the graduates, wishing them good academic and social success.

From Secretariat-General

On the Sunday of the Blind Man, 8^th/ 21^st May 2023, according to the book of Pentecostarion, His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Church of Saint George in the Rum-Orthodox Arabic-speaking community of Reine, a town near Nazareth.

Before the Liturgy, His Beatitude was warmly welcomed by the Boy Scouts of the Community.

Co-celebrants to His Beatitude were their Eminences, the Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth, the Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nectarios, the ministering Dean Priest of the Church Fr Simeon, and other Priests from the neighbouring communities, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Eulogios, under the chanting of the local Byzantine choir.

Before the Holy Communion, His Beatitude delivered the following sermon:

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9,1-3).

Beloved Brethren in Christ,

Reverend Christians

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Master and Creator of all, has gathered all of us through the Holy Spirit in this in this holy beautiful Church of yours, to celebrate the miracle Jesus worked on the man who was born blind, by applying clay to his eyes.

This miracle on the man who was born blind is distinguished among all other miracles of Jesus, because, “Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind” (John 9,32). It is noteworthy that Jesus cured the blind man out of “self-imposed goodness”, as Saint Gregory Palamas says: “In Jerusalem, when [Jesus] say a man who was born blind, without being asked, but moved by self-imposed goodness, He spat on the earth and made clay and placed it on the blind man’s eyes, saying to him; go and wash in Siloam’s pool.”

Christ cured the blind man “by self-imposed goodness”, because this way he revealed that He is the greatest and most glorious of all, as Saint Cyril of Alexandria says. In other words, through this action, Christ proved that He has the power and the authority that none of the Saints had ever had. To this cause, Jesus refers to this miracle as proof of “reversing blindness”, which no one else had ever managed to achieve before or ever since.

As for the cured blind man, he boldly replied to the provoking accusations of the unbeliever Pharisees against Jesus Christ who cured him, as well as to the threatening ironic comments against himself: “If this man were not of God, he could do nothing” (John 9,33).

These words of the blind man are a confession of faith, that the One who cured him is sent by God. His confession of faith stems from his faith according to the psalmist: “I believed, therefore, I have spoken” (Ps. 116,1), and as per Saint Paul: “We also believe, and therefore speak” (2 Cor. 4,13). This means, that we who have the same living faith as David the psalmist, believe in the true God, that is why we confess and preach our faith.

The power of the confession of the blind man’s faith is noted in his reply to Jesus: “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him” (John 9,36-38).

Interpreting these words of the Gospel, Zigavinos says: “[the blind man] believed at once; for the words touched his soul immediately, finding it benign and shone upon it knowledge and faith.” And Saint Basil the Great says: “Like this, worship comes after faith, while faith is confirmed through power…and we get to know God through power; so we believe in the One we know and worship the One we believe in.”

Indeed, the action of the power of Christ, the Son of God, is the one that significantly contributed to the cured blind man’s faith, as this is shown by his reply to the Pharisees: “Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9,25).

It is noteworthy that the cured blind man does not offer explanations about the method of treatment, nor does he resort to theories to clarify the miracle, that is, the experience of the indescribable benefit he received from the light-giver Christ. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights” (James 1,17), the Apostle James preaches.

Christ, my dear brethren, granted the blind man not only the light to his eyes, but at the same time, He gave him “His wondrous light” (1 Peter 2,9). That is why the cured blind man said to Jesus: “Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him” (John 9,38). In other words, the blind man was called by Christ unto His wondrous light. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8,12), the Lord says.

Precisely this “light of life” shone upon the world during the luminous resurrection from the dead of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, as Saint John Damascene writes in his hymn: “Let us arise in the deep dawn and instead of myrrh, offer praise to the Master, and we shall see Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, Who causeth life to dawn for all” (Katavasiae of Pascha, Ode 5).

Christ is the Sun of righteousness, which causes life to dawn upon every man on earth. The unwaning light of the Resurrection breaks the darkness of night and the hope and joy of life in Christ comes after the despair of death. “The rising sun” from the tomb, namely our Lord Jesus Christ, grants eternal and true life to all.

“Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight” (John 9,11) said the blind man. This order of Jesus, my dear brethren, applies to all of us. And this is because Siloam’s pool is no other than the Church of Christ, where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are freely offered through the holy sacraments, especially through the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Our Holy Church is the hospital and medical centre for our various mental and physical ailments.

Let us, therefore, entreat the healer of the man who was born blind and say along with the hymnographer: “O Christ God, Thou spiritual Sun of Righteousness, Who with Thine immaculate touch didst enlighten both the body and soul of him who from his mother’s womb was deprived of sight, illuminate the eyes of our souls also, and show us to be sons of the day, that we might cry to Thee with faith: Great and ineffable is Thy compassion toward us, O Friend of man; glory be to Thee” (Vespers, Glory of the Aposticha). Christ is risen! Many happy returns!”

At the reception after the Divine Liturgy His Beatitude also said the following:

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9,1-3).

Honourable President and members of the Ecclesiastical Council,

Reverend Holy Fathers and Brothers,

Reverend Father Simeon,

Dear Christians

Our Patriarchal presence among you during today’s feast of the Sunday of the Blind man fills our hearts with joy and cheerfulness, according to the order of Saint Paul: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20,28).

Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the One Who has established bishops to pastor the Church of Christ. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of our God and Saviour Christ is the One Who puts together and constitutes the whole institution of the Church, which is founded upon Christ’s blood on the Cross. “Which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20,28), Saint Paul preaches. And according to the true testimony of Saint John the Theologian, whom we celebrate also today; “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10,11).

The Church of Christ, namely the Rum Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem boasts in Jesus Christ for the ‘little flock’ (cf. Luke 12,32) of your town Reine, which is distinguished for the unity and confession of its Christian faith, according to the example of the cured blind man, who said in today’s Gospel narrative: “If this man were not of God, he could do nothing” (John 9,33).

This confession of the formerly blind man, that his healer, the man named Jesus, “was of God”, namely, He was sent by God, gives further testimony to Jesus’ reply to His disciples; “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9,3).

This appearance of God’s works and His Church did we also see with our own eyes in your blessed community. That is why we rendered glory and thanksgiving to the resurrected from the dead, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

And we say along with Saint Chrysostom: “Christ is with me, of whom shall I be afraid? Even if the waves are striking against me, or the open seas, or the lord’s wrath; for me all these are less powerless than a spider’s web”. Christ is risen! Many happy returns, fruitful in Christ!”

After the reception, the Community hosted a meal for His Beatitude and those with Him.

From Secretariat-General

On Thursday, May 5/18, 2023, His Beatitude received:

1. The Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem, Mr Evagelos Vlioras.
2. The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Israel Mr Bulat Sarsenbagev.
3. The priests of the Kufr Yasif Community of Northern Israel, Fr Theodosios Mahul and Fr Charalambos, accompanied by members of the International Human Rights Organization.
4. A group of pilgrims from Ukraine and Romania.
5. The Nun Danielia Caretaker of the Monastery of the Men of Galilee.

From Secretariat-General

On the morning of Wednesday, May 4/17, 2023, the members of the Ecumenical Council of Hungary from various Doctrines visited His Beatitude.

In this meeting, the Delegation said to His Beatitude, “It is an honour for us to be in the Holy City and visit You and to know about Your Flock and activity”.

His Beatitude replied: “We greet and welcome you to Our Rum Orthodox Church, which Our Lord Jesus Christ established on earth, which was watered by His redemptive blood”.

His Beatitude then said that Jews and Christians are linked by the Old and New Testament common tradition, and Christians and Muslims are linked by the treaty of the late Patriarch Sophronios with Caliph Omar Khattab in AD 638.

The recognition of the Patriarch of Jerusalem by the State of Jordan, the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority is based on this tradition.

On this visit, gifts appropriate to the occasion were presented.

From Secretariat-General

On Tuesday the 3rd / 16th of May 2023 H.H.B. our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos accepted:

The Priest and the representatives of the county of Touran, in order to invite Him for the Divine Liturgy and a Pastoral visit on May 15/28, 2023, Sunday of the Holy Fathers.

Afterward, His Beatitude received the priest of the Kufr-Smea Community of the Acre-Ptolemais area, Father Spyridon, with, Commissioner Mr Youssef Nasser and his sons, who built the new Church of this town, and discussed with them issues of their Community.

From Secretariat-General

At midday on Monday, May 2/15, 2023, His Eminence the Metropolitan Daniel of Caesariani, visited the Patriarchate together with a group of clergy from his diocese.

In the context of this visit, His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos bestowed on His Eminence the Metropolitan of Caesariani the honorary distinction of the Superior Grand Commander of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, in recognition of his devoted ministry to the Church as a Hierarch and a Priest, at the Chief-secretariat of the Church of Greece, with the blessed Archbishop of Athens. Christodoulos, the charity and other diverse ministries of the Church of Greece, and his close cooperation and support for the Holy Places and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Moved, His Eminence the Metropolitan of Caesariani thanked His Beatitude and praised Him for the wise governing of the Church of Jerusalem for the benefit of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, the Christians of the Holy Land, and the unity in Christ of the Orthodox Churches.

From Secretariat-General

Sunday, May 1/14, 2023, was celebrated by the Patriarchate as the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman at the Samaria Well of Jacob in Nablus.

On this Sunday, the Church celebrates the fact that the Evangelist John (John 4, 5-29) reports, that a woman from the county of Sychar in Samaria came to Jacob’s Well to draw water and there she had a conversation with the Lord, in which the Lord revealed to her the things of her life and that “God is a Spirit and those who worship Him should worship Him in spirit” and that “He who speaks to her is the Messiah”.

The Samaritan woman named Foteini believed in Christ and martyred for Him with her entire family of daughters, sons, and brothers.

Next to the Well, on the excavated Byzantine Church, the Hegumen, Archimandrite, Ioustinos, erected a magnificent Church in honour of Saint Foteini.

In this Church, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, along with their Eminences the Archbishops, Damascene of Yaffo, Aristarchos of Constantine and Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, the Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nectarios and Archimandrite Meletios, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacon Dositheos. The chanting was delivered by the Hegoumen of Rafidia Archimandrite Leontios on the right in Greek and members of the Community of Rafidia on the left in Arabic, with the participation of many local faithful and pilgrims.

His Beatitude spoke to them through His following address:

“Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water” (John 4,10 ).

Beloved brethren in Christ,

Reverend Christians and pilgrims

The grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us all in this Eucharistic Paschal gathering to celebrate in joy and gladness the commemoration of the Samaritan Woman who spoke with Jesus by the Patriarch Jacob’s well, in this holy place.

The Lord’s disciples became eyewitnesses, as Peter says in the book of Acts: “And we are witnesses of all the things which Jesus of Nazareth did, Whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (cf. Acts 10,38-39).

Indeed, Christ was not restricted in benefiting the people in a specific city, nor did He wait for the benefited ones by Him to come to Him, instead, He went to them, marching on foot all of Palestine, as in the occasion with the Samaritan Woman, to whom the Lord revealed Himself.

Let us hear what Saint Cyril of Alexandria says on this: “Christ does not reveal Himself solely to uneducated and ignorant souls (like the Samaritan Woman), but to the souls who “are shining and visible”, the ones who have prepared themselves to learn something and they have born faith in them, and “make haste to gain the perfect knowledge”, that is, they are in a hurry to learn the perfect mysteries”.

To Christ’s words “thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”, the Samaritan Woman replies, “From whence then hast thou that living water?” (John 4,11). Interpreting these words, Saint Cyril of Alexandria says: “The Samaritan Woman with the words ‘living water’ means her own interpretation of water; the one that gushes forth from the spring, the natural water”.

The Samaritan Woman’s question is the same as that of many people with feeble faith. And this is because they don’t pay heed to the Lord’s words, which are words of eternal life (cf. John 6,68), as Christ Himself teaches by saying: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6,63).

Christ, my dear brethren, is the unending source of life and of divine grace. This is what He told the Samaritan Woman, after all: “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4,14). Christ is the “well-spring of the principle of life”, as the hymnographer says, “Come and see the Knower of things hidden, God Who is come in the flesh to save man” (Matins, Glory of praises), hearkening to the Samaritan Woman’s voice, who received the wondrous changes in herself of our Lord Jesus’ grace.

“Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom” (Psalm 51, 6), the prophet David chants. These very hidden and inward parts of His truth did Christ reveal to the Samaritan Woman by saying, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4,24).

Interpreting these words, Saint Cyril of Alexandria says: “Righteously God accepts the spiritual pilgrim, who does not bear the image of reverence in the Jewish manner of pretension, but shines in an evangelical manner through the accomplishments of virtue and applies the true worship through the correctness of the divine doctrines”.

In other words, the true pilgrim, namely the Christian, is the one who lives according to the teaching of the Gospel of Christ. It is not enough to worship God only in our minds, theoretically, but we should do so actively, through our participation in the mystical life of the Church, which is the body of Christ, as Saint Paul advises: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Cor. 12,27). “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” (John 6,56), the Lord says. For this, the purity of our life and the correctness of the doctrines, namely of our precise Orthodox faith, constitute the true worship of God. “Spiritual worship is”, according to Zigavinos, “the humility; for the Bible says, the sacrifice of God is a broken spirit”.

“A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51, 17), the psalmist proclaims. Indeed, the Son and Word of God did not avoid to show to the sinner Samaritan Woman, what is the wealth of the glory of “the mystery which hath been hidden from ages and from generations” (Col. 1, 26), the woman that the Holy Church of Christ honours today in her hometown on the one hand; and projects her as an example of humility and of a broken heart, on the other.

As for us, let us say along with the hymnographer: “Accepting Thine divine law O Saviour, man puts out the burning coals of fallacies. Therefore, unto the ages, he will not thirst, nor will he hunger of Thee Master, heavenly King; for this we glorify Thine might Christ our God, asking that Thou may send down richly to Thine servants the remission of sins”. Amen. Christ is risen!”

After the Divine Liturgy, there was a Procession around the Church, while at noon the Hegumen hosted a meal.

From Secretariat-General

On the morning of Thursday, April 5/11, 2023, His Beatitude received Mr Trond Buckevitz from Norway, who has been working for years in the peace dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, and his successor, Mrs Ingrid Rosendoof Joys, who worked in the organization “The council for religion and life communities”.

Then He received His EminenceMetropolitan Chrysostomos of Patra, leading a group of 50 pilgrims

and the nuns of the Holy Monastery of the Annunciation of Hormylia, Halkidiki, under their Abbess, nun Nicodimi,

and finally His Eminence Metropolitan Antonios and Fr Nikolaos Balasov of the Moscow Patriarchate.

At last, His Beatitude received Mrs Madeea Axinciuc, Director of Theology and Philosophy of the University of Bucharest.

From Secretariat-General