On Saturday, 25 July 2026, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, accompanied by Metropolitan Hesychios of Capitolias and Metropolitan Joachim of Helenoupolis, travelled to the Holy Monastery of Mount Tabor in northern Israel, within the jurisdiction of the Holy Metropolis of Nazareth.
There, the Patriarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy, followed by the fortieth-day Memorial Service for the ever-memorable Holy Sepulchre Archimandrite Hilarion, Hegumen of the Holy Monastery. Concelebrating were Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth; Metropolitan Timotheos of Thessaliotis and Fanariofersala, who was visiting the Holy Land; Archimandrite Christodoulos, Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod; Archimandrite Silouanos; priests from the neighbouring districts of Nazareth, especially from the community of Reineh; and Archdeacon Mark. The chanting was delivered by Archimandrite Leontios, Hegumen of Cana.
The Divine Liturgy and the Memorial Service were attended by the nuns of the Holy Monastery and faithful from the flock of the Holy Metropolis of Nazareth.
During the Memorial Service, His Beatitude delivered the following address:
“‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labours, and their works follow them’” (Revelation 14:13).
Beloved brethren in Christ,
The Holy Church of Christ has gathered us all together in this sacred place of Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration of our Saviour Christ, so that we may offer prayers and supplications to the Victor over death, our Lord and God Who rose from the dead, on behalf of our blessed brother, the Hieromonk Hilarion, on the fortieth day since his falling asleep in the Lord.
Our Lord and God has called our ever-memorable brother, Father Hilarion, to His heavenly tabernacles, “in a place of brightness, a place of green pasture, a place of refreshment,” that He may indeed grant rest to his soul from all his labours.
The unfailing witnesses to those labours are the works he accomplished, which, on the one hand, enhanced this holy pilgrimage site through his Holy Sepulchre ministry, and, on the other, bore fruit in his priestly liturgical and pastoral service among the various Rum Orthodox communities, centred especially on the community of Reineh, which he served with godly zeal and the love of Christ.
The blessed Father Hilarion fulfilled this ministry in obedience both to the exhortation of the Apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy: “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12), and to the words of our Lord: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
The character of the departed Father Hilarion embodied the mission and spirit of the Holy Sepulchre Brotherhood, that is, the offering of a holy and living sacrifice, acceptable to God (cf. Romans 12:1). We say this because the preservation of the Holy Places throughout the centuries, the tangible witnesses of the sacred history of the Gospel of Christ, proclaiming God’s love, justice, and peace, constitutes the guarantee of the Christian, and indeed not only the Christian, presence in the Middle East in general and in the Holy Land in particular.
As we celebrate today the sacred Memorial Service for our departed brother, the Hieromonk Hilarion, we grieve, yet “not as others who have no hope.” For “if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14), as the divine Paul proclaims. Likewise, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).
Let us therefore continue to pray, my beloved brethren, for the eternal memory and blessed repose of our piously departed brother, the Hieromonk Hilarion; that every voluntary and involuntary transgression may be forgiven him; and that he may be numbered among the elect in the tabernacles of the Lord, Who is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Amen.”
After the Memorial Service, the nuns offered the ‘Makaria’ at the Hegumen’s Residence for the Patriarch, His entourage, and all those who had participated.
