The feast of the Holy Pascha, the feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, was celebrated on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at night in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
In the beginning, the Resurrection Canon was chanted in the Catholicon of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, until the Patriarch, the High Priests and the Priests were clothed.
Then the litany began around the Holy Sepulchre three times, then the Second Matins Gospel from the Evangelist Mark was read “on the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene…” and “Christ is Risen” was sung from the interior of the Holy Edicule by the Patriarch and the Byzantine choir, ten times.
The service continued with the chanting of the Resurrection Canon of Saint John of Damascus after the prayer in each ode. In Louds, the Patriarch, the High Priests, and the Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem, Dimitrios Angelosopoulos, and the Consul, Anna Mantika, venerated the Holy Sepulchre.
After the Doxology, the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom began, the faithful chanting “Christ is Risen” in many languages, Greek, Arabic, Russian, Romanian, Polish and others.
The Liturgy was officiated by the Patriarch, with the co-celebration of Metropolitan Isychios of Capitolias, the Archbishops, Theophanes of Gerash, Aristarchos of Constantina, Theodosios of Sebasteia and Philoumenos of Pela, the Elder Kamarasis Archimandrite Nectarios first in rank of the Holy Sepulchre Hieromonks, Archimandrite Vassianos from the Moscow Patriarchate, Archimandrite Ioannis from the Romanian Patriarchate, Priests from other Churches, Archdeacon Mark and Hierodeacons Eulogios and Dositheos. The chanting was delivered by Eustathios Tsoumanis and Priest Ioannis Antoniou leading the choir, as the service was attended by Consul General of Greece in Jerusalem Dimitrios Angelosopoulos and Consul Anna Mantika.
Before the end of the Liturgy, the Secretary of the Holy Synod Hierodeacon Simeon read the Pascha 2024 Message of the Patriarch and then the prayer of Saint John Chrysostom.
After the Liturgy, the Patriarchal Entourage returned to the Patriarchate Headquarters and received Easter eggs and cheese.
The Elder Sacristan with the Holy Sepulchre Fathers, the Elder Dragoman and the Eder Secretary-General remained at the Holy Sepulchre until the morning for the protection of our right to have our guard present inside the Sacred Edicule for the welcoming of the Coptic and Syriac communities.
