On December 3, 2019, Patriarch John X, presided over the vigil in honor of Saints Barbara and John of Damascus at the Church of St. John of Damascus, next to the Patriarchate, with the participation of the Patriarchal Vicar, Bishop Ephraim Malouli, and in the presence of Bishop Luka El-Khoury.
A group of priests and deacons were also there with a large gathering of faithful from Damascus and its countryside. They all came to honor St. John of Damascus, “the patron saint of Damascenes” “as the Patriarch called the saint.
In the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude extended heartfelt wishes to all, especially to those who have John of Damascus and Barbara as their patron saints or hold their names: the Choir of Saint John of Damascus, which had served the vigil, our children in the St. John of Damascus branch of the Orthodox Sunday Schools, and the students of the St. John of Damascus Center for Theological Education, among others. His Beatitude prayed the Lord that these feasts be perpetuated to many years with peace and stability to Syria, Lebanon and all the countries of the East. These countries, to this day, chant the hymns of Saint John, the son of the city of Damascus, and live the testimony of Saint Barbara, the daughter of the city of Baalbek.
After the Divine Liturgy, the Patriarch went to the tombs of the Patriarchs and held a Trisagion for Patriarch Ignatius IV of Thrice Blessed Memory, to commemorate for his seventh year of repose.
Source: Patriarchate of Antioch
